Potato Salad (Sous Vide)

I love good potato salad, and I’ve made batch after batch in pursuit of duplicating the best I’ve made (a few of which were the one’s made by a friend- Aaron DiGeorge,) and have regularly come up disappointed.   The secret is in cooking the potatoes.  I’ve tried roasted, boiled whole (no), boiled diced, etc.. and […]

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Pink Lemonade Cookies

HISTORY Every year at Coors, when I was there, we had a cookie exchange.  Since I organized the exchange, I always made sure I got some of these.  They are delicious.  This was Statia Shelton’s recipe. INGREDIENTS 1 Cup butter 3 Cups flour 1 Cup sugar 1 Tsp baking soda 2 eggs 1 6 oz […]

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Caramel and Chocolate Covered Pretzels

HISTORY Here’s a brief history of Toni and Byron’s Chocolate-Caramel Covered Pretzels. Toni saw a packaged Chocolate-Caramel covered pretzels in a catalog from Sundance. I usually try to intercept and destroy this catalog before Toni sees it, but this time she did get to see it. Toni felt these would be easy to make and […]

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Easy Lemon Cake

HISTORY While working at Coors Brewing Co., the company sponsored a wellness class. The class included great info on getting in shape- but the highlight was this “semi-healthy” version of Lemon cake that is just flat out better than any lemon cake I’ve had.  The glaze makes it.  Don’t use reconstituted or plastic lemon lemon […]

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Mark Henry’s Never Fail Brisket

Mark Henry’s Never Fail Brisket This recipe makes creative use of a stove to finish your smoking job. Much easier to prepare several in advance this way. Pull one out, drop in a nice temperature controlled stove for another 14 hours- and presto. This never fails to get rave reviews.  (Taken right off the web. […]

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O’Connor Salmon Cakes

O’Connor Salmon Cakes An awesome salmon cake recipe from our neighbors- Kay and R.J..  (Note: We never say R.J. and Kay which just doesn’t have the same alliteration.) INGREDIENTS 1/3 cup fresh parsley leaflets 4 green onions or 3 shallots finely chopped 3 cups fine fresh bread crumbs 2 eggs 2 tbs unsalted butter 1 […]

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Wendell Janssen’s #1 Green Chili

Wendell Janssen’s #1 Green Chili This recipe came from a chili cookoff we held at the USDA when I worked there. Wendell’s chili was the hands down winner in the green chili category. Ingredients 1 Pork Roast (boneless or something easy to cup up about 3 lbs…) green chilies ( one large can 28oz) jalapenos […]

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Tony Crooks #1 Gila River Red Chili

This chili won 1st prize in a chili cookoff when I was working at the USDA. And it was good! I later made it for Toni’s (my wife) family while winter camping. They promptly declared it, “The best they ever had.” Shortly thereafter, the recipe disappeared. For years, I tried in vain to duplicate the […]

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Pot O’ Gold Stew

Pot O’ Gold Stew IT IS THE BEST DAMN STEW YOU COULD EVER HAVE! Gosh its rib sticking good. From the most bizarre source… (Maxim Magazine…) We turn the humble stew into the closest thing to happiness this sorry planet can offer.  Maxim, Jul 2000 Warning: This beef-and-vegetable stew is not a one-pot recipe, and […]

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Creamy Triple Mushroom Bisque with Turkey

CREAMY TRIPLE MUSHROOM BISQUE WITH TURKEY Assorted wild mushrooms can be substituted for either the shitake or portobello. INGREDIENTS Cooking spray 1 (3-ounce) package shitake mushrooms, quartered 1 (6-ounce) package presliced portobello mushrooms, halved 1 (8-ounce) package button mushrooms, quartered 2 1/2cups chopped cooked dark-meat turkey (about 12 ounces) ¼ cup dry red wine 1 […]

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