Irish or not, I hope you’ll be making yourself some corned beef & cabbage this week to pay homage to St. Patrick’s Day. And should you have any corned beef left over, do yourself a favor and make these Corned Beef & Cabbage Turnovers. I intended to serve them as an appetizer, but they were so filling [...]
Category Archives: Cocktail Hour
I live in the land of year-round, ripe and affordable avocados (Southern California). I don’t think I ever even had avocados as a kid, but in my house now they’re pretty much daily eats. We slice them up in the morning and top our omelettes with them. At lunch, they make an appearance in salad. [...]
If you’re searching for a festive appetizer for New Year’s Eve, here’s one you can prepare ahead (and still impress your guests): Spinach, Feta & Sundried Tomato Triangles. This is a jazzed up version of the typical Greek Phyllo Triangle… added mint, sundried tomato, kalamata olives and lemon.
Here’s a pictoral how-to (the complete recipe can be [...]
If you’re planning holiday parties this season, I have some festive ideas to share- along with three appetizer cookbooks very worthy of purchase for your ever-growing cookbook collections!
The first recipe comes from New Flavors for Appetizers: Classic Recipes Redefined by Amy Sherman ( CookingWithAmy) I’ve met Amy a couple of times before, and apart from being [...]
You still have time to enter the Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Recipe Contest. Combine your favorite ingredients with Puff Pastry to come up with something new… and you may win an all-expense paid trip to New York City for you and a friend! Details here.
The holidays are upon us. Friends and family will be gathering [...]
Figs. I really hated them as a child. My lovely Swedish grandmother often baked fig-filled cookies that were frankly just plain icky, and as a result, I grew up with a severe dislike for figs.
I’ve been slightly more adventurous as an adult. I made a chicken dish with figs last year that I fell madly in love [...]
Every season deserves its own cocktail. My favorites…
Fall: Cranberry Mojitos
Winter: The Best Red Wine Sangria
Spring: Spotted Gecko Margaritas
And a new one for me this summer: Watermelon- Tequila Cocktails
Originally from Bobby Flay, this drink combines watermelon & lime juices with simple syrup. Silver tequila is the alcohol of choice in this one. A few blueberries and mint [...]
Blueberries are abundant on the Northeast coast of the US. We can find them in our markets pretty easily here in San Diego, but nothing beats the blueberries that you come across in New England. They’re BIG and j.u.i.c.y. little buggers, and they’re cheap as can be. The market where I shopped this summer had [...]
My Gourmet group had a fabulous Cuban-themed dinner last weekend. I’m excited to share the entire menu with you, which I’ll do in my next post, but for now I’ll share the recipe that I was assigned to make:
Plantain- Wrapped Crab Cakes with Avocado Aioli.
I had picked up a big bunch of plantains from my [...]
Cinco de Mayo will soon be here (May 5th for those non-Spanish speakers). Though it’s a Mexican holiday, here in Southern California, Cinco de Mayo celebrations are pretty widespread… mostly an excuse to eat Mexican food and partake in downing a few margaritas. We had a party last year for that very reason. These Margarita [...]
A Super Bowl Party isn’t a SuperBowl party without some sort of chicken wings, right? My absolute favorite are the deep fried type buffalo wings dipped in gobs of blue cheese. Can’t even think about those this year though. In fact, I might as well just forget those even exist since I intend to avoid [...]
Taking a little break from ‘healthy blog posting,’ I’ll be doing a series of recipes this week that are good ideas for Superbowl Parties (or just to snack on during the big game). Everyone around here (San Diego) was hoping our Chargers would make an appearance in the Super Bowl this year. Unfortunately, that won’t [...]
We have a ‘Gourmet Club’ in our neighborhood with eleven couples participating. They’re all hand-picked, fun friends who are into food and entertaining. We meet monthly, with couples attending as they’re available. Usually we end up with 16 or so people at a single gathering. The hosts plan the menu, prepare the main dish and [...]
I’m still baking away in the final moments before Christmas, but I’ve decided to turn my attention toward blogging about a nice appetizer that would be terrific for Christmas or New Year’s celebrations.
Here’s a colorful little bite: Spinach & Sun-Dried Tomato Puff Pastry Pinwheels.
Super simple… here’s the how to:
A mix of frozen spinach (thawed), sundried [...]
My first foray into a knowingly “vegan” recipe was something that caught my eye and inspired me to pick up Veganomicon on a whim: Butternut Squash & Pumpkin Seed Rice Paper Rolls with Cranberry Chile Dipping Sauce.
I’ve enjoyed many a spring roll, but never had made them myself. They’re incredibly easy- just have all of [...]
If you’ve not yet had sangria, you’ve been missing out. Fruit combined with wine… sometimes juices or liqueurs too… makes an amazing adult beverage.
I tend to make white sangria recipes in the summer and red wine sangria recipes in the cooler months. That’s just my preference. For a Spanish tapa’s themed party we attended this [...]
This month’s Daring Baker challenge involved experimenting with the Basic Pizza Dough from Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. It was a fun challenge, and my family enjoyed the month-long pizza recipe trials.
Since I already have a go-to pizza crust recipe that is very simple, I found the directions for this one to be rather [...]
Oh, how I wish I had the creative mind of Martha. I have her energy. I have her ability to juggle many things at once. I share her enthusiasm for entertaining and her obsession with making things perfect. And I even have her ‘blondish’ hair.
Though I can follow directions very well, and I can manipulate [...]
The Daring Bakers: Lavash Cracker’s Challenge!
Since Fall is in full swing, I added a little autumn-goodness to my Daring Baker challenge this month… Fresh Cranberry Jam. About this time last year I had wanted to make some things with fresh cranberries and found that in early fall you can only find those little guys tucked [...]
Happy Hour is made happier with a few desserts slipped in. Here were the choices for our recent neighborhood gathering (fall flavor influences evident!)
Apple Harvest Blondies “Most Eaten”
Though not the prettiest dessert of the bunch, these were terrible popular. They tasted like an apple cake with small chunks of cream cheese melted within. Delicious!
Caramel- Pecan [...]
It’s tough to think much about fall when it’s 80+ degrees outside and we’re still spending weekends at the beach. The only thing that really denotes *fall* here in Southern California is that school has begun. Luckily, fall foods begin surfacing in our markets, helping to remind us that there is indeed a change of [...]
Here in Southern California, avocados are plentiful all year long (and they’re usually available at a great price.) Our kids are raised eating this creamy soft-textured green fruit, and we put it in our salads regularly without much thought. Green guacamole might be a frightening sight to children who aren’t familiar with it, but our [...]
Last night was our Gourmet Club’s monthly dinner party with a Yucatan theme. The hostess selected recipes that were all from Rick Bayless.
My assigned task was to prepare two of the appetizers. One I’ll share today: Salt and Pepper Ceviche.
I didn’t want to take any chances, so I went all-out and bought a nice, fresh, [...]
Happy Hour originated in the US Navy in the 1920’s. “Happy” was given the meaning of “slightly drunk.” Today, many bars and restaurants give drink discounts and run appetizer specials for Happy Hour between the hours of 4pm and 7pm during the work week. Workers use it as an excuse to have a drink and [...]
Well friends, I’ve been holding out on you… but I return today from a month-long vacation in New England. That explains my MIA status in visiting not a single blog in the last 30 days. We stayed in a beach house north of Cape Cod where we enjoyed the sun and sand, visiting relatives, evening [...]
Here’s a colorful, flavorful, cool dip for a hot summer night… Vegetable- Goat Cheese Spread. It’s an awesome sort of dip for dunking cucumber slices, radishes or carrots, as well as sliced baguette.
Lots of crunch. And lotsa veggies within!
This recipe can be found HERE.
As far as regional favorites go, Italian has to be my number one favorite (sorry Peter.) Start me off with some prosciutto- wrapped melon and a nice prosecco, feed me a terrific homemade pasta dish, and top it off with a dabble of creamy, rich gelato or a cannoli. I’ll be satisfied and 2 pounds [...]
Have you muddled lately? Do you own one of these nifty bar tools?
Mine is used almost exclusively for making my favorite cocktail…Mojitos! Since my Vegas trip, I’ve been dreaming about those Orange- Basil Mojitos that I sipped poolside. So I decided to re-create this drink in the comfort of my own home.
If you’re already familiar [...]
I’m a “Happy Hour” kinda person. Though I’m not much of a drinky drink person, I won’t turn down a well-made mojito or a fruit-laced margarita. But fill me with too much rum or tequila or any other hard stuff and I won’t be having a very pleasant evening. So when five o’clock rolls around, [...]
I realize that there are likely many people of the USA (and the rest of the world) who don’t recognize this Mexican holiday called Cinco de Mayo. Since I’m located in Southern California, I observe this holiday as very much celebrated- if anything- as an excuse to party, drink margaritas, and consume exhorbitant amounts of [...]
Friends of ours hosted our gourmet group’s dinner party recently on their rather large and really cool boat- The Whiskey Tango. Usually a breathtaking setting motoring through the harbor and under the Coronado Bridge, it was unfortunately an overcast evening.
It was still an amazing setting… just grey. Fun friends and some good wine made it [...]
Ah… there is nothing like a beautiful perfect weekend in Southern California! While the rest of the world may be in the midst of end-of-winter storms or blah rainy days, the sun is shining brightly upon us. So I invite you to see what most days look like in San Diego, and what one family [...]
The Mexican quesadilla! Around San Diego, you will see appetizers on the menu at Mexican restaurants- usually quesadillas of some variety, guacamole w/ chips, and even nachos (though that’s more of a “bar food” around here.) But I’d have to say that I don’t think apps are ordered much. At Mexican restaurants in San Diego, [...]
When it’s a beautiful, sunny day in San Diego, there are three things I long to do for dinner:
1. Hit happy hour at a beachside restaurant and order up some seafood apps and chilled white wine.2. Organize an impromptu barbecue with other neighborhood families.3. Eat Mexican food.
Today was one of those gorgeous, spring-like, no-jacket-needed [...]
The Mission: to find a good sangria recipe to bring to bunco night. After some diligent searching, I found the Cook’s Illustrated recipe for what they deem as The Best Red Wine Sangria. Since I really trust their methods of extensive testing and written details, I decided to give this one a try. This is [...]
Again! I just posted about a few Super Bowl recipe ideas last weeek but we went to a playoff game party for the Chargers- Patriots game last weekend, and there are a few recipes worth sharing from that. And I know that there are people out there who are still undecided on their Superbowl Party [...]
Welcome to my Blog! I figured January 1st was as good a time as any to start a fun, new venture. With the RecipeGirl.com site up and running and getting great traffic, I decided to dive into the world of blogging about my adventures in the world of food.
I prepared something like 300 new recipes [...]
