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White Cheddar Scalloped Potatoes

¼ cup butter

1 medium onion, finely chopped

¼ cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp dried parsley flakes

½ tsp dried thyme

½ tsp pepper

½ tsp dry mustard

3 cups milk

1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup, 10 ¾ oz

1 cup sour cream

8 cups thinly sliced peeled potatoes

3 ½ cups cubed fully cooked ham

2 cups shredded sharp white cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large saucepan, heat butter over medium-high heat. Add onion, cook, and stir until tender. Stir in flour and seasonings until blended, gradually whisk in milk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in soup. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream. In a greased 13 x 9-inch baking dish, layer half of each of the potatoes, then ham, cheese, and sauce. Repeat the process with the other half of everything. Bake, covered, 30 minutes, uncover and cook for 40-50 minutes longer or until potatoes are tender.

It’s officially dessert time boys and girls. I have 3 options for you, all different, all pretty darn good. I have a great bar recipe with chocolate and peanut butter, an incredible fudge recipe, but first, a pecan cream pie. We have all heard of and enjoyed pecan pies, but a pecan cream pie was very new to me when I first heard of it, but it totally intrigued me. I’ve been cooking professionally for over 40 years and had never heard of this until a few years ago, but I have always loved any cream pie, and I love pecan pie, so this was a no-brainer for me. You can either make your own pie crust or buy a pre-made version, but either way, you’ll love this one. Unlike the traditional pecan pie, this is a no bake recipe, other than cooking the crust. The combo of the pecan and maple syrup and brown sugar is always a marriage made in heaven. Once made, let it cool under refrigeration for at least 2-3 hours, but as I often say, overnight is best.

Pecan Cream Pie

1 pie crust, unbaked, 9 inch

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/3 cup powdered sugar

2 packages cream cheese, 8 oz each, room temp

½ cup light brown sugar

¼ cup pure maple syrup

1 ½ cups pecans, finely chopped

¼ tsp salt

Bake your pie crust. If homemade, you know what you’re doing. If cooking a store bought, do so according to package directions. Let cool completely while you make the filling. In a small bowl, beat the whipping cream and powdered sugar with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. In a separate large bowl, beat the cream cheese, brown sugar, salt, and maple syrup until smooth and creamy. Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture until combined. Gently stir in 1 cup of the pecans. Spread mixture into cooled pie crust and top with remaining pecans. Chill until firm, at least 2 hours and up to overnight. Wicked Good!!

Most people don’t think of fudge until the holiday season. Ha, not me and my friends, as fudge can easily be a 12 month treat, although you’ll want to save this one for the Christmas season and not just for now. Pecan is also a key part of this recipe, as well as white chocolate and caramel. How can that not work, right? Like most fudge recipes, this is a no bake recipe and only takes 15 minutes or so. This will get you 2 dozen small pieces, obviously more if you want to cut them more generously.

White Chocolate Caramel Pecan Fudge

3 cups of white chocolate chips

14 oz sweetened condensed milk

4 tbsp butter

½ tsp pure vanilla extract

• Cook Out continued on page 13

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1 cup chopped pecans

½ - ¾ cup of caramel sauce, room temp

Combine the chocolate chips, the milk, and the butter in a medium size glass bowl and heat in the microwave for 60 seconds, stir to combine and then heat in 15 second intervals, stirring at each break and heat and continue until mostly smooth with just a few flecks of unmelted chocolate. Add the extract and pecans and stir to combine. Scoop onto a parchment lined pan. Spread with a spatula to approximately 1-inch thickness. Drizzle with caramel sauce. Lightly swirl the caramel into the fudge with a knife or the end of the spatula. Chill until ready to serve. Slice into 1-inch squares and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. If you don’t happen to be a fan of white chocolate, this fudge works beautifully and is equally as incredible when made with semi-sweet or dark chocolate.

No mystery how well peanut butter and chocolate go together. It’s time for a dessert bar recipe that will make you all smile. You can make these in 40 minutes and again, this needs to be chilled for at least 2 hours. Plan on 9 bars out of this recipe.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Dream Bars

16 oz of peanut butter sandwich cookies, such as Nutter Butters

½ stick of butter, 4 tbsp, melted

6 oz cream cheese, room temp

½ cup confectioners’ sugar

1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

½ tsp pure vanilla extract

8 oz frozen whipped topping, thawed, divided

1 box instant chocolate pudding, 3.9 oz box

1 ½ cups milk

¼ cup milk chocolate chips

¼ cup peanut butter chips

Finely crush 16-18 of the cookies in a blender or food processor and set the rest aside for now. Melt the butter in a medium microwavable bowl. Add the crushed cookies and mix until well moistened. Press into an 8 X 8-inch baking dish, and place into the freezer for a minimum of 30 minutes to set. Mix the package of pudding with the milk in a small bowl, and place into refrigerator to set. In a standing mixer or any mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, peanut butter, and vanilla together. Fold in 1 cup of the thawed whipped topping and mix until well blended with a rubber spatula. Place dollops of cream cheese mixture over the crust, and with the spatula, gently spread to completely cover. Doing the same with all of the chocolate pudding, place dollops over the cream cheese and evenly distribute. Spread remaining whipped topping over the pudding. Refrigerate for at least two hours. Place into freezer for a half hour to completely set and allow for neat slices before serving. In a plastic bag, break up the remaining cookies with a meat tenderizer. You are looking for semi-big pieces as opposed to the pulverized cookies for the crust. Sprinkle the cookies and chocolate / peanut butter chips over the top just before serving.

That’s That Valley Friends!! Have a great Spring and I’ll catch up with you in a month. Keep those taste buds happy, and if you have any questions or feedback, please touch base at fenwaysox10@gmail.com

The Great Smith River Canoe and Kayak Race is May 20

The 47th Annual Great Smith River Canoe and Kayak Race, sponsored by the Wolfeboro Lions Club, will take place on Saturday, May 20, at 1:15 pm at Allen Albee Beach (Albee Beach Rd. Wolfeboro). The four-mile race includes a ¼ mile of class 2 white water rapids and two portages

There are 19 classes to suit everyone, from novice to expert. So, get those canoes, kayaks, and paddles ready, grab a friend or go it alone. Registration is $20 per paddler; the first 50 participants registered will receive a free t-shirt. Prizes will be awarded to the first three finishers in each class.

Registration forms are available at the Wolfeboro Chamber of Commerce at 32 Central Ave. in Wolfeboro, on the Wolfeboro Lions Facebook page, or by calling 603-569-4697. Racers can also register the day of the race at Albee Beach from 10 am-12:45 pm. All proceeds from the race will benefit Lions Club Scholarships. For More information, contact Race Chair Roger Murray at 603-569-4697.

The Lions Club motto is “We Serve,” and Lions put it into action every day. Lions are caring men and women who come together to be the difference in their communities. “We believe we can do so much more together than we can alone.” The Wolfeboro Lions Club donates to local charities and non-profit groups, as well as funding several Wolfeboro Lions scholarship programs, and assisting those in need of glasses and hearing aids.

MMRG Hosts Conservation 101 Workshops for Landowners

Moose Mountains Regional Greenways (MMRG) presents a series of three free informational sessions for community members to learn about land conservation.

Chocorua Lake Conservancy Earth Day Adopt-a-Highway Cleanup

Come spend a spring morning with friends and neighbors tidying up the detritus of winter from the stretch of Route 16 that runs along Chocorua Lake. CLC volunteers have been cleaning up Route 16 since 2003, when the CLC adopted the two miles of highway from Heavenly Hill to the north end of the lake.

On Saturday, April 22, from 8:4510:30 AM, join the Chocorua Lake Conservancy for our Earth Day Adopta-Highway Cleanup along Route 16. Help us clean up plastics and other trash before they degrade and leach pollution into the lake. We’ll meet in the Grove by Chocorua Lake, near the Narrows Bridge at the end of Chocorua Lake Road close to Route 16, at 8:45 AM, and we usually finish by 10 or 10:30 AM. Please come with gloves, good walking shoes, and wear bright, preferably day-glo clothing. CLC Executive Director Alex Moot will provide trash bags and safety vests. Please sign up in advance at bit.ly/ CLC-042223 so that we can let you know about any schedule changes. We hope you can join us—more helpers mean we all finish faster!

MMRG’s primary mission is land conservation by working with landowners and others to permanently protect natural resources and outdoor recreational values. Since 1998 we have been helping communities to identify their most special natural resources. We start by working with community leaders to identify the natural resource features that are most unique to the community – like important drinking water resources, wildlife habitat areas, working farms and forests, and recreational areas. We have successfully conserved over 4,000 acres that are host to a variety of habitat types across nine communities served in the Moose Mountains region.

Veronica Bodge, MMRG’s Land Agent, will offer an informative presentation, tailored towards landowners interested in the possibility of conserving their land. Options may vary based on the landowner’s goals for conservation and if they will continue to own and live on the property. Veronica will discuss the basics of conservation outcomes for a landowners property. Attendees will have the opportunity and are encouraged to ask further questions.

The first session was held on March 30th at the Public Library on 74 Main Street in Center Ossipee. The second session will be held at the Wolfeboro Public Library on June 6th from 6:307:30 pm. In October a third session will be held at the New Durham Public Library from 5:00-6:00 pm. RSVP is requested at mmrgnh.org/events.

Tips for Turkey Hunters

Spring turkey season (May 1–31) is only weeks away, and hunters on a quest for gobblers can do a lot to help promote positive landowner relations, according to Mark Beauchesne, Landowner Relations Coordinator for the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department.

“Remember that access to private land is a privilege provided through the generosity of the landowner,” said Beauchesne. “With more than 70% of New Hampshire’s land in private ownership, practicing good landowner relations is key to maintaining access to private property for future generations.”

Here are some tips:

Even if you had landowner permission to hunt during the fall, check back in with property owners to discuss the spring hunting season dates and to make sure nothing has changed over the winter.

Demonstrate good landowner relations in front of youth before, during, and after youth turkey-hunting weekend, April 22 and 23. Ask permission and follow landowner requests.

Remember that you are the guest of the landowner. Treat their property with the same care and respect that you would if it were your own.

Never park on lawns or block roadways, trails, crossings, or gates. Leave all gates and barriers as you found them.

Written landowner permission is needed to drive an OHRV on private property. If you are granted permission, understand clearly where you are permitted to drive and carry that permission on your person.

Become familiar with boundaries of the land you have permission to hunt, surrounding properties, and adjacent recreation areas, farms, and active logging operations.

Do not hunt near buildings, livestock, active logging operations, or hiking trails.

Always ask landowner permission if you plan to construct a ground blind. Written permission is required if your blind will damage a tree or requires cutting tree branches.

Make an effort to express your appreciation to the landowner. Follow up with a note of thanks, a small token of appreciation, or offer up assistance with a task or chore. Your ongoing communication with landowners makes a world of difference.