Crab Puffs

The cocktail hour.  It's so civilized--small bites, refined drinks, scintillating conversation, background music, 5:30 in the evening at the end of a long day before you settle in for dinner.  Manhattan, gin, vodka martini, or wine, these crab puffs are the perfect accompaniment to whatever you're drinking.  They're cheesy, buttery, garlicky goodness, hand-held and gone in 2 bites so you can pick up another. and another.  and another.  and still continue to sparkle with your subtle humor and witty remarks, fast and furious with your quips and bon mots.  Oh brother, these crab puffs are gonna be the second best thing at your party :)

-----------------------------------------
(WHAT YOU WILL NEED)

makes 96 crab puffs

12 English muffins, split (do not toast)
2 sticks butter, softened
2 jars cheese spread (I use Kraft Old English cheese spread)
2 cans crabmeat, drained
2 teaspoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon seasoned salt (I use Lawry's)
1 tablespoon garlic powder
ziplock bags, for freezing

Mix together cheese, butter, mayonnaise, seasoned salt, and garlic powder in bowl.

Add drained crabmeat to bowl and mix all.

Split English muffins.  Spread mixture on muffins.  Cut into quarters and freeze in ziplock bags until ready to use.

When you want them, take a bag out of the freezer and bake on 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  I have 2 in my freezer right now:

in my freezer with the other constants in there:  limoncello, gin, and a cannister of shelled Diamond walnuts (so good for snacking on while making dinner)

* First published 9/22/19

Fresh Garden Salsa

I can't even take credit for this recipe, it belongs to my husband.  He's been making it as long as I've known him, on the grilling holidays of summer and if we're really lucky--Superbowl Sunday.  

There are only a few ingredients, so everything should be super fresh from your garden, farmstand, or local grocer.  Make it in the morning and let it sit in the refrigerator so the flavors can marinate together until you're ready to serve it.  Tomatoes need a lot of salt, but only add a little when you make it or all the juices will render out and it will be a soggy, watery mess.  Finish it with course salt before serving and the flavors will pop on every tortilla chip you scoop, promise :)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

(WHAT YOU WILL NEED)

This is the base recipe.  Use as much of the ingredients as you like.  My daughter and I are salt-aholics, so we go crazy at the end but you're probably smarter and healthier.  I also load on the lime juice.  And you can easily make more by just doubling the ingredients--

3 or 4 ripe beefsteak tomatoes, chopped

1 small yellow onion, chopped

2-4 fresh serrano or jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped

fresh cilantro or Italian parsley (or both), roughly chopped

salt

4 or 5 fresh limes, juiced.  You will also want the zest from one of them 

your favorite tortilla chips (I use the flat lime-flavored chips)

In a bowl, stir together the tomatoes, onion, chilies, herbs, sprinkling of salt, zest of one lime, and some of the freshly squeezed lime juice.  Cover and let sit in the refrigerator to blend flavors.

When ready to serve, remove from refrigerator and stir well.  Add some more of the lime juice (you may or may not use it all, depending on your preference) and sprinkle generously with salt to taste.  Serve with chips.

 

Roasted Okra

 

Fresh snacks are the best summer treats!

-----------------------------------------------------------------

(WHAT YOU WILL NEED)

fresh okra

olive oil

salt/pepper

garlic powder

cajun seasoning

your favorite buttermilk ranch for dipping

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Wash and cut up your okra--I cut it into rounds, but the smaller ones I cut lengthwise and expose the pretty seeds.

Place cut okra in a bowl, drizzle with a small amount of olive oil to coat, and sprinkle on seasonings.  Mix and place on cookie sheet.

Bake at 450 degrees for approx 20 minutes until brown. They never get totally crispy because they're roasted (not fried) so they want to soften.  This is okay because the char will make the crunch.

Serve immediately with buttermilk ranch.  

Whiskey Sour

A whiskey sour is a treat anytime, but when you make it with fresh squeezed citrus, it's retro heaven!

I was given a juicer for Mother's Day and this is the first thing I did with it.  If you don't have one, don't worry--still plan on making this drink all weekend--I've been drinking them with sour mix for years and I've never met one I didn't like.  Just substitute the mix for the fresh juice and place fresh citrus slices in the drink.  So good!

----------------------------------------------------------

(WHAT YOU WILL NEED)

Makes (in my house) approx 3 drinks

electric citrus juicer

fresh lemons, limes, and oranges--enough to make 1/2 cup of juice each, plus some for garnish

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

your favorite bourbon (I use Maker's Mark)

maraschino cherries

First, make your simple syrup to slightly sweeten the drink:

In a pan on medium heat, heat the sugar and water until boiling.  Stir until the sugar dissolves completely and let cool.  Place in a jar with a tight fitting lid and keep in the refrigerator.

Squeeze lemons, limes, and oranges to get 1/2 cup of juice each, so you should have 1.5 cups of juice total.  Place in pitcher or mason jar and add 1/2 - 2/3 cup bourbon (depending on how strong you want them).  Taste the mix.  Add as much simple syrup as you want--you won't use all of it, but it keeps in the refrigerator for 2-3 weeks and can be used for other drinks like iced tea and coffee.  If your oranges are very sweet, you will use even less.  Plus, as the name itself suggests, it's supposed to be a little sour.

juiced fruit

Place in refrigerator to chill slightly.

When ready to serve, stir or shake mix and pour into glasses.  Garnish with fresh orange slices and maraschino cherries.  Retro heaven!  

Dinner Salad: roasted butternut squash, chicken, and toasted walnuts

 

I like dinner salads to be substantial, with the lettuce being just one of many ingredients, not the whole of it.  This salad is perfect for that and covers all the bases:  equal parts protein, cheese, dried fruit, chewy grain, roasted vegetable, toasted nuts, and lettuce—any combination of your favorites will do.  Sometimes I use chicken and squash, other times flaky tuna and tomatoes, or beef and asparagus.  Sometimes Arugula, other times Kale or romaine.  Use what you like and switch it up, you can’t go wrong 😊

 ------------------------------------------

(WHAT YOU WILL NEED)

 

The amount of ingredients depends on how big you want your salad, you decide

This is a quick, weeknight meal if you let the grocery store help you:

 

cubed butternut squash (I buy it already cut up in the produce section)

½ cup (when dried) cooked barley (would also be good with couscous, quinoa, or farro)

walnuts

dried cranberries 

cooked chicken, shredded (a rotisserie chicken from the deli is perfect here)

arugula (I buy it triple washed and ready to use)

swiss cheese, cubed

vinaigrette

olive oil

red wine vinegar

(maybe) 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

salt/pepper

• Cook your barley according to package directions and set aside to cool slightly.
• Make your vinaigrette:  I like ¼ cup vinegar, 1/8 cup oil, and a teaspoon of mustard.  Add a pinch of salt and pepper and mix.  

When the barley is cooling, add a few teaspoons of the vinaigrette and mix, so it soaks up some of the flavor.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Lay out your squash on a cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil.  Mix with hands to coat and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Roast in oven.  In the last 7 minutes of cooking, add the walnuts to the pan to toast.

 Let squash and nuts cool slightly; if walnuts are whole, chop them roughly and assemble your salad:

 Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.  Dress with some (or all) of the vinaigrette.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.   

Simple Flirtini

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication

   ~ Leonardo da Vinci

You likely already know how to make this drink, and if you don’t, you should.  It’s bubbly and festive and equally welcome in the twinkling lights of the holidays as it is in the fluttering firefly lights of summer. These four simple ingredients can create a night of endless possibilities, whatever time of year.  I’ll drink to that :)

-------------------------------------

(WHAT YOU WILL NEED)

your favorite vodka (not flavored)
pineapple juice
Prosecco
fresh pineapple or maraschino cherries for garnish
ice
cocktail shaker, chilled martini glasses

One part vodka (1/3 cup) and 2 parts pineapple juice (2/3 cup).  Fill cocktail shaker with ice, add vodka and pineapple juice.  Shake hard for 45 seconds so that thin shards of ice break off in your drink.  Pour into a chilled martini glass approx 4/5 of the way full and top off with prosecco.  Garnish with maraschino cherry or fresh pineapple

* originally posted 12/2015

Emily's Visit: the "in-between" sandwich

"What can you say about a twenty-five-year-old girl who died? That she was beautiful. And Brilliant. That she loved Mozart and Bach. And the Beatles. And me." 

~ Erich Segal, Love Story 

Emily wasn’t 25, she was 23.  And she WAS beautiful and brilliant.  And she loved my brother-in-law.  Like crazy.

One day when Emily was 20, she saw a tiny white bump on her leg.  No big deal.  Finally one day she asked her Dermatologist about it.  It turned out to be a form of Cancer so rare that the National Health Institute did a study on her.  She was 21 by then and every few weeks for about a year she’d make the trip from Shelby, Michigan to Bethesda, Maryland so they could monitor her and attempt to treat the disease.

In the middle of all this, she and my brother-in-law Corey took a short trip to Naples for some relaxation.  Out of the car stepped this 5’7”, 127 pound gorgeous girl, tan skin with long blond hair and the most beautiful blue eyes I’d ever seen.  It looked like she’d been kissed by the sun, and if I didn’t know any better, she appeared to be the very picture of health.  Golden girl, with a personality to match.

She was wearing a silky maxi dress that looked amazing on her lithe figure, and a credit to her age, she had a trendy colorful band wrapped around the middle of her arm that matched her outfit.  I later found out the dress was to hide her legs which, by this time, had been covered in big white bumps, and the wrap was special medical tape that hid the portable IV in her vein.

While Corey was doing things in town, she came over to say hello.  Realizing in the middle of the day that she had not yet eaten, I offered to make her a sandwich, but had not been to the store.  I always, however, have the ingredients on hand for the “in-between sandwich.”  That’s the sandwich I make myself while I’m cooking holiday dinners because it’s small, quick, and easy and you can eat it standing up while you’re stirring gravy.

It’s cheddar cheese, the juiciest tomato you have, lots of cold mayonnaise and Dijon mustard, salt and cracked black pepper, on a toasted sourdough English Muffin.  And because the English Muffin is hot, the mayonnaise and the mustard get kinda liquidy, mix with the tomato juices, and run down your arm.  It’s really good.  

Emily and I had a great visit that day.  Corey picked her up and they left for Epcot the next morning.  I never saw her again.  The last time she went to Bethesda, they told her there was nothing more they could do for her. She died a few months later.  She was 23.

I make this sandwich for myself every holiday and always think of Emily when I do.  Young, beautiful, and hopeful, as only a 23 year old girl could be.

This holiday season, please take the time to enjoy your family with a loving and grateful heart. It’s the things you have, not the things you don’t.  And give yourself a big hug from me…you know I love you :)

----------------------------------------

(WHAT YOU WILL NEED)

Tomorrow, when you're elbow deep in mashed potatoes and stuffing in the kitchen, this sandwich comes in pre-tty han-dy so you don't fall over from starvation before dinner...

  

1 English Muffin

1 tomato (doesn't matter what kind as long as it's ripe and juicy) 

cheddar cheese

mayonnaise

dijon mustard

salt/cracked black pepper

Toast English Muffin really well so that the heat melts the cheese and condiments, and also so that the bread doesn't get soggy from the tomato

Spread both sides liberally with mayonnaise and mustard.  Add cheese, then thick slices of tomato and salt and pepper on top.  Close sandwich and eat.

* originally posted 11/17