         
Archive for the ‘Summer Favorites’ Category
Friday, September 2nd, 2011
Well, it looks like I’m getting dragged to the Minnesota State Fair after all. It’s been a few years – but not long enough! LOL. Hot temps + tons of people + tons of noise + obnoxious smell of grease everywhere… not my bag, I hate to say. Back in 2009, I struck a deal with my husband that resulted in a couple years of not having to go – and in the creation of “beer battered corn on the cob.. on a stick”. Well, I don’t have the kitchen or the brainpower to come up with a deal this year, so… we’re going! LOL
Around the time of the fair, Minnesotans really focus on new, unique foods. Yes, a lot of the time this means just “X Food… ON A STICK”, but, still. It’s sometimes fun to hear of the creative ways that vendors are coming up with ways to either add calories, put it on a stick, or Minnesota-it-up with various foods. Hell, even Caprese salad can be “Minnesota’d up”, as long as you serve it on a bed of wild rice! (?)
A couple years ago, I decided to “Minnesota-up” an old fashioned dessert – the Baked Alaska. There is a HUGE emphasis on camping, camp fires, etc here – moreso than anywhere I’ve ever lived – so I decided to do a Smores themed version. Custom designed a base – a graham cracker flavored cookie – and went from there. These are individual sized servings – smaller than a normal baked Alaska.
The result was awesome. So much fun, and perfect for this coming long weekend!
Enjoy, and have a great labor day weekend!
(more…)
Posted in Chocolate, Cookies, Desserts, Entertaining Ideas, Recipes, Summer Favorites | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, August 30th, 2011
Here it is – the final pie from my recent pie making blitz!
|
This pie is one of the 160+ recipes featured in “The Spirited Baker“, and it’s deceptively easy to make.
The key to success here is to ensure that your mixer bowl and whisk are very clean, and that no egg yolk makes it in with the whites. Any sort of grease or fat from the yolk will prevent your whites from whipping up properly, and you won’t achieve the fluffy structure that you want for this pie.
|
 |
This is a great pie for summer – not only to utilize the great fresh strawberries available, but also because it requires NO BAKING!
Enjoy!
(more…)
Posted in Adults Only! (Boozy), Desserts, Entertaining Ideas, Recipes, Spirited Baking, Spirited Living, Summer Favorites | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011
Apparently today is “National Watermelon Day”. I had today’s recipe all ready to publish, but I have the *perfect* recipe for watermelon day, so…
You know, one of these days, I’m gonna make a calendar of all of these “days”, and keep them in mind ahead of time. Sounds like a much better plan than ending up distracted at the last minute!
Anyway, it’s been a while since I’ve posted a homemade wine recipe. Watermelon wine is not only tasty, it’s easy to make and a unique choice for summer imbibing. Also, we’re a little overdue on putting on this summer’s batch. What can I say, the tornado screwed with our summer brewing schedule when it turned our lives upside down!
If you haven’t attempted making wine before, don’t be intimidated! Check out our primer to home brewing, it starts here, with parts 2 and 3 here and here. Just a small handful of entries, and you’ll be good to go!
This recipe uses few ingredients, but it’s important to make them the right ones. Most importantly: (more…)
Posted in Beverages, Home Brewing, Homemade Wine, Recipes, Spirited Living, Summer Favorites | 1 Comment »
Sunday, July 31st, 2011
Yesterday was National Cheesecake Day here in the USA. I’d intended to post this recipe on Friday, to give you all an excuse to celebrate it… but got distracted with home repairs.
Ah well, no one really needs an EXCUSE to celebrate cheesecake, right? It’s a celebration unto itself!
| This is one of the recipes in my first cookbook, The Spirited Baker. It’s pictured as the divider image for the “Creamy” chapter, and the photo was featured in our promo material for the book. Let me tell you, for all the oohing and ahhing that has happened over the photos of this recipe… the photo doesn’t even do it justice.
The photo doesn’t adequately depict how insanely satisfying the combination of Southern Comfort, pecans, and fresh peaches is. It doesn’t convey anything about the deep-down belly sigh you’ll emit on first bite. Oh, and how melt-in-your-mouth creamy this cheesecake is. The photo captures none of that – no photo could. Pretty tasty looking photo anyway… but just wait til you try the cheesecake itself! |
 |
(more…)
Posted in Adults Only! (Boozy), Desserts, Entertaining Ideas, Gluten Free, Recipes, Spirited Baking, Spirited Living, Summer Favorites | No Comments »
|
