Leakey Website News 

This week in the Canyon…

The reading Club at Leakey Library met this month at Sally Breshinsky’s and brought old recipes to share and eat.  The book for next month was chosen by Mary Forman and is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  The recipes were so good that we thought they should be shared so here they are.

Premier Cheesecake Cranberry Bars – from Nestle Classic Recipes, 2003

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups quick or old-fashioned oats
¼ cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
2 cups (12 oz pkg) white chocolate morsels
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
¼ cup lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 can (16 oz) whole-berry cranberry sauce
2 Tbsp cornstarch

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 13 x 9 baking pan.

Combine flour, oats, and brown sugar in large bowl. Add butter; mix until crumbly. Stir in morsels. Reserve 2 ½ cups morsel mixture for topping. With floured fingers, press remaining mixture into prepared pan.

Beat cream cheese in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice and vanilla extract; mix until smooth. Pour over crust. Combine cranberry sauce and cornstarch in medium bowl. Spoon over cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle reserved morsel mixture over cranberry mixture.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until center is set. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cover; refrigerate until serving time (up to 1 day). Cut into bars.

Makes 2 ½ dozen.

(Note: I made my bars on December 31 and kept them refrigerated and they tasted pretty good on Jan. 3. )

The Best Vegetable Chili -  from Cowgirl Cuisine: Rustic Recipes and Cowgirl Adventures from A Texas Ranch by Paula Disbrowe, 2007

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 large onions, diced
3 bell peppers (preferably 1 orange, yellow, and red), diced
1 poblano pepper, diced
2 large carrots, sliced into ½ inch half-moons
Salt
6 to 8 garlic cloves, minced
2 fresh bay leaves
3 Tbsp ground New Mexico chile
1 Tbsp Mexican oregano
1 tsp ground chipotle chile
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp dried basil
1 cinnamon stick
Freshly ground black pepper
64 oz low-sodium tomato juice
Two 26-oz cans chopped tomatoes in juice
2 small young zucchini, chopped
1 cup frozen corn
One 15-oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
One 15-oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

Heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onions, peppers, carrots, and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are slightly softened, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic, bay leaves, and remaining herbs and spices and continue to stir until the vegetables are coated, about 4 minutes. Add the tomato juice and chopped tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes, or until the carrots are just tender.

Add the zucchini and corn and simmer another 5 minutes. Add the beans and simmer until just heated through, about 5 more minutes. Serve garnished with any/all items listed below.

For Garnish:
Shredded cheddar or jack cheese
Sour cream, plain yogurt, or Mexican crema
Thinly sliced scallions
Chopped cilantro
Lemon or lime wedges

Note: For the best-looking chili, be sure to trim the pale ribs that hold the seeds from the inside of the peppers.

(We have made this three times and have backed off a bit on the amount of chile. The full amount provides a “big kick.” We also like to make it one day and then eat the next. And, of course, it freezes very well).

These were brought by Mary Forman and we will include the others next week.

At the FOL meeting, we discussed the new copier which seems to have so many bells and whistles that one needs a tutorial to run it, and the Breakfast with Santa which did not earn a large return but was enjoyed by the community.  It was decided to repeat it this year as a service to the community.

Carol Adams brought us up to date on the Wine and Cheese tasting Party at the Frio Pecan Farm on February 11.  Tickets will be $20 per person and there will be six wines to taste.  There will also be a good selection of cheeses.  There will be a door prize given away each hour and several things will be raffled.  Poker runs are planned also.  It sounds like a fun time and we hope you can join us.  Tickets are available at the library.