Spring

What a lovely weekend. We spent all day today outdoors. We worked a lot on our pond and the weather was perfect. Well, for me, for Jeff I'm sure it was pretty hot. I even got IN the pond to dig out the leaves at the bottom. Gross! It's all filled and the waterfall is going again. It was wonderful to sit and relax with a glass of sangria, chips and salsa and a good book. Yay!

Recipe Review - Mexican Sangria

adapted from: http://www.designspongeonline.com/2010/04/behind-the-bar-jose-joels-mexican-sangria.html

Ingredients:

1 bottle of red wine

1 cup of tequila

1 1/2 cups of orange juice

1 a cup of brown organic sugar

1/4 cup of fresh squeezed organic lime juice

1 sliced orange

Mixology:

In a pitcher mix ingredients in this specific order. Add ice to chill. The longer it sits in the pitcher the more flavorful it will be. Using a little lime juice, give the glasses a nice brown-sugar rim and then serve and enjoy!

Ah, what a refreshing drink. It was a little strong, so I think next time I'd use a sweeter wine and less tequila. It was fun new drink, though.

4 thumps up.

Recipe Review - Cream Cheese Danishes

Ingredients:

16 oz Cream Cheese-softened
1 c. sugar
2 packages crescent rolls
1 egg, separated
1 tsp vanilla
fresh or frozen fruit
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
4 oz. butter-melted
nuts (optional)

Directions:

Place 1 can rolls on the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 baking pan, much like a pie crust. Mix cream cheese, sugar, egg yolk and vanilla and layer over rolls. Add your choice of berries. Layer next crescent rolls. Brush with whisked egg white. Mix sugar, cinnamon, butter and nuts. Spread over 2nd layer of rolls. Bake 30-45 minutes at 350. Enjoy for a decadent breakfast!








Oh my word these were good. Restaurant worthy if you ask me! I used blackberries on half, MY half. Jeff had the plain side. We both really loved it.
4 thumbs up!

Recipe Review - Olive Cheese Dip

Ingredients:

12 oz cottage cheese
4 oz cream cheese
20 kalamata olives
dashes of season-all, garlic salt, salt, dill and any other seasoning you might enjoy

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in food processor until mixed. Serve with crackers for a wonderful appetizer or snack.




I had a sample of something similar at Whole Foods while doing my Saturday shopping. I thought I'd just check out the ingredients and try to make it myself rather than buy it. It actually called for ricotta cheese rather than cottage cheese, but since I couldn't find any I improvised. Jeff and I both really liked it.
4 Thumbs Up.

Recipe Review - Spicy Black Bean Burgers

Ingredients:

2 T olive or vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T fresh ginger, minced
½ t allspice
½ t nutmeg
1½ c black beans, cooked or canned
1½ c cooked rice
½ habanero pepper or 1 jalapeño pepper, chopped (seeds optional)
1 c bread crumbs
1 t salt
black pepper

Directions:
Heat 1 T of oil and sauté the garlic, ginger, allspice, and nutmeg and sauté for two minutes.

Pour into food processor along with beans, rice, and peppers. Pulse repeatedly, until mixture is chopped, not puréed.

Transfer to bowl, add remaining ingredients, and mix well. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Shape into four patties, adding more bread crumbs if necessary.

Fry in 1 T oil over medium heat until crust forms, about 4 minutes per side.

Absolutely wonderful. Seriously, these are the best veggie burgers I've ever had and I've had a LOT! They were very spicy, but that doesn't bother me. And you could remove the spice by replacing the jalapeno with bell pepper or just leaving out pepper all together. The ginger was amazing! I was so surprised by the strong flavor-delightfully surprised. Two thumbs up!

Recipe Review-Spicy Oven Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Ingredients

2 sweet potatoes
2 Tbsp Cumin
1 Tsp Chili Powder OR Cayenne Pepper
1-2 Tsp salt
4 Tbsp olive oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Peel and wash potatoes. Cut into tiny slices or you may prefer wedges. Combine olive oil and other ingredients in large bowl. Toss with potatoes until coated. Place on baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes. Serve with catchup or sauce of your choice.

Delicious! I tried tiny fries, but even though I baked them for longer than instructed they still didn’t turn out very crispy. I think next time I will try wedges since I know they will be soft anyway and the flavor of the potato was so yummy. Beware, these were super spicy. You might like to replace the chili powder or cayenne pepper with a milder seasoning of your choice.

I've always wanted to try making these because the two times I've had them at restaurants I've loved them. We give them 4 thumbs up!

More celebration!

First of all, aren't these tulips in front of our house pretty?! They actually look even lovelier now. Just wait until that bush comes out!


The girls came down for sushi last weekend! Steph, Grace and Tiff, aren't they the best. Missing were Sar, Sar and Kimmie! They were all there in my heart, though :) Check out that sushi boat!




Love these girls! Thanks for a great celebration!