Margarita-Lime CupCakes

Feliz Drink-o de Mayo!

I know, I know.  

It's Cinco de Mayo, the day when Mexico's army was victorious over French forces in the
Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862 (I got mad history skills, I know.)

But honestly, very few actually celebrate this day in honor of this battle. 

Actually, most think it's Mexican Independence Day...which it isn't (that's in September).  

That being said, this day has been come to beknown in the United States as a day to celebrate all things Mexican!  Whether it's the food, the music or of course the tequila, people love themselves a good Drink-o de Mayo.

A lot of people have come to know Cinco de Mayo as a signal to the beginning of summer & a day to gather with friends & family.  The heart of Latin culture is family & close friends so if that's not a good alternative reason to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, I don't know what is.

Today millions will gather to do 3 things: make wonderful memories, eat delicious food, & drink a lot of libations.  

So I decided what better way to kill two birds with one stone than to put a whole mess of tequila in a cupcake you can eat? 

Win. Win.

Now go make some, share them with your friends & family & start making some great memories!

Margarita-Lime CupCakes

Pin It Now!

Nayarit-Style Shrimp & Crab Ceviche

This is a recipe. 

I swear. 

But first a letter to those who didn't make the cut but deserve an honorable mention:

Dear Ex-Boyfriends,

Thank you for teaching me the following things:

1. How to kiss with my eyes closed.  Yeah, it used to be a problem...a really creepy, adolescent problem.  It has since been rectified, thank you.
2. How to recognize a jackass/pushover/train-wreck/mama's-boy from 500 feet across a room.  I have shared this knowledge with my girlfriends as needed & by the way, they would like to thank you, too.
3. Don't snoop & don't look at emails/webpages left on the screen.  Most of the time you are going to find a lot of sketchy stuff that should really go unfound...um...I'll leave it at that. Yuck.
4. You are probably not crazy & I am probably not crazy but the weird combination of you + me sends us flying into whack-a-doodle status & therefore we can not be friends. Like, don't even follow me on twitter/instagram/facebook.  It's that deep.
5. Your grandmothers, mothers, & even fathers are some of the best cooks I have ever met.  I'm glad I paid attention in the kitchen all those years because quite frankly, sitting next to you on the couch while you watched SportCenter re-runs never really sounded all that appealing. 

You are probably thinking, "Why the hell did she just over-share?".

Well, as I was making the Shrimp & Crab Ceviche that I am sharing with you today, my fiancé came into the kitchen & asked, "Where did you learn to make this? You aren't even Mexican."

I hesitated...."Um, my ex-boyfriends' mom taught me..."

He blinked at me & I cringed awaiting his reply...

"Fair enough", he said & walked away slurping up his ceviche without a second thought.

Wow.  

Leave it to a guy to look past anything having to do with an ex as long as it involves a good meal. 

As I stood there, chopping away, thankful I had dodged a potentially awkward bullet, I had a flash back to a time long ago, standing there in the kitchen with countless "mama's" as they shared their knowledge with me.  I couldn't help but be reminded of all of the valuable life lessons (like the ones above) I learned along the way.  Fortunately, each one of these memories is also accompanied by some really great recipes.  So great, in fact, that I couldn't possibly feel good about posting any of them without acknowledging them in some way. 

So here you go: An excerpt from a chapter in the cookbook which is my life... 

& Lord knows I'm nowhere near finished writing it...

Enjoy!

 Nayarit-Style 

Shrimp & Crab Ceviche 

Pin It Now!

Polenta Huevos Rancheros

Sooo...I got a new full length mirror.
I just thought I'd share.
You see, I'm not only telling you this because it's pretty & makes my room look bigger
but that little so-and-so shows me the TRUTH.
The ugly truth.
For instance: it showed me the new fine lines that have developed around my eyes that remind me yes, you ARE in your 30's, that I religiously forget to zip up my zipper & most importantly it revealed to me that my once lovable muffin top (whom I have affectionately named "Pancha") had turned into quite the jelly roll.
Stupid truthful mirror...

So faced with all this new found truth, I decided to make some changes:

First: I bought a huge tub of Retinol off Amazon that kiiiinda burns my face...I'm no dermatologist but I don't think it's supposed to do that but hey, my eyes look great. 

Second: I check my zipper every 5 minutes (it may or may not look like I'm compulsively touching my no-no's in public but meh, whatever).

 Third: I decided to get in shape & get healthy!

How am I going about this "getting healthy" business, you ask? (I know you totally did)
Well, I started doing the Insanity workout videos
(It's day 23 & I still feel like Shaun T. took a bag of nickels to my ass & legs) 
& I've changed my old eating habits to new healthier ones!

Only there's one little problem...

The old me & the new me don't always agree over our meal choices. 

The new "Insane" me says: 
"Hey, you totally love celery, protein shakes, & grapes with a side of air!"

The old me is like: 
"Who the hell invited this granola-muncher? Girrrrl, you like nachos. Keep it real."

So we compromise.

And out of that give-&-take relationship the following recipe was born :) 
Enjoy!

POLENTA HUEVOS RANCHEROS!

Pin It Now!

Holiday Gift Guide 2012

Oh, the holidays. 

A time where we stress ourselves out about all the wrong things & overeat out of sheer anxiety.

Let me help you diminish some of that needless stress & 
assist you in finishing up that last minute shopping by giving you some ideas for those family & friends that are oh, so picky & oh, so into their hobbies.
The best part about this stuff is that you can get it all ONLINE.
That means less time shlepping around a department store & more time enjoying the REAL reason for the season:
Sitting around with friends & family, talking about the year that's soon to pass, & thanking the powers that be that we are alive, happy, & healthy for one more day.

If there is anything that has been more evident in the last couple of days, it's that you never know how long you have with people...so cherish each moment you can.

Happy Holidays!!

Pin It Now!

Lemon Wreath Cookies & The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2012!!

Have I ever told you that I freakin' LOVE Christmas?

Well, I do.

I love it so much it's almost a problem....

Almost.

But no one ever seems to complain when I pull out the ol' recipe book 
& tell them I need them to be guinea pigs for an upcoming cookie swap.
All of a sudden, not so much of a problem, is it?

This year's occasion for using my friends: The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2012!
The recipe: Lemon Wreath Cookies
The result: Christmas Cookie Tangy Lemon-y Yumminess :)

Last year I had a great experience taking part in The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap
so when I got the email saying that it was that time of year again, I jumped at the chance!

It's pretty cray how big this swap has gotten since last year!

Imagine 575 food bloggers in 8 countries baking hundreds of different types of cookies & clogging up the post offices with delicious baked goods!
But that's not all...

This year, all 570 bloggers donated to Cookies for Kids' Cancer and were matched dollar for dollar by OXO (the company that makes those handy kitchen tools) resulting in a donation of $4,300 to aid in the fight against Kids' Cancer.
Who said baking was a frivolous past-time??


This year I sent cookies to:
Sharon at cheesypennies.blogspot.com
Carolyn at alldayidreamaboutfood.com &
Renee at tortillasandhoney.com
(Don't forget to check them out & see what they made for the swap!)

My 3 matches sent me the deliciously diverse cookies you see below!

Check out their recipes & blogs at the following links:
Amy Christie at thisheartofmineblog.com
Stacy Lundstedt at bakingbandit.wordpress.com
Valerie at pursuitofsweetness.com
Thanks Ladies!! 
You helped me nullify my diet 3 times :)

This year I challenged myself to make something that I had never made before but always wanted to try.

I set to scouring the endless collection of "to-do" recipes I have collected over the years & quickly overwhelmed myself.

10 minutes later, cut to me drinking a glass of red wine in my kitchen...& it hit me!

Who's the one person that not only completely fills me with fits of jealous rage but also insurmountable amounts of creativity?

Martha friggin' Stewart.

I'm a big enough woman to admit it...

Oprah has this same effect on me, but she doesn't make cookies, 
so I'll leave her out of this.

Anywho,

I went back to my "to-do" list & what do you know?

Sitting on top of the crazy pile I had made on the floor was this recipe for 
Lemon Wreath Cookies.

Kismet.

I loved everything about these cookies.

I loved the fact that they looked nothing like "cookies".

I loved that they looked like little Christmas wreath glazed donuts.

I loved that they had history being based on a traditional Italian cookie called "ciambella".

So I made them & anxiously awaited my taste-tester's response.

My guinea pigs approved....

I ate, like, a dozen....

Then I made them again just to make sure they were delicious.

Yup. Still pretty darn delicious....

Martha's gone and done it again...and I hate her a little more with every bite...

And there you have it:

Beautiful & Tart Lemon Wreath Cookies!

You can thank me later...I'll wait :)

Enjoy!!

Pin It Now!

Sriracha Honey-Soy Chicken Wings

Maybe it's the weather,
maybe it's the countless football games on tv,
maybe it's just the mean Fatty McFatterson streak I've been on since Thanksgiving,
but it seems all I can think about the last couple of weeks is chicken wings.

I think it started when I saw a commercial for a famous wing restaurant
& my inner "Chunk" sat up and did the truffle shuffle.

Uh huh,
I just referenced The Goonies.
That just happened.

So a couple of days ago, I bought some wings from the supermarket & then proceeded to stare at them blankly.
All I kept thinking was, "How do I make these pale little wings look awesome & delicious like the ones on t.v.?"
So I googled it.
Duh.
And my recipe for Sriracha Honey-Soy Chicken Wings was born!
 The recipe is actually a result of mashing like, 3 different recipes together & using what I had on hand.
Making these at home not only saved me money but it also saved me from having to put on real pants & go out in public.
Double Win.

Besides, if you have never tried Sriracha before, what an awesome way to be introduced to this delicious red spicy sauce :)
Traditional Thai sriracha is usually sweeter, more tangy, & a thinner consistency than the "red-rooster-on-the-bottle" Huy Fong Foods brand sriracha I buy & LOVE
but either one will work with this recipe.

So....totally off topic...but you might be wondering what's up with the grainy, off-colored photos?
Well, I got so excited that I was about to make wings that I didn't charge my big fancy camera's battery & therefore had to take these pictures with my good ol' point-and-shoot.
You call it unprepared.
I call it retro.
Let's agree to disagree, shall we?

So despite me trying telling myself that chicken is healthy, wings are not usually included in that category.  So in an effort to lie to myself a little more, I didn't fry these wings before I put them into the oven.  Apparently, this is a terrible offense to some but I pinky swear that you really won't notice the difference.  The sauce is so delicious, you won't care about the missing fried chicken underneath.
To really clear my conscious of the tangy, sweet, awesomeness that I was about to consume,
I decided to lie to myself yet again & pair these delicious wings with a salad.

Hold on.
How did salad get in there?? 

Sneaky salad...hmph.

Now I'm not going to give you the recipe for the salad because if I did,
it would involve directions such as:

1. Go to the supermarket.

2. Buy a salad in a bag.

3. Open the salad in a bag.

4. Eat said salad in a bag.

5. Hang head in pre-manufactured shame.

Hey, sometimes a girl has things to do & side dishes aren't one of them.

So don't judge me & my bag salad.

Pin It Now!

Homemade Pomegranate Syrup...or Grenadine...I Don't Judge

It's fall in SoCal once again & you know what that means:

Sundresses, sunshine, & sandals!

Wait, whaaaa??

I'm still not used to this year-round warm weather but am I really going to complain about wearing shorts in November?
Not likely.

There are however some things that do scream fall despite this crazy 80 degree weather...

Things like pumpkins on my front porch, pulling out my "nighttime" sweater
(because I somehow can't stand the 65 degree nights without long sleeves. Pssh, I'm so LA...),
& these here pomegranates that are growing in my front yard.
Aren't they beautiful?!

As lovely as these pomegranates are...I still have quite the problem:
What in the world do I do with all this fruit!?
I can't very well have a pomegranate-fest with just me & the old man that blows his trash on my yard when he thinks I'm not looking.
Yeah. That's right.
I see you, grandpa...

After racking my brain for like, 2 days, eating like, 10 pomegranates, & a whole mess of googling,
all roads pointed to pomegranate syrup!
What the heck do you do with pomegranate syrup, you ask?? (yeah, I know you asked)

Well, I'm going to make me some delicious vinaigrettes & sauces...
BUT most importantly, I am going to use this syrup to make some DRINK!
Because, you see, pomegranate syrup is the same thing as grenadine...
and in case you didn't know, grenadine is GOOD.

Grenadine is what bartenders used to use to add that pinkish "sunrise" color to tequila sunrises.
However, that's not what they use today.
While traditionally the syrup was made with real 100% pomegranate juice,
"The Man" started making a cheap simple syrup and just adding "pomegranate-colored" red dye to it to save a couple of $$.

MMM...artificial colors...
As if drinking tequila isn't bad enough for me, let's add a bunch of chemicals I can't pronounce.
Um...NO THANKS.
So let me teach you how to make your own so can feel a little less guilty about that cocktail...or vinaigrette...whatevs, I don't judge...

Damn the man!
Make your own!

Pin It Now!