Limone Brownie

Ryan and I went to Pizzeria Limone last week. I always want their lemon brownies, but I rarely get them. I didn't get one last Friday, and regretted it all weekend so I decided to make my own last Sunday. They are chocolate brownies with lemon buttercream and covered with chocolate ganache. After I posted a picture of them in Instagram, one of my neighbors commented that she wanted one. So I made them again today. I am currently waiting from the buttercream to set up so I can add the ganache on top and thought I'd post the recipe here. Last week I didn't have cream, so I made the ganache without cream. Today I didn't have semisweet chocolate for the brownies, so I used unsweetened chocolate. I'll post both the variations in case you don't have those items either!

Brownies (this recipe is a variation from Sally's Baking Addiction)

1/2 cup butter
two 4-ounce semi-sweet chocolate bars*
3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
1/4 cup (50g) packed light or dark brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons (80g) all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoons (11g) unsweetened natural or dutch-process cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

*If you have unsweetened baking chocolate bars, add an extra 1/2 cup of sugar (1 Tbsp sugar per 1 oz of chocolate.)

Melt the butter and chopped chocolate in a medium saucepan on medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat, pour in a large mixing bowl, then allow to slightly cool for 10 minutes. (I skipped the bowl the 2nd time - soo many dirty dishes, just wait for it to cool longer.)
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line the bottom and sides of a 11x7 inch baking pan with parchment, leaving an overhang on all sides. Set aside.
Whisk the granulated and brown sugars into the cooled chocolate/butter mixture. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking until smooth after each addition. Whisk in the vanilla. Gently whisk in the cocoa powder,salt and flour.
Pour/spoon batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for 35 minutes or until the brownies begin to pull away from the edges of the pan.

Allow the brownies to cool while making the buttercream.

Lemon Buttercream

1/2 cup butter, softened to room temp.
 3 cups of Powdered Sugar
 1 lemon

Beat the butter until smooth, or nearly smooth. Zest the lemon and add to the butter. Squeeze both halves of the lemon into the butter and mix in. Add the powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Drop onto the cooled brownies and spread a thick layer over the brownies with an offset spatula. I put mine in the freezer before and after putting on the buttercream. When the buttercream is set, cover with chocolate ganache.

Chocolate Ganache Without Cream

4 oz semisweet chocolate
1/3 cup milk (I used 1% but the recipe I found said 2% - whatever)
2 Tsp butter

Chop the chocolate into pieces. I used chocolate chips so that part was done. Heat the milk and butter in a pan until the butter is melted and the milk is starting to bubble. Pour over chocolate and stir until the choclate is melted. Cool if necessary so it can be spread over the brownies without melting the buttercream. Freeze the brownies until the ganache is set.

Chocolate Ganache with Cream (also from Sally's Baking Addiction)

4 oz semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 c heavy cream

Heat the cream in the microwave or stop top until simming, but not boiling. Pour over chocolate and let it sit for 2 to 3 minutes. Then stir the chocolate until it's melted and smooth. Allow it to cool slightly then spread over brownies.

Allow ganache to set before cutting brownies. I put mine in the the freezer.

Danish Pastries

The past few weeks we have all been trapped in our houses with the Covid-19 outbreak so with no one going to school and lots of stress and anxiety and no bread on the shelves at the grocery stores, we have been doing lots of baking at home. At least until we run out of flour- there isn't any to buy at the store either. So I pulled out a couple of recipes I have wanted to try, and discovered stuff in the fridge - like ricotta cheese- that needed to be used. This morning I made cheese danishes and lemon buns. The lemon buns were pretty good- but not as lemony as I would have liked. I think they should have lemon curd in them next time!! The laminated dough is VERY labor intense. But it turned out great! Here's the recipe I used from Bake from Scratch:

Danish Dough

1 cup whole milk, room temperature
1 large egg, room temperature
1 large egg yolk, room temperature
2¼ teaspoons instant yeast
520 grams bread flour
⅓ cup granulated sugar
3 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon kosher salt
1 cup plus 1½ tablespoons butter

Instructions
In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together milk, egg, egg yolk, and yeast by hand. Using the dough hook attachment, add flour, sugar, 3 tablespoons butter, and salt, and beat at low speed until dough comes together, about 1 minute. Continue beating until dough pulls away from sides of bowl and is smooth when a small amount is pinched off, about 5 minutes.
Spray a large bowl with cooking spray. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface, and shape into a smooth ball. Place dough in bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place (75°F/24°C) until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
Using a pencil, draw a 12x8-inch rectangle on a sheet of parchment paper; turn parchment over. Place remaining 1 cup plus 1½ tablespoons (248 grams) butter on parchment. Cover with a second sheet of parchment, and shape to fit inside drawn rectangle, keeping edges straight and even. (If butter gets too soft to work with, refrigerate for 5 minutes before continuing.) Keep wrapped in parchment paper, and refrigerate overnight.
Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Lightly dust with flour.
Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface, and gently shape into a 10x8-inch rectangle. Place on prepared pan. Cover tightly with plastic wrap (to ensure dough does not dry out), and refrigerate overnight.
Place dough in freezer for 15 to 30 minutes. Let butter block stand at room temperature until pliable, 10 to 15 minutes.
On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 16x12-inch rectangle. Unwrap butter block, and place in center of dough. Fold dough over butter block, meeting in the middle, and press lightly to seal dough around butter block. Turn dough 90 degrees, and immediately roll dough into an 18x12-inch rectangle. Fold into thirds, like a letter; turn 90 degrees, and roll out again. Fold into thirds again, like a letter. Wrap dough in plastic wrap, and freeze for 15 to 30 minutes. Roll and fold, letter-style, one more time. Wrap dough in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1½ hours. (Alternatively, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to use, let thaw in refrigerator overnight.)

Lemon Buns:

Make lemon sugar by mixing:
1 cup granulated sugar
Zest of 2 lemons
In a food processor. Pulse until combined and uniform in color.

Brush 12 muffin cups with melted butter. Dust with granulated sugar, tapping out excess.
Freeze Danish Dough for 15 to 30 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into an 18x12-inch rectangle. Cut off 6 inches - making it a 12x12 inch rectangle.

In a small bowl, combine about 1/2 cup Meyer Lemon Sugar and heaping 1/8 tsp cardamom.

Using a pastry brush melted butter onto dough. Sprinkle lemon sugar mixture over butter, leaving a ½-inch border along one long edge. Starting at long side opposite border, roll up dough, jelly roll style. Trim edges, if needed, and cut into 1-inch rolls. Place rolls, cut side up, in prepared muffin cups, gently pressing down until dough fills mold. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place (75°F/24°C) until puffed, 45 to 60 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375°F. Bake until golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted in center registers 210°F (99°C), 20 to 25 minutes, covering with foil halfway through baking to prevent excess browning, if necessary. Let cool in pans until cool enough to handle, about 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and toss in desired sugar. Let cool completely on wire racks. I didn't toss mine in extra sugar- I think if I did I would have used lemon sugar.

Cheese Danish:

This part I didn't measure as well, so I will do my best to recreate the recipe. I rolled the 6x12 inch section of dough into a larger rectangle about 10x12 I think and cut it into 6 5x4 inch pieces. Then I put a heaping spoonful of cheese filling in the center of each square. Brush the border of each pastry with egg wash (I just used the leftover egg white from the filling mixed with some water) and fold 2 opposite corners to the center, brushing and overlapping the corners of each pastry so they firmly stick together. Brush the top of the pastries with egg wash. Place the pastries on a baking sheet and refrigerate the filled Danish for 15 minutes. Bake the pastries for about 20 minutes, rotating the pan once during baking, until puffed and brown. (Mine got too dark - I think 15 to 18 min is probably enough with this dough) Serve warm.

Here's the cheese filling I used. I modified a recipe I found on Foodnetwork. It made a lot more filling than I intended. So I probably have enough left overs to make another 6 Danish! I think I will used puffed pastry from the freezer next time. Although I do have some European butter in my fridge that needs to be used....

4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1 extra-large egg yolk, at room temperature
about 1 cup ricotta cheese- This is the part i didn't measure. I just dumped in what I had left
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
dash of salt
Zest from 1 lemon
Add additional sugar to taste- I used the lemon sugar from above - probably a Tbsp or 2.

Place the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and cream them together on low speed until smooth. With the mixer still on low, add the egg yolk, ricotta, vanilla, salt, and lemon zest and additional lemon sugar. Mix until just combined. Don't whip!

Thanksgiving Pies

I made several different pies for Thanksgiving. Some of them turned out better than others. The cheddar apple really wasn't that great, but the banana cream and the pecan pie bars were a big hit. So here are the good ones! I'm posting this several months after the fact, so I hope I remember what I did. Most of the recipes are variations of ones from Sally's Baking Addiction. She has delicious stuff!

We went to the Moab Scottish Festival and one of the booths there was "the Cornish Caterer." He did a bunch of cooking demonstrations and we walked by during one of them while he was talking about Cornish Spice. He said it was a precursor to pumpkin pie spice and that it tastes incredible. So of course I had to buy some! I used it in place of the spice in the pumpkin pie I made. It was SOOO yummy! I don't know if it was the recipe or the spice, but either way it was great. The difference between pumpkin pie spice and Cornish spice is the the addition of mace and coriander seed. He said if you sprinkled it in the bottom of a pie on top of the crust it would make the pie so much better. I just substituted all the spice.

Pecan Praline Pumpkin Pie

1 pie crust (pick your favorite)
2 cups pumpkin puree (15oz can)
2 eggs
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1 and 1/2 tsp cinnamon (I may have used Cornish spice for some or all of this, but I don't think so.)
1 tsp Cornish spice (Yes in addition to the cinnamon)
1/8 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2/3 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup milk

Topping
1 c chopped pecans
1/2 c packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp honey (I might have used dark corn syrup)

Put pie crust in a 9 inch pie plate. Flute the edges, line with parchment paper and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Fill pie crust with pie weights - I use dry beans. Bake for 12 minutes.

Whisk together pumpkin, eggs, brown sugar, cornstarch, salt, spices, cream and milk until smooth. Pour into crust and brush edges of crust with egg wash. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes until the center is no longer jiggly. (use a pie shield if the crust is getting too brown.)

Meanwhile mix the pecans and brown sugar then drizzle with honey. Spoon on top of the cooked pie and gently push it into the top of the pie to it sticks to the filling. Bake for an additional 15 minutes. Then cool on a wire rack and cool completely- at least 3 to 4 hours. Serve with whipped cream.

French Silk Pie

1 pie crust
1 cup heavy cream
8 ounces quality semi-sweet chocolate
4 eggs
1 cup sugar, divided
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 and 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt

Topping
1 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

garnish: chocolate curls

Roll out pie dough and place in 9 inch pie plate. Line with parchement and pour in pie weights (or beans). Chill for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake crust for 15 minutes. Remove pie from oven. remove weights and parchment dock the pie crust with a fork. brush the edges with egg wash and bake for an additional 12-15 minutes or until golden born. Cool crust completely! - It's best to make it a day or two before and chill in fridge.

Make the filling: Whip cream until still peaks form. Then refrigerate until ready to use. Melt the chocolate in the microwave stirring every 20 seconds. Whisk the eggs and 1/2 cup of sugar in a heat proof bowl and place over a pot of simmering water. Whisk constantly until eggs mixture reaches 160 degrees. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes then slowly stir in the chocolate. Then cool for an additional 10 minutes. Beat the butter and 1/2 cup sugar until creamy at least 2 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat an additional 30 seconds. Slowly pour in the chocolate and egg mixture while mixing at low speed, then beat for 3 minutes. Fold in the whipped cream until combined.

Spread filling into the cooled crust. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 to 6 hours until thickened.

Make the topping by whipping the cream, sugar and vanilla until medium peaks form. Pipe onto the top of pie. I may have used stabilized whipped cream for this step - Made by adding a small amount of plain gelatin (about 1 tsp) dissolved in water (a couple of tablespoons), then melted in the microwave and poured into cream while whipping. Add the whipped topping immediately before to a few hours before serving. Garnish with chocolate curls.

Chocolate Curls
3 ounces semisweet chocolate
1 tablespoon shortening

Put chocolate and shortening in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave until the shortening is melted and hot about 30 to 45 seconds. Stir to combine. Pour the melted chocolate over the underside of a clean cookie sheet. With an offset spatula or a knife, spread the chocolate in a thin layer. Keep going until it's very, very thin. Then place cookie sheet in the freezer for a few minutes. After a few minutes, check that the chocolate is ready by pressing it with your finger tip; it should leave the slightest mark, but not an actual depression. With a somewhat sharp-edged spatula scrape the chocolate from the bottom of the pan. When the chocolate is just the right temperature, it'll curl instead of break. If it gets too soft, stick it back in the freezer for a minute. As soon as possible, transfer the curls to a cold pan or plate, and then stick them in the freezer to harden. Store in the freezer in a zip-top bag until you need them.

Banana Cream Pie

Brad loves this pie and he said it might even be better than his mom's! High praise indeed.

Crust

1 1/2 Cups Nilla Wafer Crumbs grind the cookies in a blender

1/3 Cup Sugar

4 Tbsp of butter melted

Filling

1 3.4 oz instant banana pudding

1 cup milk

4 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

3/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup powdered sugar

2 large bananas

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together the cookie crumbs, sugar and butter and press into a pie plate. Bake for 8 minutes, then cool completely. Whip the cream with powdered sugar until stiff peaks form. Whisk together the milk and pudding. In another bowl beat the softened cream cheese until smooth, add the condensed milk and beat again. Stir in the pudding then fold in the whipped cream. Thickly slice the bananas and place them in a single layer on the cooled pie crust. Top with the pudding mixture and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours or overnight if needed. Serve with fresh whipped cream.

Pecan Pie Bars

I got this recipe from a neighbor down the street, Leslie Hegseth. It is delicious! Everyone loved them and talked about them weeks later. 

Ingredients:

Crust-

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

2/3 cups packed brown sugar

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

Topping-

1 stick unsalted butter

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1/3 cup honey

2 tbsp heavy cream

2 cups chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 9x13 pan with foil leaving enough for a 2 inch overhang on all sides.

First make the crust by creaming together the butter and brown sugar until fluffy in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add in flour and salt and mix until crumbly. Press the crust into the foil lined pan and bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.

While the crust bakes prepare the filling by combining the butter, brown sugar, honey and heavy cream in a saucepan, stirring it over medium heat. Simmer the mixture for 1 minute, then stir in the chopped nuts.

Remove the crust from the oven and immediately pour the pecan filling over the hot crust spreading it to cover the entire surface.

Return the pan to the oven and bake an additional 20 minutes.

Remove the pan and allow to cool fully in the pan. Use the foil overhang to lift the bars out and transfer to cutting board. Peel off foil and cut.

Coconut Cream Pie

This one was good too, maybe not as fabulous as the others, but better than the apple. I think I combined 2 different recipes. One from Allrecipes and one from Oh sweet Basil. Hopefully this is what I made!

Crust:

12 graham crackers

5 tablespoons melted butter

Filling:

1 can coconut cream plus enough half and half to make 3 cups. 

¾ cup sugar

3 egg yolks

1/2 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 bag shredded sweetened coconut divided (about 2 cups)

Whipped Cream:

1 cup heavy cream

¼ powdered sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.In a food processor, pulse graham crackers until crushed. Slowly drizzle in butter while processor is on. Dump mixture into pie plate and press into bottom and sides. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely.

Spread coconut on baking sheet. Toast in heated oven for about 5 to 8 minutes. Set aside 1/4 cup.

In a medium sauce pan, whisk together coconut cream, half and half, eggs, flour and salt. Mix wekk and bring to a boil over low heat stirring constantly for about 2 minutes. Remove from heat, add vanilla and stir in the coconut. Pour filling into pie crust and chill until firm, about 4 hours. When ready to serve pipe or spread with whipped cream and sprinkle with reserved toasted coconut.

Whipped Cream:

Whisk cream on a medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Add sugar and vanilla and continue beating to stiff peaks.

Razzleberry Pie

This was a decent pie. Not outstanding but a good basic pie. I think the problem was we had too many other fabulous pies!

1 Double Crust 

2 Pints Raspberries

2 Pints Blackberries

1 Pint Blueberries

1/2 - 3/4 Cup Sugar

1/4 Cup Cornaby's Ultra Gel (Yes I bought some!)

1 Egg

1/2 Teaspoon Water or milk

Turbinado Sugar 

Put bottom crust into pie plate. Slice the other half into strips and cover both with plastic wrap and place in the fridge.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Add the fruit, 1/2 cup sugar and ultra gel into a saucepan and fold gently, using a rubber spatula. If berries are extra tart add more sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Turn the heat to medium low and cook until the berries are releasing their juices and beginning to thicken. Only stir occasionally as you don't want to break up the fruit and turn it into jam.

Add the hot fruit mixture directly into the pie crust. Place strips across the pie and then lift up one end of every other strip and lay a new strip across the other way. Now, repeat but with the other strips that were not originally lifted up. Continue until you're halfway across the pie then turn the pie around and repeat from the other side to make a lattice across the entire pie.

Whisk together the egg and water and then brush the top of the pie and immediately sprinkle with sugar.

Bake the pie for 25 minutes then drape with a piece of tin foil and continue to bake for another 20-30 minutes, or until the filling is bubbly and the crust is golden brown.

Remove from the oven and cool entirely on the counter. Let pie rest over night as the filling will set up and not run. Refrigeration can make the filling sink and pull away from the crust.

I think this may be the pie crust recipe I used: Mom's fail proof magic pie crust. At least I did for the razzleberry pie. I might have used a different recipe for the other pies, but I don't remember.

For the sake of completeness, I also made Apple Cheddar Pie. I don't think I will make it again. It was okay, but not great. Rather a disappointment because I really had high hopes for this! 

Tomato Toast with Chives and Sesame Seeds

I found this recipe last year and intended to post my variation on it then but I never got to it. I made these sandwiches for dinner last night with some fresh garden tomatoes (not from my garden 🙁) that needed to be used. And Ryan and I were both too tired to cook. We had to get up at 5 a.m. to take Adria to a bike race. In the past we have made the sandwiches with yummy artisan bread, but today we just made them with the Dave’s good seed bread we had in the freezer. I’ve made them so often that I don’t even measure the ingredients anymore. I think this make LOTS more mayo than you really need for 4 servings, so I usually cut it down.

1 tsp garlic paste
1/2 cup mayonnaise
Kosher salt
1/2 lemon (or 1 tsp lemon juice and dried lemon peel**)
4 3/4"-thick slices country-style bread, toasted
3 medium tomatoes, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp. finely chopped chives
2 tsp. toasted sesame seeds
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Aleppo-style pepper (optional) - we use Penzeys

Extra-virgin olive oil (for drizzling) - I usually skip this part

Zest the lemon and set zest aside. Mix garlic and mayonnaise in a small bowl. Squeeze about 1 tsp. juice from lemon half into bowl. Season with kosher salt if desired. I leave it out.

Spread a generous layer of seasoned mayonnaise over toast; shingle a few tomato slices on top. Sprinkle with chives, sesame seeds, salt, black pepper, and Aleppo-style pepper. Sprinkle with lemon zest or dried lemon and drizzle with some oil.

** I don't usually have fresh lemons around, so we we use bottled lemon juice and I found this dried lemon peel in the spice section at Harmon's. It's great.

Buttermilk Syrup

We ran out of maple syrup at our house a few weeks ago. Of course the only time
we think about it is on weekend mornings when we want to eat pancakes or waffles.
This past Sunday morning I made an apple puff pancake. I liked it but it had raisins
and nuts in it so it wasn't a huge hit with the rest of the family.  They all ate it though
and only Pierce picked out the raisins. Anyway we didn't have maple syrup to serve
with it. So I made some homemade maple pancake syrup. This is not that recipe.
BUT it reminded me how much I liked this pancake syrup. Last month a few days
after Myles got home from his mission, Adria went to a breakfast and swim party for all
the girls on the mountain bike team. I agreed to help out.  The woman that hosted the
party made the best buttermilk pancake syrup. So yesterday I sent her a text and asked
for the recipe and she shared it with me! 

1 stick of butter

1 cup sugar

Melt together in a larger pot than you think you need. (When you add the baking soda
it expands.) Add

 ½ cup buttermilk

½ tsp baking soda

Stir constantly and boil 1 minute. After it's done add ½ tsp vanilla. 

Garden Fresh Salsa with Zucchini, Tomatoes and Peppers

This is another recipe from Mom. She made it last weekend for a Sunday night birthday party for Pierce. She gave us leftovers and I ate salsa for dinner last night. I had to take a picture because I know I wanted to post the recipe. Ryan shares my Google photo drive.  A few minutes after I took the picture he texted me from a stake presidency meeting saying, "don't eat all the salsa! I'm starving!" It's a great fresh salsa and it's a good way to use the extra zucchini. It makes a HUGE recipe! Mom says to cut it in fourths or plan on having lots of extras to share!

10 cups fresh tomatoes (after processing) any variety works!
7 cups fresh zucchini (after processing)
3 green peppers
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 orange pepper
1 large hot pepper
1 jalapeno
4 cloves of garlic
1 onion
1 bunch of cilantro
¾ cup vinegar
⅓ cup sugar
2 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp pepper

Do not peel any of the veggies. You need to use a very large bowl. A food processor is a must for this recipe (a blender would be okay). Put tomatoes into food processor and blend to desired consistency.
Put zucchini in food processor.  DO NOT liquify the zucchini. It should be chucky or grated.  I think Mom always grates hers.
Process the peppers and chop. They can be left a little chucky.  Put the hot pepper, jalapeno and onion in the food processor.  Chop those finely so no one gets a hot chunk.  Chop the cilantro in the food processor. Put everything in a large bowl and stir together. Add the sugar vinegar salt and pepper and mix well. Add extra salt or pepper if needed.

Marinated Cucumber, Onion and Tomato Salad

So it's been a really long time since I posted anything! But life is busy. I looked through
a bunch of my pictures last night and discovered that I have TONS of pictures of food
that I've made but never got around to sharing the recipe. Now I don't even remember
what most of them are. I'm sure they were great and maybe someday I'll make them
again.  Anyway this is a recipe that Mom made and Dad loves it! He liked it so much
that he texted me pictures. So all the photos are his. 

1 cup water (leave it out or reduce it if your tomatoes are juicy) 

½ cup white vinegar

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

2 tsp salt

Fresh coarse ground pepper to taste (up to 1 Tbsp if you like it really peppery.)

3 cucumbers peeled and sliced ¼ inch thick

3 tomatoes cut into wedges

1 onion sliced and separated into rings

Whisk together water, oil, vinegar, salt and pepper until smooth. Add cucumbers,
tomatoes, and onions and stir to coat. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours. 

This is a great fresh salad to eat on its own. Dad put his over a cheese sandwich.
There's lots of liquid leftover when all the veggies are gone and I think I've heard
that Kellie will add more veggies to the liquid and use our more than once.