2wyla's Taco Salad

Last month, Ace DuMond came to Seattle to spend some quality time with his twin brother Mark and his family. In a wonderful turn of events, Ace's longtime friends Klaus and Twyla traveled up from Portland to see Ace and share some wonderful food and wine with the DuMond clan.

Ace scribbled down the following recipe based on his memory of a memorable dish from Twyla.

1/2 cup onion
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup vinegar (1/2 balsamic, 1/2 cider)
1/3 cup ketchup
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup mayo

Put all above ingredients in a blender and buzz until smooth.

Pour onto a bed of greens, topped with white beans, black beans, garbanzo beans, kidney beans, tomato, olives, and garnish with cilantro, lime, sour cream and salsa. Eat with chips and seasoned burger for meat eaters.

A full year of recipes, family and love

It's been more than a year since we started this site, and almost a hundred posts later, most of them recipes from all over the world, we'd have to say this is a success!

It all started in early October 2008 at the home of John and Connie Bucy near Wilder, Idaho. Many family members gathered there for a weekend retreat. Several toasts were offered up for Ace DuMond, who'd been fighting health problems for the past couple of years.

Good news: Ace is still with us as we publish this column.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this site over the past year. It lives on!

Pad Thai Noodles

Here's one from Ace and Sallie DuMond in Jackson, Wyoming.

We took 1/2 pound of some pad thai noodle (or your favorite) and make to the directions
ingredients:

8 oz noodles
3 cups vegetable or chicken broth
2 tbls soy sauce
4 tbls creamy peanut butter
2 teas seasame oil
1 teas chile hot paste
1/2 teas red pepper flakes
3 teas peanut oil
1 tbl fresh ginger
1/2 large red pepper
3-4 cloves of garlic
3/4 lb of nice med bite size shrimp
1/3 cup dry roasted peanuts
1/3 cup scallions
Fresh cilantro for garnish

Cook noodles to directions.

Meanwhile in a sauce pan combine broth, soy sauce, peanut butter, seasame oil , chile paste and bring to a simmer.

In a large skillet on medium heat add ginger, and garlic couple minutes, add red bell pepper, saute couple minutes, add shrimp couple minutes, add 1 cup of sauce in couple minutes when all done toss with noodles.

Top with peanuts and cilantro. Serve hot.

Another DuMondezvous - Tahoe-Style

It started last fall in western Idaho at the Bucy's. Then there was the Lake Las Vegas reunion as we simultaneously celebrated Josh Bucy's graduation from UNLV. Now, a new DuMondezvous took place in early August at the home of Cynthea and Steve Preston in beautiful South Lake Tahoe.

Here are some pics from the wonderful few days we got to spend with some fabulous folks...

BBQ 101 - Part 4

Yet another recipe from John Bucy in Idaho.

Rual’s Bonedust Rub

2/3 Cup paprika
1/2 Cup chili powder
3 T salt
2 T ground coriander
3-4 T granulated garlic
2 T curry powder
2 T hot mustard powder
2 T brown sugar
1-2 T ground black pepper
1 T basil (flakes or ground)
1 T thyme
1 T cumin
2 T oregano
1 t cayenne pepper

Deviations are normal, tweaking is expected!! Some may want all of the herbs to be powdered, but in mine I leave some in rough form. Blender’s choice!

Check out Mark DuMond's new political buzz site

Several weeks ago, Mark DuMond signed up to be the King County Political Buzz Reporter for the up-and-coming site Examiner.com.

He's written over a dozen posts so far, and has also interviewed many Washington state legislators, mostly in person and a few by telephone.

You can check out the site and sign up as a subscriber here.

BBQ 101 - Part 3

This is the third in a four-part series based on the BBQ knowledge accumulated over the years by John Bucy of Wilder, Idaho.

John’s Bronco BBQ Sauce

3 – Big bottles of your favorite BBQ sauce. (My latest has been Sweet Baby James.)
3 – 12 oz. bottles of dark molasses
1-1/2 – jar Vietnamese Pepper Paste*
1/3 qt. jar of minced garlic

12 oz. yellow mustard (French’s)

½ Bottle hot sauce (optional)

*This is a chili garlic Sauce. The one I used is made by Huy Fong Foods and as I remember, it has an outline of a rooster on the label. It is a bright red sauce with seeds. Also, on the label it says, “Tuong ot Toi Vietnam”. I have found it where one says “HOT”, but regular is good enough for me.

Combine all ingredients in a large sauce pan and simmer. It doesn’t need a long time to cook, just enough for all ingredients to blend. I usually give some away and use the rest. This normally lasts a year. Keep it refrigerated and whatever storage container you use, unless it is glass, dedicate it to this recipe, because you will never get the “flavor” out of a plastic container!!

The original recipe that I started with called for the additional hot sauce. For my taste, the Vietnamese Pepper Paste provides enough “fire”. While the sauce itself tastes hot, once you brush (or dip) a small amount on whatever meat you are cooking, it is very flavorful and not overpowering.