Talk ~n~ Tour

Venison and Jalapeño-Jack Queso over tostada shells

This is probably the recipe I am most proud of at this time. I got everything at the food bank except the cream that I melted the cheese into, so I spent probably less than $5 for the tour and fed the office staff too! I was fortunate that the Food Bank also had these tostada shells the morning I went shopping. Most of the shells were broken, but we got enough unbroken ones that our small Talk ~n~ Tour guests each had a pretty plate. I originally planned to make a side salsa but WalMart's home office had a computer outage that left WalMart unable to take credit cards or allow tax-exempt purchases! So we got off cheap this meal due to the inconvenience.

Meat

1 lb Venison 

splash Bloody Mary mix (leftover from the gazpacho for another tour)

1 small onion

splash Tabasco

Place all in a sauté pan and sauté! Once the onions are translucent and the meat is starting to brown, you can stop stirring and let it simmer for a while, at least until the Bloody Mary mix has cooked into the meat. Set aside or let simmer until you can mix it with the cheese. 

Cheese Dip

Half a block of Jalapeño-Jack cheese 

some cream or milk

Heat cream or milk in crock pot. Chop cheese and add to crock pot. When cheese is melted, turn down to low and add meat. Allow to simmer on low till you serve. Serve hot! 

You can ladle the cheese dip over tostada shells, make nachos, or spread on a soft shell, fold in half, and viola! you have a quesadilla! Since all the basic ingredients are available at our Food Bank, and there is usually a selection of wraps, shells and chips, this is sure to be a staple for our Talk ~n~ Tours!

Menu for September in Lead

Sunday Evening

~Arrive at 4~

~Feast begins at 6~

Dinner

Stuffed Turkey with gravy

Whipped potatoes

Sweet potato pie (a Southern Classic)

Green beans

Bread

Mac & cheese pie (another Southern staple)

Cranberry sauce

Wine if someone brings it
(holiday spirit; a tawny Port, spiced Rum or Brandy)

Desserts

Red Velvet Cake

New York Cheesecake

Southern Pecan Pie

~Monday~

Breakfast

Eggs

Sausage/bacon

cheese grits

milk

Lunch

leftovers as sandwiches

Dinner

Beef or Bison tenders over Gorgonzola Alfredo pasta

bread with herbed olive oil dip

wine if someone brings it
(full-bodied red; a mellow Rhone or spicy Cabernet)

Dessert

Cookies and a cave tour

~Tuesday~

Breakfast

French toast stuffed with fresh fruit

Homemade cocoa

Lunch

Sandwiches on English Muffins or bagels

Dinner

Crab Cakes with creamy lemon-caper sauce over Jasmine Rice

Calabasitas (stuffed zucchini)

Wine if someone brings it
(white or blush; Gewurztraminer or other German white)

~Wednesday~

~Checkout at 11am~

Breakfast

Whatever’s left over—let’s finish it up!

Coffee and Clean-up J

Talking Tour today

We fill our folders with a Needs/Wish list; list of Rapid City Programs; Volunteers of America, Dakotas brochures; current newsletter; business cards; and up-coming dates. Today for our Talking Tour, we served Gazpacho with tri-color chips and bottled water.

Morgan poses for the camera behind a row of gazpacho with chips and Nestle waters bottles

Gazpacho and Chips

Gazpacho
Garden tomatoes and plenty of'em (generously donated today by Eileen Leir)
2 zucchini
1 crooked neck yellow squash
1 medium white onion
1 bell pepper
1 c Bloody Mary mix (your choice of name brand but I suggest you read the ingredients to make sure it'll be flavorful)
salt & pepper
3-4 cloves roasted garlic, optional
fresh Basil, rough chopped


MOP:
Boil a pot of water large enough to fit two or three tomatoes at a time. The idea is to drop the tomato in boiling water for a minute or so, then remove to a bowl of ice water and the skin should just pop off. It doesn't always work just like that and it's fun to mash them with your fingers anyway. After you remove the skins in whatever manner you prefer, mash tomatoes in a mortar and pestle or a blender. I prefer the flavor of mortared tomatoes but there's something to be said for the simplicity of a blender, too.


I sauté the zucchini and squash till browned and then add to the tomato puree. Then simmer the onions over low heat until caramelized and browned. I like to add fresh cracked black pepper to the onions because peppered caramelized onions are very tasty, but you can add however you want really. Once the onions are the color I'm after, I slide the peppers on top. I just want to steam the peppers over the onions for a while, so I added the Bloody Mary mix to allow it to cook down as the peppers steamed.


Add the onions and peppers simmered in the BM mix to the tomatoes, zucchini and squash. Stir. Add garlic cloves if you're using them, then the chopped basil. If you used a mortar and pestle on the tomatoes, of course, you'd mash and grind the basil then, but if you pureed the tomatoes, just chop the basil. Don't puree the basil, please! 


I love cilantro, oregano, thyme and tarragon and occasionally add all those to the soup as well but didn't this time. I got the chips and water today from the Food Bank and got 8 servings for around $15 because I was able to use garden tomatoes. This is a great summer dish and should be served cold. Best if made a day ahead, and don't worry, there won't be any leftovers :) 

Job fair at Western Dakota Tech

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of visiting WDT during their student job fair to tell about volunteer opportunities at Volunteers of America, Dakotas as well as jobs with AmeriCorps.

Anti-bullying contracts in Sioux Falls schools!

Great things are happening in some Sioux Falls elementary schools! Students are signing anti-bullying contracts to help curb bullying and relational aggression. Bullying and relational aggression acts have many repercussions not only to the victim, but also toward the bully and bystanders.
Here's a link to the article and video: http://keloland.com/NewsDetail6162.cfm?Id=104692.

Why are those piles of wood in the forest surrounding Rushmore?

I have often wondered when riding around the area around Mount Rushmore why there are a bunch of piles of wood in the forest. It looks like the whole place is set for lots of fires. This article explains why they're there:

http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/news/article_10623362-bbbf-11df-b0d6-001cc4c002e0.html

Can you eat only local foods for a week?

I think I can. I can make cheese and yogurt and I have the equipment to grind my own flour. This article is about a contest I apparently missed but I think I'll try it out next year. I've got a pretty good grasp on local and organic foods, but it's difficult to shop at the Farmer's Market because they don't take my food stamps. Much of what I find at the Farmer's Market, though, is available at Breadroot, our little local grocery co-op. And at Breadroot, the nutrient-dense super-foods are typically within 'reach,' affordable, that is. Breadroot has a program called Reach that allows them to sell the most nutrient-dense foods in their inventory at cost, and they offer different foods on Reach every week, depending on the delivery.
So maybe, yeah, I could. But I don't know. In South Carolina, I'd say no problem but some foods are different here. In SC, though, I wouldn't be able to get local bison, that's for sure!

http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/lifestyles/article_11cb5b74-b7ab-11df-bd22-001cc4c03286.html