Spinach, Chicken and Bowtie Pasta Salad for 100

Salad for 100, anyone?

Last summer, I made this salad three times, in two months, for groups of 100 or more.

Spinach, Chicken and Bowtie Pasta Salad is one of my all-time favorite pasta salad recipes. Here's why:  It sits well at a gathering (no mayo in the dressing). Perfect for weddings, funerals, missionary farewells and homecomings, Girl's Camp, family reunions, church parties and school events.  It's easy to make in large quantities.  Even though it looks summery it can be made year-round. AND last, but not least, everyone loves it.
The original 12-15 serving recipe is posted here . I've had oodles of requests over the years for a large quantity recipe, so I decided it would be best to re-post the recipe with directions to feed 100.
Make sure to read my tips short story (below the recipe) for all of the info you'll ever need (or want) to make pasta salad for the masses.
Happy salad making, my friends.

Got Chicken?

First three layers. 

Starting to look like something I'm interested in eating...

This was taken at Girl's Camp. I think we served 300 with these salads.
It was like the loaves and fishes. Kind of. 

Spinach, Chicken and Bowtie Pasta Salad for 100

A Bountiful Kitchen, adapted from Favorites cookbook
print recipe

Pasta:

5 lbs Bowtie pasta

Salad dressing:

2 2/3 cups vegetable or canola oil

1 1/3 cups Veri Veri Teriyaki Sauce, shaken

2 2/3 cups cider vinegar

1 1/3 cups granulated sugar

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons pepper

Salad ingredients (veggies and fruit) :

4 Costco tubs of Spinach ( 1 lb each)
8- 8 oz cans water chestnuts, drained and chopped into matchstick pieces
6 bunches green onions, chopped

48 oz - (1 large bag) Craisins 

12 cans mandarin oranges, drained well

2 cups sesame seeds, toasted

48 oz honey roasted peanuts or cashews

15 lbs chicken breasts, marinated (ingredients below), cooked, cooled and sliced

Teriyaki marinade for chicken:

6 cups soy sauce

2 cups sugar

1 Tablespoon or about 4 cloves garlic, crushed or chopped

1 Tablespoon pepper

Mix teriyaki marinade for chicken. 

Marinate chicken overnight, or at least 6 hours. Place the chicken in Ziplock bags and mix the marinade in a bowl, then pour into the bags over the chicken. The chicken may be taken directly from the freezer and set in the refrigerator in marinade for up to two days before cooking. 

After the chicken is marinated, place the drained chicken on baking sheets and broil the chicken for about 7-10 minutes (about 2-3 inches from element), or bake at 350 for about 45  minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in the middle.  Cool completely, trim off any fat and cut into slices. Set in refrigerator until ready to assemble salad. The chicken may be cooked up to three days before serving salad.
Discard any leftover marinade, DO NOT use the marinade in the salad dressing. 

Cook the pasta al dente, according to package directions. Drain, rinse quickly with cold water and toss with a tablespoon olive or canola oil  or a little of the Veri Teriyaki sauce and place in refrigerator in covered containers (I use gallon Ziplock bags) until ready to assemble salad. May be cooked up to three days before serving.

Blend the salad dressing ingredients together using large bowl or blender. Mix well. Keep refrigerated until ready to use.

Assembly:
May be done early in the day, or the day before serving.
Using two large containers, layer the ingredients to the salad in the following order (see photos)
Pasta, chicken, spinach, chopped water chestnuts, chopped green onions and Craisins. Make sure the water chestnuts are drained well.
Cover and refrigerate.
When ready to serve, add the following to the top of salad:
Drained mandarin oranges, toasted sesame seeds, honey roasted peanuts.
Mix the prepared salad dressing well, pour about 2 cups onto each container of salad, tossing gently so the mandarin oranges do not break apart. Add more salad dressing, sparingly, as needed.
Serve individually onto plates, or in a salad bowl.
Sprinkle with additional sesame seeds and nuts if desired.

Tips:

-This salad may be prepared in advance. When I'm making salads in large quantities, I usually start the day (or two) ahead with any of the steps that can be done early. Read this recipe carefully for instruction on make ahead.
-If you are serving this with a main dish, say at a barbecue, you may leave out the chicken. Or half the chicken (and marinade).
-This salad is a hearty serving of a main dish salad. It will yield 100 generous lunch size portions of salad. If served with a roll and dessert, it should satisfy most appetites. If you are serving the salad on a buffet, with other salads or sides, this should serve up to 150 as a side dish. 

-For the chicken, I buy Costco 10 lb bags of frozen- boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Usually the Tyson or Foster Farms brands. They are generally trimmed of most fat so the prep work is minimal regarding trimming the chicken. I use the chicken right out of the freezer, no thawing needed.
If you are trying to cut costs, use less chicken. This recipe may be adjusted to serve 100 with 10 lbs of chicken (instead of 15). Cut the teriyaki marinade for the chicken in half as well.
-Teriyaki Sauce for dressing on the salad- I like  Soy-Vay "Veri Veri Teriyaki"  for this recipe. It is highly concentrated, so you will use less than when using another brand. It can usually be purchased at most grocery stores and Walmart or Costco. I've also seen it online at Amazon.  Make sure to shake the bottle before using.

- Purchase Honey Roasted Planters Peanuts at Walmart in large size containers compared to the containers sold at the grocery, they are quite a bit less expensive. I love this recipe made with honey roasted cashews, but they cost quite a bit more than peanuts, so I usually stick with peanuts when making a large quantity.
-Less is more with regard to salad dressing. Use less dressing than you think you need initially. Let it sit for a few minutes and see how much has soaked into the pasta, and how much has settled to the bottom of the serving bowl. Add more dressing if needed. I rarely use all of the dressing.
-Purchase sesame seeds in bulk at the grocery in the health food aisle or in the Asian section of the grocery. The cost is significantly less than if purchased in the spice section.
-Toss the peanuts and the sesame seeds last onto the salad to preserve the crunch of the nuts.

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Perfect Apple Pie & Step-by-Step Tutorial

Are you ready for this week? The week of thanks, family, friends, food, football, and P I E .
If you've never tackled pie, but want to try, I have a little tutorial for you. A step-by-step with photos to help you along (printable recipe at bottom of photos). I taught two pie classes in the last couple of weeks and have had people who have never made a pie in their lives report back and tell me they went home and baked a pie that their family LOVED. Two teenage girls in my neighborhood came to a class, and then had their mother take them to the store to buy apples so they could bake a pie. Yes, two teenage girls baked an apple pie. Successfully. Without using store bought crust. Hooray for home cooking!
You can do this.
The best apple pie in the world.
You know you want it.
 Let's get started.

Not my oven, but don't you just love a  turquoise oven?

Step one.
Get your oven ready:
Move the rack to the bottom third of the oven (usually the second to bottom shelf) and turn the oven on to 375 degrees.  I have been baking pies on the bottom shelf, or close to it, for years now. It insures the bottom crust is nicely browned and the top crust does not get over browned. The exception to this is if you have an oven like I now have (Wolf)  that has a special setting just for baking pies. In this case, leave the rack in the middle and use the convection bake (not convection, convection bake) setting, made especially for pie baking. Don't be jelly. I'm not all that impressed with this oven. I'd trade my old GE's for these in a heartbeat. That's a story for another post.
OK, back to our happy pie making toots.
Oh, and thanks in advance to Robilyn and Angie, who allowed me to photograph their pie making experience :) You'll see their pies and lovely hands in the photos to follow...

First, get yourself an apple-peeler-corer-slicer . Sold at most hardware stores. Also sold at kitchen stores. I've owned a couple. I like the type that suction to your counter top the best. Wet the counter a bit with a slightly damp cloth, then attach the peeler. If you can't get your hands on one of these, peel and core with a paring knife, slice the apples into about 1/4 inch thick slices.  Believe me, if you can spare the $25 it's the best money you'll ever spend. OK, maybe not the best money, but it will make you love me every time you make an apple pie. Oh, and buy apples that are uniform in size, it will make the peeling experience quick and easy. And refrigerate your apples. That helps them hold their shape while peeling. Take the peeled, sliced cored apple and cut it in half. Trim off any bits of seed or core that may be left inside of the apple.

Place the apples into a large bowl. Pour all of the dry filling ingredients for the pies on top of the apples but do not mix up yet. If you mix the sugar with the apples and are not immediately ready to pour the filling into the pie crust, the sugar will bring out the juices in the apples and cause the apples to  macerate and produce more juice than you may want sitting in your crust. If you are making an apple cranberry pie, add the raw cranberries and make the necessary adjustments in the recipe as well.
For our tutorial, we are making apple cranberry pies.

For the fat, I prefer shortening. I use Crisco, half regular and half butter flavor. I've experimented with butter but not had the result that I'm looking for, which is a light flaky crust. Trust me on this. I like to use the sticks because they are so convenient, and no messy measuring shortening into cups. I do not refrigerate my shortening, but if you feel inclined, chill away.

Measure the flour into a large bowl, plop the shortening in, along with the salt. 

Cut the shortening into the flour and salt. I usually use a pastry cutter, but two knives will work just as well. Cut the shortening by placing a table knife in each hand, blades down. Now, place your fists together and pull the knives across the bowl in a cutting motion. This is way more difficult to explain than it is to execute. This step takes about one minute, or less.  When you are out buying the apple-peeler-corer-slicer,  get yourself  a pastry cutter. Look it up. Very inexpensive. I'm sure you can get one at the $1 store.

After you take twenty minutes to figure out what I was trying to tell you in the last paragraph, your dough should look like this.  Go back and re-read that last sentence. I didn't say it should take 20 minutes to cut the shortening and flour together, just that figuring out my directions might take that long. Isn't this helpful?
You want to have little pea-like size pieces of dough. The little pieces of shortening in the dough are  what creates the air pockets in the crust, therefore producing a flaky crust. Pour the cold water into the dough all at once. Then mix the dough gently with a fork. I fold more than mix. Do not over mix. This should take about 10 seconds. The dough should come together with a few loose bits of flour and dough in the bowl. When you gather all of the dough together, the pieces should stick together. If not, add a tablespoon or so more of cold water. Do not knead. Do not mix. just pat together.

Flour the surface you are using generously. I use about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of flour to prepare the surface.

Divide the dough in half if you are making a two crust fruit filled pie. I place a little more dough in the half that is covering the bottom of the pie plate. Gently shape the dough into a round disc. Start to roll out the dough evenly, not pressing down too hard on the rolling pin. Roll the dough into a circular shape. No worry if the circle is not perfect. Lift the dough occasionally and add more flour to the surface if the dough starts to stick. Also flour the rolling pin if needed. I do not advise flipping the dough,  less is more when handling the dough for pie crust. Think tender, flaky. What? You were thinking other words? Shame on you.

Now, take the pie plate you are using and place it upside down on the rolled out dough. You want to have about a two to three inch overhang, so when you place the dough in the plate, there is plenty of dough to fill the plate and hang over to make sure the pie seals properly.  Set the plate aside.

Take half of the dough and fold it over onto the other half like this. Some people like to then fold it again in quarters, but I usually just do halfsies.

Gently lift the dough onto the pie plate, so the dough covers half of the plate.

Take the folded portion of the dough and unfold it onto the plate. Don't stress if it tears, just pat it back together.

Ta dah!

Now, remember the apples we prepared earlier? Mix the dry ingredients into the apples and dump the apple filling into the pie plate.  See how the crust is not perfectly arranged on the plate, no big deal. We will take care of that when we seal and crimp. See the bits of peel on the apples? Also not a big deal. If this stresses you out, take a paring knife and remove every single last bit of peel. Now, that's better.

The fruit will settle when you bake the pie, so pile the fruit up high.

Dot the fruit with butter, and sprinkle the vanilla and/or almond extract on because everything is better with butter, right?

Roll out the dough for the top crust, same as you did for the bottom layer. 

Fold it in half and transfer onto the filled pie, then unfold so the whole top of the pie is covered.  Say goodbye to the filling. Go ahead say it. "Bye-bye see you after baking!" I always do this. not really.
If for some reason, your dough tears, don't worry, just gently pinch it back together, or wait until we make slits in the pie and strategically place your slits by the tear. Or cover them with dough cutouts. I have yet to make a pie with an imperfect crust and have someone point at the pie and say "Sheesh, your crust is imperfect, I don't think I want a piece of this pie.".

Gather the edges (didn't get a good photo of this step). I like to fold the layer of dough underneath upward, so it gathers and folds over onto the top layer of dough. If you are short on dough to fold over, take some dough from another area where there is extra and press it together where you have a shortage. Start to crimp and seal the edge. You can use a fork to press the dough down and make a little crimped edge with the end of the fork tines, or get a little more fancy and pinch the dough between your thumb and forefinger on one hand and forefinger on the other hand to make a nice little pointy edge. I believe this is Robilyn, who btw, was making her first apple pie. She's an expert crimper now.

I like to beat an egg and wash the top of the crust. You may use cream, or milk, or just a beaten egg white. Brush the whole top of the crust with the wash.

Sprinkle with granulated sugar. 

Make a few slits in the top crust for steam to escape. Any design will do. 

Place the pie on a sheet of foil or a thin cookie sheet. I like to use foil so it catches any excess juices from the pie, then I can simply throw away the foil after baking.  Place the pie in the hot oven and bake as directed on the recipe. After the pie is about half way through baking place a sheet of foil loosely on top of the pie to prevent over browning. How do you know it's done? People laugh when I say this, but you can smell it. It has a certain aroma when the apples and crust are done. Or just set the timer, It should be done in 1 hour and ten minutes, give or take a few.

In a short while, you'll be pulling this out of your oven. The crust on the bottom should be golden as well as the crust on top. After removing from oven, make sure to allow enough time to let the pie cool properly. It took years of baking to realize I wasn't allowing enough cooling time.  If you don't allow at least two and even better three to four hours for the juices to set up in the pie, your pie will be runny when you cut into it. After three hours, it will usually still be warm. This pie was cut about four hours after coming out of the oven...

There you have it. Everything you ever wanted to know about making an apple pie. And then some. Hope this inspires you to bake one this holiday season.
Happy baking!
loves,
Si




Print all three recipes here


Best Basic Flaky Pie Crust
A Bountiful Kitchen

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup shortening
½ cup very cold water

Mix flour and salt. Cut in shortening with pastry blender or knives. Add water.
Fold with fork until flour is absorbed and dough comes together. Flour surface and rolling pin well. Flatten dough gently with hand to make round shape. Roll out from center to about 1/8” thickness. Fold in half, lift onto pie plate. Open and shape to pan.

Tips:
-Dough may be easier to handle if chilled for an hour or so.
-Try rolling the dough around the rolling pin and then unrolling right onto the plate.
-Try ½ regular and ½ butter flavor Crisco.
-Some people like to “cut” the flour in with their fingers.
-Don’t cut the flour and shortening too much, the pieces of shortening are what make the crust flaky, you want to have pebble size pieces of dough before adding the water.
-If your pie is getting too brown on the edges, but not on top, take a piece of foil, fold in half to make a square then cut a half circle out of the middle. Unfold and put over your pie.
-Brush beaten egg white over your pie dough before filling with pumpkin to avoid soggy bottom crust.
-If baking for a single cooked crust, prick the entire bottom crust with a fork (to allow steam to escape). Set the oven to 500 and bake for about 6-10 minutes on the middle rack, watching carefully to insure the crust doesn't burn. Remove the crust when done and let cool, then fill with custard or other filling.
This is for a single cooked crust only. Do not prick the bottom of the crust when baking a filled single crust pie (such as pumpkin or pecan).

Fresh Apple Cranberry Pie
A Bountiful Kitchen

6-7 apples any type, peeled, cored and sliced ( I like Granny Smith)
1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries, washed
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1-2 teaspoons almond extract
juice from 1/2 of a lemon (about 2 tablespoons) not necessary if using Granny Smith Apples
dash salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place rack on bottom third of oven.
Prepare crust. Roll out bottom crust, place in pie plate.
Place apples in large bowl and mix with cranberries. Add rest of filling ingredients.
Fill bottom crust with apple cranberry mixture. Place other half of rolled out dough on top of filling in pie plate. Crimp edges. Make slits on top of pie for steam to escape. Brush with egg wash if desired, sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar.
Place pie onto foil lined cookie sheet or sheet of foil (important, this usually bubbles over a bit).
Bake for about 60 minutes. Cover loosely with foil if pie is getting too brown.
Continue baking for about 10-15 minutes or until pie is bubbly and golden. Total baking time is usually 1 hour and 10 minutes, but may vary in your oven.

Mom's Favorite Apple Pie

6-8 large apples -I like a mixture of Granny Smith and Jonathan's
¾ cup sugar
1-2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Butter
Egg, sugar, cream for top crust

Peel, core and slice apples. Set in large bowl. Mix in sugar, spices, flour, and lemon juice. Place pastry in a 9 inch pie plate. Sprinkle with vanilla . Dot with butter. Top with crust. Crimp edges. Cut steam vents. Brush either beaten egg or egg white, sprinkle with sugar or brush with cream or milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 375 for about 50-60 minutes. May need to cover with foil for half of baking time.

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Harvest Salad with Buttermilk Sage Dressing

Tuesday night I made a salad for a creative group of crafters and bloggers who attended
"Spark Your Holidays Soiree" put on by Margie Romney -Aslett (Justagirl) and hosted by Jamie Soucy.  I didn't stay for the festivities, but heard the ladies who attended had a fabulous time! I was amazed at Jamie's  gorgeous fully decorated Christmas house and the work Margie put into assembling craft kits. It was all so festive, that I may have to sign up next time they have an event and try my hand at creating outside of the kitchen...

I wanted to share a salad that was savory and a reflection of the season. I started with greens and decided on three main ingredients for toppings: roasted butternut squash, pomegranates and avocados. Keeping the dressing harvest-style, I topped the salad with pumpkin seeds and made a basic buttermilk dressing and added fresh sage. It was simple, fresh and a bit out of the ordinary.
This dish is perfect for your holiday table, not your mother's ho-hum green salad, and also a change from the fruit-candied nut-cheese salad we see at  almost every holiday gathering.
One week till Thanksgiving!
So excited.




Harvest Salad with Buttermilk Sage Dressing 
A Bountiful Kitchen
print recipe

Salad:
8-10 cups Romaine Lettuce, chopped
8-10 cups spinach (preferably baby spinach)
3 cups butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
1 ripe and slightly firm avocado
1 large pomegranate, seeded or about 1 - 1 1/2 cups of seeds
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds (green type, roasted, salted)

Buttermilk Sage Dressing:
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup mayo ( light is ok, but regular is better)
5-7 fresh sage leaves, chopped
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth or place ingredients in container and shake or use an immersion blender. The dressing will keep for a week refrigerated.

To assemble salad:
About 1 hour before assembling salad-
Preheat oven to 450 convection, or 500 bake. Move rack to middle of oven.
Place butternut squash on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with coarse salt and pepper. Drizzle with about 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil. Roast just until squash begins to turn color and get a nice brown edge. This usually takes about 15 minutes on convection or 20 in a regular bake setting. Watch closely so it does not burn.
Remove from oven and let cool completely.
Place greens on a  large platter or  bowl.
Top with cooled roasted squash, chunked avocado and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds.
When ready to serve, sprinkle generously with pumpkin seeds.
Serve with dressing on the side.
Serves about 20+ as a side dish.

Tips:
-I doubled this salad for a group of 50-60 women. I used 3 heads of Costco regular (not mini) Romaine heads, 1/2 box of baby organic Spinach and 1 container of pre-cut butternut squash. I also used about 1 1/2 containers of pre-seeded pom seeds also purchased at Costco.
-For buttermilk dressings, I like to purchase Winder Dairy buttermilk. It is a bit thicker than other brands and whips up nicely in dressings. My second choice is Meadow Gold. Both brands found in Utah.

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Fresh Cranberry-Raspberry Sauce

What's your Thanksgiving dinner assignment?  For less experienced cooks, assignments usually include: drinks, fruit platter, veggie tray, corn or some other no-fail type item. If you're looking for a way to upset surprise your Mother-in-Law and bring something out of the ordinary, bring what she requested, then take along a nice little dish of cranberry-raspberry sauce. It's unbelievably simple and delicious.
Who knows, maybe next year, you'll be hosting!
Or single.


Fresh Cranberry-Raspberry Sauce
A Bountiful Kitchen
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2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup fresh raspberries or frozen, whole, without syrup
1 cup water
1 cup sugar

Place all ingredients in large saucepan. Bring to a boil and continue to boil for about 5 minutes, or until most of the cranberries have burst and the mixture thickens a bit. Stir occasionally. Remove from heat and scrape into a heat proof bowl. Let cool and serve immediately or store in fridge for up to one month.
Serves 8 as a side.
Easily doubled.

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Favorite Apple Crisp

I was digging through a folder of dessert recipes the other day and found an article on the closing of the Red Apple, an old SLC institution. It was housed in the basement of a building in the middle of the block on 100 South between State and Main, across from what is now the City Creek Center. They made great sandwiches and one of my favorites, Apple Crisp. The Red Apple was one of the only places I knew of where you could order house made apple crisp any time of the year, whether it was October or  April . After years of being in business, they closed the doors and moved on to other adventures.
I realized after looking at the article, I've never posted our favorite version of apple crisp. You probably have your own family favorite take on this classic dessert. Ours comes from years of testing out different recipes and then coming up with a recipe that is sweet, salty, caramely and heavy on the crisp.  I like a good amount of topping on my crisp, not a thin layer that leaves you wanting more to eat with the apple filling. I also like the bit of crunch the oats add, instead of using all flour. If you don't already have a version you love give this one a try. It may become your new favorite!
Hope you're enjoying the beautiful Fall weather .




























Favorite Apple Crisp
A Bountiful Kitchen
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4 lbs of apples, preferably Granny Smith, peeled and sliced
1 tablespoon vanilla
3/4 cup dark brown sugar*
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
dash of salt

Topping:
1 1/4  cup old fashioned oats
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar, dark or regular
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter (not margarine) , cubed


Place rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Lightly grease a 9x13 pan or two-9 inch pie plates.
Place apples into a large bowl. Sprinkle the apples with one tablespoon of vanilla. Top with brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and dash of salt. Pour apple mixture into prepared pan(s).
In same bowl, Place all dry topping ingredients.  Using fingers or a pastry cutter, cut butter into dry ingredients. Spread/sprinkle topping onto top of apple mixture.
Bake for about 45 minutes or until apples are bubbly and topping is golden brown.
Remove and let sit for 15 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Tips:
-*you may use regular brown sugar, dark will produce a more caramelized filling.
-Apple Crisp is best served immediately after baking. If you need to make this ahead, you may put the dish together and bake the dessert for about 30 minutes. Remove, but do not cover or topping will get soggy. Let sit on counter to cool.
Before serving, preheat oven to 425 and finish baking dessert on top third of oven for about 15-20 minutes, or until heated through and bubbly.

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ABK Green Smoothie and 5 year Blogiversary Blendtec Giveaway!

It's been five years since I started blogging.  Five years and four hundred and sixty seven recipes after I posted  Watermelon Salad,  I still love sharing recipes and the stories behind them. To celebrate the five year mark, I'm having a BLENDTEC BLENDER giveaway!
Oh my.
This is the very best blender.
On the planet.
I know you've seen the "Will it Blend" videos :)
Want to hear the story behind our little connection with Blendtec?
I'll try to make it short.

Remember when the smoothie shops started popping up everywhere? There was a Zuka Juice shop (now Jamba) around the corner from Grant's office.  One day, while we were waiting in line to get a smoothie, I told Grant (my in-house patent attorney)  he should get the name of the company that makes the smoothie blender and see if they had a patent attorney. He wrote down the name of the blender, contacted Tom Dickson, owner and inventor at Blendtec. The rest is history. Eventually, Grant helped Blendtec get a patent for the 5-sided "Wild Side" jar. You've seen it, right?  The Wild Side jar was so successful at blending "twice the work in half the time" that the biggest name in the blending industry, Vita-Mix, copied Dickson's  5-sided jar.
Oops. Bad idea.
Grant, his brother Brett, and the Holland & Hart team sued Vita-Mix for patent infringement. After six years, they won the largest patent infringement award in the history of the state of Utah. Hooray for Tom and Blendtec. Love it when the system works.
So there you have it, the short version of why it's not a good idea to copy your neighbors work.

Want to know how to win the Designer Series Blendtec with Wildside Jar  ?

The giveaway will be a little different this time because it's all on Pinterest!
If you don't have a Pinterest account, read this post for step-by-step instructions on set up. Thank you again to Corrine at Mint Arrow for guest blogging with Pinterest tips!

A Bountiful Kitchen's Pinterest giveaway rules: 

1. Follow A Bountiful Kitchen on Pinterest . 

2. Pin the giveaway post.  

3. For extra entries, pin up to 5 recipes from A Bountiful Kitchen per day. (please make sure they are ABK recipes, pin directly from the ABK site. 

the not so small print:
Winner will be chosen at random and MUST follow A Bountiful Kitchen on Pinterest, and have pinned the original contest post (this post) to be eligible. The giveaway will run from Tuesday, September 3, 2013 to Thursday, September 5, 2013 at midnight, Pacific Time.  The winner will be announced Friday morning September 6, 2013 and will be chosen by Random Number Generator. U.S. residents only. 
I was not paid or received products for this post. The opinions shared are my own. The giveaway item was purchased by me, for you.

Hello. Cooking blog.

Here's a recipe for my favorite smoothie. I came up with this back in January, and have been making one almost every morning since. It's not a beautiful green smoothie, because I always add blueberries. Mine is kind of a purple-brown smoothie. Appetizing, right? But it tastes good and it's  simple, and gets a few fruits and veggies into my system each day. After I make this, I pour two glasses and in a bit of a falsetto do "cheers" with Grant and say "to our health". I know. Not normal behavior.
Have a great week!






ABK's Favorite Green Breakfast Smoothie
A Bountiful Kitchen
print recipe

16 oz cold water
2-3 cups fresh spinach
6 frozen strawberries
1 medium carrot or a handful of baby carrots
1 cup blueberries fresh or frozen
1 apple, cored
1 ripe banana

Pour water into pitcher. Add spinach, strawberries, carrot, blueberries, apple and banana.
Place lid on blender and blend until smooth. I use the #5 setting on my blender which is a 40 second blend.

Tips:
-I like to use frozen strawberries, even when fresh are available, because it makes the smoothie a bit thicker and serves also to make it cold.
-to easily core the apple I set it on a cutting board and make four slices around the core. No peeling needed.
-Melinda taught me this trick, if you purchase spinach and you think it may spoil before you use it up, place the leaves in a Ziplock in the freezer and use the spinach frozen. Same goes for any fruits or veggies you want to use in the smoothie.

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Banana Chocolate Chip Layer Cake

Don't you love a good celebration? I baked up this cake to celebrate ABK's five year bloggeversary! Whoot. Not really.
I mean, I did bake this cake, but not for the bloggeversary. Just Sunday dinner. Since we all were busy running around, cramming in every possible end-of-summer activity in August, I thought celebrating A Bountiful Kitchen's five year mark should wait until after Labor Day.
You won't want to miss it.
Next week.
Giveaway.
It involves a blender.
The. Very. Best. Blender.
You have to have a Pinterest account to enter the giveaway. We're having a little tutorial at the end of the week for those of you who haven't jumped on the Pinterest bandwagon. My oldest daughter, Corrine, who has her own blog  Mint Arrow  (finding the best deal on quality items, never paying full price-click on the link and check it out) is going to guest post on ABK and help you, if you are not yet  Pinterest addicted savvy.
Oh, and if you have bananas sitting on your counter attracting fruit flies, mash them up (the bananas, not the fruit flies) and make this cake. It takes one bowl and about 5 minutes to mix up.
It is divine.

Banana Chocolate Chip Layer Cake 
A Bountiful Kitchen
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1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3-4 medium bananas (equaling about 1 1/2 cups mashed bananas)
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/3 cups flour
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons milk, half and half or cream

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and line (with parchment paper) two-9 inch round cake pans.
Place sugar, bananas, soft butter, oil, buttermilk and eggs in large bowl or stand mixer. Mix for about 2 minutes, until all ingredients are mixed well. Add all of the dry ingredients, except the chocolate chips and mix for an additional one to two minutes on high speed. Fold in chocolate chips. Spread the batter evenly into the two prepared pans.
Bake on middle rack of oven for about 40 minutes, or toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached.
Let cake cool, then frost with buttercream frosting.

Frosting:
Cream butter with all dry ingredients. Add vanilla, and milk a little at a time until desired consistency.
Place one of the cakes on platter, frost with 1/3 of frosting. Place second layer on top, frost top and sides of cake with remaining frosting. Top with chopped nuts, if desired.

Tips:
-This cake can also be baked in a 9x13 pan. Bake for additional 5-10 minutes, to insure middle of cake is cooked completely.

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Strawberry Shortcake with Whipped Cream Frosting

As a little girl, I absolutely loved strawberry shortcake. My mom used to serve us those little pre-packaged cakes with sliced strawberries and Cool Whip. You know what I'm talking about, right? There were 6 or 8 cakes to a package. I wished she would buy two packages so I could have one entire package to myself. I knew summer was just around the corner when we had those little cakes in the grocery cart.
A few weeks ago, I made a cake for Brett's (my BIL) bd dinner. I planned to take strawberry shortcake, but wanted to make the cake and whip the cream the night before, so we could just grab the cake and go when it was time to head out the door on Sunday. The wheels started turning and I thought it would be fun to create a strawberry shortcake with frosting, so it could all be prepared ahead of time, and seem more like a cake fit for a celebration. After some alterations to multiple recipes found online, I came up with this yummy twist to an old favorite.
Perfect summer birthday cake.
Love it.

Strawberry Shortcake with Whipped Cream Frosting
A Bountiful Kitchen
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4 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cup flour, sifted
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place rack in middle of oven.
Grease and lightly flour two-9 inch round cake pans, or grease and line with parchment.
Beat 4 egg whites until stiff in medium bowl, set aside.
Place baking powder, baking soda, salt and flour in a small bowl, mix with fork.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together for two minutes on medium speed with a mixer. Add one whole egg and vanilla. Beat for an additional two minutes.
Add half of the dry ingredients, mix well. Add 1/2 cup of the buttermilk, mix well. Repeat with both the dry and wet ingredients until all are mixed into the bowl, scraping down sides of the bowl after each addition. Gently fold in the egg whites.
Spoon the mixture evenly into the prepared pans.
Bake on middle rack in oven for about 25-35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Watch carefully, so cake does not overcook.
Remove pans from oven when done, let sit for five minutes.
Invert onto cooling rack. Let cake cool completely before frosting.
Serves 12-15

Whipped Cream and Cream Cheese Frosting

1- 8 oz  package cream cheese, regular or low fat, room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond (optional)
2 cups heavy whipping cream, cold

Beat the softened cream cheese and powdered sugar in a mixing bowl. Add vanilla and almond. Mix until smooth. Taste and add 1/4 cup of additional powdered sugar if you like it sweeter.
Slowly add the heavy cream and beat until frosting is light and fluffy.
Frost the cake with Whipped Cream Frosting and top each serving with strawberries.
Store in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Tips:
-This cake did not rise up very much at my altitude (abt 4400 ft.) . I'm going to experiment and will update the post if I am able to get a higher rise next time I bake.
If you are looking for a taller cake, double or 1 1/2 the recipe and make more layers. You'll have to increase the frosting as well to cover the cake. If you double the cake, 1 1/2 times the frosting.

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