On The Menu: Sugar Cookies

Sugar Cookies

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

3 Cups Flour

1/2 Teaspoon of Salt

1/2 Teaspoon of Baking Powder

2 Sticks of Butter, softened but firm

1 Cup Sugar

1 Egg

2 Teaspoons Almond Extract

Whisk together dry ingredients in a separate bowl; cream together butter and sugar in a mixer on the low setting. Add egg and almond extract and mix until creamy. Add dry ingredients to the mix. 

Once dough forms, shape into a ball and refrigerate up to an hour. 

Once chilled, remove and cut out. Bake for 8-9 minutes (depending on your oven settings). 

I prefer chewy, cakey cookies so my cookies are pretty thick; for my perfect cookie, the key is to leave it in there just long enough to bake, but not quite to the point where it's beginning to brown.

Then I add icing (4 Cups Confectioner's Sugar, 3 Tablespoons Meringue Powder, 5 Tablespoons COLD water... some people prefer to use warm water, but I've personally always had it turn out better with cold.).

Then I almost pass out from the buttery, sugar goodness.

Have the loveliest of days!

On The Menu: Zucchini "Spaghetti" and Marinara

That Zucchini up there was probably close to 18 inches long!

My brother and sister have a garden this year

(actually ALL my brothers and sisters have gardens this year... and I do not!)

and grew this gigantic one along with a few others.

So, several family members received some Summer goodness,

and they still had plenty for themselves.

This little guy hung out in the produce basket in our kitchen for a week or so,

because I wanted him to serve a great purpose and be used for deliciousness.

Then one evening,

we had different scraps of this and that but nothing to really be used together for a complete meal...

and then I looked over and saw him.

And we both knew the time had come.

I had just stopped by a local farmer's market for some tomatoes

so the creative juices,

as well as the tomato's,

began flowing.

Marinara:

Chop the tomatoes into small chunks and place into a quart pot. Add a couple minced cloves of garlic, basil, and salt and pepper to taste, and bring to a boil. After boiling for several minutes, bring to a simmer and let simmer until sauce thickens. This could take anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour depending on how saucy you are. Check and stir every so often until it is at the desired consistency.

Zucchini "Spaghetti":

Turn oven on to 350 degrees.

Use a cheese grater and begin grating the Zucchini*. Once grated, place in a bowl and add a little bit of olive oil, enough to cover the top or so, add some minced garlic, basil, salt and pepper to taste, and then mix together covering all the strands of Zucchini. Place in a roasting pan, and roast for 20-30 minutes, stirring once or twice in between. The strands will soften and the mixture will shrink considerably, and it will be perfect and taste wonderful. Once the strands are softened, remove from the oven and serve with the Marinara and Parmesan.

One of my other sisters recently made a meal similar to this (when my eyes looked over at that Zucchini, and my mind remembered how delicious her meal was, I immediately had to have it, so I used what was on hand to best re-create it!), however she just used sliced Zucchini. I chose to shred this to make my children (and my husband) think of it more like Spaghetti. It didn't work. I very much enjoyed it, though. It was a very light, fresh, Summery meal.

*TIP: When I do this again, I will peel most of the outer skin from the Zucchini. The pieces that were mostly the skin, became a bit too brittle and crunchy in the roasting process.

What are your favorite ways to use a giant Zucchini?

The Daily DIY: Pink Grapefruit Sugar Scrub

You'll need:

Sugar

Coconut Oil

Pink Grapefruit Zest

Begin by zesting your grapefruit

(Be prepared, this will smell wonderful!)
until you have about 1 Tablespoon;

Once "zested" place in a mixing bowl

with 1 Cup of Sugar 

and begin mixing with your hands.

Once the zest and sugar are mixed well,

add two spoonfuls of Coconut Oil

and mix together with sugar and grapefruit zest.

Once mixed,

place in a mason jar

and keep up to a week

(may keep longer if placed in the refrigerator).

This is a great lip/hand/body exfoliant even for sensitive skin,

and the Coconut Oil absorbs quickly

leaving your skin feeling wonderfully soft.

Have a lovely weekend!

I love Punch.

Um, I really do.

At parties, at weddings, wherever punch is served,

I like it.

For my daughter's birthday, 

I tried a punch recipe off Pinterest.

It claimed to be the BEST punch ever...

I don't really like to loosely throw around the terms

'BEST' and 'ever',

so let's just say that it was good.

I thought I could find better.

In fact, 

I thought I could DO better.
It turned out good.

Really good.

I've now made this punchy little drink

three times, two different ways.

The first way I used:

Frozen Pina Colada mix

Fresh Strawberries

Crushed Ice

Ginger Ale

Mixed all the ingredients together (minus Ginger Ale)

in a blender, 

poured some into a glass, 

then poured Ginger Ale over it.

This one was good.

I wanted to try it without the ice, though.

The second time I made it I used:

Frozen Pina Colada Mix

Frozen Strawberries

Ginger Ale

Same thing.

This one, 

also good.

Really good.

The third time I made this...

I seriously only made it to take pictures of it. 

HAHAHAHA!

Okay, and because I really wanted some.

The second recipe wins my vote.

The fresh strawberries and ice

just don't give it the texture it needs

to be magnificent.

And if you're drinking punch,

you need it to be magnificent.

Pina Colada ~ Strawberry Punch

You'll need:

Frozen Pina Colada Mix

Frozen Strawberries

Ginger Ale

Mix the Pina Colada Mix and the strawberries together in a blender.

You may want to add a little bit of water to keep the strawberries

from sticking to one another.

Once mixed,

pour mixture into 5 or 6 glasses until 1/2 to 3/4 full;

then pour Ginger Ale over it slowly,

filling the glass.

Get your straw and give it a little stir,

and then sit back and enjoy!

I think you could also easily make this into an actual punch

in a punch bowl as well. That will be my next try!

**DON'T FORGET TO SIGN UP FOR THE PETIE MAE JEWELRY GIVEAWAY!**

On The Menu: Maple Glazed Salmon

You'll need:

1 Salmon Filet

1/4 Cup Maple Syrup

2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce

2 Minced Garlic Cloves

Mix all ingredients (minus Salmon, of course) together.

Place Salmon in a shallow dish and pour mixture over; 

let marinate in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

Once marinated, I chose to grill this.

You could also bake it with the same results

(perhaps 400 degrees, 7-10 minutes).

This was a bit sweet for our taste, 

however it was good.

I think I'll try using a bit less syrup

and a tad more soy sauce next time around.

What are some of your go-to marinades??

On The Menu: P-Dub's Pots de Créme

That Pioneer Woman sure has a knack for all-around goodness!

Oooh, and guess what???

She's coming here!

And my sister snagged us some tickets to see her goodness in person!!!

And then I text my other sister and she got in on this madness!

And then I called my other sister and got her on this train, too!

Obviously, I'm a tad bit excited about this.

Aaaanyway,

she recently posted a recipe for 

Pots de Créme a l'Orange,

but in it she also mentioned that it was an updated

version of a recipe she posted back in 2008.

So, I checked it out...

and then I made it.

OH 

MY

GOODNESS.

It is SO good.

SO UNBELIEVABLY GOOD.

And when you see the ingredients 

and how simple it is to make,

you'll run to your kitchen 

and make it immediately.

So, here's what you'll need:

Oh... and vanilla, oops.

Or whatever kind of flavoring or Liqueur you'd care for...

this is where the l'Orange came in on her updated version,

she used Grand Marnier.

Pour your bag of semi-sweet chips into the blender,

add four eggs, a pinch of salt, and a couple teaspoons of vanilla,

then pulse to blend.

Mix well and then...

take your HOT coffee (8-10 oz.)

and pour into your blender through the little top lid 

while continuing to blend.

Once blended and melded together well,

empty into some really cute or fun

pots, bowls, glasses,

whatever suits your fancy.

I have these really cute little tiny mason jars

that I used for this project {fail}

that worked smashingly.

They managed to come off cute,

yet filled to the brim with sassiness

(hmm, sounds a little like someone I know...).

See what I mean:

This recipe filled 11 of these small jars,

and I added some homemade whipped cream

and the amount was perfect

as this concoction is SO rich...

and wonderful.

Enjoy!

Baby Gourmet: Mashed Avocado and Banana

As you can see,

it's a hit!

Find a ripe avocado and a ripe banana and start mashing!

Avocados and bananas are great foods to start with 

when introducing solid foods to your baby.

Avocados are a great source of the "good" fats that 

babies need to aid in their brain development, 

and bananas have been known as the

"good mood food"

because of the serotonin and norepinephrine found in them.

Smart, happy baby?

Yes, please!

Gourmet... Baby Style.

My little man baby just started eating food.

Actually, he's tasted it...

he's not quite sure if he's ready to fully jump in that boat.

I was excited for this stage again

because it gives me yet another outlet

to get creative.

I made all of the little ladies food when 

they arrived at this stage

and plan on doing it for this little guy as well.

The health benefits, the savings,

everything is a plus in my book!

Here is documentation of the first bite ever.

It was on Christmas Eve at Grandpa's house.

"Uh, what is this in my mouth?"

So, for his first set of meals

he's been feasting on

Roasted Carrots and Baked Apples

and Whipped Sweet Potatoes

(doesn't that sound so much fancier than

carrots, apples, and sweet potatoes??

Yes, it does.

And we like to fancy things up

any opportunity we get.).

This took me maybe 45 minutes one afternoon.

I already had all the ingredients;

so this cost me...

let's see...

oh, nothing.

I always like the sound of paying nothing

and getting exactly what I want.

Basically, I just roasted some carrots;

baked some apples;

and baked a sweet potato.

Once these were fully softened,

I added the carrots and apples to a blender

and pureed them adding a little bit of water

until they came to a nice smooth blend.

I did the same with the sweet potato.

Once pureed,

I poured the mixtures into an ice cube tray

and set aside in the freezer until completely frozen.

Once frozen,

I popped them out of the tray and put them in a bag.

Viola!

(or Wha La... 

for those who don't fancy things up with French

every now and then.)

Okay, friends,

I've been working on some ways to implement some

MAJOR ORGANIZATION

around here.

Hopefully, I live through it and can tell you all about it!

Until then...