Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Recipes’ Category

Watermelon and Feta Salad

Posted in Easy Recipes, Recipes, Salads, tagged , , , , on July 15, 2011| 1 Comment »


Anyone who knows me well, knows I kind of have a thing for Feta cheese. It is creamy and salty and pefectly delightful on so many different things especially salads.

I also have a thing for watermelon and mint. So why not combine all those favorites into one fun salad?

This was really simple and easy to make. It literally took just scant minutes to put together and turned out so bright and beautiful!

Ingredients

 

Mix up your dressing. I did not have rice vinegar and substituted what I had on hand - and it worked fine.

 

Cut your mint into little ribbons.

 

Sorry, I skipped a few steps in the photo process. Mix the mint and melon with the dressing then top with cheese and sprinkle on just a dash of seasoning. Garnish with mint and you are ready to enjoy!

Watermelon and Feta Salad

1 seedless watermelon

3 ounces feta cheese

1/4 cup fresh mint chiffonade

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. seasoning

Mix salt, oil and vinegar and set aside.

Cube, ball or chunk melon into bite-sized pieces.

Cut your mint into little ribbons (chiffonade). Mix together mint, watermelon and dressing. Chill.

When ready to serve sprinkle on Feta cheese and a dash of seasoning. Garnish with a sprig of mint and enjoy!

She Who Is Entranced with the Smell of Fresh Mint Being Cut

Read Full Post »

Monster S’mores

Posted in Desserts, Easy Recipes, Entertaining Ideas, Quick and Easy, tagged , , , on July 8, 2011| 1 Comment »

Captain Cavedweller is once again my hero.

I came home last night to find he had been to the store and found these.

The monster of all marshmallows.

I kid you not, these things are huge!

So after seeing the size of these babies, my mind immediately jumped to S’mores. They are marvelous with regular size marshmallows. How much better would they be with gigantic puffs of fluffy sweetness?

The answer…

So good I nearly melted in a puddle. Oh. My. Goodness.

S’mores are made by sandwiching a toasted marshmallow and a piece of chocolate in between two graham crackers. The name of the treat comes from the two words “some more,” clearly combined because people often wanted to have at least a second serving after having one s’more. The treat was developed by campers in the early part of the 20th century, although the exact date or place is unknown. The first recipe was published in 1927 in the Girl Scout Handbook.

If you’ve never made S’mores, give it a whirl. Especially if you can snag a bag of these over-sized marshmallows! Captain Cavedweller found these at Wal-Mart.

Start with your basic three ingredients for S'mores - marshmallows, a chocolate bar and graham crackers.

Toast your marshmallow until the inside is oozy and the outside is toasty brown. You don't even need a campfire. Captain Cavedweller toasted these on the barbecue.

Line up your chocolate on a graham cracker.

Top with your toasted puff of liquid sweet bliss, aka marshmallow. Place another graham cracker on top.

Enjoy!

Read Full Post »

Fried Mozzarella Salad

Posted in Captain Cavedweller, Entertaining Ideas, Recipes, Salads, tagged , , , , on July 1, 2011| 1 Comment »

I must issue a warning that today’s salad might not be the most healthy you could choose -but the tastiness more than makes up for it!

Sticking with the Patriotic Theme, this salad is a fun pop of color for your 4th of July table and it comes together quickly!

Start by drenching mozzarella slices in flour.

Then coat them with beaten egg.

And finish off the coating with Panko bread crumbs mixed with shredded Parmesan cheese. If you enjoy nuts, you can add chopped toasted pecans here. For someone allergic to nuts, not such a great option.

Start getting your oil hot for frying while you finish battering the cheese slices. Aren't they pretty?

If you have a deep fat fryer, great. If not, use a heavy cast iron skillet and heat the oil until bubbling hot. Carefully fry the cheese. It took just seconds to cook both sides.

I whipped together a dressing using raspberry juice, vinegar and olive oil. If I hadn't decided to make this at the last second, I would have used a bottled raspberry vinaigrette.

Put down a bed of spinach leaves then toss on some raspberries and blueberries. Top with your dressing.

Place cheese on salad and enjoy if you haven’t devoured the cheese before it makes it to the salad. Even Captain Cavedweller, who does not like cheese, ate more than his share (including some of mine).

 

Fried Mozzarella Salad

Sliced Mozzarella Cheese

Flour

Egg (beaten)

Panko Crumbs

Parmesan Cheese (shredded)

Salt

Spinach

Raspberries

Blueberries

Raspberry Vinaigrette

Prepare spinach and berries and set aside.

Put flour in one bowl, beaten egg in a second and the panko crumbs mixed with the Parmesan cheese and salt in a third. Make sure the bowls are wide enough your cheese slices will sit flat inside.

Heat oil in a deep fat fryer or cast iron skillet. You want it to be good and hot.

Drench cheese slices through flour, egg and panko mix. When they are all finished, start frying. It will take just a few seconds to brown each side. The smell will begin to weaken your knees. Should you give in to temptation and take a bite, you may never get the cheese onto the salad.

Drizzle dressing over spinach and berries then top with a slice or two of the cheese.

Enjoy!

Happy Fourth of July Entertaining!

She Who Wishes you a Safe and Happy Holiday!

Read Full Post »

Patriotic Trifle

Posted in Desserts, Easy Recipes, Fast Recipes, Recipes, tagged , , , , on June 30, 2011| 3 Comments »


I love making trifles.

They are fast, easy and so good. And people will think you have slaved over these babies for hours.

I’m just going to give you a list of ingredients and you can adjust the portions based on how many you want to make.

The cast of characters.

 

Cut the cake into bite-size pieces and layer in the bottom of your serving dish. I used stemmed goblets because they were pretty, but you can make this in individual bowls or make one great big layered bowl of trifle – use a clear glass bowl for the must stunning presentation.

 

Top the cake with vanilla pudding. I used instant and for this intent and purpose  it works just fine. And it is fast and easy when you are feeling slug-like.

 

Top the pudding with berries. I used raspberries and blueberries because I wanted this to look patriotic and festive, but you could use any combination you like.

 

Layer delicious freshly whipped whip cream on top of the berries. You could use frozen whipped topping, but fresh whipped cream tastes so much better.

 

Repeat layers and finish with a berry on top.

 

Patriotic Trifle

pound cake, cut into bite-sized pieces

instant vanilla pudding, made according to package directions

berries

whipped cream

Layer cake, pudding, berries and whipped cream in a pretty serving bowl or individual serving pieces. Repeat layers and top with whipped cream and a berry. Refrain from snitching too much while you are layering and enjoy the looks of awe and joy as your guests dig into this delicious dessert. You can make ahead of time and refrigerate for an hour or two – but don’t make too far in advance because the cake can get soggy.

Enjoy!

She Who Loves Trifles

 

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »