Not Your Everyday 24k Gold

Since Mother’s Day is nearing, I thought I’d create a super simple—yet tasty treat that you can make for Mom’s day; or, for any other special occasion. I’m using very basic home ingredients, and a very cool ingredient—edible glitter. I don’t think that edible glitter is used enough on treats, haha, and I want to start incorporating it more into special event treats. Here’s how I made it: I cut some fresh strawberries, and placed them into a bowl, added about a tbsp. of sugar, and half of a lemon (juice)—and set that aside.  Next I wanted to make some homemade whipped cream with a little bit of color to show that this treat would have hints of lemon in it (silly I know, but it’s fun for me, haha). So, I used some heavy whipping cream, confectioners’ sugar, and a few drops of yellow food coloring. Then I whipped them together until I formed soft peaks. Once that was done, I added two scoops of vanilla bean ice cream into a cup, added the strawberry mixture, and topped it off when the yellow whipped cream. Lastly, I took some 24k gold sugar (edible glitter) and sprinkled it over the top—and I was finished! This tasted SO good, you have no idea. 

What do you think? Doesn't it look so awesome? It tasted as good as it looks too, haha. I’m going to be using this more often—especially for parties. Also, later today, I’m going to announce the winner from last Friday’s post, so if you commented to win check back later to see if you won! Have a great day. 

Foodie Friday – Ceviche

TGIF! The weekend celebrations begin today and whether you’re hosting a BBQ or simply craving something delicious, yet easy to make, you’ll absolutely love this easy ceviche recipe. I actually took this from my older sister (the queen of easy cooking) and thought I’d share this with you all.

Typically ceviche is cooked in lemon juice; however, this recipe consists’ of a much easier and less time consuming process. My sister bought the shrimp already cooked in lemon and cilantro, and then she simply diced up some tomato, cucumber, jalapeño, and mixed it in with the diced shrimp. Once that was combined she added more fresh lemon juice and added salt. Isn’t that easy? Not only is it easy it’s so tasty, and I wish you could smell the ceviche just by looking at the pictures, LOL. 

Ingredients:

1 lb of cooked shrimp

Handful of cilantro, minced

Juice of a lemon

1 tomato, diced

1 jalapeño, diced

1 cucumber, diced

Salt, to taste

Combine all items in a dish, toss and serve. This also pairs very well with baked tortillas and sour cream.  What I do is take my baked tortilla, spread a tbsp. of sour cream on it, add your ceviche over that, and top it with some Tapatío.

Have a great weekend!

Foodie Friday—Homemade Butter, turned into Compound Butter

Its Friday again and there’s no better way to celebrate this day then by creating another food post! Today I wanted to make something I’ve been dreaming about making for some time now—Butter! I think since a young age I’ve always been curious as to how it’s made; and recently I found out its incredibly easy. The actual butter making process is very easy, but I wanted to take my butter up a notch. I used to work at a country club and I remember they used to serve this delicious looking sweet compound butter that I always wanted to try—but couldn’t. So I wanted to finally make some for myself to serve up on a freshly baked French baguette. So, enough chat, I want to show y’all how it’s made.

Ingredients

Whipping cream (If you’re only making the butter then whipping cream is all you need)

Almonds

Vanilla extract

Confectioners sugar

Tools

Jar

Bowl

Colander

Cheese cloth

Food processor 

Ok! First you add the cream to your jar (I didn’t measure; I just filled the jar up almost half of the way, there just has to be enough room to shake). 

Next, apply the lid and ensure that it’s secured tightly. 

Shake non-stop for 10-15 minutes. 

The cream is starting to thicken!

Once the liquid has pulled away from the butter its ready! Now just remove the buttermilk (and save it), and get your bowl, cheese cloth, and colander ready for the water wash. Here’s how to make the water wash: simply add ice cold water to your bowl, place the colander in the bowl, and place your cheese cloth on top. 

Once the butter is in the wash, gently toss it around in the bath, and then lightly drain. 

Once you’ve drained the butter remove it from the cheese cloth and wrap it in cellophane wrap, then place it in the fridge for about 10 minutes. 

While the butter is in the fridge, take the sliced almonds and ground them up in the food processor, I used the whole bag and it was too much, so maybe you can only use half the bag. 

Next add 2 tbsp. of confectioners sugar, 1 tsp. of vanilla extract, and 2 tbsp. of the ground almond mixture to the butter and mix. 

Next, I sliced myself three pieces of baguette and placed the compound butter in the cellophane wrap again, and placed it into the fridge to form a block of butter (and to save for later). But for now I’m going to enjoy these toasted breads with my sweet compound butter…OMG! I just tasted it and it’s so good! You must try it. 

Have a great Friday! 

Foodie Friday

First of all—sorry if the title of this post is cheesy. You’ll forgive me though, when you check out this super tasty recipe created by the awesome Giada De Laurentiis. If you love to cook, like me, then you know who she is. She is the main cook behind Everyday Italian and Giada at Home; and boy can she cook. Her Italian food is so delicious and she makes her recipes simple so that we can create Italian cuisine at home, with ease. I’ve attempted a few of her recipes and by far my favorite is her macaroni and Cheese Recipe; and, I recommend you give it a try.

The directions are super simple—click here to view the ingredients and instructions.

I’m going to show you how I make it, and hopefully offer some tips.

First I grease my 13 x 9 inch baking dish. 

Next, I boil a large pot of water and once it comes up to a rolling boil I add in a hand full of salt and my wide egg noodles. Then remove them once they are tender. 

Then cook up a couple pieces of bacon (I use bacon instead of ham). Next chop the bacon into small bits and chop up your parsley as well—then side aside. 

Next, I get a large bowl and grab the following ingredients: 2 cups cream, 2 ½ milk, 2 tsp. flour, ½ teaspoon salt, and pepper. Toss them into your bowl and whisk. I usually whisk for about 5 minutes because I want the mixture to thicken a bit. 

I also use different cheeses for this recipe but it still tastes so good! I just buy two containers of the three cheese blend, and use 1 ¾ of both containers of cheese combined, and save ¼ of the cheese mix for the top of the macaroni. Once I’ve done that, I add the cheese, bacon, and parsley to the cream mixture and mix. 

Next, add the egg noodles. 

Then add to your baking dish and top with the remainder of your cheese (that’s if you’re making it my way) and place into your oven. Another tip I have is leave the macaroni in the oven until the cream is bubbling and the tops are a little toasty. Then let the macaroni sit out for about 10 minutes. It will come out perfect if you do it that way.

Then when it’s done, serve it up! Nom nom. 

Happy eating! I’m hungry now…

+ Thank you to my lovely sister Angie for assisting me with this macaroni so I wouldn't get my camera dirty :-)