Vacation Cooking

This post should have been titled “a whole bunch of tasty recipes”.  I can’t do a Menu Planning Monday post this week, because we were on vacation last week in Pawleys Island, South Carolina.  Instead of a menu plan I want to share a few delicious recipes (and some tantalizing pictures) with you.  We feasted like kings all week long.  We had so many people contributing so many epicurean delights.  And we even had a dessert contest exhibition.

Enjoy the photos, try not to drool on your keyboard and be sure to try the recipes!

Vacation Cooking ::

Pizza Night :: The first night at the beach we had pizzas made by my cousin Taylor…they were all so darn good.  This pizza was shrimptastic.  I’m not sure how he made it, but i fell in love with it.  Pizza night was fun because Taylor got everyone involved in the kitchen and he put together some amazing combinations of ingredients and just kept popping those pies out of the oven.  We were very well fed that night!Summer Fruit Pie :: Aunt Sandra makes the most amazing Summer Fruit Pies, and she was kind enough to share the recipe with my readers….

1 Baked Pie Crust – Pillsbury Best

3/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons corn starch

1-1/2 cups of water

1 small package of red Jello-O (raspberry best)

1-cup raspberries

1-cup strawberries, sliced

1-cup blueberries

Put water, sugar and cornstarch together in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat stirring so cornstarch does not get lumpy.  When it comes to a boil, boil together for one minute, stirring constantly, add jello and remove from heat and stir completely to dissolve.  Allow to cool to room temperature.  Add fruit to mixture (I don a surgical glove to mix gently adding raspberries last and maybe save some of the best to roll into mix on top).

Veronica’s “Better than Sex” cake...it was worth every single calorie.  Sinfully delicious!  I forgot to take a picture of it until it was dug into by everyone, so forgive the rather messy looking cake.

Mama’s Fudge, which is usually only a holiday dessert, but we were gifted with a rare mid-year treat.  It’s always a favorite.  And the recipe is a closely guarded family secret, so you’ll just have to dream about it’s deliciousness.

Aunt Mary’s Eclair Cake.  It looks so simple in this picture, but really it was a delicious, layered masterpiece that took her hours to create.

Winter Wheat Berry Salad: I asked my cousin Laura to bring fruit for dinner one night, and she came up with this awesome twist…not your typical fruit salad, not even close.  This Winter Wheat Berry Salad from the Kentucky Fresh Cookbook was unlike anything I’ve had before and I loved it  (and for the record, there was fruit in there!).

Source: Cook’s Country

Serves 8

2-9 inch pie dough rounds (I use Pillsbury roll outs)

2 lbs beefsteak tomatoes (abt. 4 large) cored and cut into 3/4 inch slices

1/2 teas. salt

1/3 cup mayo

4 teas. cornstarch

1-1/2 shredded sharp cheddar cheese

4 scallions, sliced thin

Roll dough and transfer to pie plate, letting excess hang over edge. Cover with plastic and refrigerate 30 minutes. Roll 2nd round into 12 inch circle and refrigerate for 30 minutes. I put it into towel and roll.

Arrange tomatoes on several paper towels-lined baking sheet and sprinkle with salt. Let drain 30 mins, then press tomatoes with additional paper towels until very dry.

Adjust over rack to lowest position, place empty rimmed baking sheet on rack, and heat oven to 450 degrees. Mix mayo, cornstarch and 1 cup cheese in bowl till combined. Sprinkle remaining cheese over bottom of dough-lined pie plate.

Arrange third of tomatoes over cheese. Spread half of mayo mixture over tomatoes and sprinkle with half of scallions. Layer with another third of tomatoes, remaining mayo, mixture and remaining scallions, then top with remaining tomatoes.

Arrange top crust on pie. Press crusts together, then trim, fold, and crimp edges.

Cut four 2 by 1 inch oval vent holes in top. Place pie on heated baking sheet, bake for 10 minutes, then lover oven temp to 325 degrees and bake until crust is golden brown, abt. 40 mins. Cool on wire rack at least 3 hours. Serve at room temp.Snacks and Such ::

And then there were the snacks.  I mentioned a few that I made in my post last Monday, but there were so many more fun snacks all week long.  My cousin Laura made salsa with corn, black beans, tomatoes, cilantro, lime juice, garlic and red onion.  And Aunt Sandra made this fantastic guacamole:

Ingredients:

3 Haas Avocados, halved, seeded, I like to cut in half, squeeze and the use large spoon to clean out

1 lime, juiced

1/2 teas. kosher salt

2 Roma or regular tomatoes, seeded and diced

1/2 med. onion, diced fine

1 serrano pepper, sliced, seeded carefully w/spoon. Wash hands right away. This is a hot pepper. Chop very fine.

1 Tbs. cilantro (optional)

Directions:

In large bowel place scoop avocado pulp. I mash avocado with a fork b/c I like to keep some chunks. Save a seed to put in your dip to keep from turning dark.  Cut each tomato in quarters and seed with your fingers by running along the inside.  Add finely chopped onion and serrano pepper. Again, make sure you wash hands.  Toss in lime juice to taste; salt.  If you want add cilantro. Let sit at room temperature for 1 hour then serve.Despite all of the mouthwatering good food, some of us just sat on the counter and ate potato chips…