Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Butter Beer??

So I recently got home from vacation to Orlando and went to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure... Needless to say ... I rode the Harry Potter ride! And it was Awesome!! That of course peeked my curiosity and I ended up buying the first movie and a butter beer. It was so yummy I searched for a decent recipe to try!

This one is the best I found....
1 cup light or dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
6 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar
3/4 cup heavy cream, divided
1/2 teaspoon rum extract
Four 12-ounce bottles cream soda
In a small saucepan over medium, combine the brown sugar and water. Bring to a gentle boil and cook, stirring often, until the mixture reads 240 F on a candy thermometer.
Stir in the butter, salt, vinegar and 1/4 heavy cream. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
Once the mixture has cooled, stir in the rum extract.
In a medium bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar mixture and the remaining 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Use an electric mixer to beat until just thickened, but not completely whipped, about 2 to 3 minutes.
To serve, divide the brown sugar mixture between 4 tall glasses (about 1/4 cup for each glass). Add 1/4 cup of cream soda to each glass, then stir to combine. Fill each glass nearly to the top with additional cream soda, then spoon the whipped topping over each.

BUT... I didn't serve it like this I had to be difficult! Instead I took the brown sugar mixture and mixed in the cream soda and put it in the icecream maker! Made it a slushy of sorts then topped with the whipped topping! Mmmmm so delicious! Please let me know if you try this one! It was such a good treat!
This picture doesn't do it justice. Must take pictures with my camera instead of cellphone. (Noted) haha

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Easy Summer Ratatouille

           I was looking for something to cook tonight for supper and rekindled an old flame with fresh garden veggies. Ok...ok... they were looking a little shabby and had to be used before they went too far past their prime so what better way to get rid of a whole bunch of picked vegetables than to saute them into a "casserole" of sorts. This dish can be dolled up by slicing the vegetables into thin disks by way of a mandolin, but I decided to skip the fancy fixins for tonight.

The end product was this.... 
(Gotta love "Shake and Bake" Pork chops to complete a SUPER fast supper)
Not to mention the fresh mint in my sweet tea.
Refreshing sweet treat after a long day!
So here is how I did it....
  •  1 eggplant
  • 3-4 yellow squash
  • 2 zucchini
  • 1 small onion 
    • Saute veggie mixture in olive oil until tender. 
    • Add salt and pepper to taste (I also threw in a bit of garlic salt and Italian seasoning)
  • 1/4 Cup of sun dried tomato vinaigrette 
  • 1 can basil garlic diced tomatoes (You can use plain diced tomatoes as well) 
    • Put everything into a casserole dish and placed into a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes until bubbly. At this point you have something that looks like this.... 


** You can leave out or add any veggies you like such as bell peppers red, green, or yellow to name a few.

  • That mix of veggies may not entice you, but then I sprinkled stuffing across the top which I had toasted with butter. Along with a bit of mozzarella cheese to complete the dish. I tossed it back into the oven just to met the cheese then served it. Mmmm mmmm good! 
  • Even the pickiest eater can't turn down this yummy combination!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Slackers Never Win! Taboo Zucchini Cake

So I haven't posted anything since I created this blog....besides the banana dessert. I have decided to fix that tonight with an amazing chocolate cake recipe. Who doesn't like chocolate cake??? Well I don't know about you but I am in love with this Chocolate Zucchini cake. Hey don't scruntch your nose in fear and disgust! This cake is delicious!! If you are trying to sneak a few veggies in to a picky eater's diet I promise you this is THE way to go!

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

1 3/4 cups Sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
2 eggs
2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup baking cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup 1% buttermilk
2 cups zucchini shredded
1 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans


And.... This is what it looks like! Maybe I'm crazy, but I just ate a piece and it is still 
just as yummy as the first time I made it!
Hope you try this! Let me know how it is for you!