Sphere: Cool Summer Meals

Keep Cool Summer Meals

Sphere Magazine, August 1974

• Rice-Bean Medley Menu
• Rice-Bean Medley
• Cheese Triangles
• Relish Tray
• Choco Peanut Butter Freeze
• Iced Tea

• Cold Reuben Menu
• Cold Reuben Platter
• Spicy Rye Crisps
• Fresh Fruit Sundeas
• Beer Or Iced Coffee

• Tuna Salad Menu
• Tuna Salad Plate
• Marinated Vegetables
• Rolls & Butter
• Coffee-Peach Cream Pie
• Lemonade

Cold Reuben Menu

“When time is important and the heat has you beat, look to these three summer menus for a time saving, cool solution.”

Rice-Bean Medley Menu at top right. Tuna Salad Menu on bottom right. Cold Reuben Menu on left.

I like some of these recipes, just not necessarily together for one meal. I think rice, beans, sausage, cheese, peanut butter & chocolate for one menu would be a bit heavy.

Marinated Vegetables

Coffee-Peach Cream Pie, with a cinnamon-graham crust & a filling of marshmallow creme, coffee liqueur, whipping cream & fruit

Foxy's Gourmet: Butterscotch Appetizer

Create Your Own: Butterscotch Appetizers.Appetizer Mix

Creez Vos. Caramel Ecossais Mises En Bouche. Melange A Mises En Bouche

This month's butterscotch cravings prompted me to buy package of Foxy's Gourmet Butterscotch Appetizers on Amazon. It consists of one pouch of butterscotch powder and a recipe. When I purchased the mix, I mistakenly thought mini croissants were included.

The directions said to mix the powder with 1 1/2 blocks of cream cheese (12 ounces), pipe the mix into mini croissant rolls and dip the edges with cress. I'm not planning a party this week, so wasting two packages of cream cheese on myself was out of the question. I substituted the cream cheese with one 6 ounce cup of Liberte Mediterranee Coconut Yogurt (creamy coconut yogurt with coconut puree on the bottom of the cup). The result was what I'd dub "the dough for carrot cake cookies." I topped my new treat with  Honey Maid Grahamfuls (with the filling scraped off). So good! 

I don't know how the original recipe would've turned out. But hurray for stumbling onto new recipes!

Farm Rich Snack Slices

I grabbed these at Super Wal-Mart tonight for a little taste test:

Farm Rich Mini Stuffed Panini Slices
"Grilled flatbread with 100% real Mozzarella, Romano & Parmesan cheeses, all white meat chicken, crispy bacon, and a savory artichoke pesto sauce."

The panini slices basically look the same as the quesadillas on the outside. Both have grill marks and a light brown crust. The noticeable difference is the sprinkling of spices on top of the the paninis.

The crust of the paninis is crunchier than the quesadillas. It reminded me a bit of a soft pretzel. The spices on top were vaguely garlicky. I did not care for the mix of bacon and chicken; it was too many salty flavors at once. The amount of cheese was just right. I did not see any pesto sauce, even when I cut open a snack bite. There was just a pesto flavored aftertaste.

Farm Rich Mini Quesadilla Slices
"Thin authentic tortilla-style crust stuffed with a special blend of 100% real Mozzarella, Cheddar, & Monterrey Jack cheeses, grilled all white meat chicken, and a zesty tomatillo salsa."

The quesadillas had a soft, flaky crust. There was plenty of cheese and chicken. The slices had a small, delicious bite of heat from jalapenos, chili pepper and cayenne pepper. I did not taste any tomatillo salsa.

Overall, I liked the quesadillas better than the paninis. The mix of flavors in the quesadillas was less busy. Also, I found the quesadillas more appealing for dunking in a variety of sauces. The paninis weren't bad, just not as appealing to me as the quesadillas. I'm hoping Farm Rich will come out with more flavors soon.