Well, if you've been reading your newsletters you knew I was going to check out fruit chips. We talked about vegetable and pasta chips in my last article. I found that fruits make really good chips. I won't say they are any healthier for you than potato chips but they do make a unique twist to an old favorite for parties and events. Plus with fruit chips you can use so many different dips such as vanilla in yogurt and lemon with cream cheese or honey and yogurt. Your imagination is the limit.

To make fruit or vegetable chips you'll want to use a mandolin food slicer or a meat slicer or food processor to make very thin slices. I've found that mango is one of my favorites. Pineapple I've heard makes great chips. I haven't tried those yet but peaches and mangos were great! I'll be experimenting with other fruits over time and let you know how that goes.

On another note.. I told you I'd be trying the koolickles I've heard about... which are basically dill pickles, with more than half the brine poured out and prepared kool-aid put in place of the brine. Leave these soaking for 3 or 4 days and wallah.. they are supposed to be a culinary sweet and sour delight that is very popular in the south USA. Now I'd never heard of these before but I love some really weird stuff and so I figured we give these a try. I can tell you that these either must be an acquired taste or you must just like them LOL but they weren't a success in my house. Go ahead and give it a try if you like and let me know what you think. Maybe I didn't do it right :) By the way, I used Tropical Punch Kool-aid. I'm wondering what the lemon lime would taste like! But after the first jar wasn't a hit I probably won't try that again. So back to the drawing board. Anyway, if you are one of the lucky "Southerners" who supposedly love these let me know if I did something wrong and who knows. I'm game to try different things.

Also, this is the season for pumpkins again and my daughter has already been baking pumpkin seeds in the oven. If you love pumpkin seeds they are really easy to fix. Just soak them in salt water for several hours and then spread out to dry overnight on a baking sheet.
Preheat oven to 250º Then toss seeds with oil, butter or spray with cooking spray and season with salt or whatever your favorite seasoning is and bake on a baking sheet stirring occasionally until just starting to turn a light golden color. About 1 hour and stir every 15 minutes or so. You definitely don't want to burn those but if you get them done they are a good snack!

You all have a great weekend! Deb

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