HONEY PICANTE CHICKEN WINGS

2 T. grated ginger
1 t. grated orange peel
3/4 c. picante sauce
2/3 c. honey
1/3 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. Dijon mustard
2 T. vegetable oil
3 lbs. chicken wings

Combine all ingredients and marinate in refrigerator for several hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Drain marinade; reserve. Place wings in foil-lined jelly-roll pan. Pour reserved marinade evenly over wings. Bake 40 to 45 minutes until brown.

Happy Valley Cherry Cake

Serves/Makes: 18 Ready In: 1-2 hrs

Ingredients:
1 package plain lemon cake mix (18.25 ounce size)
8 tablespoons butter -- melted
1 cup whole milk
3 large eggs
1 can pitted tart red cherries packed in water (14 1/2 ounce size)
6 tablespoons cherry juice (reserved after draining cherries)
1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon almond extract

Directions:
Lightly mist a 13-by-9-inch baking pan with vegetable oil spray. Set pan aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place cake mix, melted butter, milk and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed 1 minute. Stop machine and scrape down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula.

Increase mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping sides down if needed. The batter should look thick and well blended.

Pour batter into prepared pan, smoothing it out with spatula. Drain cherries, reserving water, and place them on top of batter, spacing them out in pan. Place pan on middle rack of preheated oven.

Bake cake until it is golden brown and springs back when lightly pressed with your finger, 43 to 45 minutes. Remove pan from oven and place on wire rack to cool while you prepare the sauce.

For cherry sauce, place reserved cherry juice, water, lemon juice, sugar, cornstarch and almond extract in a saucepan over low heat, whisking constantly, until mixture comes to a boil and thickens, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove pan from heat.

Cut cake into squares and use a metal spatula to flip them out onto serving plates, upside down. Pour cherry sauce over squares and serve.

(Store cake without sauce, covered in plastic wrap or aluminum foil, at room temperature for up to three days or in the refrigerator for up to one week. Prepare cherry sauce right before serving.)

Sue

Mixed Vegetable Salad
This colourful and crunchy salad is great with grilled meats or fish. It is best served the same day.

1/2 cucumber, cubed
1 red, yellow or orange sweet pepper, cut into chunks
1 carrot, thinly sliced
1 stalk celery, sliced
1/2 small sweet white onion, cut into chunks
1 cup Bocconcini cheese (optional)
2 tomatoes, cut into thick wedges

Dressing
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
3 tbsp prepared basil pesto
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped parsley
salt and pepper

In large bowl, combine the veggies. In a small bowl combine dressing ingredients, add to salad and toss gently. Chill 1 hour to blend flavours.

These are refrigerator pickles and they're really good. I have a batch of cukes in the fridge for this recipe. I'm glad I pulled this recipe up this morning since I forgot to buy the dill. I usually slice them so they can be used on burgers and sandwiches.

Easy Dill Pickles

1 teaspoon yellow mustard seed
1 teaspoon fennel seed
2 ¼ cups water
1 ¾ cups white vinegar
¼ cup sugar
5 garlic cloves, smashed
1 tablespoon salt I used pickling salt
8 kirby cucumbers, quartered lengthwise into spears
1 cup chopped fresh dill I didn't have that much

1. Toast the mustard and fennel seeds in a large saucepan over medium heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in the water, vinegar, sugar, garlic and salt and simmer for 10 minutes.
2. Combine the hot brine, cucumbers, and dill in a large bowl and let cool to room temperature, about 1 hour.
3. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled and flavorful, about 10 hours. Drain well before serving.

The pickles can be refrigerated in their liquid, in an airtight container, for up to 2 weeks.

Watermelon salad

3/4 cup halved, thinly sliced red onion
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 1/2 quarts seeded, cubed watermelon
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup pitted black olive halves
1 cup chopped fresh mint
2 tablespoons olive oil
Directions
Place the onion slices in a small bowl with the lime juice. The acid of the lime will mellow the flavor of the raw onion. Let stand for 10 minutes.
In a large bowl, combine the watermelon cubes, feta cheese, black olives, onions with the lime juice, and mint. Drizzle olive oil over it all, and toss to blend.

This is good to stuff tomatoes, too.

TARRAGON CHICKEN SALAD

3 pounds boneless chicken breasts, COOKED
1/2 cups plain yogurt
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 celery ribs, cut into 1 inch long pencil strips
1/2 cup shelled walnuts
3 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon, or 1 tablespoon dried
Salt and pepper to taste

Whisk together yogurt, mayo and tarragon. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Shred cooked chicken or cut into cubes. Mix with celery and walnuts and mix into the dressing. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Use fresh tarragon, if possible.

Sorry. The only recipes I am able to provide are the ones I found when I did a Search to find out what paula's "kirby cucumbers" were. Thanks to all those who have provided recipes by the way.

There are an amazing list of recipes on the left of the page given below.

(Kirby cukes? That is now a generic name for small cucumbers which are mostly used for pickling.)

Here is a link that might be useful: Recipe List