Spring Sangria

Looking for the perfect cocktail to serve at all your spring and summer barbeques? Well, I’m sharing it with you today! While I can’t report on the full tastiness of this because of that big news I told you on Friday I can say I sampled it before the wine was added and it was so yummy. I can only imagine how much more tasty it was with the Moscato.

But, don’t worry, I got the full report from the peeps I made it for and I totally trust their opinions! It was light, refreshing, citrusy, bubbly and (a bit to Joel’s disappointment) not very boozy. It’s a wine cocktail for goodness sakes, it’s just supposed to taste good. That’s what I think at least. I personally really don’t like the taste of any kind of alcohol and would almost always opt for a cherry coke over a cocktail. I’m not a big wine fan (and now you are wondering why I’m writing about wine) but if I am going to drink it, I like the fruity, bubbly, juice tasting variety. So, I know I would have liked the spiked version of this.

It was just amazingly refreshing and will be especially perfect once the hot, humid weather strikes! I can’t wait to be able to try the full version of this.

Spring Sangria
recipe from Eat, Drink, Love

1 (750 mL) fruity white wine (I used Moscato)
3 cups lemon lime soda
2 cups pineapple juice
1/2 cup orange juice
Sliced lemons, limes and oranges
Sugar, optional

1. In a large pitcher, stir together the wine, lemon lime soda, pineapple juice and the orange juice. Then gently stir in the slices of fruit.

2. Place the sangria in the refrigerator for about 2 hours and serve. This is something you don’t want to make ahead of time because of the fruit. If you do need to make this more than two hours in advance, mix all the liquid ingredients together and chill. Then right before serving, add the sliced fruit.

3. If you want to pretty up the rims of your glasses, dip them lightly in water then in a shallow dish filled with sugar. Then fill ‘em up and enjoy!

Cuban Grilled Salmon

We are still dreaming of our Florida vacation and that delicious Cuban food we devoured so I wanted to make something reminiscent of our trip. This Cuban-Style Salmon (chicken for me) was just what we needed. The flavors were bright due to the lemon {or lime} and cilantro. Plus, it was super easy to throw together on a busy weeknight.

I served it with brown rice and black beans and it was totally delish!

Cuban-Style Grilled Salmon
recipe from Food Network

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Juice of 2 lemons or limes
2 large cloves garlic, minced
2 large shallots, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Kosher salt
1/2 bunch cilantro, roughly chopped
4 6-ounce center-cut salmon fillets, skin removed

1. Preheat a grill to medium high. In a large bowl, whisk 2 tablespoons olive oil, the juice of 1 lemon, the garlic, shallots, cumin, cayenne, 1 teaspoon salt and half of the cilantro. Add the salmon and turn to coat. Let marinate 15 minutes at room temperature.

2. Brush the grill with vegetable oil. Grill the salmon, round side down, until marked on the bottom, about 4 minutes. Turn and continue grilling until marked on the other side and cooked through, 2 to 3 more minutes. Divide the salmon among plates.

Strawberry Lemon Sorbet

If you are looking for a light, refreshing alternative to ice cream this month I have the recipe for you. When I say light, I don’t necessarily mean healthy, it does have 2 cups of sugar (or more)…it’s just not heavy and custardy like a traditional ice cream.

I love strawberry lemonade so when I was making ice cream for a gathering recently I thought it would be a nice combination. I looked around and found this recipe which uses a whole lemon. I had never heard of using a whole lemon in a recipe until I made Whole Lemon Blueberry Walnut Muffins and I was amazed by the lemon flavor it imparted in the muffins. For the sorbet though, I think the rind may have made the sorbet just a touch bitter so when I make this again I will add more sugar to balance it out. My strawberries may not have been sweet enough too. I’m not really sure which it was but it just needed a bit more sweetness for me. I think maybe 1/4-1/2 cup more sugar would have done it for me. If you like a really tart lemonade, then it’s probably just perfect the way it’s written.

It was a gorgeous color and really refreshing in the heat. Definitely a delicious treat to cool off with this summer!

Strawberry Lemon Sorbet
recipe from The Way the Cookie Crumbles

1 lemon, seeded and roughly chopped
2 cups sugar (or more if your strawberries aren’t very sweet or you don’t like it super tart)
2 pounds strawberries, hulled
Juice of 1 to 2 lemons

1. Place the chopped lemon and sugar in a food processor, and pulse until combined. Transfer to a bowl.

2. Puree the strawberries in a food processor, and add to the lemon mixture, along with the juice of 1 lemon. Taste and add more juice as desired. The lemon flavor should be intense but should not overpower the strawberries. Pour the mixture into an ice cream machine and churn until frozen.

Recipe linked to Cast Party Wednesday and Full Plate Thursday.

Whole Lemon Blueberry Walnut Muffins {Crazy Cooking Challenge}

This month’s Crazy Cooking Challenge is blueberry muffins which are pretty much my favorite kind of muffin! This may just be my favorite recipe selection so far from the Challenge. Once I found out what we were making, I quickly went on the hunt for blueberry muffins on all my favorite food blogs. And let me tell you, I found a ton of recipes that I wanted to try. It was pretty difficult to decide which I would prepare.

I finally settled on this recipe because I just couldn’t resist the thought of using a whole lemon in a recipe and I had to give it a try. I found the recipe at Confections of a Foodie Bride who changed up a muffin recipe she found at Smells Like Home. Foodie Bride features all kinds of delicious-ness that I pretty much drool over almost daily.

The original recipe at Smells Like Home was a whole lemon poppy seed muffin and Foodie Bride changed it up by adding blueberries and omitting the poppy seeds. Both versions sound amazing but the blueberries totally seemed to put these over the top. I made a few slight changes, the first was that I used a meyer lemon rather than a regular lemon. This added a bit of sweetness to the tartness of the lemon. I also used non-fat yogurt rather than full-fat to make them a bit better for us. I also accidentally only added a teaspoon of baking powder rather than a tablespoon, oops. They still rose nicely but I think they would have puffed more if I had read the recipe more carefully. It doesn’t help when little man is watching Elmo on the laptop while I’m trying to make these with the recipe open in another tab. I was trying to memorize the recipe so that I didn’t have to disturb Elmo…guess that didn’t go well.

These giant muffins were bursting with blueberry, citrus-y, walnut goodness. It was an incredible combination and probably one of the best muffins I have ever made. They were a bit more work than most muffins I’ve made (I usually go for a one bowl, no mixer recipe) but they were totally worth the extra effort. The only thing that would make them better is a crumbly, streusel topping to turn them into a true bakery style muffin. That may just be happening in our home soon. Oh yum!

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Whole Lemon Blueberry Walnut Muffins
recipe from Confections of a Foodie Bride and Smells Like Home

1 medium lemon, preferably organic (I used a meyer lemon)
1 cup walnuts or pecans
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 2/3 cups plain yogurt
1 pint blueberries
Coarse sugar, for sprinkling

1. Preheat  the oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease 12 jumbo muffin cups with butter or cooking spray or line them with muffin wrappers.

2. Wash and dry the lemon, cut it into quarters and remove the seeds.  Process the quartered lemon (skin, pith and all) in a food processor fitted with a metal blade for 1  minute or more, until it is completely ground up.  Scrape the lemon into a medium bowl.  Without washing the food processor, add the walnuts and  pulse 10 to 12 times (the nuts will clean the processor bowl).  Add  the walnuts to the processed lemon and stir to combine.  Set the lemon-nut mixture aside to be used later.

3. Using a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter in a large bowl on medium-high speed about 1 minute.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the sugar and mix on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Scrape down the bowl.  Add the eggs all at once and beat on  medium speed about 1 minute.  Add the vanilla and beat on medium for  about 30 seconds, until well incorporated.  In a medium bowl, stir  together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Add one-third of the flour mixture to the batter and beat on medium-low speed just until it is incorporated.  Add half of the yogurt and beat on medium  speed until it is just incorporated.  Continue to add the flour mixture and yogurt alternatively, beat just long enough to incorporate.  (End with the dry ingredients).

4. Gently stir in the lemon-nut mixture. Toss the blueberries with a bit of flour (this keeps them from sinking to the bottom). Mix the blueberries into the batter gently. Spoon the batter into the muffin pans, filling each cup just to the top.  Sprinkle generously with coarse sugar. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes (or 18 to 25 minutes for standard-size  muffin tins), until they are slightly browned and a toothpick inserted in to the middle of a muffin comes out clean.  Let the muffins cool in their pans about 5 minutes.  Remove the muffins from the pans.

Recipe linked to Mangia Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Totally Tasty Tuesday, Cast Party Wednesday, What I Whipped Up Wednesday, Full Plate Thursday and These Chicks Cooked.

Homemade Gumdrops

Yep, you heard me right. Homemade gumdrops. And it’s all thanks to Bakerella….she is a genius…go check out the site if you have never been, you will be amazed.

I have had this recipe bookmarked for awhile now and have just been waiting for the perfect time to give them a try. And what better time than Valentine’s Day? Those bright, sparkly cubes are just so cute packaged up and would be the perfect gift for kids and adults alike.

These little gems involved quite a process to make and took about 3 full days to complete from start to finish but they turned out so darn cute and tasty. After reading what Bakerella had to say about these, I decided to spray disposable foil mini loaf pans with non-stick spray. I sliced each loaf 3 times vertically then cut the foil pan and peeled it off.

From there, I placed the gumdrop strips on a sugared cutting board and finished cutting them into cubes.

I decided to go with orange, lemon, raspberry and peppermint extracts to flavor my gumdrops and the orange was definitely my favorite. When making them, I wasn’t too sure how the peppermint would turn out but I was pleasantly surprised. It was nice and minty but not overpowering as I suspected it would be.

They were softer and chewier than store-bought gumdrops. To be honest, I just thought these would be fun to make and I didn’t have too high of hopes for actually enjoying them but they were pretty darn delicious.

As you can see, I didn’t really measure them to exactly 3/4-inches. I just cut them to approximately the same size then rolled them in sugar. After they dried for 2 days, I wrapped them up in clear cellophane bags and tied them up with a tag and sparkly ribbon.

Homemade Gumdrops
recipe from Bakerella

4 Tbsp gelatin (that’s about 6 envelopes)
1 cup cold water
1 1/2 cups boiling water
4 cups sugar
1/4 tsp flavored extract
1-2 drops food coloring (I used four colors)
extra sugar for coating

1. In a large pot, soften gelatin in cold water for five minutes.

2. Stir in boiling water until gelatin dissolves.

3. Stir in sugar.

4. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and boil for 25 minutes. Stir constantly.

5. Pour mixture into 4 – 3X5 pans.

6. Add 1/4 tsp extract and 1-2 drops food color to each pan.

7. Stir until thoroughly combined.

8. Cover pan and chill overnight in the fridge.

9. Cut gelatin mixture into 3/4 inch cubes using a knife dipped in hot water.

10. The gelatin may pull, but continue cutting.

11. Separate cubes and roll in sugar until coated on all sides.

12. Place gumdrops on wax paper and leave at room temperature for two days to crystallize.

Store in an airtight container. Makes about 8 dozen 3/4 inch gumdrops.

Recipe linked to These Chicks Cooked, Mangia Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Totally Tasty Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday and Full Plate Thursday.

Brined and Roasted Turkey {My 1st Turkey}

I have never, ever made a turkey. I have never eaten a brined turkey but I know about all the hype. So I thought for my first turkey, I would go all out and hope for the best. And it turns out it was pretty simple. The hardest thing was rinsing the turkey and getting all the inards out. I absolutely hate touching raw meat so I may have been a little prissy about the whole process. I’m glad the family was downstairs watching a football game so that they didn’t have to witness my ridiculousness. I may have let out a squeal-y “ewwww” as I stuck my hand in the darned bird.

But oh man was it worth the 30 seconds of disgust. I don’t mean to brag but this was probably the juiciest and tastiest roasted turkey I have ever had. Brining really does make all the difference. Any turkey cooked in my home will always be brined…no question.

Because I’ve never made a turkey before, Joel has never had to carve one so he got a little lesson from his dad.

This turkey seemed like a lot of work…more work than I had time for so I skipped the homemade turkey stock and simply basted the turkey with chicken stock. I also just made a simple pan gravy with the drippings and a cornstarch slurry. If you want to be a total allstar, you can click the source below to get the details.

Brined and Roasted Turkey
recipe from Emeril Lagasse

1 (10 to 12-pound) turkey
Brine, recipe follows
4 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1 large yellow onion, cut into 8ths
1 large orange, cut into 8ths
1 stalk celery, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 large carrot, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs thyme
1 1/2 to 2 cups chicken or turkey stock, for basting

1. Remove the neck, giblets, and liver from the cavity of the turkey. Rinse the turkey inside and out under cold running water. Soak the turkey in the brine, covered and refrigerated, for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours.   Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

2. Remove the turkey from the brine and rinse well under cold running water. Pat dry with paper towels, inside and out. Place breast side down in a large, heavy roasting pan, and rub on all sides with the butter. Season lightly inside and out with salt and pepper. Stuff the turkey with the onion, orange, celery, carrot, bay leaves, and thyme. Loosely tie the drumsticks together with kitchen string.

3. Roast the turkey, uncovered, breast side down for 1 hour. Remove from the oven, turn, and baste with 1/2 cup stock. Continue roasting with the breast side up until an instant-read meat thermometer registers 165 degrees F when inserted into the largest section of thigh (avoiding the bone), about 2 3/4 to 3 hours total cooking time. Baste the turkey once every hour with 1/2 to 3/4 cup chicken or turkey stock.

4. Remove from the oven and place on a platter. Tent with aluminum foil and let rest for 20 minutes before carving.

Brine
1 cup salt
1 cup brown sugar
2 oranges, quartered
2 lemons, quartered
6 sprigs thyme
4 sprigs rosemary

To make the brining solution, dissolve the salt and sugar in 2 gallons of cold water in a non-reactive container (such as a clean bucket or large stockpot, or a clean, heavy-duty, plastic garbage bag.) Add the oranges, lemons, thyme, and rosemary.

Note: if you have a big turkey and need more brine than this, use 1/2 cup salt and 1/2 cup brown sugar for every gallon of water.

Lemon Vinaigrette

I’ve been on a salad kick lately. Before I had Noah, I hated salad. I wouldn’t eat it. Once I got pregnant, I was trying to eat healthier and make better choices. I started choking down salad and as the time went by I actually started to enjoy it. I know you all are thinking “Who doesn’t like salad? What is wrong with her?” Well, now you don’t have to think that. Until I reveal the next thing I am weird about. Don’t worry, you probably won’t have to wait too long. Anywayyyy.

I love the idea of making my own dressings. You are able to control the quality of ingredients, make it more healthful and it’s so much cheaper. This dressing definitely fits the bill. It is light and refreshing with a nice zing from the lemon juice and vinegar.

Lemon Vinaigrette
recipe from Betty Crocker Cookbook: Bridal Edition

1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used canola oil)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground mustard (I used Dijon)
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 clove garlic, finely chopped

In a tightly covered container, shake all vinaigrette ingredients. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour to blend flavors.

Recipe linked to the following wonderful blogs:
Recipe Sharing Monday
Mangia Monday
Totally Tasty Tuesday
Tasty Tuesday
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
What I Whipped Up Wednesday
Cast Party Wednesday
These Chicks Cooked
Full Plate Thursday

Cherry Limeade Cupcakes

Joel just got through with his yearly review and got really great feedback. I wanted to surprise him with a dessert he would love and immediately thought of Cotton Candy Cupcakes. He loves cotton candy (I personally do not) and always gets cotton candy ice cream when we visit Cold Stone. Well, I searched Fargo high and low but had no luck finding the cotton candy flavoring that is called for in the recipe. Not surprising but disappointing nonetheless. But I will be purchasing cotton candy flavoring to make these for Joel…maybe for his birthday? You say his birthday isn’t for 3 months? Yes, I’m a little bit of a compulsive planner. Sue me.

Anyway, the second cupcake that I knew he would just love was Cherry Limeade Cupcakes. We love Sonic limeades but don’t get them too often since we do not have one in town. I thought this would be a unique, great surprise that he would really enjoy. And he did.

The cupcakes had an amazingly light texture that neither of us could believe. We just kept eating them to make sure the first wasn’t a fluke. Joel absolutely loved the frosting due to all the maraschino cherry juice which he loves. The sweetness of the frosting balanced out the lemon-lime zippiness in the cake.

Check out these Paula Deen cupcake liners I picked up at Michael’s. Oh Paula of course your cupcake liners would say such a thing – “A Well Balanced Diet is a Cupcake in Each Hand!” And that is why I find her so entertaining!

Cherry Limeade Cupcakes
recipe from The Culinary Enthusiast

2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cups milk
4 large egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
zest of 3 limes
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 tsp. pure lemon extract

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 cupcake pans with liners.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
3. Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.
4. Put the sugar and lime zest in a mixer bowl and mix until the sugar is moist and fragrant.  Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment beat at medium speed for 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light.
5. Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed. Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated. Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is mixed well, then add the last of the dry ingredients. Continue mixing for 2 minutes.
6. Divide the batter between 18-24 cupcakes, filling each about 1/2 full.
7. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the cupcakes are well risen and springy to the touch. Transfer the cupcakes cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes. Frost and decorate after fully cooled.

Cherry Frosting
3 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
4-8 Tbsp. maraschino cherry juice
red food coloring (optional)

Combine the powdered sugar, butter and maraschino cherry juice in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on low speed until sugar is incorporated, then increase to medium-high speed and beat until smooth. Add more maraschino cherry juice as needed to achieve desired texture. Add red food coloring if desired (I did not add any).
Frost cooled cupcakes. Garnish with lime slices and maraschino cherries, if desired.Linked to Fat Camp Friday,  Sweets for a Saturday, Recipe Sharing Monday, Mangia Monday, Tasty Tuesday, This Chick Cooks , Cast Party Wednesday, Full Plate Thursday, This Week’s Cravings and Fusion Friday.

Lemon Dill Chicken Skewers

 

Ok, so I have totally been on a lemon kick lately. Lemon Bars, Pork Souvalki, Lemony Greek Potatoes. And this recipe is no exception. I’ve bought too many lemons to count. Before starting my blog I always used bottled lemon juice for recipes such as this but wanting to make the recipe exactly as I am giving it to you all, I began buying lemons. They make a huge difference in my opinion. The fresh, vibrant flavor an actual lemon gives a recipe is something that can’t be replicated in a bottle.

We are trying to get all the grilling in that we can before the arctic winter kicks in. Although I love fall and all that it brings (falling leaves, college football, sweaters) I get incredibly sad when we can no longer grill. If you follow me, you have noticed that in the short time I have been blogging there has been an abundant number of grilling recipes. That is because we pretty much grill all summer. It doesn’t get too hot around our neck of the woods but I love any opportunity to throw something on the grill for that smoky, charred flavor!

This is a great, simple recipe for a busy weeknight that could definitely be prepared indoors with a grill pan once is gets to cold to venture outside *sigh*.

Lemon Dill Chicken Skewers
recipe from Savory Sweet Life

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons olive oil
Juice from 1 medium lemon
2 teaspoons dill
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Heat the grill on medium-high heat. Cut the chicken breast into 1- 1 1/2 inch cubes. Transfer the cubed chicken to a bowl. Add the olive oil and lemon juice to the chicken and begin massaging the meat with your hand for thirty seconds. Add the dill, salt, and pepper, and continue to massage the meat for another thirty seconds (I marinated mine for a few hours). Skewer 6-8 pieces of chicken on each stick. Carefully pour some oil onto a paper towel, and using tongs, grease the grill. Place the chicken kabobs on the grill and cook for 7-10 minutes, turning the chicken over half way through the process.

 

Lemony Greek Potatoes

I never thought that I liked lemon on anything savory. Well, this little blog has given me the inspiration and courage to go outside my food comfort zone and I’m sure glad I did because it turns out I do like lemon on other dishes besides dessert.

These potatoes were just lemony enough without being overpowering. Combined with the olive oil, oregano and parsley they became the perfect compliment to the grilled pork souvlaki and tzatziki I made.

The original recipe called for double the vinaigrette, using 2/3 of it to drizzle on top but we like our potatoes super crispy so I decided to skip the drizzling after baking so I cut the vinaigrette recipe in half and only used 1/4 cup of chicken stock. The chicken stock helps keep them moist while the oil crisps them up. Oooh, and I got to use my fresh herbs which made these potatoes extra delectable.

Lemony Greek Potatoes
recipe adapted from foodnetwork.com

3/4 cup olive oil
3 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 large shallot, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh oregano
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh Italian parsley
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3 lbs. large russet potatoes, each cut lengthwise into 6 wedges
1/4 cup chicken stock

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Whisk olive oil, lemon juice, shallots, garlic, oregano and parsley in a medium bowl to blend; season with salt and pepper.
3. Toss potatoes with the vinaigrette in a large, rimmed baking sheet. Pour chicken stock around potatoes and roast for 45 minutes, turning occasionally until golden brown.

Recipe linked to Recipe Sharing Monday by Jam Hands, Mouthwatering Monday, Full Plate Thursday , This Chick Cooks and Fat Camp Fridays.