Broccoli Salad

This salad is a crowd pleaser and can be made ahead, the day before the dinner party. Combine the main ingredients with the dressing just before serving time. This salad is a favourite to take to a friends place for a buffet.

3 large stems of broccoli

1 small red onion

¾ cup/175 ml raisins, soaked

1 cup/250 ml sunflower seeds

1 cup/250 ml bacon bits, fried and crumbled

Dressing:

1 cup/250 ml salad dressing

½ cup/125 ml sugar

2 Tbsp/30 ml red wine vinegar

Wash and cut the broccoli into small bite sized pieces. Cut up the red onion into small chunks and combine with the broccoli in a large bowl. Soak the raisins, toast the sunflower seeds in the oven and crumble the fried bacon. These can be prepared a day ahead. Cover combined ingredients in a bowl and place in refrigerator until serving time. In a small bowl, combine dressing ingredients and refrigerate as well. Just before serving, combine the salad with the dressing and enjoy. Serves 10 – 12.

Key Lime Cheesecake

Citrus fruits are readily available during any season. A lime dessert is a refreshing change and combines well with chocolate and strawberries to reflect elegance.

Crust:

1 cup / 250 ml graham wafer crumbs

¼ cup / 60 ml melted butter

¼ cup / 60 ml brown sugar

Filling:

1 cup / 250 ml lime juice – 3 or 4 limes

¼ cups / 60 ml water

2 Tbsp / 30 ml unflavored gelatin

1 ½ cups / 375 ml sugar

5 large eggs, beaten

1 Tbsp / 15 ml grated lime rind

½ cup / 125 ml butter

2 – 8oz / 250gm pkg cream cheese

1 cup / 250 ml whipping cream

Garnish:

½ cup / 125 ml whipping cream

½ Tbsp / 7 ml instant vanilla pudding powder

Lime slices and chocolate curls and stawberries to decorate.

Combine crust ingredients and press onto bottom of a 9” / 22cm spring form pan. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine lime juice, water and gelatin. Allow to soften for one minute. Then add sugar, beaten eggs and grated lime rind. Place on stove and heat, stirring constantly until mixture just comes to a boil. Mixture should not boil. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and the cream cheese together until creamy. Gradually beat in the hot lime mixture until blended. Refrigerate until cool. In a small bowl, beat 1cup / 250 ml whipping cream until stiff. Fold into cooled lime mixture and pour into spring form pan which has been lined with strips of parchment paper. Cover and chill overnight.

Before serving remove the cake from the pan.

To decorate: Whip the cream with the pudding. Make rosettes on the cake and use lime slices, chocolate curls or melted chocolate and sliced strawberries as a special touch. Serves 10 – 12.

Strawberry Spinach Salad

When I was a child growing up in the Fraser Valley, early summer meant strawberries. My father planted several fields of strawberries on our family's farm on Judson Lake. For us this meant strawberry picking in late June and early July. We didn't much enjoy the picking, although I was always eager to try to pick more than anyone else on our field. I was careful not to start eating any of the sweet, sun ripened berries, because once that happened it was hard to stop-and my flat wouldn't fill up nearly so quickly.

Every now and again as we picked one or the other of us would startle a garter snake. It would slither out from where it had been hiding under the leaves of a strawberry plant, and the shouting or shrieking of the unsuspecting picker could be heard throughout the field. I was always worried that this would happen to me, and I became very (and of course unnecessarily) afraid of the harmless little snakes.

The strawberries that we ate then were always locally grown. The start of the strawberry season brought a whole range of seasonal treats to our table: strawberry short cake, strawberry pie (sometimes with a mix of strawberries and early rhubarb), strawberry tarts, fresh strawberries with ice cream, and of course strawberry jam (still a popular favourite). And of course all the strawberries that we had then were organically grown, ripened on the plant, and delicious.

Now, strawberries can be found in produce stores almost any time of the year. Even if they're not quite as sweet as the ones we used to get right off the field, they are still tasty, and healthy too.

This easy but delicious recipe for Strawberry Spinach Salad is a favourite at our house. I like to serve it at almost any time of the year, but it is especially good for a summertime barbeque, when I use locally grown berries, or at Christmas time, when the bright reds and greens add a festive, tasty, and healthy touch to our family dinner.

Salad:
1 - 9 oz. / 255 gm package of fresh spinach leaves
1 head of butter lettuce or
½ head iceberg lettuce, coarsely shredded or torn
1 - 8 oz. / 227 gm can sliced water chestnuts
¾ C / 175 ml cooked bacon, crumbled
2 C / 500 ml fresh strawberries

Dressing:
1 C / 250 ml salad oil
½ C / 125 ml sugar
½ C / 125 ml ketchup
¼ C / 60 ml red wine vinegar
1 tsp / 5 ml Worcestershire sauce
1 small red onion, finely chopped
½ tsp / 2 ml dry mustard
1 tsp / 5 ml salt
¼ tsp / 1 ml cayenne pepper

Combine all of the dressing ingredients in a 1 qt. / 1 L jar, shake well and store in the refrigerator until serving time.

Wash the lettuce and spinach well, swirl in a salad spinner or pat dry with paper towels. Just before serving time slice the strawberries, drain the water chestnuts, and combine all of the salad ingredients in an attractive bowl. Reserve some of the crumbled bacon to sprinkle over the mixed salad as a garnish. The dressing may be poured over and mixed with the salad just before serving, or the salad and dressing may be served separately, so that your guests may put as much or little dressing over their salad as they please.

I often serve this salad on special occasions-my guests always love it and frequently compliment me on it.

This recipe appears in my second book, A Time of Wonder A Season of Joy (Judson Lake House Publishers, 2006), which also includes a DVD with a demonstration of how to put together this salad and the other elements of a festive dinner.

_________

Selma Willms Turner is co-author and food editor of two books about the cuisine and culture of Mennonites in Russia and Canada. This recipe appears in her second book, A Time of Wonder A Season of Joy (Judson Lake House Publishers, 2006), which also includes a DVD with a demonstration of how to put together this salad and the other elements of a festive dinner. Selma lives in Abbotsford, where she is working on new publishing projects.

Gingerbread Loaf

This moist, delicious bread smells amazing while it is baking, as a reminder of ginger, cinnamon and cloves in cookies you would bake at Christmas time. The recipe, originally from Holland, has old-fashioned appeal for those with European origin. This batter can be divided and baked in four small or two large loaf pans, enough to taste and to freeze for later or to give away.

4 cups/1 L all-purpose flour

2 cups/500 ml sugar

4 tsp./20 ml baking powder

2 tsp./10 ml ground cinnamon

1 ½ tsp./7 ml ground cloves

1 ½ tsp./7 ml ground nutmeg

1 tsp. /5 ml ground ginger

1 tsp. /5 ml baking soda

2 eggs

1 cup /250 ml milk

1 cup /250 ml heavy cream

1 cup /250 ml maple syrup

2 Tbsp. /30 ml vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 325F/160C. Grease two large or four small loaf pans.

In a large bowl, combine the first eight ingredients. In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, milk, cream, syrup and oil. Stir this mixture into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Batter will be runny. Scoop the batter into the greased pans.

Bake for 60 – 70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing to wire racks. Enjoy!

Hot Dog or Hamburger Buns

The sunny days of summer invite us to enjoy family gatherings, camping adventures, picnics and barbecues. What a treat to have fresh, tasty homemade buns at the backyard barbecue. These buns can be made ahead; they can be frozen for the special event.

2 Tbsp/30 ml yeast

½ cup/125 ml warm water

1 Tbsp/15 ml sugar

4 cups/1 L warm milk or water

1/4 cup/60 ml melted butter

1/4 cup/60 ml sugar

1 Tbsp/15 ml salt

1 Tbsp/15 ml lemon juice

9 - 10 cups2.25-2.5 L all-purpose flour

Soften yeast in warm water with sugar. Combine milk, butter, and sugar, salt and lemon juice.

Stir and pour into a large mixing bowl with the softened yeast. Add flour gradually to

make a stiff dough. Let rest 20 minutes. Knead until smooth, and place in a warm place

to double in bulk. Then divide into 3 sections and roll each into a long roll. Divide each

into 10 pieces. Form each piece into a long hot dog bun or a flat round shape for hamburgers.

Let rise until double. Bake @ 400F/200C for 15 - 20 minutes until golden brown.

Makes 30 - 36 buns