Cupcake Ice Cream Cups

Who doesn't love an adorable dessert?  These cupcakes are so cute I couldn't resist making them.  I pinned an image ages ago on pinterest and bought these cute little ice cream cups at Hobby Lobby right away and tucked them in my baking basket for just the right moment.  When we were invited to a BBQ a couple weeks ago I knew just what I wanted to take to the party...these cute cupcakes!  There is no recipe for these...just a doctored up cake mix baked in paper cups and frosting piped on top.  I already had sprinkles and cherries so this came together in a snap.  

I'll be on the lookout for more of these little cups the next time I am in a craft store.  Having them on hand saved me from having to run out and search for them at the last minute.  

Pressed Sandwiches

Pressed Sandwiches are becoming one of my favorite foods this summer because they are easy to make, travel well, and feed a crowd.  A couple of weeks ago we made this rendition based on one I saw on this terrific blog.  It was delightful and super tasty, but I wanted to modify it for a few reasons. The ciabatta bread had a dense and very chewy crust after pressing which made it difficult to eat and it was on the salty side for us so we changed it up and the second time around we used a loaf of french bread, ham, mozzarella, salami, and pickles. I know it is not quite as fancy-pants of a sandwich, but it was super tasty and we just liked it more than the original.  Head over to the original post for a step by step tutorial.

Pressed Sandwich
1 loaf french bread
8 slices mozzarella cheese
1/4 pound salami
1/4 pound sliced ham
3 pickles, sliced lengthwise
salt and pepper
mustard-optional

Slice the loaf of french bread lengthwise and layer the bread with cheese followed by ham and then the salami.  Add the pickles on top of the salami and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Spread the top piece of bread with mustard, if using, and place on top of the pickles.  Wrap sandwich tightly in plastic wrap.  Place in fridge and then place enough hard cover books on top to cover sandwich.  Place a few large tin cans of something heavy, like tomatoes or beans, on top of the books and let rest for 4-24 hours.  Sandwich will keep for 2-3 days.

Coleslaw

This coleslaw recipe is easy and delicious. I like it because you can make it ahead of time and let it rest in the fridge until you're ready to serve lunch or dinner. I even bought the prepackaged coleslaw cabbage mix at the grocery store so all I had to do was make the dressing and toss it together. Easy peasy!
Coleslaw
1 package coleslaw cabbage mix
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 lemon, juiced
1 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

In the bottom of a large bowl mix all ingredients except cabbage mix. Whisk together until sugar begins to dissolve. Add cabbage mix. Toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2-4 hours before serving to allow the cabbage to soak up the marinade.

Broccoli Salad

I ate my first bowl of this broccoli salad when I was in college and I was instantly hooked. It is such an interesting combination of ingredients, but it all works wonderfully together. I have had it many many times since, but friends of ours recently made it with big chunks of cashews and I fell in love with it again!

Broccoli Salad

1 large head broccoli
1/2 cup bacon bits
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
1/2 cups dried cranberries or raisins
1/2 cup cashews
1 cup mayonnaise
2 T white vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Wash broccoli thoroughly and cut florets into bite-sized pieces. Place in a colander to dry for a few minutes. In a large bowl combine mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper. Whisk until smooth. Add all remaining ingredients to large bowl and stir to coat with dressing.

Valentine's Dinner - Vegetable Crostini

We had a wonderful Valentine's Dinner tonight. I ended up making this tasty grilled vegetable crostini for our appetizer and then we had a wonderful Sea Bass for our main course. Tonight I wanted to tell you about this appetizer and I'll post the Sea Bass recipe another time. The crostini was scrumptious...it took a few steps, but it was worth it. The grilled bread was so crunchy and delicious and a great backdrop for the tender, slightly sweet, grilled veggies. I really like the idea of this also, since you do all the work ahead of time and then let it marinate at the end. That means you can work on something else and not worry about your appetizer until just before serving. It worked out great. We'll be having this again.

Grilled Veggie Crostini

adapted from "Simple Pleasures" by Alfred Portale

1 red pepper

1 Japanese eggplant (you could substitute zucchini or regular eggplant if necessary)

1 large red onion

1/4 cup olive oil

1 clove garlic

salt and pepper

2 t red wine vinegar

1 t dried oregano

2 basil leaves, cut into a chiffonade

8 ounces fresh bufala mozzarella (much creamier than normal mozzarella)

ciabatta bread (sliced 1/2 inch thick)

Drizzle red pepper with olive oil and place under broiler until blackened all around. Take out of oven and place in a paper bag for 5 minutes. Take pepper out of bag, peel outer skin off, take seeds out, and slice into 5-6 long sections. While that is happening, slice onion into 5-6 thick slices and cut eggplant on the diagonal into 1/4 inch pieces. Brush with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, grill until tender, 4-5 minutes. Remove.

In a bowl combine garlic, oregano, 1/4 cup oil, salt, and pepper. Pour marinade over vegetables and let them sit for 30 minutes at room temperature.

Just before serving, brush bread with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill until toasted and crisp. Place warm bread on a platter. Layer with cheese (sliced about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick) vegetables, and basil. Drizzle with extra marinade if desired.

Perfect Soft Pretzels

This is a terrific and easy recipe for soft pretzels. Gabe and I made them twice in the past two weeks. We doubled the recipe the second time and we cut them like bagels to make pretzel bread sandwiches, yummy!! They even stayed fresh and moist the second day so we ate them with a cup of soup.

Perfect Soft Pretzels
dough:
1 tsp active dry yeast
pinch of sugar
1/3 cup warm water
1 1/4 cups flour
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp vegetable oil

soda water bath:
3 tbsp baking soda
1 cup very hot water

kosher salt

Dissolve yeast in water and let bloom (stand) for 10 minutes. Mix yeast mixture with remaining dough ingredients. Knead dough until smooth, 4-5 minutes. Let dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Cut dough into 4-6 balls and roll each length into a long snake. Once all are rolled out, repeat since the dough will be a bit relaxed at this point and easier to work with. Twist dough into a pretzel shape and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Dip each pretzel in water and place it back on the parchment paper. Sprinkle with kosher salt and bake for about 8 minutes.

Marinated Chicken Skewers

We didn't have any big plans for our Fourth of July this year but I still wanted our day to feel festive so I put together a little barbecue for my husband and son. With barely more than an hour to get things ready I quickly threw some boneless skinless chicken thighs in a lemony marinade. As that worked I got a little corn on the cob, watermelon, and lemonade ready for the table. At the last minute I threaded the chicken onto skewers and had my husband grill them off.

The chicken turned out even better than I expected since it only had about 30-40 minutes to marinate. It was tender, moist, and flavorful. We ate them right off the skewers and even my two year old seemed impressed with his chicken on a stick!

Lemony Chicken Skewers

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs

3 lemons

2 Tablespoons olive oil

salt

pepper

Cut chicken thighs into strips (cut across the grain for a better result) and place in a large ziploc bag. (I was able to get about 4 strips out of each thigh.) Cut lemons in half and squeeze juice onto chicken. Place lemon rind in bag as well. Drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper (about 1-2 teaspoons of each). Close ziploc and turn/flip/massage chicken and lemon for a minute or until things look evenly distributed.

After an hour thread chicken on soaked skewers and grill until cooked through. Ours took about 6-8 minutes. Cooking time depends on how big your thighs are and how thick you cut your chicken strips.

Foccacia Panini

Nothing could be easier than making sandwiches. We have our fair share of sandwiches around here, but I love to dress up our plain ham and cheese and make it something special. Sometimes we grill them, add special sauces, or extra veggies. Today, however, I went to the grocery store and picked up a loaf of foccacia bread to go with our sandwich fixings. I didn't think much of it, I just figured it would make our dinner a little more interesting. So, when my husband bit into his panini-that took just minutes to prepare-and went on and on about how much he liked it, I was surprised. After I sat down and gave it a try I was pleased with myself and my bread selection as well. These were truly tasty sandwiches. These were out of the ordinary and quite delicious.
These ham and provolone sandwiches were good. The bread had crisped up nicely in the panini press and they had a good bite to them. I also liked the fact that I could buy one round of foccacia, make one big sandwich, and share it between us. I'm pretty sure we're going to be having these often. They will definitely be replacing the regular old sandwiches and would be a great option for serving to lunch guests. I can't wait to play with other meat and cheese combinations.

Foccacia Panini

1 loaf foccacia, sliced

deli meats and cheeses of your choice

olive oil

Drizzle a little olive oil on the insides of the bread. Assemble the sandwich to your liking. Drizzle a tiny bit of olive oil on the outside of the bread. Place in a preheated panini press until browned and crisp. (If you do not have a panini press, you could use a griddle, grill pan, or saute pan and either place a heavy cast iron pan on top of the sandwich or use a tin-foil wrapped brick on top of the sandwich to press it down.)

Picnic Lunches and Cake

Today was my day to host the playgroup that Gabe and I are a part of and I wanted to do something different. I normally like to make a big spread...it always varies and I try to make it fun. I've done a taco bar, make you own pizza day, pasta day, soup and sandwiches, etc.
I decided on a picnic theme today since the weather is getting warmer and it seemed fitting to have one in the living room followed by some outdoor fun for the kids. I can't wait for even warmer days when we can actually take the picnic outside.
I had 6 moms and 8 kids to prepare lunch for so I decided to designate a brown gift bag for each family. I decorated the bags with a nametag and then filled each with enough food and supplies so that everyone had some options to choose from. There was nothing earth shattering in the bags, but everyone devoured their goodies and seemed to love the idea of eating on blankets...which is quite a feet. It isn't easy to please 8 children between the ages of 1 and 3.
I liked the idea mainly because I was able to prep most of the lunches last night and finish off the sandwiches and pasta this morning before our guests arrived. There was nearly no clean up afterwards since empty bags were tossed and leftover food was easily packed away or taken home. Being nearly 8 months pregnant, I can't help but try to make things a little easier on myself, so I don't feel too bad about trying to avoid mess and clean-up.
Each bag contained the following: 1 apple, 1 mini-water per person, 1 ham and cheese on pretzel bread, 1 container basil pesto pasta with pine nuts, 1 snack bag of cheese and 1 with crackers, 1 applesauce per child, and 1 granola bar per person. Extras included forks, spoons, straws, and plenty of napkins.
Gabe and I will be recreating these picnic lunches often this summer since we both love getting out and spending the day at the park. I can hardly wait for that warm weather!

The other yummy creation I made recently was this layer cake. I am not a member of the Daring Bakers, but I do love to see what they create each month. This month's Perfect Party Cake looked completely irresistable, so I gave it a try...twice. I made it at the beginning of last week for my mom who flew in for a visit, and then again on the weekend for a get together with the neighbors. I altered the shape by baking a half recipe in a small cookie sheet and then slicing that into thirds. The first time I layered it with raspberries and raspberry jam, the second time I layered it with fresh strawberries and strawberry jam. Both were extremely delicious and got rave reviews. You can find the recipe all over the blogosphere...but here are the two sites that my cakes were based upon.
Cookbook Catchall
Foodbeam

Finger Lickin' Ribs

These ribs are delicious and so so easy. Talk about tender, fall off the bone, yummy.  People get so excited when I make these for get togethers.  Sometimes I take them out of the oven 30 minutes early and put them on the grill to finish them off and add a bit of smokey flavor.

Oven Ribs
1 rack baby back ribs
salt and pepper
garlic powder
bbq sauce
Heat the oven to 250 degrees and prep the ribs. I cut away the thin layer on the back that isn't very good and then I put salt, pepper, and garlic powder on them. I loosely wrapped them in tin foil and then bake them in the oven for about 5 hours. During the last 30 minutes or so I brush on a couple layers of bbq sauce.