Celebrate Independence!

Nothing says summer and celebrations like sangria!

My husband introduced me to the world of sangria on my first trip to Chicago. We dined at the beautiful Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba. Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba is a premier Spanish restaurant known for tapas, paella and sangria. Those of you who know me know that I seldom drink. I was very reluctant to try the sangria, a traditional Spanish drink made with wine, spirits and diced fruit, but my husband assured me that I would love it and also reminded me that we took a cab to the cafe...and that turned out to be a very good thing! The sangria was so sweet and fruity, easy to drink and the atmosphere of the cafe just enhanced the experience. I tried the red, the white, the white peach and the black raspberry!! I have since been on a mission to either find a local restaurant that can make a sangria as well as Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba or to create one myself!

I have played with many recipes and this one is very good. I love it for the summer months and to share for the July 4^th holiday because the ingredients used are in season and the colors are perfect! I hope you try this and enjoy it! Remember...it can sneak up on you so drink wisely!!

And if you are ever in Chicago try Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba!! You will love it!

Celebration Sangria

Ingredients

1 bottle dry white or rose wine (I use a white zinfandel)

2 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced

1 cup blueberries

1 jar maraschino cherries, drained and stems removed

1/2 cup pomegranate schnapps

1/4 cup sugar

Club soda

Apples or star fruit

Directions

Add the strawberries, blueberries,and cherries to a pitcher.

Pour in the wine and the pomegranate schnapps.

Gently stir in the sugar.

Cover and let sit in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.

To serve, fill a glass with ice cubes. Pour the sangria in about 2/3 full, add a few pieces of the fruit. Top off with club soda.

*For the Fourth of July I sliced apples into the shape of stars for a festive touch. You could also use star fruit if available. 

 

Sweet Summer Treats

Hands down Oreos are my boys favorite store bought cookie. They will fight over the last one! I wanted to make them a special treat so I decided to combine their love of cupcakes and oreo cookies! This cupcake has a brownie like texture with a surprise tucked inside...an oreo cookie! Topped with a light and fluffy oreo buttercream and a mini oreo on top! The kids loved these sweet treats!!

Ingredients:

4 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate, broken into pieces
3/4 cups (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups sugar (granulated)
3 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1 c. flour
18 Oreo cookies
18 mini Oreo cookies






Oreo Butter Cream
3 cups powdered sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
10 Oreo cookies

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Line 18 cupcake holders with paper liners.

Place the chocolate and the butter in a large, microwave-safe bowl. Heat in the microwave on high for three minutes, stirring every minute, until the butter is melted and the chocolate is just melted. Give it a good stir to mix it all together.

Stir in the granulated sugar, then add the eggs, stirring in one at a time. Then stir in the vanilla. Add the flour and stir well. The batter should be smooth.

Add about a tablespoon of batter to each muffin cup. Place one Oreo cookie on top of each cup of batter and press down gently. Top with the remaining batter, dividing between the 18 cups.

Bake at 350 degrees for 23 – 27 minutes, until the brownies are set but not overbaked. Cool completely.

For the buttercream, seal the Oreo cookies in a Ziploc bag and crush with a rolling pin until they’re small crumbs.

In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix the butter, powdered sugar, milk, vanilla and Oreo crumbs. Mix until completely blended.

Once the cupcakes are completely cooled, top with the Oreo buttercream.

Top off with a mini Oreo. Enjoy!!

Sunshine Lemonade

Its been 17 days since my last drink.  
 
I've finally given up my very addicting, unhealthy habit.  




I QUIT drinking...soft drinks! No regular, no diet, no nothing!!


I've never been a big water drinker.  But I wanted to make some changes to my diet, and water was the one thing I was defiantly missing.   We have a nice water filter but I still didn't love to drink it.  I tried adding the powdered drink mixes and squeezing a little lemon in it, still didn't love drinking water.  I had a ton of oranges and lemons in the fruit basket and thought I'd give them a try in my water.  I loved the combination! I would slice an orange and a lemon and put them in my water pitcher and the longer it sets the better it tastes.  






I'm trying desperately to get the boys into this new habit with me.  I would love to see them drinking more water.  They like the lemon/orange water but still want something a little sweeter.  So I decided to experiment with my lemonade recipe, cutting back on the sugar and adding some orange to replace it.  Winner!! They loved it! It is the perfect combination of sweet and tart refreshment! Perfect for the hot summer days ahead!! Enjoy!!

Sunshine Lemonade

Ingredients:  

4 1/4 cups water, divided
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup orange juice
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
2 teaspoon grated orange peel

Directions:

In a saucepan, bring 1-1/4 cups water and sugar to a boil. Stir to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat and add grated lemon and orange peels, cool. Transfer to a pitcher; add lemon and orange juices. Stir in the remaining water. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Serve over ice. Garnish with lemon if desired. (If your family does not like the grated peel in the drink, you can strain it before pouring into glasses.)

Paging Dr. Chipotle, Dr. Chipotle

1 bone in Pork butt (5-7 pounds)

1 (11oz) can Chipotle peppers

2 cans Dr. Pepper

2 medium Onions

2 tablespoons Brown Sugar

Salt and Pepper

Sounds crazy right?? I thought so! But I also thought I must try this recipe! I love to slow cook pork butt in my cast iron dutch oven. I did a very bad thing once...I let my dutch oven rust. Eeeesh!! But, being the super-duper fantastic bestest husband in the world, my sweetie worked hard and restored it back to its beautiful self. (The curse words I spat every time I would unexpectedly find a microscopic metal shaving with my fingertips were uttered with nothing but love!)

Back to the deliciousness...pork butt isn't really pork butt. It is actually pork shoulder. Meat from this section is relatively fatty, which makes for juicy, tender, and flavorful roasts as well as clogged arteries. Yeah clogged arteries!! Seriously, there are hundreds of ways to cook a pork butt. If you have never cooked a pig butt, this recipe is a good place to start!

You will need a nice bone in pork butt (or shoulder), I used a 6 pounder. You will have a ton of tasty meat, which is a good thing!! I always rinse the pork under cold running water and then pat dry with paper towels. This is not necessary but I was taught to always rinse pork and chicken so I do. Generously season the pork with salt and fresh ground pepper.

Grab 2 medium sized onions, white or yellow, peel and cut into eights. Place them into the bottom of a dutch oven (or any other deep oven proof pot with a lid). Place seasoned pork on top of onions (I place fat side up).

Open the chipotle peppers and dump them right on top of the pork, sauce and all. Don't panic, the heat mellows and you are using a lot of meat so it won't be blow your head off spicy. If you have a sensitive palate or are serving this to kids, you may want to back off and use a half a can. Your call! If you have never had chipotle peppers, boy are you in for a treat! Smokey, spicy goodness. 

 

Now we get crazy...open 2 cans of Dr. Pepper, insert Gene Simmons singing Dr. Love here, and gently pour over the chipotle topped pork. I ended up only using 1 ½ cans, but if you have room use both cans. My pork was about ¾ of the way covered with the Pepper.

Now sprinkle the brown sugar on and around the pork.

Lid on! Oven at 300 degrees! Cook that butt!! For at least 6 hours. You can either flip the butt over a few times or if you are like me and you totally forget that step, no worries! Its fantastic either way!! Your goal is to have meat that just falls apart. If you take two forks and pull gently the meat will just shred easily. If it doesn't, cook that sucker longer!!

Remove the bone carefully and shred all the meat. Serving this is fun! Tacos, sandwiches, nachos, pizza, the possibilities are endless!

Enjoy friends!!

The. Best. Tomatoes. Ever

 Okay. Maybe not the best ever. Its hard to beat the taste of a mid summer, vine ripened garden tomato. But, these babies are the best out of season tomatoes you will ever eat!! Its hard to believe that paring barely edible grape tomatoes with just a few pantry ingredients together in the oven for several hours get you this fantastically flavorful treat! I love to serve these on toasted french bread (drizzle thinly sliced french bread with olive oil and toast in a 350 degree oven until lightly brown and crunchy) with just a little crumbled goat cheese. Heaven in your mouth!!

Ingredients:

cherry or grape tomatoes

whole cloves garlic, unpeeled

olive oil

kosher salt

fresh coarse ground black pepper

fresh herbs, chopped, if using (I like to use rosemary or thyme)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 225 degrees.

Slice tomatoes in half lengthwise. Place them in a large bowl along with the garlic cloves. Drizzle with olive oil, enough to coat them well. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and chopped herbs if using.

Lightly oil a rimmed baking sheet with olive oil. Place tomatoes, cut side up, on the prepared pan. Drizzle with a little more olive oil and season again if needed.

 

Roast in the oven for 2 ½ -3 hours, or until tomatoes are shriveled with just a little juice left inside–this could take more or less time depending on the size of your tomatoes. Allow to cool enough to handle and then pop the garlic cloves out of their skin.

You can eat them right away or place them in an airtight container with a little extra olive oil and refrigerate. They will keep for a few weeks, but mine never last more than a day or two!!

Get your beads baby!!

Bill and I spent some time in New Orleans, pre-Katrina and I fell in love with the city. The culture, the food, the architecture, the music, the people...well with the exception of the very scary voodoo priestess who grabbed me in the mall bathroom and preceded to tell me I smelled of cancer and was about to die. Yeah...

We stayed in a beautiful hotel on Bourbon Street and I was amazed when, on a Thursday night at 5 pm sharp, the police blocked the street off to traffic and the party began. And lasted all night! Streets back open to traffic again at 5am. This happens every night of the week. Amazing.

There are a few things you won't go without while visiting New Orleans. Music. Alcohol. Food. Every where you turn there is an open door with Creole or Zydeco music pouring out. Every business down Bourbon street seemed to have a walk up bar serving the “Best Hurricanes Around”. You never left a restaurant hungry. Two of the most popular offerings I remember were gumbo and Hurricanes. Even the McDonalds sold these NOLA specialties!

In honor of Fat Tuesday, I wanted to try to make these for the family, well the gumbo anyway! The Hurricanes are just for mommy and daddy!!

So, gather up your beads, its Mardi Gras baby!!

Hurricane Heather

Ingredients

6 ounces amaretto liqueur

4 ounces light rum

4 ounces dark rum

4 ounces coconut rum (I prefer Malibu)

24 ounces orange juice

24 ounces pineapple juice

4 teaspoons lemon juice

grenadine syrup, to taste

1 orange, sliced into rounds or wedges

maraschino cherries

In a large pitcher, mix the amaretto, rums and juices. Stir in grenadine syrup to your taste. Pour over ice and garnish with orange and cherries. Enjoy!!

Zydeco Gumbo

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast

halves-cup into bite size pieces

1 pound andouille sausage links, cut into bite size pieces (or sub any spicy sausage link)

1 cup olive oil

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons minced garlic

3 quarts chicken broth

1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer

6 stalks celery, diced

4 roma (plum) tomatoes, diced

1 sweet onion, sliced

1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with

green chile peppers, with liquid

2 tablespoons chopped fresh jalapeno pepper

1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped

1/4 cup Cajun seasoning

1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

Directions:

Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium high heat, and cook chicken until no longer pink and juices run clear. Stir in sausage, and cook until evenly browned. Drain chicken and sausage, and set aside.

In a large, heavy stockpot over medium heat, blend olive oil and flour to create a roux. Stir constantly until browned and bubbly, about 25-30 minutes. (This is a very important step. Don't skip it! The longer the roux cooks the more flavorful your gumbo will be.) Mix in garlic, and cook about 1 minute.

Gradually stir chicken broth and beer into the roux mixture. Bring to a boil, and mix in celery, tomatoes, sweet onion, diced tomatoes, jalapenos peppers, parsley, and Cajun seasoning. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer about 40 minutes, stirring often.

Mix chicken, sausage, and shrimp into the broth mixture. Cook, stirring frequently, until shrimp is thoroughly cooked, approximately 15-20 minutes.

Serve over hot white rice.  Enjoy!! And remember to throw some beads to your cook!! ;-)

Bacon, Egg and Cheese Breakfast Bake

 

Bacon.  Eggs.  Cheese.  Bread.  Ingredients that my household loves.  They team up in this hearty breakfast dish and are a crowd pleaser! It would also make a great busy weeknight dinner.  The big boys added a few dashes of hot sauce and my little man had to have extra cheese! I hope your family enjoys this hearty breakfast!

Bacon, Egg and Cheese Breakfast Bake

1 pound french bread (or any crusty bread) cut into 1" cubes (about 14 cups)
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound sliced applewood smoked bacon or other good quality smoked bacon, cut into 1/2" pieces
1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced

1 28 ounce can diced Italian tomatoes-drained and patted dry
8 oz extra-sharp cheddar, shredded
8 oz Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
2 Tablespoons minced chives
1-3/4 cups chicken broth
6-8 large eggs

Salt to taste

Ground black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350^o F.  Lightly oil a 9 x 13 glass baking dish.  In a large bowl, toss the bread with the olive oil and spread on a large rimmed baking sheet.  Bake for about 20 minutes, tossing once or twice, until the bread is golden and lightly crispy.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook the bacon over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 10 minutes.  Transfer the bacon to paper towels to drain: reserve 2 Tablespoons of the fat in the skillet.

Add the onion to the skillet and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 8 minutes.  Add the tomatoes and cook until liquid is evaporated, about 5 minutes.

Return the toasted bread cubes to the bowl.  Add the contents of the skillet, along with the bacon, shredded cheeses, chives and broth.  Stir until the bread is evenly moistened.  Spread the mixture in the baking dish and cover with lightly oiled foil.

Bake the bread mixture in the center of the oven for 30 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake until the top is crispy, about 15 minutes longer.  Carefully remove the baking dish from the oven and using a ladle, press 6 indentations into the bread mixture (you can do 8 if you want to).  Crack an egg into each indentation. Salt and pepper the eggs to you taste. Return the dish to the oven and bake for about 10-15 minutes, until the egg whites are set but the yolks are still runny.  Cook longer if you do not want runny yolks. 

Serve right away while it's warm.