Mistletoe Madness-A Holiday Party (various cookbooks)

Date I made these recipes: December 6, 2009

Better Homes & Gardens Best Buffets by Better Homes and Gardens
Published by: Meredith Corporation
© 1963
Recipe: Hot Mulled Cider – p. 50

Betty Crocker’s Hostess Cookbook – Guest-Tested Recipes and Party Plans for Every Occasion by Betty Crocker
Published by: Golden Press
© 1967, 1970 – Third Printing 1970
Recipe: Chafing Dish Meatballs – p. 136

Leisure Arts Presents The Spirit of Christmas – Creative Holiday Ideas Book Four by Leisure Arts, Inc.
Published by: Leisure Arts, Inc.
© 1990
Recipe: Layered Crab Taco Dip – p. 136

Always Superb: Recipes for Every Occasion – a collaborative cookbook from the Junior Leagues of Minneapolis and Saint PaulPublished by: The Junior Leagues of Minneapolis and Saint Paul
ISBN: 0-9729882-0-3
Recipe: Martini Dip – p. 36
Other recipes made but not featured: Layered Asian Appetizer -. 45

Betty Crocker Party Food by Betty Crocker
Published by: Wiley Publishing, Inc.
ISBN: 978-0-470-17349-7; © 2007
Recipe: Roasted Sesame and Honey Snack Mix – 26
Other recipes made but not featured: Southwestern Spiced Party Nuts – p. 14; Chex® Party Mix – p. 24 and Almond Caramel Corn – p. 21

FARM Journal Country Cookbook – Edited by Nell B. Nichols, Food Editor, FARM Journal
Published by: Doubleday & Company, Inc.
© 1959
Recipe: Holiday Fruitcake Cookies – p. 95

Well folks, here it is December 8th and I am already exhausted by the holidays! On December 6th, my husband and I decided it was high time we threw a party and what better way to kick off the holiday season than by throwing a Mistletoe Madness open house for 50 or so of our closest, personal friends!

And so just call me Betty (as in Crocker, my idol) because I was a cooking fool for at least a week making appetizers and goodies to satisfy every taste bud. And yes, I probably made too many things but given that it was our first open house party, I wanted to run a number of things up the flagpole to see how they’d fly. For the most part, all the dishes got accolades so that was good. Sadly, many of the recipes won’t be reprinted here since my own personal rule is to only publish recipes from my own collection and some of the ones I made are from borrowed library books. But I can at least give you a hint as to where I found some of them: Desperation Entertaining by Alicia Ross and Beverly Mills (I have their Desperation Dinners book but not this one); Pillsbury Best Cookies; Betty Crocker’s Christmas Cookbook; Barefoot Contessa Parties! (I already posted this recipe for her pan-friend onion dip on my blog in 2007); Feast by Nigella Lawson (also posted her parma ham bundle recipes on my blog) and a community cookbook from my home town using some of my mom’s cookie recipes.

As to the recipes, let me just say that the yield on each of these wasn’t necessarily what was written. In general, any recipe that stated it made 5 or more dozen was a “liar, liar pants on fire.” On the other hand, recipes that said they made one cup usually yielded two or more. Go figure. Depending on your crowd, one serving may be enough but it’s up to you to determine that.

Finally, and I hate to disparage Betty Crocker, but here’s a little story that I had to email in advance to some of my friends who were attending (which I titled “What the hell, Betty?): one of the recipes I made was Betty Crocker’s Southwestern Spiced Party Nuts. The recipe called for ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon but I knew that one of my guests was allergic to cinnamon and so I called the B. Crocker Hotline for assistance. I asked the woman on the phone what else I could substitute for cinnamon and after putting me on hold, she came back and stunned me into silence by saying that she couldn’t advise me because they hadn’t tested the recipe.

What?! What?! What?! I could see other test kitchens not testing a recipe but this was Betty Frickin’ Crocker for God’s sake - my hero, my idol, the person whose kitchen I would readily die in. WTF? (I made it without the cinnamon and nobody was the wiser).

Lucky for all of you, I got over my distress and made all the recipes without too much ado. For one, brief shinning moment I considered just buying the Chex® Party Mix but then I caught myself and pressed on regardless. There’s too much salt in packaged stuff anyway!

And so here we go with my list of goodies. The Martini Dip was probably the biggest hit, no doubt because of the vermouth marinated olives. I did warn people but they still imbibed at their own risk!

Hot Mulled Cider – makes 10 servings
Before I get into the ingredients, I just have to say that this was found in a chapter called “Something for the boys” – Bachelor’s Feast. Let me just say that the “girls” liked it, too!
½ cup brown sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
2 quarts cider
1 teaspoon whole allspice
1 teaspoon whole cloves
3 inches stick cinnamon
Dash nutmeg

Combine brown sugar, salt, and cider. Tie spices in small piece of cheese cloth; add. Slowly bring to a boil; cover and simmer 20 minutes. Remove spices. Serve hot.

Chafing Dish Meatballs – makes 5 dozen meatballs (Ann’s note: no freakin’ way! I doubled the meat and spices and only then did I achieve 60 or so meatballs. I also used 1 and ½ bottles of chili sauce and 1 and 1/3 jar of grape jelly).
1 pound ground beef
½ cup dry bread crumbs
1/3 cup minced onion
¼ cup milk
1 egg
1 tablespoon snipped parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup shortening
1 bottle (12 oz) chili sauce
1 jar (10 oz) grape jelly

Mix ground beef, crumbs, onion, milk, egg and next 4 seasonings; gently shape into 1-inch balls. Melt shortening in large skillet; brown meatballs. Remove meatballs from skillet; drain fat. Heat chili sauce and jelly in skillet until jelly is melted, stirring sauce and jelly in skillet until jelly is melted, stirring constantly. Add meatballs and stir until coated. Simmer 30 minutes. Serve hot in chafing dish.

Layered Crab Taco Dip – about 5 ¾ cups of dip (which is about right)
My Auntie Mare gave me the book containing this dip years ago. I put it away waiting for the right occasion to use it and here it is! Thanks, Auntie Mare!

2 cans (6 ounces each) lump crabmeat, drained
2 green onion, minced
½ cup diced cucumber
½ cup diced red onion
1 medium tomato, finely chopped
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
¼ cup lime juice
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup orange juice
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
¼ cup mayonnaise
1 avocado, peeled, seeded, and diced
Tortilla chips to serve

Because this makes so much, I recommend skipping the cream cheese and just putting the dip in a bowl to be served with the taco chips. I also recommend skipping the red onion. I diced it as small as I could but at the end of the day, the flavor still can be a little harsh. But by all means, add the avocado!

In a glass bowl, combine crabmeat, green onions, cucumber, red onion, tomato, and parsley. In a small bowl, combines juices. Stir into crab mixture. Salt and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight.

Combine cream cheese and mayonnaise, blending well. Spread mixture over the bottom of a serving platter. Spread avocado over cream cheese mixture. Drain crab mixture, pressing out as much moisture as possible. Spread mixture over avocado. Serve with tortilla chips.

Martini Dip – Yield 8 servings (Nope. Try two-martini glasses full of dip-sized servings!)
As I mentioned above, this dip was the big hit. Martinis are my drink of choice and so I just happened to have all the olives I needed on hand along with the vermouth. And some gin although it wasn’t called for in this dip. I also have a set of what I call travel martini glasses—plastic glasses with a green stem with a martini olive “imbedded” in the middle. Naturally, I used these glasses to serve seeing as how the colors fit so well with the holiday. I also decided I’d best let people know there was booze in them there glasses and so I put up little food name tags on my table—one can’t be too careful!

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
½ cup mayonnaise
12 ounces vermouth-marinated chopped olives, drained

Combine the cream cheese, Worcestershire sauce and mayonnaise in a bowl and mix until smooth. Stir in the olives. Chill, covered, in the refrigerator until serving time. Excellent served with crackers or vegetables.

By the way, I highly recommend the Layered Asian Appetizer on p. 45 of this book. Yummy!


Roasted Sesame and Honey Snack Mix – 20 servings of ½ cup each
3 cups Chex cereal (any variety)
3 cups checkerboard-shaped pretzels
3 cups sesame sticks
1 cup mixed nuts
¼ cup honey
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
2 tablespoons sesame seed, toasted, if desired

Heat oven to 275F. Mix cereal, pretzels, sesame sticks and nuts in ungreased jelly roll pan, 15 ½ x 10 ½ x 1 inch.

Mix remaining ingredients. Pour over cereal mixture, stirring until evenly coated.

Bake 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Spread on waxed paper; cool. Store in airtight container up to 1 week.

Holiday Fruitcake Cookies – makes 8 dozen (and that’s about right)
Call me sentimental but my mom used to make cookies like these when I was growing up and I loved them. But then again, we are fruitcake people. There wasn’t a time that I don’t remember Jane Parker Fruitcake being on the table. We love Jane Parker. Jane Parker is an A&P store brand but we don’t have an A&P store in my hometown anymore so my sister-in-law has had to find other (black market) sources! Kidding. A few years ago, though, we did have trouble sourcing the stuff but I just looked up A&P online and it said “Click to order your holiday Fruitcake online.” I tell you what, folks the holidays are a great thing.

Anyway, when a friend gave me the FARM Journal cookbook for my collection, it just happened to fall open to the cookie page (I took this as a sign) and decided right then and there (this was October) that this was going on the party list.

Now mind you, I didn’t tell anyone that these were fruitcake cookies because you either like fruitcake or you don’t (and most don’t) but they were still eaten and I didn’t find any balled up napkins after the fact with the remains of the day so I think we’re good. Still, the recipe does make a bazillion cookies so I hope you really do like fruitcake if you make them!

4 c. sifted flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 c. shortening
2 c. brown sugar, packed
2 eggs, beaten
2/3 c. thick sour milk or buttermilk
1 c. chopped pecans
1 c. candied cherries, cut in quarter
2 c. dates, cut up
2 (4 oz.) cans candied fruits and peels (1 c.) Note: I just bought a container of cut up fruitcake fruit and called it a day. Do they even make cans anymore?
Red or green candied cherries for top (optional)

Sift together flour, soda and salt
Cream shortening; add sugar and eggs; beat until light and fluffy.
Add sour milk and flour; then fold in nuts, cherries, dates and candied fruit.
Chill the dough.
Drop teaspoonfuls about 2” apart, on lightly greased baking sheet. Top each with a cherry half if desired.
Bake in a moderate oven (375) 8 to 10 minutes. Makes 8 dozen.

Note: these were slightly on the sweet side although they probably always were and I had just forgotten!

By the way, I just have to put in a plug for one of my favorite organizations, Arc Greater Twin Cities. Arc runs four Value Village Thrift Stores in the Twin Cities metropolitan area and every year starting in November, features a Merry Thriftmas boutique. This year I scored 3 holiday tablecloths, 11 holiday platters, 9 holiday party bowls and assorted table decorations all for about $50. To be fair, as a member of Arc Greater Twin Cities, I do get a 20% discount, but folks, probably the most expensive thing I bought came to $3.95. Most platters and bowls ranged from $.99 to $2.99. Can you say bargain?! To add to the fun, I bought a beautiful top in red silk and black velvet for...are you ready...$7.95. So if you live in the area and are looking for holiday items for your own holiday party,run, do not walk, to your nearest VV Store! Store locations and hours can be found at: http://www.arcsvaluevillage.org/

"Better Homes and Gardens Junior Cookbook" - Little Meat Loaves

Date I made this recipe: December 27, 2008

Better Homes and Gardens Junior Cookbook by Better Homes and Gardens Magazine/Meredith Publishing Company
Published by: Meredith Publishing Company
© 1955
Recipe: Little Meat Loaves – p. 146-147

People, in my world, there is no better accompaniment to (leftover) mashed potatoes and peas than meatloaf—well, except for the beef tenderloins my husband made to accompany these sides for our Christmas dinner. Since tenderloin is expensive, I didn’t want to purchase another round and so out came the Better Homes and Garden Junior Cookbook.

The thing that I love about these “junior” cookbooks is how basic they are; the thing I oftentimes hate about these “junior” cookbooks is how basic they are; not much of anything spicy goes into these meals but in this case, that was just fine by me. These are really easy to make (4 steps and you are done!) and very bite size—just right for the “junior” palate!

Little Meat Loaves – Makes about 8 servings
2/3 cup dry bread crumbs
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1 ½ pounds ground beef
¼ cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon sage (oh- we have a spice!!)
Dash pepper

Set oven at 350. Do you have a serving platter ready? (This is not my note but rather the author’s!). Grease muffin cups lightly.

Put crumbs in a large bowl. Add milk. Beat eggs in small bowl. Stir into milk mixture.

Add the rest of the ingredients. Mix them together well with a spoon.

Place in muffin cups. Round off tops. Bake 45 minutes. Makes about 8 servings.

"Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book" & "The Take Good Care of My Son Cookbook for Brides" - Swiss Steak and Parsleyed Potatoes

Date I made these recipes: May 4, 2008

Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book
Published by Meredith Corporation
© 1941, 1951
Recipe: Swiss Steak – Chapter 14, page 7

The Take Good Care of My Son Cookbook for Brides by June Roth
Published by: An Essandess Special Edition
© 1969
Parsleyed Potatoes – p. 106

Had my mom been alive, today would have been my parent’s 51st wedding anniversary and trying to find a recipe or two to acknowledge that just eluded me until the last minute. I pulled several off the shelf before I hit on my selection criteria: What Would Mom Make? (WWMM?) This helped eliminate wonderful-sounding dishes that would have never seen the light of day in our household—chicken breasts with wild mushrooms, fancy pastas, shrimp dishes—the list goes on and on. And that’s how I came to settle upon Swiss Steak and Parsleyed Potatoes.

I have two copies of Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, this one, published in 1941 and then reprinted again in 1951 and the other was one I blogged about a few weeks ago. The older version is a little worse for the wear but the recipes are pretty similar to the ones in my mom’s copy that she received when she got married on May 4, 1957. The Swiss Steak recipe that I selected is pretty similar to my mother’s so that was an easy choice.

While contemplating my next move, I noticed The Take Good Care of My Son Cookbook for Brides on my shelf and in it, the accompaniment to the Swiss Steak—Parsleyed Potatoes. My mother made these potatoes for so many dinners I lost count but particularly with liver and onions. (If you must, please take a moment to go “ew.”)

This recipe didn’t quite hit the mark as it called for 2 teaspoons of lemon juice, something I don’t think my mother ever added and I didn’t like the flavor at all. If memory serves, mom boiled some potatoes, added sautéed onion and then the parsley although I could be wrong. You would think that something as simple as this recipe would be easily remembered but you would be wrong and now I lost my opportunity to ask her. The moral of this story is to never take the easiest recipes for granted—get it in writing!

Both of these dishes are really easy to make, something my mother appreciated. She cooked great meals for us that primarily consisted of meat, potatoes and a vegetable and utilized her pressure cooker to the nth degree. She almost never made a casserole, even at the height of that craze, and canned vegetables weren’t too prevalent, either, given the fact that we had a huge garden. Sometimes folks, simple pleasures are the best.


Swiss Steak – Serves 6
2 pounds round or chuck steak
½ cup flour
2 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons fat
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup canned tomatoes

Have steak cut 1 ½ to 2 inches thick. Mix flour, salt and pepper; thoroughly pound into steak. (Note: how does one “thoroughly pound” flour into steak? I coated the steak…then pounded the steak…but don’t believe I thoroughly pounded the steak!)

Brown the meat and onion in hot fat; add tomatoes. Cover; cook over low heat or bake in a moderate oven (350) until tender, about 1 ½ hours.

Parsleyed Potatoes – Serves either 2 or 3 or 4 to 6
To serve 2 or 3
¾ pound tiny new potatoes
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons minced parsley
1 teaspoon lemon juice

To serve 4 to 6
1 ½ pounds tiny new potatoes
¼ cup butter
¼ cup minced parsley
2 teaspoons lemon juice

Wash potatoes, leaving them whole with skins intact. Place them in a saucepan, cover with salted water, and boil for about 15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.

In a small saucepan, melt butter; remove from heat and stir in parsley and lemon juice. Pour into a small deep serving dish. Peel potatoes quickly and place in lemon-butter sauce. Roll potatoes in sauce with a spoon until well coated. Serve at once.

Note: If I were to make this again, I’d peel the potatoes before boiling as it is much easier and saves you from burning your hands!

"Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook" & "Favorite Recipes - Munising Memorial Hospital Auxiliary" - Porcupine Meatballs and Coconut Honey Dessert

Date I made these recipes: March 4, 2008

Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book by the Test Kitchen of Better Homes and Garden
Published by: Meredith Corporation
© 1976
Recipe: Porcupine Meatballs – p. 42 (Chapter 2 – Barbecues and easy meals)

Favorite Recipes – Munising Memorial Hospital Auxiliary by members of the Munising Memorial Hospital Auxiliary
Published by: General Publishing and Binding, Iowa Falls, Iowa
© 1986
Recipe: Coconut Honey Dessert (submitted by Rose Marie Verme - my mom!) – p. 51

So you’ll notice it’s been a while since I posted a blog entry. I had every intention of doing something for Oscar night in late February but I couldn’t commit to any recipe from all my cookbooks. And so like most people, I thought “Well, next week.”

Well, Thursday of the following week rolled around and I got a phone call that changed my life. My mother had suffered a massive stroke and was not going to make it. Of course, she and my father lived in a small town in Michigan’s U.P. and that’s an eight-hour drive in the best of conditions. My husband and I made it as far as Wausau, WI that night (in a snowstorm) and made it to the hospital in Marquette, Michigan the next day. It was the longest trip of my life.

Sad to say, mom passed away on March 2nd. We were up at my dad’s for so long that every morning since we arrived back in our own home, I’ve awakened totally disoriented with my surroundings. It will take a while to adjust to the loss.

One thing I am not at a loss for, however, is my cookbooks, now totaling over 900 and I have my mother to thank for that. My mom gave me my very first cookbook, the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook, when I moved into an apartment with three other women during my junior year at college. We cooked a lot that year and on Thanksgiving, we did an elaborate turkey dinner with all the fixings as noted on the “menu” you can see hanging on our refrigerator in the background of our group photo.

Cooking, however, did not always come naturally to my mom as she was the youngest of seven children in a house that contained a phenomenal cook – her mother, Mary Wollner Barr. What my grandma did with a pot roast is legendary and her wild mushroom soup (dried herbs and mushrooms were constantly hanging in the basement) was out of this world although it was the stinkiest soup on the planet. When a bunch of us cousins rode shotgun back to grandma’s to pick up the soup one year for Christmas, it being forgotten in the rush and all, we made one of my uncles who volunteered for this mission, drive with the windows down (in the middle of winter) until the soup was safely delivered unto the adults who were eagerly awaiting its triumphant return to the table. We were grateful that grandma’s other specialty, poppy seed nuts rolls (we called them Kolache rolls) were far less…fragrant!

But my mom needed a little help and so one of the gifts from her wedding in 1957 was the Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book—no “new” needed at that time. And she cooked from that book for the rest of her life. I am grateful that she had the wherewithal to give me the “new” version so that my roommates and I could eat high off the hog.

Mom also had help from my dad who liked to hunt and often brought home game birds and wild animals for mom to cook. He gave her some hints on how to prepare things but she pretty much figured things out on her own. Although mom hardly ever used cream of anything soup in our house, she managed to doctor up some wild birds with a can of cream of mushroom soup and for that I am eternally grateful.

Mom also became a pressure-cooker cook long before pressure cookers were in vogue. She always made beef stew and porcupine meatballs in the pressure cooker and both meals were quick and delicious. I made my porcupine meatballs the old-fashioned way in a skillet, on top of the stove, and it was good but not as moist as mom’s. By the way, one of the charities we are contributing to in memory of my mom is Susan G. Komen for the Cure. My mom was a 22-year, almost 23, breast cancer survivor. Wouldn’t you know, the can of Campbell’s Tomato Soup I used to make the meatball sauce had a pink and white label on it with the breast cancer ribbon logo. Campbell’s is donating a portion of the proceeds to fight cancer. I feel the hand of my mom in this one!

Mom’s only kitchen “misstep” if you will, and it was hilarious, was that after returning home from her honeymoon trip – three weeks in the southwest – she made my first-generation Sicilian father Chef Boyardee spaghetti. To this day, we think that is just one hilarious story. Although my grandma Verme lived a thousand miles away in New Jersey, she managed to teach my mom how to make really good sauce that could give many a chef, not just Boyardee, a run for his (or her) money.

In addition to cooking, cleaning and otherwise keeping a happy home, my mom was a member and former president of the Munising (Michigan) Memorial Hospital Auxiliary, authors of the second cookbook showcased in this week’s blog. The recipe I selected, Coconut Honey Dessert, was actually prompted by two of the Verme cousins who came to her funeral. They included a honey bear jar in the flowers they sent because my mother always called them (and everyone else) “honey.” She called me “sweetie” so I guess I had some kind of pull. This dish is just so representative of my mom – sugar and spice and everything nice. I hope you like it and the meatballs. They’re both comfort food at its best at a time when I need some comforting.

As a final note, inside the auxiliary cookbook that she gave to me in 1986, there’s a post-it note: “Hi Sweetie, Hope you’ll enjoy using some of these recipes. Love you, Mom”

I do indeed, mom, I do indeed.

Porcupine Meatballs – Makes 4 or 5 servings
1 pound ground beef
¼ cup uncooked long-grain rice
1 slightly beaten egg
1 tablespoon snipped parsley
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
½ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 10 3/4 –ounce can condensed tomato soup
½ cup water
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Combine meat, rice, egg, parsley, onion, salt, pepper and ¼ cup condensed tomato soup. Mix thoroughly; shape in about 20 small balls and place in skillet. Mix remaining soup, water and Worcestershire sauce; pour over meatballs. Bring to boil; reduce heat; cover and simmer 35 to 40 minutes, stirring often.

Note: I don’t know why, but we always served these with mashed potatoes.

Coconut Honey Dessert – no serving size noted
¼ cup margarine or butter
1 c. coconut
1 ½ c. graham cracker crumbs
1 c. evaporated milk
1 c. boiling water
1 pkg. lemon Jell-O
½ c. honey
2 T. lemon juice

Melt butter or margarine, add coconut and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is golden. Mix in graham cracker crumbs (I used a Cuisinart to pulverize my graham crackers) and press the mixture onto the bottom of an 8 inch square pan. Put evaporated milk in the refrigerator to chill. Pour boiling water over Jell-O and stir until dissolved. Add honey and lemon juice and cool in refrigerator until thick as raw egg whites (Note: about 40 minutes). Beat the chilled evaporated milk until it holds a shape. Then fold gently into the Jell-O mixture. Spoon over crumbs and chill until firm.

"The Art of the Hamburger" & "Better Homes and Gardens Salad Book" - Tucson Turkey Burgers with Tomato Coleslaw

Date I made these recipes: Monday, May 28, 2007 – Memorial Day

The Art of the Hamburger by Elizabeth Wolf-Cohen
Published by: Chartwell Books, Inc.
ISBN 0-7858-0704-7
© 1996
Recipe: Tucson Turkey Burgers – p. 57



Better Homes and Gardens Salad Book
Published by: Meredith Press
© 1969
Recipe: Tomato Coleslaw – p. 66

Is there a better way to kick off the summer season than to grill a burger? I think not.

As we approached the Memorial Day weekend, I pulled out all my grilling, picnic and summer salad cooks and chose the two recipes listed above. Finding a burger that struck my fancy proved to be too difficult so I threw the task over to my husband (our grillmaster) who selected the Tucson Turkey Burgers.

And then there was the salad selection. I was just hell bent on cooking from one of my salad cookbooks and was pretty bent on coleslaw but the initial recipe I selected just didn’t do it for me as it had celery seed and I didn’t see that going with tomato salsa. So I put the book aside for a while and when it was time to make the grocery list, I flipped open the book to the page with the recipe I was thinking of making, saw the recipe for Tomato Coleslaw and decided that was a much better fit for the turkey burgers.

Both recipes are really easy although my husband cautions that the burgers don’t do well on the grill because the meat is too loose and the burgers wanted to slide through the grill grates. Part of the reason may have been the salsa we selected. We’re very partial to Salsa Lisa – http://www.salsalisa.com/ - a locally-produced fresh salsa available in the refrigeration department of many grocery stores—hopefully, one near you! Even “drained,” the salsa didn’t have that goopy consistency that other commercial brands do so perhaps that’s why the burgers didn’t bind together too well. He managed to get the burgers grilled but the next time around, I think we’ll use a fry pan. (Under no circumstances are we changing out the salsa. That would be a sacrilege!)

Tucson Turkey Burgers (with Salsa) – Serves 4
1 ½ pounds ground turkey
¾ cup good-quality commercial brand of tomato-chili salsa, well drained
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt
1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted, and thinly sliced
½ cup grated cheddar or Monteray Jack cheese
Lettuce leaves
4 burger buns, split and toasted
Extra tomato-chili salsa, to serve

Tomato Coleslaw – serves 6 to 8
2 cups shredded cabbage
18 cherry tomatoes, halved
¼ cup diced cucumber
2 teaspoons minced onion
¼ cup mayonnaise/salad dressing
2 tablespoons French salad dressing
1 ½ teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
Dash pepper

Combine the cabbage, tomatoes, cucumber and mixed onion. Chill. Blend together the mayonnaise, French salad dressing, lemon juice, sugar, salt and pepper and chill. Just before serving, toss mayonnaise mixture lightly with cabbage mixture.