Shannae

Some of you know Shannae Radford Youssefi (daughter to Stan and Susan Radford in our ward). I saw her tonight on our walk. She is looking great and happy to be done with cancer treatment. She was just awarded a scholarship. Here is the Salt Lake Tribune article that highlights this amazing young woman.

Avocado Egg Rolls

I thought this would be a great place to exchange recipes, because we are all saying how we would really like some new recipes. Please feel free to email me recipes to post here. 

At January book club Marci made avocado egg rolls that were to die for. Here is the recipe (Thanks, Marci!):

CHEESECAKE FACTORY AVOCADO EGG ROLLS

1 large avocado
2 T chopped sun-dried tomatoes (bottled in oil)
1 T minced red onion
½ tsp chopped fresh cilantro (I usually add more)
Pinch of salt
3 egg roll wrappers
Vegetable oil for frying

Dice avocados. In a small bowl, gently combine the avocado with tomatoes, onion, cilantro, and salt. Don’t smash avocado.
Put mixture in to egg roll and fry in oil

DIPPING SAUCE

¼ C chopped cashew
2/3 C chopped fresh cilantro
2 cloves garlic, quartered
2 green onions, chopped
1 T sugar
1 tsp black pepper (I don’t use this much)
1 tsp cumin
4 tsp balsamic vinegar
½ tsp tamarind pulp (I got this from my neighbor who is Hispanic – I’ve never seen it at the store – if you can’t find it, you can leave it out and it still tastes OK)
½ C honey (I only use ¼ C)
Pinch ground saffron (I usually leave this out because I don’t have it )
¼ C olive oil

Combine first 7 ingredients in food processor-until garlic have been chopped into pieces about half the size of a grain of rice. Combine the vinegar, honey, tamarind, and saffron in a small bowl. Heat mixture for about 1 minute in microwave then stir until tamarind pulp dissolves completely. Pour mixture into food processor and mix with cashew mixture about 20 seconds. Pour sauce into bowl. Ad the iol and stir by hand. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

* I double the egg roll recipe and can get 8-10 egg rolls. There is no need to double the sauce recipe

Book Club Overnight Retreat

Thanks to our husbands for sponsoring the annual book club overnight retreat (for watching children and tending to tedious household duties). It was a wonderful way to start out our Mother's Day weekend. And I think the guys appreciated having a last minute Mother's Day shopping opportunity without the wives wondering where they were. I will not go into great detail about our slumber party or name names. I will say that I witnessed fellow book clubbers dancing on tables, a pregnant woman doing the splits, and some incredible vocals and moves as we played Karaoke Nation. It was a great time had by all and something we hope to repeat every spring (or more if necessary!). Thanks everyone for a great time!