Watermelon-Mint Margaritas

Someone pointed me to this recipe on Southern Living. Although I haven't tried it yet, one of the things that makes it looks appealing is that it specifies that it can be made without alcohol. My husband doesn't care for tequila, but he will still be able to try this recipe. Another thing that looks great about it is that with the watermelon and fresh mint it has such wonderful summertime ingredients.

Watermelon-Mint Margarita Recipe

Prep: 10 min., Freeze: 4 hrs. Use leftover watermelon to make this slushy summer drink.

4 cups seeded and chopped watermelon
Fresh lime juice
Sugar
1/2 cup tequila*
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon grated lime rind
1/4 cup fresh lime juice (about 3 limes)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
Garnish: fresh mint sprig

1. Place watermelon in a single layer on a baking sheet. Freeze 4 hours or until firm.

2. Coat rims of cocktail glasses with lime juice; dip in sugar.

3. Process frozen watermelon, tequila, and next 4 ingredients in a blender until slushy. Pour into glasses. Garnish, if desired.

*1/2 cup orange or apple juice may be substituted for tequila.

Yield: Makes 5 cups

Starbucks Frappuccinos

Although neither my husband or I are coffee drinkers, we both like an occasional frappuccino from Starbucks. Between the milk, sugar, and chocolate or caramel syrup, the coffee flavor is diminished enough to enjoy it.

Given, however, that these cost more than three dollars each it is a rare treat for us. The blogger at It's Just Money was also lamenting the cost. He linked to this nifty site where they have a basic frap recipe as well as several Starbucks recipes which can be downloaded as an ebook. Similar recipes can be found here.

The best imitation frap site looks like it can be found at GourmetSleuth.com. It has a large collection of imitation Starbucks recipes which include other drinks and sweets that either are or have been sold there. I am sure that with all these options, my husband will be happy running the blender to taste test some of them.

Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home

As I have mentioned before, my husband and I don't eat meat every day. This is for two reasons: 1) Meat is expensive but for the most part vegetables, beans, and pasta are not, and 2) I have a very strong family history of heart disease and my husband has also had some heart problems in his family, so we want to do what we can to counteract this.

Because our meals are often meatless, I am always on the lookout for good (and usable, which is hard in this household) vegetarian recipes. One great resource I have found is Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home. It was created by chefs at the famous vegetarian Moosewood Restaurant specifically for people cooking at home who don't have the time or the access to ingredients that a full-time chef would have.

I haven't used it as much as I would like because it is a library book. Every time I go to check it out again someone else has it. That is a good indication of how popular that book is.

Snobby Yet Ubiquitous

I guess a love for cheese and chocolate makes me a snob. Oh, well, that is the price I have to pay for enjoying the finer things of life. It's too bad the quiz didn't mention anything about wine, because that is something that goes well with all French food.

You Are French Food

Snobby yet ubiquitous. People act like they understand you more than they actually do.

What Kind of Food Are You?

HT: Julie D.

What's For Dinner: Greek Wraps

When it is 99º for a week straight one really doesn't feel like cooking or eating a lot of hot, heavy food. It has always astounded me to have dinner at someone's house when it is over ninety and they serve something like soup or chicken pot pie. (One time the family didn't even have A/C!) Don't they realize that foods like that are perfect for winter because they warm us (and the house) up, and horrible for summer for precisely the same reason?

What makes this dish so perfect is that there is no cooking involved! All that is required is lots of chopping. And since it is vegetarian, that also makes it a lighter meal.

Greek Wraps

1 large cucumber, peeled and diced (between 1½ and 2 cups)
2 large tomatoes, diced (about 1½ cups)
1 bell pepper, diced
1/3 cup red onion
½ cup sliced or diced olives (any color)
1 can garbanzo or black beans, rinsed and drained
½ - 2/3 cup feta cheese (optional)
2 tablespoons balsalmic vinegar
1½ teaspoons dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
6-8 tortillas or wraps, depending on size
6-8 leaves of lettuce

Mix all ingredients except tortillas and lettuce. Add mixture and lettuce to wrap. Fold up and enjoy.

My comments:

The original recipe called for garbanzo beans, but my husband doesn't care for them so I used black beans instead. Also, one could use pitas instead of wraps. I haven't tried this, but I bet that the mixture would be good with corn added as well.

The mixture would make a good salad as a side dish to some sort of grilled meat. In fact, when we ate the leftovers we were out of tortillas, so we just had the mixture as salad for lunch.

Nifty Crockpot Blog

I stumbled upon a site called Slow Cooker Recipes. Unfortunately, it looks like they don't update their blog very often, but hopefully when they do it will be good.

I love the idea of crockpots, but I have a couple objections to the majority of recipes available.

First, almost all the recipes I have seen call for large portions of meat, such as a roast, or a whole chicken. Both for financial and for health reasons, when we eat meat it normally is mixed with other food, such as a pasta dish, casserole or stir-fry. Rarely do we ever have large portions of meat, but that seems to be the norm if one uses the crock pot.

Secondly, many recipes call for convenience ingredients which are expensive and/or unhealthy, such as canned cream of mushroom soup or some sort of soup mix. Sometimes I can substitute a homemade version, but the point of having a crockpot is not to have to do a lot of cooking. Having to take the time to make one of the ingredients defeats the purpose of having a crockpot in the first place.

What's for Dinner: Kebabs

Last night we had kebabs for dinner. No, I have no idea what the difference between that and a shish kebab is.

The wonderful thing about kebabs is that they are so versatile. They can be all meat, all vegetables, all fruit, or a combination of these. Fruit kebabs, though, are usually a dessert food and not for dinner. I have heard of kebabs with shrimp, lamb, pork, even hot dogs. There are so many vegetables that can go on them, and even though I normally like veggies, they seem to taste even better grilled on a stick. The possibilities are endless: bell peppers; mushrooms; tomatoes; white, yellow or red onion; zucchini, potato; pineapple; garlic; mango; etc.

A great thing about these is that you can tailor make them for picky eaters. For example, last night someone didn't like mushrooms and someone else didn't care for red onion. All I had to do was leave those things off some of them and substitute another vegetable instead.

We could have marinated the beef a little longer, but it still turned out very well. The marinade was simply crushed garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil and vinegar.

Mocha Brownies

I found this recipe on Recipe*zaar and decided to try it because it is something that I have done before (brownies) and something new (mocha flavored). It was rated extremely well, which was added incentive since sometimes one has to be cautious about unrated or low rated recipes.

These turned out to be very moist and while the mocha flavor was definitely there, it wasn't too strong either. Most people who tried them thought them to be very good.

Mocha Brownies with Coffee Frosting

½ cup shortening
½ cup butter
1 cup cocoa
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon hot water
4 teaspoons instant coffee
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup flour
½ teaspoon salt

Frosting
½ cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 ½ tablespoons milk
2-3 teaspoons instant coffee

1. Preheat oven to 350°F Grease a 13x9 inch pan.
2. Melt shortening and butter over low heat or in the microwave.
3. Remove from heat and add cocoa, blend well.
4. Add sugar and mix well.
5. Dissolve instant coffee in hot water and mix into creamed mixture.
6. Add eggs one at a time, beat well, by hand, after each addition.
7. Stir in vanilla, flour, and salt.
8. DO NOT OVER BEAT!
9. Bake 25-30 minutes.
10. Cool completely before frosting.
11. For frosting, cream butter and vanilla.
12. Add powdered sugar and mix in well on medium speed.
13. Dissolve instant coffee in milk and add to mixture.
14. Beat on high until light and fluffy.

Potluck Dessert

Tonight is the last night of classes before my husband gets his M.A. Tomorrow his professor is throwing a party at his place and has requested that we bring a dessert. Now, I love opportunities like this to try new and exciting recipes. My husband, on the other hand, hates me trying new things because he is afraid it might not turn out well, or worse, he might not like it.

So here I am, trying to comb the Internet and my cookbooks, trying to find something that is a) something he will like, b) something that has a good chance of turning out well and c) has chocolate in it, because, in case you haven't guessed, we have a propensity for it. I will post what I have decided on when I am done sleuthing.