Three things I love are bourbon, coffee, and chocolate (not necessarily in that order). Any one of them is a treat; combine two and I’m in heaven. But all three? Now you’re talking! This Coffee Old Fashioned does just that, and I’ve been wanting to give it a try for a while. Since I don’t drink coffee too often, I decided to wait for a weekend to make this recipe for brunch. It was a nice way to spend a lazy Sunday morning, although the caffeine made an afternoon nap impossible. Oh well, giving up a nap was a price I was willing to pay!
A timeless Old Fashioned recipe with a caffeine kick. One of the original American cocktail recipes, this tipple adds cold brewed coffee for something unusual.
Recipe Author:Craft Spirits by DK Publishing via The Happy Foodie Get the recipe
The Ingredients
Since this cocktail was a real treat, I went all out on the bourbon with a bottle of Knob Creek. I find the higher proof stands up well to coffee and doesn’t get overpowered by it.
Speaking of coffee, I bought a bottle of brio! cold-brewed coffee just for this recipe. I don’t drink coffee too often, so I didn’t want to make a big batch. However, if cold brew is your jam, I have a simple cold brew coffee recipe for you. All you need is coarsely ground coffee, water, and some patience.
Next up was the creme de cacao. I had a bottle of dark cocoa, so I used that. It has a stronger chocolate flavor than the blanc, and I like that with the strong bourbon. The final touches were orange bitters and some a white chocolate bar.
Bourbon, cold-brew coffee, orange bitters, creme do cacao, and white chocolate
The Process
Since I bought ready-made cold-brew coffee, I was able to get right into making the cocktails. There isn’t a time listed, but a single cocktail took me 4 minutes to make with the garnish.
The process was so simple. Simply add everything except the coffee to a cocktail shaker filled with ice, shake, and pour over an ice-filled double old-fashioned glass. Top with the cold-brew coffee and garnish with some grated white chocolate.
Making your own cold-brew coffee adds a few more steps and an extra 24 hours, but it isn’t difficult at all. When I make it, I like to grind the coffee beans myself. It gives the coffee a smoother taste, and it’s just more convenient for me.
Coarsely ground coffee beans for making cold-brew coffee
My husband and I love oysters, but it’s been a while since we’ve had them, let alone since I last blogged them. I guess they’re something we primarily eat at restaurants, and we haven’t been going out. Well, there’s no reason why I can’t run down the street to buy a dozen oysters every now and then, so that’s exactly what I just did. I’ve been wanting to try cooked oysters for a while and now is the time! This Herb Butter Oysters with Prosciutto sounds like something we will both love, so let’s get into it.
Easy? Check. Impressive? If I do say so. Let this fun oyster recipe with herb butter and prosciutto be your next party trick.
Recipe Author: Carolyn Cope at Honest Cooking Get the recipe
The Ingredients
This recipe doesn’t have a ton of ingredients, but it did require a special trip. My regular grocery store (Whole Foods) didn’t have fresh oysters, so I decided to shop at Fresh Market this week. They had almost everything I needed, including Atlantic oysters for $0.89 each.
I needed everything for this recipe, and the parsley, lemon, shallot, and prosciutto were all in stock. I also found a 3-pound box of kosher salt. The only thing I couldn’t find was the fresh basil. It’s just my luck! Fortunately, my husband is a sweetie and ran to a local Publix to find it for me.
Oysters, shallot, basil, Italian parsley, prosciutto, salted butter, and kosher salt
The Process
When I researched cooked oyster recipes, I noticed they tended to be either grilled or roasted in the oven. This recipe did something different—it cooks the oysters on the stove. Interesting.
Another thing I liked about this recipe was the 20-minute total time. Unfortunately, my oyster shucking skills were not up to the task. Here’s how my time was spent:
22 minutes to prep
17 minutes to cook
39 minutes total
I had some trouble opening a couple of the oysters, and that took up most of the prep time. There were a couple of fighters in the bunch! I also had some trouble with balancing the shucked oysters on crumpled aluminum foil. I kept spilling the liquor, so I decided to switch to a bed of crushed ice. It worked a treat!
Shucked oysters on a bed of crushed ice
Once the oysters were prepped, I moved onto the rest of the ingredients. This recipe moves fast, so I wanted to have everything measured, chopped, and ready to go. That included adding a generous layer of coarse kosher salt to a 12-inch cast-iron pan. It really made things flow.
When I was ready to start cooking, I began with the shallot topping. Cooking that in a small saucepan was very simple thanks to my prep work, and I didn’t have any problems. Then it was onto the oysters.
I preheated the salted pan just as instructed and began adding the oysters. The salt was very hot, though, and it wasn’t easy to do. I had to move fast in order to keep from burning my fingertips, so I spilled a few of the oysters.
Getting the shallot and prosciutto toppings on neatly didn’t exactly work, but I didn’t worry about it too much. I was more concerned with over-cooking the oysters. But after adding a lid to the pan and patiently waiting three minutes, my lovely Herb Butter Oysters with Prosciutto were ready to be tasted.
A close-up view of the finished Herb Butter Oysters with Prosciutto
My week of tequila recipes is continuing, but probably not the way you imagined. Instead of a cocktail, I decided on a cocktail-themed dessert with these Tequila Sunrise Cupcakes. I’m honestly not sure if I have ever had a tequila sunrise cocktail, but that’s okay. I’m perfectly willing to sacrifice the experience of the cocktail for these cupcakes because… cupcakes! I do love boozy baking, and this recipe incorporates everything needed for the tequila sunrise experience: tequila, grenadine, and orange—even a cherry, though it’s not a garnish this time. This is going to be a fun one!
This cupcake is the second in my Boozy Bakes series, and it is one of my favorite college cocktails: the good old tequila sunrise.
Recipe Author: Kelly Cassady at Kelly Likes to Bake Get the recipe
The Ingredients
There are a good amount of ingredients in this Tequila Sunrise Cupcakes recipe, but that wasn’t a surprise at all. Freshly made pastries tend to be that way. I already had the bottle of tequila leftover from my last post, so that was taken care of.
I also had several of the other items on hand, like the grenadine that was sitting near the tequila on my bar. Flour, salt, sugar, baking soda, and baking powder were all in my pantry. I even had some powdered sugar and unsalted butter, but I had to top them off. That left a few basics for my shopping list like eggs, sour cream, an orange, and cherries.
The rest of the items I needed were special orders. I only found orange, almond, and lemon extract at local grocery stores. Close, but not the orange extract this recipe needs. Hello Amazon!
A few days later, I noticed I was missing something else: food coloring. It’s not in the ingredients list, but it is mentioned in the next to last step. Pink sounded optional, and the grenadine might have done the job. However, the orange did not sound optional, so it was back to Amazon for both.
I always like to break down long recipes, and I did that here. Not that there were many parts, but it helps me organize. This recipe had three parts: cupcakes, frosting, and assembly, and the total time listed was 47 minutes. Here’s how making Tequila Sunrise Cupcakes went for me:
23 minutes to. prep the cupcakes
20 minutes to bake
30 minutes to make the frosting / cool the cupcakes
10 minutes to frost
1 hour 23 minutes total
Ideally, I would have done this all on the same day, but things didn’t work out that way.
The Cupcakes
Every time I bake, I’m glad I have a stand mixer. It sure comes in handy when you have to mix up cake batter and buttercream frosting! It zipped through this recipe, and I had my cupcakes in the oven in 23 minutes.
Tip: The recipe lists a baking time of 15-17 minutes, but my cupcakes didn’t pass the toothpick test until the 20-minute mark.
It ended up working out well because I had to wash and dry my stand mixer’s beaters, bowl, and an extra mixing bowl while the cupcakes baked. During that time, I was able to get it all done and get the ingredients ready for the frosting.
Freshly baked cupcakes
Frosting the Tequila Sunrise Cupcakes
Frosting these cupcakes was a subject of much internal debate for me. I have a u-shaped petal piping tip that I have never used, and the author used a petal tip in the recipe’s photos. That would be cool to try even though it might take a while to make each petal.
However, a star nozzle is also mentioned, and I thought that would be really pretty with the two-color frosting. What to do? My piping bag kit came with both types, and I settled on the closed star tip after a lot of thought.
I thought that would be my only problem with the frosting, but I was wrong. It took me two tries to get it to work, but it was partially my fault. Here’s what happened.
A Frustrating First Try
While my freshly baked cupcakes cooked and absorbed the tequila I brushed on, I got started on the frosting. I’ve made buttercream before, but I have never tried a two-color frosting.
I followed the recipe and ended up with bowls of pastel pink and orange/peach frosting. The orange took about 30 drops of orange food coloring, but the texture seemed fine. Then I added the 1/4 cup of grenadine to the other half of the buttercream. It turned it pink, but it also thinned it quite a bit. I decided not to add food coloring in case it thinned it more.
Loading both colors into the piping bag wasn’t perfect, but they ended up mostly separated. And since the pink frosting was so thin, I decided to pop the loaded piping bag into the refrigerator to thicken it up.
This is where things started going wrong. I came back about 30-45 minutes later, and I immediately noticed the pink frosting was separating. I’ve had that happen before, and the frosting just melts right off the cupcakes.
Still, I tried to pipe the frosting, but the orange had thickened up too much. I ended up bursting the piping bag by the fourth cupcake. Ugh! I had quite the mess to clean up, and I was really annoyed at myself for chilling the frosting and causing the problem.
My first attempt at frosting vs. my second attempt
A Successful Second Attempt
I had to send my husband to the grocery store for more butter and powdered sugar, so I couldn’t try frosting the cupcakes until the next day. I was worried they might get soggy because I had brushed them with tequila, but they were fine. My cupcake carrier even kept them nice and fresh.
Tip: This time, I made some changes. First, I doubled the amount of frosting. My cupcake piping tips are very large, and they use a lot of frosting.
Tip: The next change was to the pink frosting. This time, I used half the amount of grenadine, added an extra 1/2 cup of powdered sugar, and used about 10 drops of pink food coloring. It worked a treat, and this time, the pink frosting was cherry perfection!
I followed the recipe as written for the orange frosting and used about 60 drops of food coloring (don’t forget that I doubled each batch/color).
Once the piping bag was loaded, it was showtime. The first few were practice cupcakes, and it took me about four to get the hang of it. But no worries because I had plenty of frosting. I even went back, removed the frosting from the first few, added it back to the bag, and re-piped them. The effect was beautiful, and I even had a little extra frosting leftover.
I’ve been wanting to try some tequila recipes, and it’s finally time. My physical therapist is something of a tequila connoisseur, and he recommended Casamigos Tequila. This was pre-pandemic, and I’ve had a bottle sitting on my bar waiting for some special recipes. (Yes, it made it through the pandemic, but my cheaper tequila did not.) So this week I have decided it’s finally time to break open that bottle, and I’m starting with this Tequila Lime Marinated Steak. Tequila and red meat sound like a treat after the past few weeks of patiently dealing with having my shower ripped out and replaced thanks to a leak. Wish me luck!
Tequila Lime Marinated Hangar Steak, a lean steak that is flavor filled! Perfect to feed a crowd at a BBQ! A great weeknight meal and versatile! The marinade is also great on chicken and pork! Serve with anything from guacamole to grilled veggies!
It’s always nice when it’s easy to find a recipe’s ingredients, but every once in a while there’s one that’s a bit challenging. That’s what I found with the hanger steak—I had no idea how difficult it would be to find! I looked for it online and found three local shops carried it. No biggie, I thought, I’ll just get my groceries at Fresh Markt this week since they have everything else I need.
Unfortunately, they didn’t have any in stock on the day I shopped. Ugh! So I went back online and decided to give Wild Fork a try. In addition to the tequila, my physical therapist recommended Wild Fork, and I’ve been meaning to give them a try. (Can you tell we talked about food a lot?) They came through with hanger steak for $12.98 per pound, and I got a 1.9-pound piece for $24.66.
There are only a few more ingredients, and they were all much easier to find than the hanger steak. I had Dijon mustard, salt, pepper, raw honey, and ground cumin on hand. All that was left to buy was garlic, lime, and red onion. No problemo!
Hanger steak, red onion, lime, tequila, garlic, raw honey, Dijon mustard, and cumin
The Process
Most of the work in this recipe is making the marinade, and even that is easy. Here’s how my time was spent:
8 minutes prep
30 minutes to warm up to room temperature
7 minutes to grill
10 minutes to stand
55 minutes total
That’s not including time to marinate overnight. The time on the recipe is 23 minutes total. It looks like the time to warm up before grilling wasn’t included in that. Taking that into account, my time was 25 minutes—very close to what was listed.
The hanger steak I got didn’t have much fat on it, so I didn’t have to trim it away. That left me to just mix up the marinade and put everything into a ziplock bag.
I started prepping the marinade in a soup bowl because I didn’t think I needed to grab a big mixing bowl. Wrong! I ended up putting everything into my smallest mixing bowl so I could whisk it together (and having two bowls to wash instead of one). After that, it was into the bag and into the refrigerator to marinate overnight.
Making the tequila-lime marinade
The next day, I took the steak out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before I wanted to grill. I also used that time to pre-heat the grill. The marinade is meant to impart flavor and tenderize, and the steaks were practically falling apart when I took them out of the bag. I had to be very careful with them.
The actual grilling was the easiest part, and it only took me a few minutes to finish. The smell was killing me about halfway through! But I managed to wait the full 10 minutes for the juices to distribute before slicing and serving.
Have you ever tried a Greyhound? I mean the cocktail, although the animal kind is an awfully sweet oversized lap dog ❤️ The Greyhound I’m talking about is a classic cocktail made of grapefruit juice and vodka served over ice. And fun fact: if you salt the rim of the glass, then it’s called a Salty Dog. But I’m getting off-topic! I know I have tried a Greyhound, but I don’t remember being crazy about it.
I know you’re wondering why on earth, then, am I trying this Greek Greyhound Cocktail? Well, tastes change over time and this version has ouzo, something I have never tried. Ouzo is a liqueur with a strong anisette flavor (think sambuca or absinthe). I love absinthe, so I’m guessing I’m going to like ouzo. But will I like it in a Greyhound? Let’s find out!
Greyhounds, the dogs not the cocktail, have a long history in Greece, where it’s believed that Odysseus’s beloved pup, Argus, was an early example of the breed. Our ode to that swift and loyal companion is this twist on the popular greyhound drink.
Folks, the ingredients for this cocktail took a little more effort to obtain than most of my recipes. I knew I would have to make an extra trip to the liquor store for the vodka and ouzo, but I had planned for that. Plus curbside pick-up made it pretty easy.
Then my regular grocery store didn’t have pink grapefruit. I searched online for it and found it at Doris Italian Market. It’s just up the street, so I added a stop to my trip and picked up the pink grapefruit and fresh mint there. And a bunch of other stuff—Doris’ is like Disneyland for foodies!
I had the sumac, fennel seeds, and sugar, so now I was set. Slightly damp since it rained and rained on the day I decided to leave my house to get groceries, but that’s just summer here in South Florida ??♀️
The Greek Greyhound isn’t too complicated, but it does involve making an infused simple syrup before the actual cocktail. Here’s how my time was spent:
4 minutes to prep the simple syrup
30 minutes to steep the fennel seeds/cool the simple syrup
4 minutes to make the cocktail
38 minutes total
I loved how the simple syrup was started by toasting the fennel seeds. I used a small saucepan, and it worked very well. After that, it’s just like any other simple syrup: add some water and sugar to the pan and stir until dissolved.
Then I removed the pan from the heat and left it to steep for 30 minutes. I did take the extra step of pouring the liquid (with the seeds) into a cool pan. That helped the syrup cool faster since I wanted to make the cocktails ASAP.
While I waited on the syrup, gathered the rest of my equipment, made the garnishes, and juiced the pink grapefruit. One grapefruit was all I needed.
After I strained the fennel seeds out of the cooled simple syrup, it was time to make my Greek Greyhounds! I made a little bit of a change to the order of things to make it easier. Tip: Muddle the mint leaves with the sumac before adding anything else to the mixing glass. It’s easier than trying to muddle floating mint leaves.
After that, I added the ice and liquid ingredients and gave it a thorough stir to mix. A quick strain as I filled the rocks glasses, and my Greek Greyhounds were ready to sample. Fingers crossed!
If you want a brighter cocktail, try using red grapefruit instead of pink grapefruit
In my house chicken is good, but Mediterranean chicken is even better. There’s just something about that particular cuisine that does it for me. This week, I’m leaning toward Greek flavors with these Oven-Roasted Greek Chicken Breasts. Split chicken breasts marinated in classic Greek flavors like lemon, oregano, and garlic. How can you go wrong with that? Well, it happens, but I’m going into this with a lot of optimism! Let’s find out how if this recipe lives up to that optimism.
Chicken breasts marinated in an herb and garlic yogurt sauce then slow roasted to juicy perfection. This incredibly flavorful Oven Roasted Greek Chicken Breasts recipe is so versatile you can make it with any variety of chicken pieces or even a whole bird.
I always love a flexible recipe because sometimes you just can’t find the exact ingredients. That’s what happened with this Oven-Roasted Greek Chicken Breasts recipe. When I did my weekly grocery order, I bought boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I clearly wasn’t paying attention! But no worries because I needed to make a special trip for the other recipe I’m reviewing this week.
I planned to get the bone-in. skin-on chicken breasts on that trip, but once I got there I found the store didn’t have them. I settled on two halved chickens, thinking I’ll just cut them up for the breasts. That’s exactly what I did for the photo of the ingredients, below. But as I made the marinade and re-read the recipe notes, I realized I could add the leg quarters, and that’s exactly what I did.
And what about the rest of the ingredients? They were already on hand or easy to find, and some were even optional. If you can’t find fresh herbs or don’t want to bother, you can use dried. See? Flexible!
Chicken breasts, lemon (zest & juice), oregano, red pepper flakes, white balsamic vinegar, garlic, thyme, Greek yogurt, and extra-virgin olive oil
The Process
In addition to being flexible, this recipe is also very easy. I followed the instructions pretty closely, but you know I had to make a change when I saw a chance to make it even easier. The first step says to put all the marinade ingredients into a zippered bag, then add the chicken.
But there was one thing missing: how to mix it up. Tip: Before adding the chicken, push out the extra air, zip the bag, knead the bag until the ingredients are mixed. It only took a few seconds to do, and I liked that the marinade ingredients were now evenly distributed.
After that, I stuck to the recipe by lifting the skin on each piece and spooning a little marinade underneath. Then it was into the refrigerator overnight to let the chicken absorb all that tasty goodness.
The next day, I used a pair of tongs to (neatly) remove the chicken from the bag and arrange it in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet. Then I placed a meat thermometer into the thickest breast piece and popped the pan into a preheated oven. Here’s how long it all took:
I admit it, I’m a bit of a sugar junkie. But I’m in the process of reforming, and it’s going pretty well. I’ve managed to give up my sweet iced tea, ice cream, cookies, and a lot of other not-so-healthy stuff I used to snack on daily. Well, I shouldn’t say “give up” because I do treat myself once in a while, but I have replaced those things with a lot of fresh fruit and good old-fashioned water. But sometimes it’s hard! I need a sugar fix, and my stomach won’t accept anything less. So thank goodness I stumbled upon these Healthy Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins. There is literally no sugar in the recipe, not even artificial sweetener. I’ll give you a second to let that sink in because it blew my mind.
Chocolate chip muffins to the rescue— you’ve gotta try these no added sugar Healthy Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins. These easy Coconut Flour Banana Muffins are gluten free! Plus coconut flour recipes for keto, vegan, paleo, and mini muffins too!
Recipe Author: Kristina LaRue at Love & Zest Get the recipe
The Ingredients
At 11 ingredients, this is a baking recipe I can get down with. It’s not a ton of stuff, and the instructions look straightforward enough. And as usual, I had a few things on hand like coconut oil, vanilla extract, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. I even had some eggs and unsweetened vanilla almond milk in the refrigerator.
That left me with a fairly short shopping list of one banana, chocolate chips, coconut flour, and peanut powder. The banana was easy, and so were the chocolate chips. I even went for sugar-free dark chocolate chips. I thought coconut flour might be difficult to find, but Whole Foods had it.
They also had peanut powder, which really surprised me. It’s literally powdered peanut butter. What?! I’ve never heard of such a thing, but it makes sense in this recipe. Powder would be much easier to mix into the batter than a glob of peanut butter. Oh, and it has waaaaay less calories than regular peanut butter. We’re talking 60 calories versus 190 per two-tablespoon serving. I hope it tastes as good!
Banana, vanilla extract, cocoa powder, chocolate chips, eggs, almond milk, peanut powder, coconut oil, coconut flour, baking soda, and salt
The Process
There are only six steps to this recipe, and one of those is preheating the oven and spraying a muffin pan with cooking spray. I love it! It listed 23 minutes total time, but I wasn’t that quick. Here’s how my time was spent:
19 minutes to prep
20 minutes to cook
39 minutes total
Following the instructions was very easy, and I didn’t have any trouble mixing up the muffins. I even remembered that this recipe only makes 10 muffins, so I didn’t try to fill the entire pan. Still, the prep work and cooking both took longer than expected.
Mash the banana before adding it to the other ingredients
It took me 14 minutes to get the batter mixed and in the pan. The other five minutes was spent mixing up a triple batch of powdered peanut butter in my mini-prep. I added a dollop to each muffin and topped it with some extra chocolate chips.
Then it was into the oven to bake. The toothpick test failed after 15 minutes, but it passed after 20. One thing I did notice was the powdered peanut butter didn’t melt. It looked the same as when I put it into the oven, and I assume that’s because it has much less fat and oil. I was mildly disappointed at that, but it’s really not a big deal as long as it tastes good!
I like salads, but I don’t think of myself as a salad person. This blog has introduced me to some wonderful salads, but my husband and I don’t see eye to eye on one thing: kale. I have come to find that I like it, but he’s not a fan. He prefers baby spinach in his salads, and I’m not so into it as a salad base. It can make it difficult to settle on a salad recipe, but today I’m making this Nutty Harvest Honeycrisp Kale Salad for lunch since he’s at work. This recipe has a lot going on, and I’m intrigued by the combination of ingredients. Cinnamon Shallot Vinaigrette? This sounds like one of those recipes that will either be really good or just terrible. I need to know which!
This is one of those salads where I actually wanted to lick the bowl when finishing. It was THAT good. I mean, that sort of reaction tends to only happen with super fabulous pizza or mac and cheese or even eggs and toast but never… salad. UNTIL NOW.
This recipe was originally posted on August 31, 2021. The post text and photos were updated on November 4, 2024, but the review and rating were not changed.
The Ingredients
This salad has a lot of ingredients, but don’t let it intimidate you. A number of the ingredients are pantry staples, though, and I had several on hand: olive oil, coconut oil, salt, pepper, red wine vinegar, honey, dijon mustard, garlic, and all the spices.
But like most recipes, there were a few things I had to shop for. The Tuscan kale and honey crisp apples were the main ones on my mind, but they were easy to find. I also didn’t have a problem with the shallot or pecans.
The only item I wasn’t sure about was the pepitas. Let me explain. Pepitas are the seeds of a specific type of pumpkin. So while all pepitas are pumpkin seeds, not all pumpkin seeds are pepitas. But searching for pepitas turned up packages labeled “pumpkin seeds”. I’m not sure if what I got was a bag of genuine pepitas, but I hope so!
Tuscan kale, Honeycrisp apples, coconut oil, pink salt, peppercorns, shallot, garlic, pecans, red pepper flakes, honey, red wine vinegar, pepitas, smoked paprika, nutmeg, sharp white cheddar cheese, olive oil, Dijon mustard, and cinnamon
The Process
Now comes the fun part: making the Nutty Harvest Honeycrisp Kale Salad. Since one page is a list of ingredients and the second is the instructions, it looks like it would be complicated. It kind of is, but the author broke it down into manageable chunks:
Smoky Honey Pepita Clusters
Sweet and Spicy Toasted Pecans
Cinnamon Shallot Vinaigrette
Salad
The recipe lists a total time of 45 minutes, but I had my salad ready in 35. Here’s how it went.
Smoky Honey Pepita Clusters
These nutty clusters kicked off the cooking. I began by microwaving the honey and coconut oil in 15-second bursts to melt them. I should have tried one 20-second burst because the dish bubbled over and made a mess.
But that was the most trouble this recipe gave me, and I quickly had the honey, oil, and spices mixed with the pepitas. I spread them over a parchment-covered sheet pan, trying to keep them together, and popped them into the oven.
Smoky Honey Pepita Clusters before breaking apart
They spread out some as they baked for 15 minutes, but the result was a thin peanut-brittle-like sheet of pepitas. I left them to the side to cool and broke them apart when I mixed up the salad.
Sweet and Spicy Toasted Pecans
The pecans were pretty easy to toast. I used a large saute pan so I could toss them and get both sides toasted. The recipe calls for low heat, so I set my stove on 3 out of 10 and kept a close eye on the pecans while I did some other prep work.
Sweet and Spicy Toasted Pecans
I didn’t time them, but it seemed to take a while to get them toasted. But once I could smell them, I knew they were ready for the honey and spices to be added to the pan. After a thorough mixing, I turned the nuts out onto a second parchment-covered sheet pan to cool.
Cinnamon Shallot Vinaigrette
I started on the vinaigrette while the pecans were toasting. This part had the most ingredients, but it was very easy. I used my mini-prep and just kept adding ingredients to it as I measured and chopped my way through the list. Then a quick mix on high, and my salad dressing was done.
Making Cinnamon Shallot Vinaigrette in my mini-prep
Assembling My Nutty Harvest Honeycrisp Kale Salad
I wasn’t sure how much kale was in one bunch, so I bought two and ended up using about 1 1/2 in my salad. The stems are not pleasant to eat, so I just ripped off the leaves and added them to a large bowl. Then I added a tablespoon of the vinaigrette and massaged the leaves.
Slicing the honey crisp apples
I left the kale to the side and finished the salad prep by finely shredding the sharp white cheddar cheese and slicing the apples. After 10 minutes, it was time to put it all together.
I broke apart the pepitas, added the pecans and cheese, and tossed them with the kale. Then I topped it all off with the sliced apples, and I was done! Two servings of a beautiful Nutty Harvest Honeycrisp Kale Salad plus a lovely vinaigrette.
Pressed for time?
I certainly understand if this recipe seems like a lot to do. I get it. If you’re short on time, I would make the pepitas clusters, pecans, and vinaigrette the night before you plan to serve the salad. You could even shred the cheese at this time or buy it already shredded.
The next day, give the vinaigrette a good shake, then massage it into the kale, slice the apples, and assemble the salad.
I do love a gimlet cocktail now and then, and today I’m going to try another gimlet recipe. This Thai Basil Gimlet seemed like the ideal follow-up to the Northern-Style Vegan Thai Coconut Soup I just reviewed. The addition of Thai basil sounds like it fits with the Thai-inspired theme, and it’s something new for me to try. This recipe and the Thai basil, that is—I’ve never tried either one. Let’s find out if I like them!
Thai basil adds spicy, anise-like notes to a gimlet. Together with lime, elderflower liqueur, and good quality gin, the Thai basil gimlet is a cool twist on an elegant classic.
Recipe Author: Emily Clifton at Nerds with Knives Get the recipe
The Ingredients
On the surface, this sounds like a simple recipe. It has only five ingredients, and I had three of them on hand. That left me to buy the limes and Thai basil, so no problem, right? Wrong. So, so wrong.
Whole Foods’ online system said they had the limes and Thai basil. Unfortunately, the shopper later texted that they were out of Thai basil and offered to substitute regular sweet basil. I turned it down and started looking for Thai basil elsewhere.
Wal-Mart had it, at least according to their online system, so I sent my husband to get it. They didn’t have it. But he knows of a couple of Asian grocery stores on his way home from work, so he decided to stop at one the next evening. No luck there.
The following evening, now day three of the search for Thai basil, he stopped at the second Asian grocery store. No luck there, either. I gave him extra credit points for stopping at three places, but I gave up on finding this ingredient.
The next week, I decided to order Thai basil from Whole Foods again. I didn’t expect them to actually have it, but lo and behold, there was a package of it in my grocery delivery. All that trouble for a $3 item. But I got it!
St. Germain elderflower liqueur, gin, Thai basil leaves, simple syrup, and lime juice
The Process
After all it took to get the Thai basil, you might be thinking this recipe was difficult to make. I’m happy to say it was very easy and went according to the instructions, and my Thai basil gimlet was ready in four minutes.
I began by adding six basil leaves to a cocktail shaker. Then I squeezed the lime juice and measured it and the simple syrup (recipe below) into the shaker with the leaves. A quick muddle to bruise the leaves was next, followed by the remaining ingredients.
Once everything was in the cocktail shaker, I added some ice and gave it a vigorous shake for 30 seconds. Then I strained the mixture into a cocktail glass and added a sprig of basil to garnish.
I did notice that my Thai Basil Gimlet was much greener than the photo. It also had tiny specks of basil leaves in it even though I was very gentle with the muddler. I’m guessing that I shook it a little too vigorously, and the ice cubes pulverized the Thai basil. Oh well, it was still a gorgeous cocktail!
Simple Syrup
The Hungry Pinner
A quick and easy-to-make staple of any well-stocked bar. This recipe yields approximately 12 ounces of simple syrup.
I associate soup with colder months, but I guess that’s relative since I live in South Florida. It’s regularly 80°F+ here, and we really don’t have seasons. I think seasons are more of a habit from growing up slightly further north. I guess what I’m trying to say is it’s hot, but I’m still in the mood for soup for some reason. My internal clock must be out of whack, but I’m going to roll with it and make this Northern-Style Vegan Thai Coconut Soup. It sounds like something I would enjoy, and I’m hoping it’s a little lighter without the meat. Let’s find out!
This Northern-Style Vegan Thai Coconut Soup is a take on one of my favorite Thai soups: Khao Soi. This version is made vegan and gluten-free by using vegetable broth and replacing the traditional egg noodles with rice noodles.
Thai food isn’t unusual, but it might sound like the ingredients would be difficult to find. Surprise, they weren’t! My usual grocery store had everything, including the red curry paste and rice noodles.
The rest of the items were a mix of pantry staples (at least for me) and other equally easy-to-find ingredients. Although I had the soy sauce, vegetable oil, garlic, turmeric, and curry powder, they were all sourced from my regular grocery store.
I’ve been getting into the habit of prepping my ingredients before I begin cooking, and that’s the approach I took with this recipe. I did make a slight change, though, by putting a large pot of water on to boil as I did the other prep work. That way the water for the rice noodles was ready by the time I was simmering the soup.
The rest of the prep work used basic cooking skills like chopping and measuring. The only thing I wasn’t sure of was how to handle the ginger. The recipe calls for a 1-inch cube of ginger, but it doesn’t say to chop or grate it. I chose to peel and finely chop it.
I decided to peel and finely chop the ginger
Once everything was measured and chopped, I began cooking in a 5-quart Dutch oven. It was plenty big enough for the soup even with the rice noodles added at the end. In fact, I think it could have held a double batch of this soup.
Making this recipe went just as the instructions said, and I didn’t have any difficulties. And since the water for the rice noodles was already boiling, all I had to do was add the noodles and wait five minutes for them to be done.
My time for this recipe was really close to the 30 minutes listed, with an extra couple of minutes making the soup. I think that was because I was busy draining the noodles when the soup finished. Not a big deal in my book. Here’s how my time was spent:
Lemonade is a summertime must around here, and I love finding new recipes every year. My favorite has been lemonade with mint leaves, so I was really intrigued when I found this Kentucky Lemonade recipe. It’s lemonade with mint and another favorite beverage of mine: bourbon. That got my attention, and I’m hoping it will be as good as I imagine. Let’s find out!
Sweet, tart, and refreshing with a bourbon kick, this Kentucky lemonade cocktail is everything you could want in a drink. Sip your way into warmer weather with this easy to make cocktail… perfect for a party!
There are a handful of ingredients for this recipe, but nothing too unusual. I was a little surprised by the ginger ale, but I went with it. The rest was exactly what you think lemonade would have: lemons, sugar, and mint. And water, of course, but I didn’t have to shop for that.
Now, I would normally use plain old granulated sugar, but I happened to have a bag of organic cane sugar in the pantry. I used it instead because it’s prettier. It has a sparkly quality that’s really pretty when you use it to rim your glasses.
Bourbon, lemons, sugar, ginger ale, and mint leaves
The Process
Making Kentucky Lemonade was just like making regular lemonade. Make a lemon-sugar concentrate, add ginger ale instead of water to dilute it, and serve over ice. Here’s how my time was spent:
11 minutes to make the lemonade
3 minutes to make the cocktails & garnishes
14 minutes total
I started out by slowly simmering the water and sugar in a saucepan. I gave it a stir now and then while I juiced the lemons. This recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of lemon juice from about 6 lemons. I bought 7 lemons so I would have enough for juice and a garnish. Unfortunately, I juiced all 7 lemons and only got 3/4 cup of juice.
Juicing the lemons
All was not lost, though, because I had some lemon juice frozen into ice cubes in the freezer. Tip: Freezing extra citrus juice in an ice cube tray is a great way to keep it from going to waste. I just popped a few lemon ice cubes into the lemon juice to bring it up to 1 1/2 cups and continued with the recipe.
After the sugar dissolved in the water, I took it off the heat and added the lemon juice and mint leaves. BTW, I left the leaves whole, but cutting them up would release more of the mint flavor if that’s your preference.
I strained the mixture into a large pitcher after a few minutes and added 2/3 cup of bourbon. Then I slowly poured in 6 cups of cold ginger ale, and my Kentucky Lemonade was ready to try.
I’ve done some awesome summer recipes this year, but I feel like they were a little on the heavy/rich side. I thought I would lighten things up with this Florida Shrimp Pie. Now, I’m from Florida and have never heard of this, but I’ll roll with it. It sounds like a simple shrimp quiche, and I’ve never made one before. I have come close with this Asparagus and Artichoke Breakfast Casserole (which I highly recommend!), but it didn’t have a crust. So let’s give this quiche-like recipe a try and see how it turns out!
This tasty shrimp and cheese pie makes a perfect light supper, or cut it into smaller wedges for a hearty appetizer.
This recipe is simple, and it only has a few ingredients. I wasn’t able to find the Pillsbury™ Deep Dish Pie Crusts at my usual grocery store, so I ordered from a different one that had it.
The rest of the items were also in stock, but I couldn’t find shredded pepper jack cheese. No biggie, though, because they had a block of it, and I have a box grater that shreds too.
Cooked shrimp, eggs, deep-dish pie crust, shredded pepper jack cheese, and chive-onion cream cheese
The Process
This recipe listed a total of 1 hour 15 minutes, but I had it done a little faster than that:
20 minutes to prep
35 minutes to cook
15 minutes to cool
1 hour 10 minutes total
The night before I planned to serve my Florida Shrimp Pie, I weighed out 12 ounces of frozen shrimp and put them into the refrigerator to thaw in a sealed container.
Roughly chopped shrimp
The next day, I turned on the oven to preheat and set the frozen pie crust out to thaw for 10 minutes as I gathered the other ingredients and began the prep work. I started things off by removing the tails from the shrimp and roughly chopping them. Then I moved on to shredding the pepper jack cheese.
The cream cheese had softened a little by this point, so I measured out 1/2 a cup and added it to my stand mixer to beat until it was smooth and creamy. The pie was thawed by this point, so I pricked the crust with a fork, put it onto a sheet pan, and into the oven for 9 minutes.
Then I began adding the eggs to the cream cheese, making sure each was thoroughly mixed in before adding the next. After that, all I had to do was gently stir in the shredded cheese and chopped shrimp with a wooden spoon.
Shredding the pepper jack cheese
The crust finished up right after that, so I poured in the filling and put it back into the oven for 35 minutes. When it was ready, I let it cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then I cut into it and served it up. Well, I did snap a couple of photos first, but you get the idea.
