More Spring Drinks

Here are two drink recipes that Ben and I tried out over the weekend. The first is a mojito, which is not new to us. The second is a strawberry lemon drop (this was my girlie drink) and it was so good! I forgot to buy grenadine (oops), so I muddled a real strawberry and added it to the drink which was AMAZING! But the drink in the picture is not the one with the added strawberry, because this idea came after the first drink was already made (and I'm not one to waste a perfectly good drink).

Strawberry Lemon Drop

• 2 oz. strawberry vodka
• 1 oz. sweet & sour mix
• 1 large strawberry, muddled

Combine in shaker with ice. Mix well and serve in chilled glass. Garnish with strawberry.

Mojito

• 4 mint leaves
• 2 oz. rum
  
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• lime juice
• club soda

Muddle the mint leaves and sugar. Combine with rum and lime juice in shaker. Mix well. Strain into chilled glass with ice and top off with club soda. Garnish with lime.

This is a great article about how to avoid using sweet and sour mix, because let's face it, it doesn't exactly taste good but so many drinks call for it. Thanks for the article, Dan!

Cheesy Squash Casserole

This yummy recipe is from one of my favorite TV cooks, Paula Dean. I made this dish over the weekend and will definitely make it many more times. The only things I would do differently is 1) cook it longer than 20 minutes. I think next time I'll shoot for 25-30, because I do not think casseroles should be runny at all. I like clumpy casseroles (sounds good, right?). I think another way to prevent soupy casseroles is to make sure the ingredients are not too wet when they are mixed together. In my case, I should have drained the squash and onions before I added it to the cheese mixture. And 2) I will not, under any circumstance, put aluminum foil on top of the casserole after it has cooked. I did this in order to keep it warm, and instead it made the cracker crumbs too mushy (not appetizing). Other than those 2 things, the casserole tasted so good!

Cheesy Squash Casserole

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 6 medium sized yellow squash, thinly sliced
• 1 large Vidalia onion, sliced
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• 1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 sleeve crackers, crushed medium to fine - I used Ritz crackers

Directions
1. pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and grease 2-quart casserole dish.
2. heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Saute squash, onion, and butter until soft. Transfer to a bowl (this is where I would drain the squash and onions). Stir Parmesan, sour cream, and cheddar.
3. pour in the casserole dish and sprinkle cracker crumbs evenly over the top.
4. bake for 25-30 minutes or until top is golden and bubbly.

The below picture is of the casserole half covered in crackers, just to let you see what it looks like.

Wedding Shower Menu

I thought I would share the menu we had for the wedding shower last weekend. Everything turned out wonderfully and tasted great!

• Baked Brie
• Fruit salad with dip
• Turkey salad finger sandwiches from Burge's in Little Rock
• Petit Fours from Community Bakery in Little Rock
• Ham & cheese party sandwiches
• Individual quiches

The table had a light pink table cloth with a lace overlay. Then I used off-white and pink tulle to add some extra detail. Let me know if you have any questions! We are hosting another shower in a couple of week, so look for more menu ideas!

Baked Brie

We had a bridal shower at our house (I'll post the complete menu later this week) and I was in charge of making a baked brie. This was honestly the first time I had ever used puff pastry (and it's not as hard as you might think). Not to brag, but this was a hit at the shower. I served it with green apples, pears, and water crackers. A small change I made was that I substituted bourbon with dark rum (we didn't have any bourbon in the house).

• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• 2 T bourbon or rum
• 1/2 package of frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed
• 1 round brie
• apples, pears, crackers

Directions

1. Stir together first three ingredients
2. Place puff pastry sheet on lightly floured surface; roll out fold lines
3. Cut the rind off the Brie and then cut the Brie in half horizontally
4. Spread brown sugar and pecan mixture between the two pieces of Brie
5. Place the Brie in the center of the puff pastry and fold all 4 corners to the center of the Brie. Rub the seems to prevent leaking. Turn upside down so the folded portion is on the bottom.
6. Bake on 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until lightly browned
7. Let cool for 10 minutes


Make sure the Brie has just come out of the refrigerator when you cut the rind off, because it will be more difficult to cut if it is room temperature.

Ham & Cheese Party Sandwiches

These are great little sandwiches that are easy to make, and according to my dad and Ben they are quite tasty. This recipe makes enough for 24 rolls.

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3 tablespoons poppy seeds
• 4 tablespoons mustard
• 4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup minced onion
• 24 bread rolls (I just used Kroger brand)
• 2 packages thinly sliced ham
• 1 package sliced Swiss cheese

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix butter, poppy seeds, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and onion in a bowl.
3. Cut rolls in half horizontally.
4. Put mustard spread on both sides of the roll
5. Put 1 slice of ham on the bottom half of the roll (I had to tear it into smaller pieces so it would fit on the roll)
6. Put 1/2 of a slice of Swiss cheese on top of the ham and put the tops on the sandwiches
7. Place on a baking sheet and cover with foil
8. Bake 20-30 minutes or until the cheese is melted. The rolls at the center of the cookie sheet may take longer, depending on your oven.

Chocolate Cake with Caramel

For Ben's grandparents' birthdays I made a 2-layer golden vanilla cake with caramel swirls and chocolate buttercream frosting. This is seriously the best chocolate frosting I have ever tasted (and that's saying something). It was only the 2nd time I have ever tried to make chocolate icing (gasp!) The recipe is from Southern Living and is easy to make (unless you have a stubborn 1980s hand mixer that dies every other minute). I used Hershey's chocolate cocoa which costs more than the store brand, but I think it's worth it. Southern Living also had a mint chocolate chip buttercream frosting that I wish I would have known about when I made the mint chocolate cake! I doubled the icing recipe because I my original idea was to make a 3-layer cake, however I discovered that the lid for the cake stand would not fit with 3 layers, but it was good to know that doubling the recipe makes plenty of icing for 3 cakes.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting - double this recipe

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 (16-oz.) package powdered sugar
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 5 to 7 Tbsp. milk

Directions
1. Beat first 3 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.

2. Whisk together powdered sugar and cocoa. Gradually add powdered sugar mixture alternately with 3 Tbsp. milk, 1 Tbsp. at a time, beating at low speed until blended and smooth after each addition. Beat in up to 4 Tbsp. additional milk for desired consistency.

I added apple-dipping caramel to the cakes after letting them bake for about 8 minutes. I added the caramel later, because I was hoping it would prevent it from sinking to the bottom, but it didn't, so the caramel taste was not as prevalent as I had hoped it would be.

Like other times before, I iced the top of the first layer, placed the second layer on top of the first and iced the top of it. I saw on Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee that she put a couple of pieces of parchment paper on the cake stand when she was icing the cake, then simply slipped it off whenever she was done. The key word here is simply. It was not so simple to pull the sheets of paper out from under the cake after I had finished icing. This could have been because I did not have parchment paper and instead used wax paper. From now on I'm going to stick with just cleaning the cake stand with a damp paper towel.

To ice the cake I tried a different technique. It's more of a wispy look. I used my large offset spatula and a spoon to make the affect. Put about 1 cup of icing on the top of the cake and spread the frosting to the edge and down the sides of the cake using a sweeping motion. You will need more than 1 cup of icing to complete this task, but it's easier to work with a smaller amount then add more.

To add a little color, I used a few strawberries. I cut them and tried to fan them out a little bit.

Chocolate Almond Pecan Mango Bark

One word: YUM! This dessert/treat is so easy, but looks professional (at least that's what Ben told me) and tastes wonderful!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 packages of chocolate morsels
• almonds
• pecans
• dried mangoes
  

Directions

1. place a medium-sized cookie sheet in the refrigerator
2. melt chocolate morsels in a sauce pan over medium heat, stirring continuously
3. line cookie sheet with parchment paper
4. pour warm (not hot) chocolate into cookie sheet. use an offset spatula to smooth it out (about 1/4 inch thick)
5. sprinkle almonds, pecans, and dried mangoes over the chocolate and set in freezer for 20 minutes

I think this recipe is great, because you can use any kind of topping that you want (nuts, dried fruit, candies) and it's almost guaranteed to taste delicious. Next time, I'm going to try dried cherries and use dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate (just trying to stay healthy, right?). I am definitely sticking with the almonds, though (chocolate + almonds = heaven).

There are two different ways to cut the chocolate bark. I chose to go for the messy look. To do this, let the chocolate stay in the freezer for the full 20 minutes, then simply break it into pieces using your hands. If you want to cut the bark into neat, identical pieces then you will have to take it out of the freezer after about 13-15 minutes and cut it then. The bark must be kept in a cool, dry place so it will not melt. Enjoy!