Quickie quiz:
A. Will you be watching The Big Game?
B. Will you be more interested in the food associated with the game?
C. Will you be on your computer while everyone else watches the game.
D. All of the above? None of the above?
I’m gonna go with “B” myself. I enjoy football and I love the Super Bowl [...]
Category Archives: It's Party Time!
My brother has always had quite a fond attachment to Fritos. As a kid he chose Fritos over any other type of chip-like snack, popping them into his chili and tucking them underneath the tuna in his tunafish sandwiches. I never understood the appeal of Fritos, really. A handful of them leaves you with a [...]
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. [...]
One of the goals for my healthy look at 2010 is to bake nutritious things without losing the flavor and satisfaction of eating something really evil. I plan on using a lot more whole grains and very little white flour in my quest to be sporting a bikini by summer. Oat flour, a hearty whole-grain [...]
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 [...]
Each month, a few blogging buddies and I join forces and have a little pie party on our blogs called The Great, Big Pie Bakeoff. Everyone is welcome to participate- we keep the details for each month’s theme on our little pie website. Join us in November if you wish to bake up a pie!
This month’s theme is “Scary [...]
Welcome to The Recipe Girl’s Trick-or-TrEAT post. Today, nine favorite food, craft and lifestyle bloggers await behind nine haunted houses with an array of holiday treats created just for you. At the end of this post, you will find two of these mystery houses. To join in the holiday fun, simply click on one of [...]
Please join me on Monday, October 26, when I join forces with nine of the webs best food & lifestyle bloggers for the delightfully frightful Halloween collaboration, Trick-Or-TrEAT. Nine haunted houses have been trimmed and tricked out on your behalf. Which of your favorite bloggers awaits behind each haunted home? Whatever have the ghosts and [...]
Our community held it’s annual Fall Harvest Festival this past weekend. It’s our attempt to experience a bit of what autumn is like in most parts of the country… caramel apple-making stands, displaced hay bales, & store-bought scarecrows, all set up on a village green and packed with folks clad in summery attire and lathered with [...]
As soon as I got wind of David Leite’s new cookbook, The New Portuguese Table: Exciting Flavors from Europe’s Western Coast, I knew it was going to have to be an immediate addition to my ever-expanding cookbook collection.
David Leite definitely did his homework on this one. He spent several years traveling and eating his way through Portugal, [...]
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 [...]
Let’s get a few things straight:
1. I’m not a big fan of Cool Whip or any packaged, ready-to-eat foods.
2. I don’t normally take the easy way out when putting together desserts.
3. I’ve come to realize that sometimes taking the easy way out works out really, really well.
With that in mind, I’ll present to you my [...]
Happy 4th of July Week! I’m planning on celebrating with cupcakes: Red, White & Blue Cupcakes.
I’ve wanted to make a multi-colored tie-dye sort of cupcake for quite some time, so I decided to start with the red, white & blue sort for the holiday.
They’re simple, really. Use a vanilla cake batter and divide it into [...]
I sent my husband to our local Specialty Produce place the other day and instructed him to, “Pick up anything that’s red, white and blue.” He came home with loads of berries (which I made the Cheesecake Bars with) and then some red, white and blue potatoes.
Blue potatoes? Yes, blue. Sometimes they have a [...]
Here’s another good one for the 4th of July… or if you just have some fresh berries lying around: Red, White and Blueberry Cheesecake Bars.
Believe it or not, this is a lighter fat recipe! Yay for still getting to enjoy treats when you have to diet on the 4th of July 200 calories [...]
I have to admit that when I’m saddled with the task of making a fruit salad, I sometimes pick up a fruit tray at Costco, chop up the fruit, throw it in a bowl and call it fruit salad. There are a couple of problems with this: 1. The fruit is not as fresh as if [...]
Kid favorite straight ahead
Inspired by The Food Librarian’s Valentine Jello, I created a 4th of July version: 6 layers of Red White and Blue Finger Jello. Remember those popular little treats called Knox Blox (back in the day?) These are similar, though not quite as firm. The white layer isn’t actually a jello layer [...]
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 [...]
My little one had a birthday recently, and he wished for a Boston Red Sox birthday cake. I’m not a big cake baker, but I figured I could pull it off. Armed with a picture of their logo, I set off to bake his wish. Here’s a pictoral step-by-step, with a few instructions for how [...]
I’ve always associated Mother’s Day with brunch. Usually being the one to host this holiday, I almost always put quiches on the menu. I have quite a few quiche recipes that I love, but I’m always looking for something new to try. This one comes from that great spa cookbook that I talked about yesterday: Mushroom & [...]
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 [...]
Italian-made cannoli can be counted among my all-time favorite desserts in this world. I had my fair share of them on a visit to Italy, and have enjoyed pretty decent cannoli at both Mike’s and Modern in the North End of Boston. It’s also the dessert I’ve most wanted to write about since Day 1 of [...]
Spring break + Cloudy, dreary day + Cutesie, unused cookie cutters =
Meyer Lemon Cut- Out Sugar Cookies
BIG BONUS in this recipe… no waiting! You do not have to chill the sugar cookie dough before you roll and cut! The dough is very easy to work with- if too sticky just add a bit more flour, [...]
This post is the third & final post about my Gourmet Club’s great Greek Dinner Party menu. Appetizers and Drinks can be viewed here, and Main Dishes/Sides can be viewed here.
Continuing on with this fabulous menu… I’ll be adding on the desserts today. Recipes can be found by clicking on the recipe titles.
Greek Dinner Party:
Cocktail:
Greek [...]
This post is a continuation of the sharing of my Gourmet Club’s Greek Dinner Party. The first post of appetizers & drinks can be found here.
Thank you all for the nice compliments regarding my recipe choices and table settings. Many people asked where I purchase my dishes, etc. I’m quite fond of HomeGoods- I’ve had [...]
Our Gourmet Club met last weekend for another one of our fabulous dinner parties. We have 11 couples in our club and we meet for dinner once a month. This time it was our turn to host, and I chose a Greek theme. The hosts are responsible for planning the whole menu, preparing the main [...]
You’ve probably experienced the following scenario…
*going to a friend’s house for dinner & ask friend, “What can I bring?”
*friend says, “An appetizer would be nice!”
*you think to yourself- great… I have a busy day. what the heck can I whip up quickly that will still impress?
This was my dilemma recently. I posed this question to my Twitter friends, [...]
I tend to overcommit myself. I volunteer for too many things, and when the opportunity comes around to put my amateur baking skills to good use… I volunteer for that too. This was one of those weeks… I overcommitted, and I ended up having to flake-out on a couple of things in order to save [...]
Warning! This post has absolutely nothing to do with healthy and low fat eating. It is Valentine’s week, however, and I’m one of those people who volunteered to make treats for teachers, classroom, etc. Call it torture during my time of healthy blogging, but I believe in living life as usual and just making good [...]
WINNER ANNOUNCED AT THE END OF THIS POST!Wow, what a roundup of great recipes for Super Bowl parties! Thanks to all who participated in this contest to win a $250 Sam’s Club card. Here are the Super Bowl recipe entries… recipe titles are linked to the blog on which they originated. Have fun exploring!
From the [...]
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 [...]
Whether you enjoy football or not, a Super Bowl party is a fun gathering to plan. I usually host (or at least co-host) every year since there are so many recipes that are fun to make for football events. On my blog, I’ve been invited to host The Ultimate Super Bowl Party Recipe Smack Down [...]
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 [...]
Our holidays were spent in Washington state this year… where we were met with loads of fluffy snow but flew out amidst fits of rain. It was fun to see weather of any sort as we don’t usually have much of it here in Southern California.
A snowy Christmas Eve called for a special dinner. This [...]
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 [...]
Here are my 25 Christmas Cookie & Candy favorites of last season… Click picture to find the recipe.
My Top Six favorites of the favorites:(I liked all of them, but here are the tops)#1: Blackberry- Sage Thumbprints#2: Bake & Slice Chocolate Swirls#3: Sparkling Butter Toffee Cookies#4: Cinnamon Fudge#5: Macadamia Nut Butter Toffee#6: Chocolate Mint Wafers
Especially good [...]
As a former teacher, I’m a natural sucker for cuteness and kids. I’m the Mom that that makes sure that her son has a cute backpack/lunch box (Red Sox, of course), cute haircut (just short enough to spike, if needed), and cute clothes (collared shirts and preppy shorts to school). I’m sure my kid could [...]
Clearly, I have an addiction. I seem to be managing to find numerous recipes that contain my favorite Mexican sweet. My latest find: Dulce de Leche Pumpkin- Toffee Pie.
This recipe came along at just the right time… I’m in need of something new to bring to Thanksgiving at my In-Law’s house. Not being a huge [...]
I’ve made this Martha Stewart, fall-themed salad twice now… both times to rave reviews: Maple- Roasted Pumpkin Salad.
But whatever you do, don’t tell your dinner mates that you’re making a dinner salad with pumpkin in it. Most people don’t think to eat their pumpkins and only go with canned pumpkin puree for recipes, so the [...]
Happy Halloween!Sweet treats have been abundant to celebrate the fun of Halloween, so I decided to incorporate a bit of the gross-out factor that Halloween usually encompasses into our dinner last night. Martha Stewart’s folks came up with this icky-but-yummy soup idea that I re-named Eyeball Soup with Bugs.
Before you get too weirded out by [...]
With only 5 days until Halloween, my little one politely requested that I make Cinnamon Werewolves, Strawberry Dracula’s and Grape Frankenstein’s this week. Here’s a bit of our conversation:………………………………………………………………………………………….
me: “Where did those ideas come from?”kiddo: “They’re cookies that this kid made in a book that I read. All of the recipes and directions are in [...]
You’ve gotta love seasonally themed- M&M’s. They can make anything festive. My favorite Oreo-Chunk Brownies are good enough on their own, but the addition of M&M’s gives them a little Halloween Pizzazz.
These brownies are baked on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet (12 x 18-inches). After an overnight chill, the foil aides in lifting the entire [...]
Are you a fan of those waxy little Halloween candies known as candy corns? My family seems to find them addicting. I’ve bought several bags of the stuff (must be Brach’s brand) for recipes this year and they keep disappearing. Here’s a cookie recipe that copies the look of this candy: Candy Corn Cookies.
This is [...]
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 [...]
Inspired by Bakerella’s creations, I set about to create a fall-themed cake pop: Pumpkin Cake Pops. What is a cake pop? Well, it’s cake (sort of) on a stick.
Festive little treats, aren’t they?
Here’s the how-to:
Bake up a Pumpkin-Spice Cake (or a more simple boxed cake mix). Then destroy it by processing it into crumbs. [...]
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 [...]
Do you wish to live until the ripe-old-age of Ninety Three? I’d say if you make it that far, you’ve lived a good, long life. I can only hope that I’ll be living well into my nineties, still cooking up a storm, food blogging with ninety-three-year-old wisdom, and basking in the joy of numerous grandchildren. [...]
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 [...]
Happy 4th of July!
These were my favorites of the Cheesecake Pops that I made for the Daring Bakers. I found the festive 4th sprinkles at a cake decorating store, and the ribbon at a craft store. If you make the cheesecake pops for the 4th, I would suggest that you dip into the chocolate deep [...]
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 [...]
Sadly, I was not able to participate in the Daring Baker’s challenge this month. So I thought I’d post on a different kind of baker’s challenge instead. To mark the end of our Little League season this year, I created a baseball cookie for each of the kids on my son’s team.
I used this great [...]
You only turn seven once. That’s why you should get a first class ticket to Disneyworld for your seventh birthday, right? One lucky little boy who lives in my house received that gift.
Now before you call me “extravagant” and “outrageous,” it’s not really all it seems. We used air miles for the trip, and the [...]
According to Salary.com, if paid… a stay-at-home Mom in San Diego, CA would earn between $102,000 and $154,000 a year for her work as a mother. Is my husband reading this? The website lists all of the jobs that a mother does- you input your zip code, and it calculates accordingly. If you’re looking for [...]
HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO!!(that’s the 5th of May for you non Spanish-speaking folks!)
In San Diego today, there will be multiple opportunities to eat a terrific Mexican feast, and for some… it’s an excuse to partake in the consumption of multiple margaritas and tequila shots! Things can get pretty crazy in the bars today. So I [...]
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 [...]
Hoppy Easter!When I saw these Easter Bunny Cupcakes on Betty Crocker, I was quite certain I could jazz them up a bit to make a delicious Easter treat that would appeal to adults as well as children. Betty uses a box mix and canned frosting (which you could certainly do.) I made Basic White Cupcakes [...]
At age 14 I secured a job in a teeny tiny family-owned fast food restaurant called The Penguin in my home town. It was the kind of place you might stop to grab a burger and a chocolate-dipped cone while on vacation. My starting wage was $2.85 an hour. Yikes! I was happy to be [...]
We celebrated St. Patty’s Day a wee early this year. And while I’m not a master at making corned beef from scratch, I do have to say that our corned beef turned out to be amazing this year- moist, fall-apart-in-your-mouth and super delicious. I purchased what looked like a good slab of corned beef (not [...]
It’s time for a celebratory dessert worthy of representing St. Patrick’s Day: Chocolate Guinness Stout Cake. The guinness is cooked within the cake, and it’s also incorporated into a “sauce” that you drizzle into the cake before you top it with ganache.
This recipe comes from Kell’s Restaurant and Pub in Portland, Oregon (rated the number [...]
We’ve got St. Patrick’s Day on the brain around here in the RecipeGirl house these days. I had been wanting to make these Molten Chocolate Cakes with Irish Cream for a long time now. Glad I did… yummy little treats.
I halved the recipe to make a quick and easy dessert at lunchtime for hubby and [...]
Looking ahead to the big Irish day… I can’t officially call it a tradition in my house as I’m of Swedish/Portuguese ancestry and not Irish. But my husband is just about as Irish- Catholic as they come (and he enjoys his beer) so that gives us reason to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
Here are a few [...]
Talk about an easy recipe…!
With the big romantic day looming ahead, I’ve baked myself silly. Time to move on and make things that one should like to eat even if they’re not heart-shaped and covered in frosting and sprinkles. I stuck with red for Valentine’s Day. Gotta keep with the holiday spirit, ya know?If you’re [...]
I was given the task of buying sugar cookies for my son’s first grade class. Buy? Would Martha have bought cookies for her daughter’s class? No. So I opted to bake my own and used Martha’s recipe, of course. The kids will use these sugar cookies for their Valentine’s Day party… where they will pile [...]
Featured on the latest cover of Better Homes and Garden’s Magazine, these Red Velvet Cupcakes are a pretty and delicious choice for Valentine’s Day. (This is my pic, but it’s similar to the cover shot.) I used the recipe for Chocolate Snaps to make the little chocolate heart accompaniments.
Better Homes also featured a Buttercream [...]
With Valentine’s Day approaching, I’m beginning to think about goodies that I’d like to bake and share. The next few days will be all about Valentine desserts on The Recipe Girl blog. This morning I made these Chocolate Snaps, which are a roll-out cookie recipe that I chose to make into hearts. These would [...]
Here’s a little something to get you prepared for the upcoming romantic holiday of Valentine’s Day: Nigella Lawson’s Vanilla Apples with Sweetheart Croutes. This recipe comes from Nigella’s brand new cookbook, Nigella Express. I’ve never watched her on Food Network but the cookbook seems worthy of acquiring. The recipes are simple and quick to put [...]
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 [...]
There’s some big- time excitement about football around here with the San Diego Chargers in the playoffs on Sunday. Of course, we have to get past those pesky *perfect season* Patriots but we’re all remaining optimistic. In any case, I’ve had football party food on the mind for a while now as we’ve been thinking [...]
Our neighborhood’s gourmet club met recently to share in a wonderful feast. My task on this evening was to bring a festive dessert. The choice: Cherries Jubilee! Cherries Jubilee was thought to have made its first appearance as a dessert in the late 1800’s as a treat created for Queen Victoria. Its popularity in America [...]
