Avacado Grapefruit Salad

Rio Star grapefruit...straight from the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas...has to be one of the sweetest citrus fruits around. And when it's winter out here...there's nothing better than a little tropical sunshine from Texas...in the form of sweet, juicy red grapefruit.

Spanish missionaries brought the first grapefruit to south Texas in 1893...and the first commercial shipment of red grapefruit left the Lower Rio Grande Valley 1920. Since 1993, the red grapefruit has been the official fruit of Texas...rather appropriate!

For breakfast, we eat them with a spoon...right out of the shell...no sugar required! To use them in salads...peel them as you would an orange...and then remove the flesh from inside the membranes. They may break into pieces...but that's fine for salad.

Here's a wonderful combination...

...mixed salad greens, avocado slices, grapefruit segments and chopped red onion.

Toss with a citrussy vinaigrette dressing...and enjoy some tropical goodness... ...even when it looks anything but tropical outside your window!

There's no need to pucker up over grapefruit...try a Texas Rio Star in all it's sweet goodness...and you'll be glad you did.

Have a wonderful weekend...

Buttermilk Flaxseed Bread

It's always fun trying new dishes or baked goods at a friend's table...and coming home with the recipe. We enjoyed a lovely dinner out recently...which included hot-out-of-the-oven fresh bread. Darlene was so kind to share her recipe...and since we were back to winter weather today, it was the perfect day to bake bread.

This recipe is meant for a bread machine...and since so many of you have those sitting in the back of your cupboards, I thought it might be an inspiration to pull them out! The bread is mixed in the bread machine...allowed to rise for a short time...and then baked in the traditional way. Since I don't have a bread machine, I mixed the dough in my Bosch mixer...and did a double batch while I was at it. I will, however, give the instructions as specified for the bread machine.

Buttermilk Flaxseed Bread

1 cup buttermilk

2/3 cup water, at room temperature

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp honey (liquid)

2 cups flour

1 cup whole-wheat flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup ground flax seeds

1/2 cup oat bran

2/3 cup sunflower seeds

1 1/2 tsp bread machine yeast

Topping

1 egg

1 tsp water

DOUGH: Add dough ingredients according to instructions provided by your manufacturer. Select dough/ manual cycle. When the cycle is complete, transfer dough to lightly floured surface. If the dough is not easy to handle, knead is some extra flour. Cover the dough and let rest for 15 minutes.

Using a little extra flour on the kneading surface, shape the dough into a ball. Lightly grease a baking sheet then place the ball of dough on the sheet. Flatten it somewhat. Cover and let rise for about half an hour. The dough should double in size.

(I formed the dough into one long loaf...but this recipe could also make two small loaves.)

Topping: Lightly beat together egg and water. Brush top of loaf with egg mixture. Using a very sharp knife, score the top of the dough three times.

Bake: Preheat oven to 375°F. Bake for about half an hour. The bread is done when it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.

Notes: Since I was not using a bread machine, I used warm liquids. I also used rye flour instead of oat bran.

This excellent flax seed bread recipe has about 142 calories per slice, based on 16 slices per loaf.

Enjoy...

White Choclate Macadamia Nut Cookies

Since I am not really the biggest chocolate fan...I like cookies that are light in colour...and white chocolate macadamia nut cookies are hard to resist. My recipe came compliments of Kraft foods at one time...and I have changed it a wee bit.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
1 cup coarsely chopped white chocolate

(or a 300 gr package of white chocolate chips)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla and almond extracts.
3. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in the macadamia nuts and white chocolate. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. (We like our cookies substantial...so I use an ice-cream scoop for shaping the dough.)
4. Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

* If you have an event to celebrate...make a cookiegram in honour of the occasion. Cut parchment paper to fit the bottom of a 9" round cake pan or pie plate...and form an 8-inch cookie with about one cup of cookie batter, spreading evenly. Bake for about 15 minutes...or until golden. Cool. Write your message with melted chocolate or decorator icing. I used a 'writing tip' on a Ziploc bag...and then there's no mess to clean up.

Honey Garlic Ribs

Now that Valentine's Day is behind us...and we've all had our fill of sweets...I'll pass along our favorite recipe for ribs. I have no idea where the recipe originated...but have been using it for years. I normally serve it with 'golden mashed potatoes'...but never thought to take a photo until after the meal...and the potatoes did not show up for the photo shoot!

Honey Garlic Ribs

1 ½ to 2 kg pork side ribs (about 4 pounds)
½ cup honey
1 cup ketchup
¼ cup soy sauce
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp. coarse black pepper
1 tsp. salt

Place ribs in large roasting pan with about ½ inch of water. Cover & bake at 350 degrees F. for 1 ½ hours. Drain water from roaster.

Combine remaining ingredients to make sauce. Pour over the ribs & bake for another ½ to 1 hour, basting ribs occasionally with the sauce.