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LOVE!To find ourselves together with someone special to have and tohold forever is the greatest gift life can give us. Yours is the goldenticket to the possibility of happily ever after. Commit to buildingeach other up every day and you will be surprised at how manydoors your love will open.In these stories and recipes we hope you will find inspiration tomake cooking and sharing meals together a special time in yourlives for your love to grow through the years. For so many of us,the kitchen table has been where people become family and wherefamilies grow. Please don’t miss this opportunity, it really is thebest life has to offer.Congratulations!Bill Penzey

ContentsMarge and Bud . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6Tomato Juice CakePumpkin PancakesKate and Damian. . . . . . . . . . . 7-10French Toast BakeShrimp ‘n’ Crawfish Po’ BoysSally and Chris . . . . . . . . . . . .11-14Squash and Sausage BundleCarrot SoupJohn and Susan. . . . . . . . . . . .15-17Grilled FajitasGrilled PizzasCarmen and Kincaid . . . . . . . . .18-20Fox Point SalmonCauliflower Smash UpMary and Jeff. . . . . . . . . . . . .21-23Chicken CasseroleRefrigerator Cookies3

The Benisheks shared many anniversaries.“Home on"Marge gave me a beautiful ring for our 50th leave, I wasanniversary. It turns out she had beenin a trafficputting money aside each month for years to accidentsurprise me!"Marge and BudMarge and Bud Benishek celebratedtheir 65th wedding anniversary in Juneof 2011 surrounded by their children,grandchildren and great grandchildren.“We had a very nice dinner together,” Budrecalls from his home in Findlay, Ohio.“We were introduced by my sister Ireneand Marge’s mother Ella who were friends.We dated a few times and liked each other,though we didn’t stay in touch during thefour years I was in the Navy where I wasassigned as baker.4and placedon extendedmedical leave until I recuperated. Oneevening, tired of sitting home, I decidedto drop by a local nightclub. As soon as Iwalked in the door I saw Marge and wentover to say hello. We began chatting,renewing our acquaintance.“We went steady after that, going outevery night but one, when we rested up.We’d often go dancing till dawn. Before weknew it I returned to duty.“We kept in touch through letters until Iwas discharged in January and by June wedecided to get married. Marge thought,‘If we’re going to get married, we mightas well just go ahead and do it.’ So a weeklater on June 29th we were married bythe Justice of the Peace. It was 96 degreesthat day. We celebrated with an ice creamcone and returned to Moline to share thehappy news with our parents.“While cooking our first dinner, Margefound she didn’t have a can opener so shesent me over to her grandmother’s whoexclaimed, ‘What, she’s feeding you out ofa can already?’ Marge never lived that onedown. Gram thought that was so funny.“In November we both quit our jobs andwent on a four-week honeymoon to NewOrleans. When we returned I worked forPeters Bakery making 45 a week. Margedidn’t have to work with that big income,”Bud laughs.“I knew I didn’t want to be a bakerthe rest of my life and was told about afranchise for Dairy Queen, an up-andcoming business. We decided to go forit. With 2-week-old son David, we movedto Findlay, Ohio, to open one of the firstDairy Queens in the state. We were young.It never occurred to us that we might betaking a risk. We owned the store for 12years.“The person we leased the buildingfrom offered to renovate the top floor ofhis house for us, which we did rent for acouple years until we were able to savefor our own house, the house I still live intoday. It’s amazing what people are willingto do for you.“Patience saw us through tough times,though there weren’t many. We werepractical and saved our pennies, nickelsand dimes. Marge didn’t work in thestore often, but each day she would makeshredded chicken at home to be sold assandwiches for the lunch crowd.“Marge took care of the home andour four children. We couldn’t go far asI worked seven days a week, but we didtake some Saturdays to go to the zoo or

the beach, maybe an amusementpark. We enjoyed our kids.“Marge was definitely the cook.There were no family specialties, justlots of meals to feed a family withfour kids—spaghetti, chili and roastswith mashed potatoes. She was agood cook. There was always lots offood and laughter. Marge always saidthat I taught her to laugh. The soundof children’s laughter made her thehappiest.”After Bud’s retirement theyenjoyed their family and each other,as they traveled together around thecountry. As Bud has always known,“She was the one for me!”Bud and Marge became sweethearts for life.Tomato Juice CakeMarge and Bud’s daughter Kristine writes,“I had never heard of Tomato Juice Cakewhen I saw this recipe in the little notebookof recipes my dad used as a baker whileserving in the Navy during World War II. Iwas determined to try it, got out a calculator, and reduced the huge quantity ofingredients they needed to literally ‘feedan army’ (in this case Navy), then tweakedthe recipe slightly. The result is a very moistcake, and no—it does not taste like tomatoes! It won’t rise as high as most cakes,so just cut it into bars to serve and eat itlike a Texas Sheet Cake or bar cookie.”11 4Cups white flourtsp. baking soda2tsp. baking powder1 2tsp. salt1tsp. CINNAMON1 4tsp. GROUND CLOVES1 4tsp. GROUND NUTMEG1 2tsp. GROUND ALLSPICE1 3Cup butter, softened1 4Cup applesauce3 4Cup sugar2large eggs1Cup tomato juice1 2Cup golden raisins (optional)1 2Cup walnuts, finely ground(optional)Frosting:3oz. cream cheese, roomtemperature1 2Cup butter, (1 stick), roomtemperature1tsp. PURE VANILLA EXTRACT3 4Cup powdered sugar 21Preheat oven to 350 . In a medium bowl, combine the flour,baking soda, baking powder, salt and SPICES; set aside.In a large bowl, beat together the butter, applesauce andsugar until smooth; beat in the eggs one at a time. Add theflour mixture alternately with the tomato juice, beating untilsmooth and well blended. Stir in the raisins and groundwalnuts, if desired. Pour into a greased 9x13-inch bakingdish. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes, or until a toothpickinserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool completelybefore frosting. For the frosting: In a medium bowl beattogether the cream cheese, butter and PURE VANILLAEXTRACT. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add thepowdered sugar. Mix until smooth. Spread over the cooledcake and serve.Prep. time: 10 minutesBaking time: 25 minutesServes: 12-15Nutritional Information: Servings 12; Serving Size 1 piece (115g); Calories 340; Calories from fat 170; Total fat 19g; Cholesterol 90mg; Sodium440mg; Carbohydrate 40g; Dietary Fiber 1g; Sugars 27g; Protein 4g.5

Pumpkin PancakesKristine Benishek writes, “The pumpkin makes these pancakeslight and moist. They have a subtle pumpkin flavor with justenough pumpkin to be able to taste and enjoy. If you havePUMPKIN PIE SPICE on hand, you can replace the last threespices in this recipe with that instead.”1large egg, beaten 4 Cup vanilla yogurt (or 1 4 cup plain yogurt plus 1 4 tsp.1 43 4321 4121 2 21 41 211PURE VANILLA EXTRACT)Cup milkCup canned pumpkinTB. butter, meltedCup light baking flourtsp. saltTB. brown sugartsp. baking powdertsp. baking sodatsp. CINNAMONtsp. NUTMEGtsp. POWDERED GINGERIn a large bowl, combine the egg, yogurt, milk, pumpkin andmelted butter. Mix well. Add the flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and SPICES. Stir together until well blended.Pour or spoon the batter into a hot skillet over medium-highheat; when bubbles begin to form, and the underside isbrowned, turn over to brown the other side. These pancakestend to be a bit more fragile than regular ones so make sureto slide the spatula all the way under when turning, and do itgently. Remove the cooked pancakes and repeat the processwith the remaining batter.Prep. time: 10 minutesCooking time: 4-6 minutes per batchServes: 4Nutritional Information: Servings 4; Serving Size 7 small pancakes (144g);Calories 220; Calories from fat 70; Total fat 7g; Cholesterol 65mg; Sodium440mg; Carbohydrate 32g; Dietary Fiber 3g; Sugars 9g; Protein 7g.6

Kate, Damian and their daughters Scout,West and Dove fill their home with love,laughter and lots of fun.Kate and Damian“My children amaze me in so manyways,” says Kate Dominic-Munoz. “Witheach milestone, change in their interestsand unique blossoming characteristic, Ifeel so honored to be along for the rideas I watch them ‘become.’ It is the mostrewarding part of being a mom.”Kate, her fiancé Damian Dominic andtheir three children are a multi-racialfamily living and loving together inOmaha, Nebraska.Kate says, “My fiancé is black and Iam white. Our two oldest girls, Scoutand West, are white and Hispanic andour youngest daughter, Dove, is whiteand African-American. This makes fora beautiful dynamic and a rich blend ofculture.”Each of Kate and Damian’s girls hasher own special interests and personality.“Scout, who is 9 years old, is our scientist,animal lover and rocker. She plays theviola and participates in Girls Rock eachsummer, where she plays the electricbass.” (Girls Rock is a camp that helpsto build confidence and self-esteemthrough a variety of programs and musicaleducation.)“Scout likes to cook and eat. She wasvery proud of the first chicken dish shemade this past summer. It was quite anaccomplishment!“West, our middle daughter, is 7. We callher our Wild West. She is our creative soulwho is forever in a homemade costumeand never without her art supplies. Westdoes spot-on imitations and is an amazingsinger. Her favorite food is sushi and whenit comes to helping with stirring, she’s thebest.“Dove is our baby girl. She is 18 monthsold and quite independent. She prettymuch runs the house,” Kate laughs. “Doveis silly and sweet. She loves to dance andsing and play with our dog Lulu. LoveyDovey will eat just about anything butavocadoes.“The girls are pretty official when wecook together. They put on aprons andchef hats and take charge of the recipes.They will eat almost anything they cook,no matter the ingredients. This is how Iget them to eat their vegetables and tobe more adventurous with eating I justhave them cook it.”Smart Mom.Kate recalls, “I learned to cook when Iworked with Food Not Bombs, a nonprofitin Omaha, where I attended college. Agroup of friends joined together to gatherfood that would have been discarded fromrestaurants and grocery stores. We tookthis food home, prepared vegan meals andshared it with anyone in our communitywho was hungry—no questions asked.“It was here I learned to get creativewith ingredients. These days were fullof laughter, music, singing and fosteringsome wonderful relationships andmemories. It inspired my love of cooking.”While in college Kate studied to be aspecial education teacher. “I have alwaysknown I wanted to do this. School alwayscame easily to me and I didn’t think it wasfair that it was difficult for others.“I’ve always had a little itch to7