Roasted Lemon and Garlic Bird ~ by D'Lynn

I have no pictures, cause I forgotted....Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Buy a *Bird. I usually get Foster Farms 5-6lb cause they aren't injected with salt water like their Arkansas cuzins....

Wash the *Bird with a clean cool water, pat it dry with a paper towel, and make sure you take the gizzards and pieces out of the inside. I usually cut some of the fat off it also.

Rub EVOO on the outside of the *Bird. Salt and pepper, and season with Garlic, Thyme, parsley, etc, the inside and outside heavily.

Cut a whole GARLIC bulb in half and a medium sized lemon in half. Shove all sections inside the *Bird.

Prepare WHITE or YUKON GOLD POTATOES. I prefer these over Russet because they don't disintegrate once they're cooked. Cut into quarters.
Quarter a bulb of ANISE.
Quarter a LEMON.
Add any other carrots, celery, etc....whatever veggies that you like roasted...Drizzle with EVOO and season with salt, pepper, garlic, thyme, etc....The garlic and lemon become very sweet thru the roasting process.

Put the *Bird in a roasting pan, dump veggies around the outside of it.

Roast for 1 hour with the *Bird uncovered or until it is browned nicely. Then cover the *Bird with foil and bake an additional 30 minutes.

*Bird is commonly known as a Chicken, but for Kelsey and Molly's benefit, we don't use that word!

Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake ~ by Kelsey

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com.

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup milk
2 pints strawberries, sliced, with sugar
1 (12 ounce) container whipped topping
2 tablespoons chocolate syrup (I forgot to do this part)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Grease two 9 inch layer pans.  In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Cut in butter until it's coarse crumbs.  Add milk, mixing just until moistened.  Spread the batter evenly in the two pans.  Bake at 400 degrees for 15 or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool.  Combine strawberries and sugar (I used a little Splenda).  Cover the bottom layer with whipped topping, then strawberries, then a little more whipped topping.  Put the top layer on and put more whipped topping and more strawberries.  Drizzle with chocolate syrup.

Salmon & Pasta Primavera ~ by D'Lynn

1 1/2 tsp Dill Weed
1 tsp Minced Garlic
1 tsp Minced Onion
1/2 tsp Coarse Ground Black Pepper
1/4 tsp Thyme Leaves
8 oz of Linguine Pasta
1 LB of cooked Salmon
4 1/2 Cups assorted cut-up, fresh, vegetables
1 Cup heavy Cream
3/4 Cup of Chicken Broth
1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese
2 TBSP Butter
1/2 tsp salt

Cook Salmon. I put a large fillet on a double layer of foil on the BBQ grill, usually 7 min/inch of Salmon thickness. I shut the grill off and let it sit a bit to cool. Then I flip it onto a plate, peel the fish skin off, and then cut the Salmon into chunks.

Cook pasta in a large saucepan as directed on the package, add the fresh vegetables the last 3-4 minutes of cooking. Drain Well.

While Pasta is cooking, add remaining ingredients, except cheese into a saucepan. Heat it slowly to boiling, stirring constantly to make sure cream doesn't scald. Once it reaches boiling, reduce to simmer and add the cheese, continue stirring so that it doesn't all stick to the bottom of the pan, about 5 minutes.

Add pasta and veggies to sauce and fold together until sauce is evenly distributed through the dish. Turn out into a pasta bowl or plate and add the salmon, mix this in evenly.

*I opted for fresh broccoli and marinated artichoke hearts, but carrots, peas, and red bell peppers are nice additives as well. You may also use 1lb of shrimp, scallops, etc. for the seafood portion of the meal.

Taco Bake ~ by Sarah

I got this recipe from Tasty Kitchen. I LOVED it! I love all things bread and this has a bread-like crust. It was easy, too!

Ingredients:
FOR THE CRUST:
1/2 cup crushed corn chips (like Fritos)
2 cups flour
1 package (7g packet) yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons minced fresh onion
3/4 teaspoons salt
2/3 cup very warm (not hot) water
2 Tablespoons oil

FOR THE FILLING:
1 pound ground beef
1/2 onion, chopped
1 envelope taco seasoning
water (amount according to taco seasoning packet's directions)

Directions:
Put crushed corn chips, flour, yeast, sugar, minced onion and salt in a food processor bowl. Pulse a few times to combine.  (Note: Next time I make this, I'm going to add a tablespoon or so of taco seasoning to give the crust a little more flavor.)

With processor running, add the warm water and oil in a thin, steady stream to the dry ingredients. Keep pulsing and mixing until the dough forms a ball.

Grease a deep, 9-inch cake pan or spring-form pan.

Press the dough evenly over the bottom and at least a couple of inches up the sides. This is a yeast dough and, while it doesn’t rise a lot, it’ll get puffy. You’re going to fill this shell with taco meat and want to give the dough room enough to puff and also to hold the meat.

Put it aside in a warm area, cover it with a towel and let it rise anywhere from 20 minutes to 3 hours.

About 20 minutes before baking, cook the hamburger and chopped onion. When the onion is translucent and the meat no longer pink, drain the fat and add taco seasoning and water.

Simmer 7-10 minutes, uncovered, then gently pour into the waiting dough shell.

Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees or until crust is a nice golden brown.

Top with anything you’d put on a taco: grated cheese, salsa, lettuce, tomato or avocado.