Strawberry Riesling Slush

Ready for the weekend? I don' know what the weather is going to be where you are but here is SC it is going to be in the 90s. Why not sit on your back porch with a group of friends and share a frosty summer drink? I have the perfect one here. So simple and you can prepare it before and have it in the freezer for that after work drink or the group of unexpected friends that stop in for a chat. Make extra and make it tonight!

Crockpot Pulled Pork BBQ

When I moved to SC in 1999 to attend school, I quickly got introduced to BBQ.  Not the type that comes from the grill, but slow cooked, smoky, falling of the bone pork BBQ.  This was a new culinary experience for me and I fell in love!! Not only did I fall in love with the BBQ but also all the sides that came with it; Brunswick stew being my favorite.  I enjoyed the laid back attitude in the restaurants and appreciated the pride in the cooking and culture. As I met folks from this area, they all thought I was a bit of a novelty. "What do you mean you never had Fried Okra? She has never tasted Hash!! You don't know what a chitlin is?  We need to get you some Pully Bones......" What??  And so off we would go.....I enjoyed every chance meeting I had with the food of this region. OK, I did put my foot down on the chitlins and the boiled peanuts can trigger my gag reflex like nothing else. But truthfully, today, nothing is more comforting after a long day at work than a bowl of hot cheese grits.

Thanks to a very special lady here in the south, a grandma of sorts, I learned to cook a lot of the dishes that I learned to love. She took me under her wing and we started out simple. I don't think she had much confidence in me; "the girl who was not from here." But over time, I proved to her that I wanted to learn and for that she was quite proud and not afraid to tell whomever was around. A lot of the recipes she told me were not written down and still aren't.   Since her passing last year, I don't know where any of her written recipes have gotten to, but I will always rememeber the one measurement  she always used, when in doubt, "just add you a lil' bit."

She gave me more than "a lil' bit" as a newcomer to this area ....she gave me a lot of Love.

Grandma Ethel's Calico Baked Beans

Slow cooking allows the flavors to really blend.

This is one of my Grandma Ethel's recipes that I remember eating every year at our family reunion. It is an old recipe that I have had forever but never made. I have had multiple parties and cookouts but I guess I never made "the occasion" to make this recipe. When I was planning my Summer Porch Party to share my new house with my best friends, I was going through recipes and thought why not use an old recipe that is new to me since I had never made it.

It has been quite a few years since I have had these slow baked, legumes. The classic recipe is really simple and the smell that fills the house while the beans cook is amazing. There is a good amount of bacon and ground beef in this recipe which makes it superfilling. It is hearty enough to eat as an entree or pair it with some chicken or a burger for a great side dish.

These beans got rave reviews at my party which made me proud. Not only was I proud of the recipe itself but I was humbled once again to make a recipe that was my Grandma's; keeping her spirit with me in the kitchen and through the celebrations of my life.

Cannoli Cupcakes

 

Cannoli Cupcakes

This is a recipe that combines two of my favorite desserts and definitely a lot of my favorite flavors. I am a sucker for a cannoli of any type and cupcakes are one of the most indulgent things in life.

Cannoli always remind me of my Mom. That has been one of our favorite desserts for as long as I remember; no actually since our days of going to the beach in Maryland when I was a child. On one special night, we would walk down the boardwalk in Ocean City to get our cannoli fix. It was something that we did every year and I think that this became our special dessert because we only got them one time per year. As time changed and the years passed, we quit going to Ocean City and so no more "Beach Cannoli" that we looked forward to every year.

Sometime in my early college years, I think I was a freshman, I came home for the summer and wanted to make my Mom cannoli for her birthday. I sprung this idea on my Dad and explained that I needed port wine for the recipe.  At the time, I was not yet able to purchase alcohol. In his always silent, supportive way he headed off to the store to score our wine.  Before I had left school, I had purchased a set of cannoli shell forms at a culinary shop at the local mall. When Dad got home, we started our task and what a task it was!!! We still reminisce about this and just shake our heads. For two people who are familiar with the kitchen and culinary techniques, we had a cannoli frying mess on our hands!!

I jumped right in and started the production but could not get the dough to stay on the form. As I dropped them in the hot oil, they would quickly unfold and bloom almost flower like and then puff up like a giant elephant ear. My Dad stepped in thinking that he could master the concept- Fail! We both stood there with oil popping out of the pan burning our arms and fingers and not sure what to do next....

To make an already long story short, that birthday my mom got a few cannoli that we salvaged toward the end of the production when we finally got the hang of it. The rest were turned into "cannoli shell chips" which we ate with the filling -chips and salsa style. And truthfully no matter the shape they tasted great!!!

This cupcake was inspired by my love for cannoli and thank the kitchen gods, it was much more simple than my original cannoli adventure.

Ready... set... Go!

 

Beet Hummus, Goat Cheese, Mint Crostini (plus alternative version)

Beet Hummus, Goat Cheese, Mint Crostini

OK for those of you that don't know I have become quite the "beet advocate." In the past, I never really liked beets. I always felt that they tasted very "earthy." OK that is a bit of a lie, I always thought they tasted like dirt. But, as I explained in my Beets and Sweets post, I have really found some recipes that bring out the sweetness in the beets and this recipe does just that. I will say that the addition of lemon and garlic really compliments the beet taste. There is quite a bit of lemon zest and juice in this recipe which to me upped the freshness factor.

I was kind of skeptical about making this recipe for a group with differing palates, but I am happy to say that everyone at my summer party tasted and really loved it; even the beet haters in attendance said that if they did not know it was a beet they would have never guessed.  This appetizer really is a wonderful mixture of interesting tastes and texture. The crisp crostini was the perfect base for the creamy goat cheese and hummus and the mint was the perfect "summer inspiring" topping. Great with a cold glass of white wine.

And look at what beautiful all-natural color!

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.......