Go Home Summer, You're Drunk (Cucumber Lime Yogurt Pops)

The fall equinox has come and gone and the weather hasn't gotten the message (I blame climate change). Facing a week of highs in the 90s I found myself completely in the mood to make popsicles. With a recipe note hyping the cooling properties of the cucumber lime yogurt pops I decided to give them a shot.
It's really easy to put everything in the blender then pour it into the molds. This stuff is also thick enough from the cucumber and Greek yogurt that the popsicle sticks stayed upright without effort.

Not Yet Frozen

The last time I attempted homemade popsicles was years ago and not successful, I remember having a horrible time trying (and failing) to get them out of the molds intact. The secret after some googling turns out to be running the molds under hot water for 10-15 seconds; this is not something mentioned in any of the recipes I've looked at (including Mr. Brown's). I had bought a batch of clear molds and I could actually see a color change as the pops detached a bit from the mold, so I recommend clear molds for anyone else who wants to try something like this.

Success!!

I'm more excited that it worked than about the pops themselves <shrug>

Difficulty Level: Medium
Will It Get Made Again? No, I'm not in love enough with the flavor to repeat these. They have given me a major confidence boost for trying more homemade popsicles though and now I'm excited to try the Peach Punch Pops that are still on the list.

Chris Traegar Burgers (Turkey Sliders)

As I put these turkey burgers together, mixing in the diced portabella mushrooms and adding miso paste to the turkey meat all I could think of was the Parks & Recreation episode "Soulmates" where Chris Traeger and Ron Swanson have a cook off. These are Chris Traeger burgers; Fairly healthy, taste good, but will lose to a butterburger in a taste off.

Do Not Feed To Ron Swanson

The buns for these get slathered in the Greek Yogurt Dip also from the book which does make a good burger topping, and and as a bonus would be a Traegar approved condiment.
There's a recipe in this cookbook I haven't made yet that involves deep frying cheeseburgers; I'm going to call to those Ron Swanson burgers.

Difficulty Level: Medium
Will It Get Made Again? Probably not. Sorry Chris, like Ron I find that in burger county cow beats turkey.

Ye Olde Barley Water

Considering some of the things that end up in health drinks barley can't even get me to raise an eyebrow. Alton's Barley Water is basically barley lemonade. Hulled barley, lemon juice/peel, & honey in water. I don't know how healthy it actually is, but it is pretty good (unlike some of the green juices I've tried). Lemony with some depth from the barley.

Barley expands when you cook it, this isn't all of it.

Ahh, Refreshing

Difficulty Level: Easy
Will It Get Made Again? This is the second time I've made this. I wouldn't hesitate to make it a third time.

Dip It, Dip It Good (Savory Greek Yogurt Dip)

Sometimes food has multiple purposes. In this case I needed something to take to a potluck and was looking for simple and savory. I was also in the mood to try Alton's Turkey Sliders and this dip is a component in the sliders. So, multi-purpose dip.

Recommended Pairing: Vegetable Chips

The directions are simple; mix assorted spices (parsley, mint, paprika etc) with Greek yogurt. Eat.
I transferred it back to the yogurt container it came in for easy transport after mixing. I could probably have gotten away with mixing it in the original container.

Difficulty Level: Easy
Will It Get Made Again? We'll see how it is on the sliders... Just as a dip it's fine, but going through a quart of it would normally be work for small household.

"I'm cautiously optimistic" (Green Grape Cobbler)

When I told the group I bringing this to that I was planning to make them Green Grape Cobbler the general reaction was pretty equal to the quote from one of the people on the event page "I'm cautiously optimistic". Cautiously optimistic is also how I felt about it after reading the recipe. Grapes, sour cream & brandy? On the one hand, nothing was wrong with the ingredient list, but because it was a combination I'd never encountered I was feeling a little cautious. I admit I might not have tried it without this project motivating me.

 Grapes soaked in brandy & lime juice, ground up cookies/walnut base

You're looking at layer of cookie/walnut base, sour cream grape filling, and caramel drizzle. When one of my friends went back for seconds I knew it was hit.

Not low sugar, low-fat, or dairy free. Described by one happy person as "soul food"

Difficulty Level: Medium

Will It Get Made Again? Realistically probably not. As much love as this got (which was a lot) I'm a baker at heart and more likely to whip another Blueberry Poundcake than make this again. Not because I didn't like, I did, but because there are just other things I love more.

Mallets & Wine (Chicken Piccata)

There are some recipes that I half-jokingly describe as stress-management recipes. These are dishes where you start by literally pounding something (I use a mallet, but whatever) and then open the wine. The classic example in my house is chicken marsala, but chicken piccata comes from the same school. The basic formula is: pound out chicken, lightly bread it, pan fry chicken, make wine sauce with whatever fruits/vegetables you want, mix with chicken. There are a lot of different dishes that strip down to this. This one is full of mushrooms, lemons, capers and white wine.

The twist is you layer the lemons on top of the meat and steam it for a bit.

This is the type of dish that comes together pretty easily, with not a lot of cooking time. It looks fancier than it is, which can be nice sometimes...

Voila

Difficulty Level: Medium
Will It Get Made Again? I could see making this one again if I had some white wine I wanted to use up. I wasn't so blown away that it will go into the standard rotation but I would eat it again.