Project Cupcake, Cinco Links, and Micheladas

I had a momentary lapse from my Cinco de Mayo posting schedule because I took a cupcake order on a slightly short turn-around...  I ended up making Red Velvet/Cheesecake Marbled Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting and Orange Zest; Cherry Coke Float Cupcakes with Whipped Cream and Maraschino Cherries, and Brown Butter Cupcakes with a Girl Scout Samoa Coconut Topping.  The party is being held at what I think is one of those indoor trampoline places...  I'm not sure how it can go wrong with a bunch of really rich cupcakes, trampolines, 30-year olds acting like kids, and a can of Reddi-Whip for the Coke Floats.  I should hide a video camera in the cupcake courier thing.  I have a feeling this is going to be hilarious.

Here's what I ended up with:

Pretty huh?  Don't worry, I am signed up for cupcake piping lessons with a professional cake decorator.  In my defense, those are the red velvet cake and cheesecake marbled ones so the surface is not even.  But they taste DELICIOUS, so I'm not concerned.  Furthermore, I really don't think anyone cares.

Anyway...  Since I didn't want you all to feel I had deserted you, I've complied everything you could possibly need for your Cinco de Mayo celebration tomorrow...  Just click on the handy links...

Appetizers:
Salad and Dressing
Tomatillo Salsa
Shrimp Salsa
Seven Layer Dip

Main Dishes:
Shrimp Tacos
Beef Enchiladas
Chicken Enchiladas

Sides:
Spanish Rice

Desserts:
Sopapilla Cheesecake
Mayan Fudge Cupcakes

Drinks:
Sangria

You know what else is good for Cinco de Mayo?  Micheladas.  Where I'm from, they call a Bud Light ((or whatever)) mixed with tomato juice a Red Beer.  This is a slightly spicier version.

Fill your mug/glass/swimming pool halfway with a cold, light beer.  Fill the glass the rest of the way with Clamato.  Add a squeeze of lime, a dash of tabasco or other hot sauce, a dash of soy sauce, and a couple of shakes of salt.

*I make them half beer/half juice.  I googled around ((that's a verb)) to see if that was "right" and most are saying like 1/4 beer, 3/4 tomato juice.  EFF THAT.  That's ridiculous.  Do it my way.  Bunch of lightweights.  ((Mutter mutter.))

*****

All right.  I'm apparently having a garage sale tomorrow so I should probably do something about that...

Happy Cincoing!

Sangria, Shows, and Sugar Highs

The brunch and trunk show can be deemed a success!  I think I had about 30 people here for brunch and some day-drinking by the pool while shopping.  As previously mentioned, I had gone on a massive bake-a-thon to sell baked goods and promote my new venture; Tammi brought jars of preserves, apple butter, and some of her crocheted items; Allie brought her Elodee headbands and hair clips; and Brandi had jewelry.  Everyone thought it was a great idea and a good way to get together.  I will definitely be doing it again.

*****

It is HOT.  I think we hit 105 today.  You know what that means:  It is officially pool time in Arizona.  While I understand the allure of a cold beer by the pool, sometimes you need something a little fancier.  Today, I made white wine sangria.

Previously described as summer in a glass...  Also pictured, fresh limeade.

What you need:

One LARGE bottle of white wine
Diet Gingerale
Various Fruits  ((suggestions:  orange, lime, strawberries, grapefruit))

How to:

When shopping, look for the biggest and probably the cheapest bottle of white wine you can find.  I found Barefoot Pinot Grigio in a 1.5 liter bottle for 7 bucks so I went with that.

The night prior, pour the wine into a glass pitcher.  If you are using a normal person sized bottle, it will only fill one pitcher about halfway and you will really feel ripped off.  I split the 1.5 liter into two separate pitchers.

Cut up various kinds of fruit.  You can really use anything that you have.  In the pic above, I used oranges, limes, frozen raspberries, and strawberries.  For today ((pictured below)), I used oranges, strawberries, lemon, and kiwi.   ((I intended to throw in some mango, but they were past their prime.))

Take the fruit and squeeze the living bejeezus of it into the pitcher.  You can also take a wooden spoon and smash the hell out of it in the pitcher as well.  This will not result in the prettiest presentation though.  If you want it to look more "polished" or something ((I can't come up with a better word)) don't smash it, just throw it in.  Refrigerate overnight, covering the top of the pitcher with a piece of saran wrap.  I usually secure it on with a rubber band as well since for some reason saran wrap doesn't always seal that tightly.

The following day, fill the pitcher the rest of the way with diet gingerale.  Give it a few stirs and add a few handfuls of ice.  Done!  Some people add more sugar to it, but I think that is completely unnecessary.  We are sugary enough.  I'm drawing the line.  

Here's a kind of crappy picture that I took today:

Both of these pitchers disappeared within about an hour, so I'm going to assume they were good!  ((I personally was into the strawberry vodka lemonade which was also really fracking good.))

*****

Okay kiddos.  It is time to get serious.  I have 60 days to pull my act together so here we go: CLEAN LIVING.  No more risottos.  No more cheesecake.  No more sugar bombs.  Oh who am I kidding?  I'll still be making that stuff for other people, so there will still be some treats around here.  BUT, you can also expect more healthy, yet still interesting and flavorful recipes.  In the mean time, cheers!

 

1,000 Treats, Five Alarms, and The Threat of Salsa

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*****

Today has been INSANE!  As I mentioned yesterday, last night I was cooking for a party for about 15.  Everything went really well with the food, but during the course of the evening, one woman mentioned that an organization she is affiliated with was doing gift bags for about 100 people on Monday and did I want to donate my organic dog treats and could I do it in about 18 hours?  Well, of course, I do!  I rallied the troops, went to the supermarket when it opened, and we cranked out just under a thousand dog treats in about six hours.  My own dogs have greatly enjoyed cleaning up the floor and I'm out to deliver them in a few minutes.  While this certainly isn't the most intellectual thing I've ever done, I have to admit, it is really, really fun.  AND you feel like you really accomplished something when it is finished.

We might have had a couple of these to keep the assembly line flowing smoothly.

*****

Tonight, post-St Patrick's Day dinner and the delivery, I'll be working on finalizing an application we are submitting to The Food Network!  While I realize this is a long shot, just working on it and dreaming about it is so, so good for what ails me.  We do have a team tag-line:  We are five-alarm badasses.  Five.  

*****

Okay, tomorrow we will do some recipe-ing.  There is salsa in our future.

Sunday, Bloody Mary, Sunday

My favorite cocktail has to be a bloody mary...  Spicy, vodka-y, can pass it off as a "vegetable" on the food pyramid and feel like you're being a health nut...  What's not to love?

Zinburger's Bloody

This Bloody Mary came from Zinburger in Tucson...  I've adapted it to take what was best about theirs and best about my own recipe.

Start with a good quality vodka.  In general, I prefer regular Absolut.  I'm not into the Absolut Peppar. I find it too, well, peppery.  If you want to be saucy, and I know you probably do, look for a bacon-infused vodka.  It is available at specialty liquor stores and maybe a really alcoholic-prone neighborhood grocery store.  Zinburger was using this according to the waitress who really needed to rethink that scrunchie hair thing:

Confession:  I am not actually a big bacon fan.  This has that smoky infused taste.  I never would have picked it out as being "pork product" which just sounds so, so wrong.  Now, of course, you could make your own bacon-infused vodka, but we will save that lesson for another day...

Jules' Bloody Bar

Okay, so fill a tall glass (and for the love of God, use real glass, not plastic, unless you are by my pool where *certain people* necessitated a no-glass rule) with ice.  Add 1-2 shots (I go with two, so should you) of your vodka of choice.  (I personally think it is better to have vodka stored in the freezer.  It makes it taste crisper.)  Then fill the glass halfway with a good quality tomato juice which you have shaken well.  Next, fill the glass to about an inch from the top with Clamato.  I like the regular stuff, not the spicy version, because you are going to be adjusting your spices anyway.  This is your base.

Add a small amount of horseradish, 4 dashes of Worcestershire (I use Lee and Perkins), a squeeze of lime (then throw the whole thing in), two dashes of tabasco (a bit more if you like it spicier), two dashes of celery salt, and a couple of cracks of pepper.  I then use a piece of celery to mash it together like no tomorrow.  When you think you are done, keep going.  Top it off with a little bit more Clamato and then give it another smash around with the celery.  If you have a martini shaker, that is actually better, because it "bruises" the vodka and opens up the flavors, but it isn't necessary.  You can also do this with two glasses, but I don't recommend this after consuming the first one.  It can get messy, fast.

You can garnish however you please:  a strip of crispy bacon as above, a lime wedge, a "sword" of olives, dill or sweet pickle, bar onions, pickled asparagus, pepperoni, pepper jack cheese, or celery.  All of them at once might be a shade of overkill, but I won't judge you.  For that.

I'm not a huge fan of a salted rim because this is already a salt blast.  Now a savory rim is another story:  Basically you mix garlic powder, celery salt, chili powder, and coarse ground sea salt.  You then wet the edge of your glass (with a paper towel or dishcloth) and dip the glass into the mixing bowl.  You can save the mix in a plastic bag for the next time.  Which will probably be in about half an hour.  At the most.

Cheers!