What's For Lunch!

We're having some friends over for swimming and lunch. So, I'll be doing a lot of cooking tonight and tomorrow... but I thought I'd share what I'm cooking up plus give you the recipes...

The Barbecued Sugar-Spice Salmon it's a recipe I clipped out of the L.A. Times Food Section about 8 years ago... and is it delicious!!! For the salad... I just couldn't decide... either the Spinach Strawberry Salad or the Grape Salad... both are from my friend Marikay... and are they yummy! Since I couldn't make up my mind... Steve's decided on the Spinach Strawberry (but I'll give you both to try). Then last but not least... the dessert... this is one of my childhood favorites... Jello Poke Cake with Pudding & Whip Cream Frosting!!! Do you remember this as a kid?? I loved it when my mom made it on a hot summer day! yum... yumm... yummy!

Well, that's what I'll be doing tomorrow...if you try any of these recipes, I'd love to know if you liked them!!! Now, Rainee & I are off to the grocery store... have a lovely day!

Barbecued Sugar-Spiced Salmon
1/4 Cup sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard
Dash cinnamon
1 tablespoon cocoa
1/4 Cup chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons coarse salt (I use sea salt)
4 (6-ounce) Salmon filets
3 tablespoons oil
Heat grill on medium-high heat. Combine the sugar, mustard, cinnamon, paprika, cocoa, chili powder, cumin, pepper and salt. Dip salmon in the oil and tap off any excess oil. then dip the filts in the spice mixture to coat both sides and around the edges. Pat the spice mixture in place; you'll have some left over. Grill the salmon until it just begin to flake, about 4 minutes a side or cook until it;s dine as desired.

Strawberry Spinach Salad
1 pound Spinish Salad
1 pint of Fresh Strawberries, sliced
1/2 C Pecan pieces
1/2 C crumbled Bleu Cheese
Combine in a bowl strawberries, spinach, bleu cheese & pecans.

Dressing:
1/2 C Sugar
2 Tbls Sesame Seeds
1 Tbls Poppy Seeds
1 1/2 tsp Minced dry onion
1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp Paprika
1/4 C vinegar
1/2 C Vegetable Oil
Mix together the sugar and vinegar until the sugar is dissolved then add the rest o f the dressing ingredients. Do no put on the salad until you are ready to server the salad.

Grape Salad
4 pounds seedless red & green grapes
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 ounces chopped pecans (or walnuts)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
Wash and dry grapes. In a large bowl, mix together the cream cheese, sour cream, sugar and vanilla. Add grapes and mix until evenly incorporated. Sprinkle with brown sugar and pecans, mix again and refrigerate until serving.

Jello Poke Cake
1 box lemon cake mix
1 6oz. box jello mix
Follow directions on cake mix. Bake and let cool completely. With a fork, poke holes in the cake. Dissolve large jello mix into 2 cups boiling water. Pour over surface of cake, focusing on holes. Refrigerate/freeze til completely cooled throughout. Top with Cool Whip Frosting & Pudding. Serve cold.

Cool Whip & Pudding Frosting
1 package instant vanilla pudding
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup cold milk
8 ounces Cool Whip -- Thawed
Mix pudding, milk and powdered sugar with mixer for 1 minute until creamy. Fold in cool whip. Spread on cake.