Girl Scout Cookie "Tornados" by Stephen

• Girl Scout cookies of your choice, about 3 per person, chopped
• Ice cream of your choice, about 1 cup per person
• Milk - Just enough to blend the ice cream

Blend the ice cream and milk into a thick shake, using only as much milk as you need. Pour into cups and put the cups in the freezer while you eat supper.

After supper: remove from the freezer and stir in about 3 spoonfuls of chopped cookies. Our favorite was Tagalongs and they were good in either chocolate or vanilla Tornados.

~ Recipe by Stephen, age 8

Roasted Kale

I discovered this recipe while cooking for Dad's special diet. The kids (I am blessed with kids who like to try new things!) all wanted to taste it that first night. I had to get up and put more in the oven!

My 12 year old asked for it the other night. When a 12 year old boy asks for kale, you know it has to be good. So try it, you never know! Kale is super healthy and most people think of it as a garnish, not an actual food!

Don't use the pre-packaged, pre-washed stuff with this, though. It's chopped too small and doesn't work well with this. You want to buy the whole leaves and rip into smaller pieces.

Roasted Kale with Sea Salt

* 4 cups firmly-packed kale
* 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
* 1 tsp. sea salt (regular salt will do)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Wash and trim the kale: Peel off the tough stems by folding the kale leaves in half like a book and stripping the stems off. Toss with extra virgin olive oil. Roast for five minutes. Turn kale over. Roast another 7 to 10 minutes until kale turns brown and becomes paper thin and brittle. Remove from oven and sprinkle with sea salt. Serve immediately.

** watch it carefully, I cut and pasted this but it seems I didn't cook it nearly this long. It should be crispy and a little bit brown, and it burns easily once it's done!

** I use a large Ziploc to toss it, it seems to coat it more evenly.

** don't salt it before cooking. It shrinks a lot and will end up way too salty.

Berries and Custard

I've had a hankering lately for my Grandmother's "Boiled Custard" - a thick custard sauce she would cook up whenever I went to visit. I remember her stirring and stirring at the stove (sometimes I would help) and when it was still warm we would spoon it over a dish of vanilla ice cream (Yarnell's, of course!) where it would slightly melt the ice cream before forming little ice crystals in the custard. Pure heaven!! Then the other day I happened to be watching Food Network and saw a berry recipe I wanted to try. I picked up a small container of fresh raspberries and a couple of pints of Louisiana strawberries. Tonight while the guys were at baseball practice I decided to whip up both for dessert. They were great together / with ice cream (though we don't have Yarnell's here) or separately! The kids had seconds on both and pronounced them both "keepers". 

  Boiled Custard 

 3 eggs 

1 cup sugar 

2 tsp. cornstarch 

1 quart milk 

2 tsp vanilla 

 Beat eggs until creamy in a heavy saucepan. Mix together sugar and cornstarch and add gradually to the eggs, beating well after each addition. Add milk and stir well. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently. Bring to a boil, turn heat off. Stir until thickened. Cool slightly; stir in vanilla. Chill - or serve over ice cream while still warm. 

  Fresh Berries in Syrup 

 2 pints fresh strawberries, raspberries or mixture, sliced 

1/2 cup granulated sugar

 juice of one lemon 

 Stir together and refrigerate for one hour. Stir before serving. Perfect over ice cream or cake!