"What We Ate On Summer Vacation" Dinner Date!

We recently got back from a 2 week vacation to Minnesota and Ontario. We had a lovely time and ate a lot of yummy regional foods! We even had walleye (caught by my husband) for breakfast our last day in Ontario! Yum! I planned to make Wisconsin cheese soup for the main course of this dinner. We had a layover in Wisconsin where we enjoyed some fabulous soup for dinner. Unfortunately, I had an appointment that ran way over right before dinner date so I didn't have time to make the soup. Boo! I ended up making grilled cheese sandwiches with the Wisconsin cheese that I had bought for the soup. They WERE very delicious grilled cheese sandwiches I must say. ;o) With them I served:

Wild Rice Salad
(serves 6)

I got the wild rice in Canada and it was of the highest quality. You just can't find wild rice this good anywhere where I live. Check out how long the grains are:

Ingredients:

2c. wild rice, cooked and cooled

1c. seedless red grapes, sliced in half

½ c. celery, diced

½ c. slivered almonds

2/3c. mayonnaise

Instructions:

1. Stir all ingredients together in a medium bowl. Chill for at least one hour. Serve! Easy!

Rhubarb Delight

(serves 6)

On Canada Day one of my Aunts made this dessert. Normally it has a yummy crust on the bottom but to cut down on the sugar I decided to leave it out. Admittedly when I made this the rhubarb layer was NOT sweet enough so in the recipe here I have added some agave to sweeten it up.

Ingredients:

2-1/2 c. rhubarb, diced

½ c. orange juice

3 egg yolks

1c. heavy cream

1/2 c. agave nectar

2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

3 egg whites

6 Tbsp. granulated sugar

½ tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the rhubarb, juice, egg yolks, heavy cream, agave nectar and flour. Divide mixture into 4 individual sized, greased ramekins or baking dishes.

2. Put all baking dishes on a cookie sheet and bake in a 325 degree oven for 40 minutes.

3. Add the egg whites to a mixer bowl and mix on high. Gradually add the sugar and vanilla and mix until stiff peaks form.

4. Divide the meringue evenly over the rhubarb mixture in each ramekin.

5. Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees. Add the desserts and bake until meringue browns. This happens quickly so keep a close eye on it.

6. Cool and serve!