Grilled Rosemary Lime Chicken (Green Chicken)

Rosemary Lime Grilled Chicken

This past weekend, I had a few friends over to celebrate summer and my move to by new house. It was a huge success. We all had some great food, conversation, and cocktails followed by some ladder ball and a few more cocktails. Life on the porch is how I grew up and how I love to spend my summer evenings. If you knock on my front door and there is no answer come around to the back porch and more than likely you will find me and Charlie (my golden retriever) in the garden or sitting on the back porch.

The next few recipes that I am about to post are going to be my party fare. I came up with a unique menu with few recipes I had stashed away for a later time. The full menu consitisted of:

Signiture Drink:
Strawberry Riesling Slushies
Woo Woos

Appetizer:
Beet Hummus, Goat cheese Mint Crostini
Hummus Goat Cheese, Basil Crostini

Entree:
Rosemary Lime Grilled Chicken
Grandma Ethel's Calico Baked Beans
Rosemary Deviled Eggs
Minted Couscous Salad- (Provided by my friend Ginny)

Dessert:
Cannoli Cupcakes

Feel free to use one or all of these recipes for your July 4th cookout or your next get-together.

Hummingbird Cake

Hummingbird Cake

This past week, I had the opportunity to get together with one of my great friends and bake. This is one of both of our favorite past times and she was a major influence in my new blogger life. We spent the afternoon together chatting, baking and of course drinking some good wine.  My friend R blogs at William's Kitchen  Make sure you check her out. She is a bit of an outdoor lover and specializes in picnic foods and camping fare. She is a "down-to-earth" girl in both her demeanor and her rustic cooking skills.

The recipe of choice was a Hummingbird bundt cake. It was a mixture of fruit, nuts and of course topped with cream cheese icing. It is a southern classic that I have seen on menus during many of my trips to the Charleston, SC area. As you all know, I am not a southerner by heritage but I have been here now for 13 years and have really embraced the southern culture and of course southern food. I have learned from the locals here how to fry okra, slow cook grits and how to make low country boil. Oh, and of course, how to enjoy a bourbon while sitting on the back porch on a hot Saturday afternoon. Now, I can officially say I have made a southern Hummingbird cake.  Does that make me a southerner? Who knows, but everything about this cake is delectable.

Southwest Black Bean Stuffed Peppers

Southwest Black Bean Stuffed Peppers- A little messy but a lot of YUM!

At the office, we have been trying to bring healthful things to lunch in order to save calories and be more mindful of what we are putting in our bodies. We decided to each bring lunch one day per week for the whole office. This way each person only had to cook one day but got to enjoy healthy food and snacks 3 days per week. Then on Friday, we eat the leftovers from the week. This has been a huge success and we have kept it up for 4 months now. We have specific rules that we follow: no bread, no red meat, no preservatives, and include as many veggies as possible. We also really eat very little if any meat. We have succeeded in being very inventive and have found some new favorite recipes along the way. This is one that got rave reviews the first time so I decided to revisit it. The recipe just really come from what I found in my fridge one day. I always bake with a recipe but a lot of times I cook with what I have on hand and what I am craving. No instructions has resulted in some great dinners. This is one...

Chewy Caramel Bars

 


Chewy Caramel Bars

While I was home visiting my family in PA, aside from visiting my sister, parents, grandparents and all other family, I had the opportunity to go through some things that had belonged to my Grandma Ethel. One of the prized things that I spent a lot of time sorting through, was her recipe file. Some of the recipes were old original copies that where written in my Grandma's perfect hand writing; some were stained from being present when she was baking. Others, were just clippings from a magazine that I assume she had saved for a later day.  I sat in the living room of my parent's house and went through each recipe one by one. It was a rainy day and as I was sorting my Dad was sitting there in his chair.  As I came across something I thought was interesting, I would share it with him.  He laughed at some of the recipes stating that my grandma would never have made that or that he never remembers eating some of the concoctions. Other recipes he definitely remembered and some he even seemed sentimental about. It was a nice afternoon spent with him. My dad is a man of few words but sometimes just the time spent together says everything; no words needed....

Everything Caramel is Good!

I made a batch of these to see how they turned out and to try my newly fixed oven. They were melt in your mouth amazing. I took them to work and they were gone fast!  I can not wait to make another batch to share with my family at OBX 2012.

Molten Chocolate Nutella Mug Cake

Molten Chocolate Nutella Mug Cake

So as most of you know, I am going through a transition in my life. One that originally, I was having a hard time with. Among other things that are going on, I recently just sold my house ( the house that I loved) and moved into a place of my own; the first place of my own that I have had in 13 years and it has been a big step for me. I thought that this move would be a horrible emotional  thing, and it was while I was packing up memories and stuff, but as soon as I got out of my old house, I feel as though I have been set free. Since I have gotten in my new place, I have been busy organizing, decorating and planting.  This weekend with the help of a great new neighbor, who spent 3 hours tilling up a large patch of lawn into a garden, I planted an entire vegetable garden.  Other than the tilling, I have done it all by myself and am especially proud! I also planted lots of  flowers to add great color to my porch and front yard.  The  neighborhood chipmunks have different reasons to love them I am finding out, but that is OK. I seem to even be O.K. with  that...

My new oasis...

In my move to my new residence, I have of course experienced a few snafus. One night, the neighbors' who are on vacation, car alarm went off all night long and the following day, I am perpetually forgetting where I put things and since it is an older house I am constantly searching for an available outlet. Oh, and did I mention the chipmunks....
But the strangest thing that happened?  I decided before I baked anything  important that I should test out the oven to make sure that the temp was accurate and that the timing was on. So I bought a premade pizza from the frozen food section. This is totally against my definition of pizza but I thought, how can you mess this up. Even if it takes a little longer, I will have a good idea about the oven settings and I will have a cheap (albeit unhealthy) meal. I preheated the oven and put the pizza in on my pizza stone. I then went back in the guest bedroom and continued to unpack boxes. About ten minutes after I put the pizza in the oven, the oven was screeching and the display blinking F2, which Google later told me the sensor and heating element have gone and that the oven temperature had exceeded 720 degrees. Glad I did not go outside to talk to the neighbors! What I ended up with that night was a pizza that was almost total charcoal and for dinner I had a can of soup. So five days later, I am still waiting on the part to fix my oven.




F2 must be the equivalent to FIRE!


Until this coming Friday, I have to come up with recipes that do not require baking in any way. That is hard for a girl like me that relies on her oven for all things inventive and spectacular. And just like most things in life, when you can not have something, you want it even more. I have been dreaming of lasagna and chocolate gob cake, roasted beets and all things made in the oven. But tonight, I pulled out a recipe that I had found a while ago, that can be made in the microwave. It is a simple combine/stir/ microwave recipe then Voila! you have a fabulous one serving Molten Chocolate Nutella Mug cake.  I believe this will become one of my favorite single girl recipes that I will rely on. Wonder if there is a single girl microwave lasagna recipe? Hmmmmm.......

Ginger Tuna Steak Salad

Summer is here y'all. And for me one of the best thing about summer is fresh salads of all types. I have been experimenting with flavors, and this has become one of my recent favorites.  Since our dietary cleanse in April, at my office we have been taking turns bringing in lunch. We have really done a great job providing nutritious lunches that save us all a lot of time, money and calories. This is one of the entrees that I have come up with. It has been requested multiple times and is always a hit.  I plan on taking this to pool parties, picnics and even the beach this summer. Enjoy!

Beets and Sweets

Beets and Sweets- Right out of the oven

Since my life has been hectic and most of my bakeware is in boxes till my move next weekend, I wanted to post something thing that is super simple and that I have found to be incredibly delicious. I made these last night for dinner and quite truthfully try to eat them at least 2-3 times per week for thier wholistic effect.

Of course there is a story behind this recipe. About 2 months ago, I did a 21 day Standard Process cleanse, one of the suggestions for increased cleansing and improved gallbladder funciton is to eat 1/2 a beet per day. I had a definate problem with this at first, because I hated beets. I always thought they had a "dirt" taste. Through some experimentation and some researching, I found some recipes that I really enjoy. And when they are baked they lose that dirt taste and really become quite sweet. This is the most simple and tasty recipe of all the ones I tried.

Overall, the cleanse was a great expereince in my life that really allowed me to see what I was eating and in what quantity. Although I do have the occasional piece of cake or cookie it is not my everyday vice, I am a very healthy eater. The cleanse further enforced that and really make me realize how clean eating can better your mood, energy level and overall health.  It allowed me to slow down concentrate on me and my health and really heal from within. The first few days were exceptionally hard due to extra food prep and organization to get lunches planned before work. Also the first 3 days are really when your body detoxes from sugar, preservatives and toxins. This process leaves you a a little fatigued. But it only lasts 3 days. I came out of the cleanse 7 lbs lighter and feeling like I had a spring in my step.  I can not wait till fall when I repeat the process....

Chocolate Dopplebock Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Chocolate Dopplebock Cupcake- Yum!

In all the packing, sorting craziness that is my life right now I decided that today needed to be a day for me. OK! I did not allow myself the whole day (I had a few appointments) but I did allow half!  I woke up this morning needing some "kitchen therapy." If you have followed this blog at all you know that typically means there is STRESS in my life. (If we go too much into that, this could become a whole other blog.)  I started to look through my cabinets and fridge to see what ingredients I had to work with. After looking through my iPad recipe book where I stash interesting things I find online, I ran across this recipe. I think it is from one of those St Patty's day festive recipes sites that I found at some point and then quickly forgot about but today was it's day to shine.

OK for those that really know me you know that I am a craft beer enthusiast. I enjoy trying new beer and love pairing different beers with different foods. Here in Greenville, SC there has been great opportunity for the beer culture to really grow. There is a good number of restaurants that have great beer selections including high gravity choices. We have quite a few craft beer stores that specialize in growlers, tasting events and general beer knowledge. Of course I have my fav and have to mention them here. The guys at  The Community Tap  are always knowledgeable, friendly and if you call ahead they will even put your favorite beer in the fridge so you can pick it up on the way home from work. Guilty!

We also have an excellent brewery in town that has a great following of which I am part of.  Thomas Creek Brewery has quite a few great brews but my personal favorite is the Deep Water Dopplebock Lager. When I rediscovered this recipe this morning, I knew that I had a six pack of this dark beer in the fridge. From previous tastings, I knew that it went wonderfully with chocolate so I thought this recipe was a perfect match.  The original recipe called for a stout, preferably Guiness, but as you know I love local and I love this Dopplebock!

I will mention that as these cupcakes bake the beer smell is heavenly! And in the finished product the underlying beer flavor really comes through complimenting the chocolate.

Thomas Creek Dopplebock and other less important ingredients.

Southwest Quinoa Salad

This is a recipe that I have come up with after our 21 day cleanse that we did about a month ago. It is great as a side dish or as a meatless lunch entree. I had not really experimented with quinoa much  but now I am hooked. As my garden comes in this summer, I see many ways that I can change this recipe using the vegetable that is ripe at the time, and that makes me very happy! There is nothing better than eating local and in season both for taste and the environment. Stay tuned for some upcoming variations...

Nutella Chocolate Cheesecake

Nutella Chocolate Cheescake- Enjoy!

It has been a crazy few weeks. I received a last minute offer on my house and that has put me into a kind of frenzy.  I have been packing, sorting, tossing and stressing!  If you have read my "About" section, you already know when times get tough I head to the kitchen! It is in my blood, I can't help it. So here I am in "kitchen therapy" mode making something delicious for no other reason than to clear my mind and loose myself in the process.  Not only does stress make me bake, it also makes me want chocolate. So what better than a Nutella Chocolate Cheesecake. This recipe has been on my "To Do List" for some time and I pulled it out this week, got the ingredients, turned on some Florence and the Machine, Arctic Monkeys and the National and got to work. The steps of a recipe to me combined with the hum of the mixer and the upbeat music lifts my spirits. And as always I am accompanied by my best friend, and kitchen helper, Charlie.

My ever-present best friend

I guess in the back of my mind I have always known, but this year I have really identified that fact that I love making and doing things with my hands; baking, gardening, knitting and even my everyday job requires using my hands to make a difference. And that is exactly what I have done for myself this year, I have made a difference.

What was I worried about again??