FUDGEY CHOCOLATE PIE

My grandmother's recipe. It's the best!

2 cups sugar

4 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons (rounded) cocoa

pinch of salt

2 cups whole milk

2 egg yolks

Mix the dry ingredients together in a medium saucepan. Stir until well combined.Then add 1/2 of the milk and egg yolks and stir until mixture becomes a smooth thick paste...add remaining milk and mix well. Then over medium to medium low heat, stirconstantly until mixture begins to bubble and thicken. Continue cooking and stirring untilconsistency is a thick custard (1-3 min.). Remove from heat. Cool. Stir occassionally and pour into a baked pie crust (I use Betty Crocker's Pie Crust mix). Refrigerate until cool. Before serving, top the pie with whipped and sweetened heavy cream. Serve with a smile!

BEST BROWNIES

BROWNIES

2 sticks margarine

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

1/2 cocoa

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup pecans, chopped

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

Melt margarine in a 13 x 9 inch pan in 350 oven. Beat eggs, add sugar, beat in melted margarine. Add flour, cocoa, salt and vanilla, beat well, add pecans. Pour into pan (where margarine was melted). Bake at 350 for about 30 to 35 minutes. Do not overbake. May serve them plain or with icing.

ICING:

2 tablespoons margarine2 squares chocolate3 tablespoons hot water2 cups powdered sugarchopped pecansMelt margarine and chocolate, add water, stir in powdered sugar (until icing spreads easily). Spread on brownies while they are warm. Sprinkle with pecans, if desired.

16 brownies

SUMMER SALAD

This is a simple salad that is beautiful, delicous and versatile! Basically it is made of baby spinach, fresh fruit slices, crumbled or grated cheese, toasted nuts, and seeds (opt. chopped green onions). Usually I make it w/sliced strawberries, grated mozerella and toasted almond slices. Another combination I like is, baby spinach, firm pear or apple slices, grated cheddar and toasted almonds. However, I recently tried a new combination! Here goes:

baby spinach

peach, fresh, cut into thin slices

blueberries,

freshgorgonzola cheese crumbles

almond slices,

toasted to a light brown

sesame seeds

poppy seeds

Layer all of the above in a pretty salad bowl. Before serving drizzle lightly with, Poppy Seed Dressing, toss and serve with addition dressing, on the side.

Poppy Seed Dressing

2/3 cup of vinegar

1 small red onion ( white onion, for white dressing)

3 tbsp. dry mustard

2 tsp. salt

1 cup of oil

1 cup of sugar............(can use splenda)

1 tbsp. of poppy seeds

Mix in the blender...just a minute or so. Refrigerate in a glass jar with lid. Good on salad or fresh fruit.

Football Wisdom...Learned in the Kitchen!

Last Sunday, while cooking breakfast, I learned first hand a little wisdom concerning the art of 'hitting' on the football field. Now many of you will not be surprised by this little discovery and in fact, only those of you that have never played the game of football should keep reading. Everyone else scat! Okay. Living with a coach I hear many conversations. most of which are interesting, but more often than not... they go "right over my head, too high to catch". So while cracking eggs, to scramble for breakfast, I had a little 'aahha' moment I wanted to share with you. Quickly, I must back up and say that somewhere along the way I heard Coach tell our son, that in the game of football it is better to "hit, than to be hit" or maybe he said, "it hurts less to hit. than to be hit''. Either way I never gave it too much thought but obviously stored it away to 'ponder' at a later date. So, there I was at the kitchen counter, with a mixing bowl, cracking a dozen eggs and here's what happened.In my right hand I held an egg. To keep it simple, I'll call that egg, 'Hank!".... Hank the Hitter'! In my left hand, I held another egg whom I'll call, "Sammy Sad Sack". The hitting revelation came unexpected without warning as Hank whacked Sammy and broke him into. Though I didn't notice immediately, this happened time after time after time. Wow, I thought! Hank is one tough egg! On the verge of a breakthrough, I tried it one more time with the same results. Amazing! Then to finalize my unofficial experiment I decided to try the unthinkable....I switched Hank from my right hand to my left and picked up a new 'hitter', Howie! I swiftly crashed Howie into dependable old Hank and much to my dismay Hank broke. Just like that...just like Coach said, it does hurt less to be a hitter.! After a moment of silence, Hank joined the 'sad sacks' and I promised his suffering would serve a purpose.Ten minutes later, while Coach and I were enjoying our bacon and eggs, I told him all about Hank. I wondered if he might like to use this when teaching players to hit? Reading the paper and not really listening, I suggested that I might come up on Tuesday to demonstrate my 'Crack or be cracked' theory. Hey, it's a good idea! ...and when that lesson is learned, I can whisk all those indiviual eggs into 'one united team' and shed new light on the "Band of Brother's" motto!:)