Chicken Salad

Salad:

• 3 chicken breasts, cooked and diced
• 1 cup celery, diced
• one-fourth cup green pepper, diced
• 2 tsp. sweet onion, chopped fine
• two-third cup walnuts, chopped
• 2 cups seedless grapes, cut in half OR 1 cup dried cranberries (Craisins)

Dressing:

• one-fourth cup half and half cream
• 1 tsp. salt
• pepper to taste
• 2 Tablespoons white vinegar
• two-thirds cup Miracle Whip or mayonnaise

Serve over a bed of lettuce or in a hollowed out cantaloupe half. It is also very good in a bun or croissant.

Orange Blossom Punch

• 2 cans frozen orange juice
• 1 can frozen lemonade
• 3 cans water
• 2 bottles of champagne or ginger ale
• 1 quart of orange sherbet

Mix the juice, lemonade and water in a pitcher and chill. At serving time pour the mixture into a punch bowl. Add the champagne or ginger ale. Scoop the sherbet on top of the punch. The sherbet helps to create a frothy summer drink. Delicious!

Judi, from the Green Mountains of Vermont

Fudge Sandwich Bars

• 1 1/2 cups butterscotch chips
• 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 6 cups Rice Krispies
• 1 12oz bag milk chocolate chips

Melt butterscotch chips in large bowl (2 minutes) in microwave. Stir in peanut butter until smooth. Add Rice Krispies. Spread half of mixture in 9" x 13" pan and refrigerate 15-30 minutes. Remove from refrigerator and melt chocolate chips. You can melt them in the microwave also, starting at 2 minutes and then 30 seconds as needed until melted. Stir the melted chips until smooth and spread over cereal mixture. Top with remaining cereal mixture.

Brownie Bribes with Kisses

We constantly joke around here about the need to have chocolate to keep us under control. Gwen works at Nordic Needle in bookkeeping. She loves to bake, but has willpower not to eat many of the things she bakes. To solve the "overstock" problem when she bakes, Gwen brings them to work to share!!! One of our favorites is a little brownie with a chocolate kiss on top. Plus, Gwen says it is one of the easiest goodies to make. They didn’t have an official name until this week, and we thought this said it all…..Brownie Bribes with Kisses!

• Prepare two boxes of brownie mix (9" x13" size) as shown on the box. Gwen prefers the Betty Crocker brownie mix.
• Refrigerate the dough for approximately 2 hours so it thickens.
• Grease mini muffin pans and fill with 1 tablespoon of brownie mix. Bake for 13-15 minutes.
• Place a Hershey’s kiss on top of each brownie immediately out of the oven. Press down slightly into the dough.
• Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove and let cool until the kiss hardens.
• Store in an air tight container. I bet they would freeze well, but there are never leftovers to experiment with!!!

Swedish Lace Cookies

• 1 c. sugar*
• 1/4 c. PLUS 2 tbsp. cream
• 1/4 c. dark corn syrup
• 1 stick butter (or margarine), softened
• 1 c. rolled oatmeal
• 1 c. flour
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder

*Healthy Option: unrefined sugar (Sucanat or Rapadura)

Mix all ingredients together. Drop by teaspoonfuls on a greased cookie sheet about 4" apart because they will spread out. Bake only one sheet at a time at 325 degrees until golden brown, 5-8 minutes. Be sure to watch the batch because they will burn easily. Cool on the baking sheet for a couple of minutes then carefully remove. Some people leave them flat, while others will drape them over a rolling pin or broom handle. If they harden too much before you try to remove them from the pan, you can put them back in the oven for a few seconds to soften them up.