I was lucky to be chosen by Influenster for the #meaningfulbeauty voxbox. Result, I love my Meaningful Beauty by Cindy Crawford Creme Serum! It goes on light and smooth, doesn’t pill and leaves me looking fresh and young. I never want to spend another day without it!
Yummmm…… Wings! The perfect football snack. This is the only wing recipe I make because it is delish! I have also brought them to parties and they are always a huge hit. I live in NJ where good food is endless and easily accessible and my boyfriend prefers these wings over any restaurant ( that we have tried so far). These will make you a star!
Ok… So here is what you need:
1 cup flour
1 Tbsp papricka
1 Tbsp cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp sea or kosher salt
1/2 Tbsp fresh ground black pepper
1/2 Tbsp granulated garlic or garlic powder
16 wings (called wingettes at my grocery store)
1/2 cup Franks Red Hot
2-3 Tbsp butter
Blue cheese or ranch to dip
Celery on side if you want
Vegetable oil for frying
Here is how you do it:
First wash your chicken and pat dry
In a large mixing bowl, combine you flour, papricka, cayenne and salt, blend well.
Next, coat chicken with flour mix and let sit in fridge for one hour. You don’t have to let it sit but it helps the flour stick.
When you are ready to cook, heat oil up in pan. I use a large sauce pan to fry. To test if oil is ready, throw in some flour to see if it bubbles. If it does, toss half of your chicken (8 pieces) and usually fry for about 12-15 minutes. You want the skin brown, I usually flip a few times too.
At this time you can begin your sauce. In a small pot, add franks red hot, butter, garlic and pepper.
Let it melt, stirring a lot and keep on low heat.
Take your chicken out of frying pan, add the rest of your chicken to oil to cook.
To keep dishes at a minimum, I quickly wash my large mixing bowl of the flour to toss chicken and sauce in. Add half of the sauce to your bowl and toss the wings until well coated. Dump on a plate and serve with side of blue cheese and paper towels. Finish up the the next batch and you’re done!
Now… You may have a deep fryer or capabilities to fry more than eight wings, if so make it all at once. I don’t have the equipment for that so I do it in batches.
I told you I would make a mojito!
Mojito’s are a great refreshing drink to make on hot summer days. The originate from Cuba. In my early bar tending days, I learned to make a mojito to perfection.
What you’ll need:
1 1/4 oz. light rum. ( I use 10 Cane Rum, it’s best for this bev. Higher price but worth it)
1 lime cut in wedges
5 fresh mint leaves
1 oz simple syrup (recipe to follow )
1/2 oz sour mix
2 oz seltzer or sprite (depends on sweetness)
Ice cube
Tall glass
Shaker ( I honestly used a tall drinking glass and red solo cup, lost my shaker)
Muddler( you can use the handle end of a spatula or like appliance)
How it’s done:
Make simple syrup:
1 cup boiling water
1 cup sugar
Mix together until sugar dissolves and chill in fridge.
That it!
Add rum, lime, mint leaves torn in half twice, and simple syrup to glass, muddle these together. Muddling is basically smooshing everything together to mix the flavors). Add ice, fill to top of glass, splash sour mix, shake well, pour back into glass, top off with seltzer or sprite, garnish with lime wedge.
Note- always add the carbonation after you shake your co*cktail. Shaking carbonation causes it to o flat, making a bad drink.
Enjoy!
Spring has sprung! How exciting… Time for sundresses, flip flops, pedicures and outdoor drinking! I never mentioned it before, because I have been focusing on my culinary skills, but… I am actually a seasoned bartender with a plethora of delicious co*cktails up my sleeve. I even have my own custom recipe that was picked in a competition to be published on a large, well known, restaurant chains’ menu a few years ago.
Since Spring is indeed my favorite season, I love to do nothing more than to celebrate the new leaves on trees and blossoming flowers with a delicious co*cktail.
Look forward to my drink of the week this spring and summer. I will probably even share my own top secret recipe but we will see!
I will probably be posting a Mojito this week. That’s what I’m thinking.
Oh and by the way, I hope you like my blog.
Xoxo
Prep time: 5 minutesCook time: 35 minutes
INGREDIENTS
1 pound asparagus
3 Tbsp plus 1 teaspoon butter
1/2 cup chopped shallots
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine (or 1 Tbsp lemon juice and 1/4 cup water)
About 3 1/2 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock for vegetarian option), can substitute some of the asparagus cooking water for stock*
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
METHOD
1 Prepare the asparagus by breaking off discarding the tough ends (about the last inch of the spear). Cut into 1 to 1 1/2-inch pieces (tips longer, base shorter). If your asparagus are especially large, cut into even smaller (bite-size) pieces. Bring a saucepan with a quart of water to a boil. Blanch the asparagus pieces for 2 minutes. At the end of two minutes, use a slotted spoon to remove the asparagus pieces to an ice water bath to shock the asparagus into a vibrant green color and to stop the cooking. Drain from the ice water bath and set aside.
2 In a 3 or 4 quart saucepan, heat 3 Tbsp butter on medium heat. Add the shallots and cook for a few minutes until translucent. Add the rice and cook for 2 minutes more, stirring until nicely coated.
3 While the shallots are cooking, bring the stock to a simmer in a saucepan.
4 Add the wine. Slowly stir, allowing the rice to absorb the wine. Once the wine is almost completely absorbed, add 1/2 cup of stock to the rice. Continue to stir until the liquid is almost completely absorbed, adding more stock in 1/2 cup increments. Stir often to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Continue cooking and stirring rice, adding a little bit of broth at a time, cooking and stirring until it is absorbed, until the rice is tender, but still firm to the bite, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat.
Note the stock amount given is approximate. You may need a little more or less. If you end up needing more stock and you find yourself without, just use water or the cooking water from the asparagus.
5 Gently stir in the Parmesan cheese, the remaining 1 teaspoon butter, and the asparagus. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
Yield: Serves 4.
Don’t mind my old mani but look how cute this looks.
I washed green grapes, put them in a ziplock, and into the freezer. Now my white wine stays cold much longer and looks so fun and cute. Another plus is that the wine will not get watered down. For now on, there will always be frozen grapes in my freezer.
I made this Pepperoni Stromboli tonight for dinner. It was so easy and delicious, it’s a must make for main course or for an appetizer. Check it out on my new blog 86theonionplease.blogspot.com.
-bird
This dish is so easy to make. I had the crockpot on high for 4 hours. Here is what you’ll need.
2.5 lb pork shoulder
1 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp Franks Red hot
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1.5 tbsp ground mustard
1tbsp salt
1 tbsp pepper
1/2tbsp paprika
1 tbsp garlic powder
4 cloves garlic
Combine all dry spices above and run all over pork shoulder, place in crockpot on high 4 hours, low 8. Pour apple cider vinegar and franks red hot over the pork shoulder. Crush garlic cloves and place in the crockpot surrounding the pork. Cover. Baste every half hour or so.
When pork is ready, remove large garlic chunks, shred pork with two forks. It will fall apart. Mix it in crockpot with juices. Serve on roll. I like to pit coleslaw on mine. You can also add some BBQ sauce if you want but it doesn’t need it.
As you know I am obsessed with Pinterest. I found this idea and decided to try it out myself.
All you need is:
12×12 shelving board
12×12 scrapbook paper
Elmer’s Spray Adhesive
Buy the picture hanging kit and something for the back. There are a million different options at Michael’s. Find the one you are most comfortable with. Another option is the velcro tabs that are damage free. Use them while I’m deciding where I want things. Sometimes permanently.
Lay board flat, spray with adhesive, covering the board and quickly align paper. Follow hanging instructions from your method.
Tip… Buy board at Home Depot, have them cut it for you. It will save money. Here is how mine came out.
The hardest part was picking out the paper!
Ingredients:
4 garlic cloves
1 tbsp thyme leaves (chopped fresh)
1 tbsp fresh rosemary (chopped, leaves)
1 tbsp fresh parsley leaves (chopped)
1/4 tbsp black pepper (freshly ground)
1/2 tbsp coarse salt
1-1/2 tbsps olive oil
3-4 lbs leg of lamb (trimmed of all fat, bones and butterflied by butcher)
1 lemon
What To Do:
Finely chop garlic and in a small bowl stir together with thyme, rosemary, parsley, salt, pepper and olive oil.
Put lamb in a large dish and with tip of a sharp small knife held at a 45-degree angle cut 1/2-inch-deep slits all over lamb, rubbing herb mixture into slits and all over lamb. Marinate lamb at room temperature 1 hour. Preheat oven to 425.
Lightly pat lamb dry. Roast lamb in a roasting pan in middle of a 425°F oven about 25 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer horizontally inserted into meat registers 125°F for medium-rare. Transfer lamb to a cutting board. Halve and seed lemon. Squeeze juice over lamb and let stand, loosely covered with foil, 15 minutes.
Cut lamb into slices and serve with any juices that have accumulated on cutting board.
I served mine with grilled asparagus and polenta.
