Agua de Sandia (Watermelon Water)

Tags

lime, Mexican, watermelon

I have a binder where I keep all my tried and true recipes. It started as a family cookbook for my sister and myself, made for us when we moved out and started college. Since then, I’ve added to it quite a bit. But in looking through it, I’m noticing that it has some weak areas. Some areas where I really don’t have many recipes, which means it’s time to remedy the problem! One of the more barren sections is the beverage section. Thankfully, I’ve tried a few tasty drinks over the last few weeks that I’ve added to my collection, and will be sharing with you soon, too!

This tasty drink is an agua fresca, or a water refreshment, and is very common in Mexico and Central America. It’s essentially water and fruit, with some sugar. Hence, pretty healthy, and tasty!! This recipe can be adapted to most other fruits, or even cucumber. And yes, I realize summer is technically ending soon, but the heat isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, so kick back and enjoy some refreshing fruit water!Agua de Sandia (Watermelon Water)

4 cups seedless watermelon, diced
1 cup water, divided
½ teaspoon salt
1 lime, juiced
½ cup sugar

In a small saucepan over low-medium heat, combine ½ cup water and sugar to make a simple syrup. Heat until sugar is fully dissolved; set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, place half the diced watermelon in blender with ¼ cup water and blend until smooth. Pour watermelon mixture into a pitcher. Repeat with remaining watermelon and ¼ cup water. Add lime juice and salt to the watermelon mixture; stir to combine. Stir in ¼ cup of the simple syrup; taste for sweetness and add more simple syrup as needed, or add more water if desired. Mix well and enjoy over ice.

Source: Adapted from Sweet Life

Double Chocolate Muffins

Tags

bread, breakfast, chocolate, muffin, snack

Chocolate for breakfast? Yes please! Now, I know that doesn’t really seem like appropriate breakfast food, but it is officially a muffin, which means breakfast food! There is no creaming of butter and sugar, which denotes cakes and cupcakes. Instead, this uses the muffin method. Nice and easy, where you pretty much throw everything in a bowl and mix.If you don’t want a chocolate muffin for breakfast, have it as a snack, or even as dessert. No matter when you eat them, they are delicious! But, if you need an excuse, these do have espresso powder in them (to enhance the chocolate flavor) which can help kick start your morning! Double Chocolate Muffins

¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
¼ cup canola oil
1 teaspoon espresso powder or  instant coffee
2 cups all-purpose flour
⅔ cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
⅔ cup brown sugar
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
Coarse or turbinado sugar (optional)

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line muffin cups with paper baking liners for 12 muffins.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, espresso powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and chocolate chips; make a well in the dry ingredients. In a small bowl, whisk together the butter, oil, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla extract until well combined. Pour the liquid ingredients and butter mixture into the well in the dry ingredients. Using a rubber spatula, gently stir until just blended; do not overmix. Divide the batter evenly among the 12 prepared muffin cups; cups will be overly full. Sprinkle with coarse of turbinado sugar, if desired.

Bake for 17-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and cool 5 minutes, then remove the muffins and finish cooling on the rack.

Source: A Dash of Sugar and Spice Original, inspired by Brown Eyed Baker

Checca Sauce

Tags

basil, garlic, Italian, pasta, sauce, tomato

I don’t care if the weather people say this isn’t a hot summer. If you had to work outside in it, you’d think it’s a hot summer, too! Therefore, I continue to try and find good summer recipes. Even though I still feel a need to bake and use the oven… and yes, I know I contradict myself right there, but I still need my sweets.

This is one of the simplest pasta sauces, and has become a regular for me whenever tomatoes are in season. Plus, no heat required. Always a good thing as the heat of summer continues! Combine the sweetness of tomatoes, the saltiness of Parmesan, the creaminess of mozzarella, and the pungent kick of garlic to make a deliciously simple sauce to top any pasta. An angel hair or other long stranded pasta would be best, or you can be like me and go for fun shapes! Checca Sauce

4 scallions (white and pale green parts only), coarsely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
12 ounces cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1 (1-ounce) piece Parmesan, coarsely chopped
8 to 10 fresh basil leaves
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a food processor work bowl fitted with the chopping blade, combine the scallions, garlic, tomatoes, Parmesan, basil, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Pulse just until the tomatoes are coarsely chopped, but do not puree. Stir in the fresh mozzarella cubes and season with additional salt and pepper. Serve immediately over hot pasta.

Source: Everyday Italian by Giada De Laurentiis

Strawberry Lemonade Icebox Pie

Tags

lemon, meringue, pie, strawberry

Whenever I bake stuff, at least some of it inevitably ends up at work. I need to get it out of my apartment, or else I’ll eat it all, and as tasty as that may be I don’t think my waistline would appreciate it. But I think my coworkers have become spoiled. One of my coworkers actually commented that I hadn’t made him anything in a while, and he almost seemed hurt and neglected! That day he was looking through a Martha Stewart Living magazine and he found a section with pies. It had a full page picture of each pie, and he apparently found one he liked because when I came in to work the next morning, the page with the pie picture was sitting in my work cubby. Subtle hint, huh?

I was nice, and I made him the pie. And he was a happy camper! The pie was super lemony, but the meringue topping counteracted the tartness perfectly. And strawberries, they go perfectly with everything! The pie was a huge success and now I have all my coworkers asking for more goodies. Strawberry Lemonade Icebox Pie
Note: Strawberries and meringue should be placed on pie right before serving. Also, whipped cream can be used in place of the meringue.

Crust:
Vegetable oil cooking spray
1⅓ cup graham cracker crumbs (9 to 10 graham crackers)
¼ cup sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
⅔ cup strained fresh lemon juice (from about 4 lemons)
2 large egg yolks, plus 1 large egg, lightly beaten (reserve egg whites for topping)
¼ teaspoon salt

Topping:
12 ounces strawberries, sliced (2 cups)
¾ cup sugar, divided
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
3 large egg whites, room temperature

To make the crust: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Coat a 9-inch pie plate with cooking spray. In a small bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and sugar, mixing thoroughly. Drizzle butter over graham cracker mixture and stir until mixture is moist and holds together when pressed between 2 fingers.

Press crust evenly into bottom and up sides of pie plate using your fingers or the bottom of a dry measuring cup, making sure all areas are pressed firmly so the crust wont crumble when baked. Bake crust until firm and turning darker around edges, 10 to 11 minutes. Remove from oven, and reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F.

To make the filling: While the crust is in the oven, whisk together condensed milk, lemon juice, salt, egg yolks, and egg.

Pour filling into warm pie crust. Bake until center is set, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

To make the topping: Sprinkle strawberries with 2 tablespoons sugar and the lemon juice. Let stand for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat egg whites and remaining ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar in the heatproof bowl of a mixer set over a pan of simmering water until sugar dissolves and mixture is warm to the touch, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to mixer, and whisk on high speed until medium peaks form, 8 to 9 minutes.

Spoon berries over pie. Spoon meringue over top. Place pie under broiler, with rack in lowest position, until meringue is just browned. Make sure to keep a close eye on it. Alternatively, use a kitchen torch to brown the top.

Source: Martha Stewart Living

7 Links Challenge

Tags

7 links, challenge

I’m still new to blogging and I’m pretty bad about posting regularly… I vow to try to work hard on that! I take the pictures and tweak the recipes and have the best of intentions, yet seem to slack when it comes to actually sharing. You would think I was never taught to share or something!

Today, I have finally decided upon my links for the 7 links challenge that fati from fati’s recipes tagged me in. On a side note, fati has a really fun approach to food and has entertaining and mouth watering posts, so go ahead and check out their blog. So, the challenge  is to look back among all the posts you’ve made thus far and publish your own links based on the following 7 categories, using one link per category (sort of like an award show where you’re the host presenting your own selections):

1. The most beautiful post
2. The most popular post
3. The most controversial post
4. The most helpful post
5. The post that was surprisingly successful
6. The post that did not get the attention it deserved
7. The post I am most proud of

You then choose up to 5 other bloggers to tag and pass the challenge on to. And so, without further ado, on to my selections!

The most beautiful post: It’s a Julia Child recipe, so that must mean it’s elegant, which means it must be beautiful! I love the layers and contrasting colors of this dish and it really is just pretty to look at, as well as tasty! Eggplant Zucchini Gratin

The most popular post: A super delicious, super chocolatey cookie! Thick and Chewy Triple Chocolate Cookies

The most controversial post: Like most food bloggers, I don’t have any controversial posts, but kimchi is such a love/hate sort of food so I’m going to say Korean Stir-Fried Beef with Kimchi

The most helpful post:I haven’t done anything super helpful yet I’d say, although I do have a couple step by step how-to’s that I’m working on. But taking a time-consuming dish and simplifying it seems helpful, so the post I chose is Skillet Lasagna

The post that was surprisingly successful: It was my first post, yet it is almost my most popular post. Yes, they are damn good, I’m just surprised that a first post could do so well! Chocolate Cupcakes with Baileys Buttercream

The post that did not get the attention it deserved: Chocolate Cream Pie is aamaazing! And this recipe is aamaaazing! And it was quite overlooked, despite it’s chocolate yumminess!

The post I am most proud of: I know carrot cake recipes are a dime a dozen, but I love these Carrot Cupcakes, and everyone I have made them for has had rave reviews. They’ve even been said to be better than cupcake shop carrot cupcakes, which makes me super happy to hear!

I’m only going to tag three bloggers, but I hope they will participate because I would love to see what they’d share!

Christina from Sweet Pea’s Kitchen

Amy from Elephant’s Eats

Geni from Sweet & Crumby

I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about my blog, and come back to visit soon! Happy eats!