Brandon Muncy

I was at the Kern River Valley Revitalization meeting the other day and Tom Anderson brought up a great point. He reads the Cook's Corner, but he swears he's not that good of a cook (or so he claims). So I decided I'd do something just for Tom, and put in some easy recipes. If your reading this Tom, this week's recipes are just for you... to impress folks with your newly acquired cooking skills.

EASY APPLE PIE 1 Premade Piecrust

1 C Sugar

½ tsp Cinnamon

¼ tsp Salt

2 Tbs Flour

6 C Sliced Apples

1 Tbs Lemon Juice

2 Tbs Butter

Begin by combining cinnamon, sugar, salt and flour in a mixing bowl. Arrange apples in layers in the 9-inch pastry lined pan. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture over each layer, along with lemon juice and small amounts of butter. Put the top crust over filling and press together the edges around the pie. Cut slits in it in order to allow steam to escape. Bake at 375°F for about 40 minutes. Add time if necessary.

If that last one wasn't easy enough Tom, this next one surely is.

BROCCOLI SOUP

4 Cloves of Garlic - chopped

1 Tbs Olive Oil

2 C Broccoli - chopped

4 C Vegetable Stock

Salt & Pepper

Heat oil in a pan and saute the garlic until slightly brown on edges. Place stock and the broccoli in pan, bring to boil. Simmer for approximately 25 minutes. Blend if desired. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Just in time for the start of Major League Baseball's regular season, I've got some easy homemade chips and salsa recipes.

BAKED TORTILLA CHIPS

8 Flour Tortillas

8 Tbs Olive Oil

Salt

Preheat the broiler. Cut each of the flour tortillas into 4 wedges using a large knife or cutter of any sort. Brush both sides lightly with olive oil. Place them on a broiler pan, and broil them on both sides until they are lightly brown and crisp. Season as desired.

EASY HOMEMADE SALSA

1 lrg can Diced Tomatoes

1 Onion

1 lrg Jalapeno Pepper

1 Clove of Garlic

1 Lime

Cilantro

Salt

Pepper

Finely dice onion by hand. Chop jalapeno and garlic to desired size, add cilantro, juice from lime, and diced tomatoes. Mix in food processor if desired. Mix in chopped onion and salt and pepper. Chill for flavors to blend.

And I'll finish off this week with a relatively easy recipe from Betty Rothert. Thanks for the recipes Betty!

HEAVENLY PANCAKES

1 C Small Curd Cottage

1 C Sour Cream

3/4 C Flour

4 Eggs

1 Tbs Sugar

1/4 tsp Salt

Blend cottage cheese and sour cream. Separate eggs, beat yolk with fork. Add yolks & flour to cottage cheese mix. Blend, then add sugar and salt. Whip egg whites till stiff - fold in.