Martinis!

Pop Rocks Cocktail

Rim the top with a lime wedge. Pour a package of cherry-flavored Pop Rocks onto a paper plate. Dip the lime-rimmed cocktail glass into the cherry Pop Rocks, coating the entire rim of the glass. Set the cocktail glass aside.

Add ice and two and half ounces of cranberry vodka to a shaker. Shake the mixture to chill the vodka. Strain the mix and pour into the glass. Slowly pour half an ounce of Blue Curacao into the middle of the glass. If you pour the Blue Curacao carefully, it will settle and twill look festive with different layers of color. Squeeze the rest of the lime juice into the drink and serve.

Cotton Candy Martini

8 ounces of freezing Smirnoff vodka
1 tablespoon of cola
1 teaspoon of Grenadine
A chunk of cotton candy (about 2" x 2")
2 small chunks of cotton candy for garnish
Vanilla Cocktail Candy rim sugar
The mix

Pour all of your ingredients into a martini shaker 1/2 of cracked ice
Drop in the chunk of cotton candy...it will dissolve
Lid the shaker and shake like mad for a full minute
Strain your delicious martini into 2 chilly, sugar rimmed martini glasses
Float a piece of cotton on each cocktail
Enjoy!

Bazooka Bubblegum Cocktail

16 pieces bubblegum, preferably Double Bubble, cut in half
2 cups (16 ounces) vodka
1 tablespoon (1/2 ounce) freshly squeezed lemon juice (from ½ lemon)
1 tablespoon (1/2 ounce) freshly squeezed lime juice (from ½ lime)
1 tablespoon (1/2 ounce) simple syrup
1 cup ice

In large airtight container, combine bubblegum and vodka. Seal and allow to infuse, stirring every 6 hours, for 24 hours. Pour vodka through fine mesh strainer, discarding bubble gum.

In cocktail shaker, stir together 2 ounces bubblegum-infused vodka, lemon juice, lime juice, and simple syrup. Add ice and shake vigorously for 20 seconds. Strain into a chilled coupe glass.

Sugar Cookie Bars

Source: www.RecipeGirl.com

COOKIES:
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

FROSTING:
1/2 cup butter; at room temperature
1/2 cup shortening
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
4 cups powdered sugar (sift after measuring)
5 Tbsp. milk
food coloring, if desired

1. Prepare bars: In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each egg. Mix in vanilla.

2. In a separate bowl whisk together flour, salt & baking soda. Add to wet mixture and mix just until combined. Spread on a greased, rimmed baking sheet (use a 13 x 18 pan).

3. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-15 min, until light golden brown or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

4. Prepare frosting: In a large bowl, beat butter and shortening together until smooth and creamy. Mix in vanilla and salt. Add powdered sugar (1 cup at a time) until combined, then add milk & mix until smooth and spreading consistency. Add a few drops of color, if desired. Spread over cooled cookie, then cut into bars.

Yield: 32 bars

Tips:
*Refrigerate the bars until firm… it will be easier to get nice, clean cuts.

PW's Favorite Pizza

FOR THE CRUST (MAKES TWO CRUSTS):
1 teaspoon Active Dry Or Instant Yeast
4 cups All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
⅓ cups Extra Virgin Olive Oil

FOR THE PIZZA:
1 whole Large Eggplant (or Two Medium Eggplants)
Kosher Salt, For Sprinkling
1 pint Grape Tomatoes
2 cloves Garlic, Minced
8 ounces, weight Fresh Mozzarella Cheese, Sliced Very Thin
½ cups Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
Extra Virgin Olive Oil For Drizzling
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Preparation Instructions

TO MAKE THE CRUST:
Sprinkle yeast over 1 1/2 cups warm (not lukewarm) water.

In a mixer, combine flour and salt. With the mixer running on low speed (with paddle attachment), drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. Next, pour in yeast/water mixture and mix until just combined.

Coat a separate mixing bowl with a light drizzle of olive oil, and form the dough into a ball. Toss to coat dough in olive oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and store in the fridge until you need it. ***It’s best to make the dough at least 24 hours in advance, and 3 or 4 days is even better.

TO MAKE THE PIZZA:
Preheat oven broiler.

Slice the eggplant thinly. Sprinkle both sides with kosher salt and place into a strainer in the sink. Allow to sit for 20 to 30 minutes. Rinse eggplant lightly in cold water, then pat the slices dry between layers of paper towels.

Slice grape tomatoes in half lengthwise and toss into a bowl with minced garlic.

Slice mozzarella very thinly.

Cut eggplant slices into fourths, and toss with olive oil. Arrange on a baking sheet and place 8 inches under the broiler.

Broil for 3 minutes, then toss around and broil another 3 minutes. Remove pan from oven and add tomato/garlic mixture. Broil for 2 to 3 minutes, then remove and set aside. (May do this 1 hour in advance.)

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Drizzle olive oil on a large baking sheet and use fingers to coat thoroughly. Remove HALF the pizza dough from the bowl. Stretch pizza dough into a large rectangle, pressing with fingers to finish forming. Dough will be very thin.

Lightly drizzle a little olive oil on the dough and use fingers to spread. Lay mozzarella slices over the surface of the dough. Spread vegetables all over the surface of the cheese. Top with Parmesan cheese.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and the cheese is bubbly.

Remove from pan and slice with a pizza cutter. Serve immediately!

Caramelized Onion & Prosciutto Pizza

1 whole Pizza Crust

Olive Oil, For Drizzling
1 whole Large Red Onion, Halved And Thinly Sliced
¼ cups Brown Sugar
Kosher Salt To Taste
Parmesan Cheese, Grated
10 ounces, weight Fresh Mozzarella Cheese, Thinly Sliced
8 slices Prosciutto (more To Taste)

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet. Add onions and brown sugar and toss/stir for several minutes, or until onions are brown and cooked. Set aside.

Roll out pizza dough to a rectangular shape. Drizzle on olive oil, sprinkle on a little salt, followed by a little Parmesan.

Lay slices of mozzarella evenly over the top of the crust. Arrange caramelized onions over the top of the mozzarella. Randomly lay slices of prosciutto over the onions.

Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the lower half of the oven, or until crust is golden brown. Remove from oven and cut into squares. Serve immediately.

Basic Pizza Crust

1 teaspoon Instant Or Active Dry Yeast
1-½ cup Warm Water
4 cups All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
⅓ cups Olive Oil

Sprinkle yeast over 1 1/2 cups warm (not lukewarm) water. Let stand for a few minutes.

In a mixer, combine flour and salt. With the mixer running on low speed (with paddle attachment), drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. Next, pour in yeast/water mixture and mix until just combined, and the dough comes together in a sticky mass.

Coat a separate mixing bowl with a light drizzle of olive oil, and form the dough into a ball. Toss to coat dough in olive oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and set it aside for 1 to 2 hours, or store in the fridge until you need it.

Note: it’s best to make the dough at least 24 hours in advance, and 3 or 4 days is even better.

When you are ready to make the pizza, grab HALF the pizza dough (recipe makes 2 crusts) and squeeze the dough toward the bottom to form a nice, tight, pulled ball. You can roll out the pizza with a rolling pin if you’d like, but sometimes it’s just as easy to throw it around and pull and stretch till it feels right. And when the crust is nice and thin, lay it on an oiled baking sheet or pizza pan. Drizzle a little olive oil on the dough and spread it with your fingers. Very lightly sprinkle some salt on the crust.

Bacon Egg and Toast Cups

In my mind, this recipe was the surprise favorite from my personal menu contributions for our Breakfast Themed Dinner Club.  Funny how that works since this one had such simple ingredients and was the easiest to make in bulk!  Or, maybe it's because this was a blog recipe (vs. All Recipes) and I generally have better luck with those.  You can bake up to 2 muffin tins (24 bacon egg and toast cups) at the same time so it's a great recipe to serve for to a crowd.  They're great snacking and finger foods which are generally popular in our dinner club crowd.  And, they can be saved and re-heated in the oven or toaster oven for later.  These made an awesome lazy breakfast the morning following our gorge fest.  Yum!

I'll say that I've always been slightly afraid of eating my eggs any way except for scrambled, hard boiled, or in an omelette because there's something about liquidy egg yolks that just gross me out...that and a fear of contracting samonella.  The eggs in this recipe when cooked as directed are still runny but you can cook them longer (watchout, this could result in a rubbery egg white though).  Since I did make this recipe, I gave the recipe a try...runny yolks and all.  I'm happy to report that I did not get sick and I actually enjoyed it!  This recipe has converted me..at least in this application.  I'm still not a sunny-side up girl and will stick to my fully cooked yolks, if at all, for other egg applications!

I can also see this recipe with a variet of twists - added ham bits, peppers, onions, mushrooms, different types of cheese and/or bread.  The possibilities are endless!

The Noshery, the blog from which I found this recipe, also has a version that is french toast cups stuffed with sausage and apples that I'd like to try sometime.  I think I'd have more luck with Chris eating that one over this one which is clearly eggy.  Of course, with all the other stuff I was making for this round of dinner club, that recipe will have to wait for me to make it another time!

Bacon Egg and Toast Cups
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Yields: 6 cups (can easily be doubled, tripled, or even quadrupled for a crowd!)

Ingredients

• 6 slices of bread (I used wheat)
• 6 slices of bacon
• 6 eggs
• 1/2 cup of shredded cheese
• salt & pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray muffin pan with butter non-stick spray.
2. Using a cookie cutter or a wide-mouthed glass, cut circles out of bread slices about 3 inches in diameter.  Take bread circles and press them into the muffin pan, set aside.
3. Heat a large skillet on medium-high. Cook bacon on the skillet until partially cooked but still pliable, about 3 minutes. 
4. Shape bacon strips into the toast cups, fill with 1 Tablespoon of shredded cheese. Place in the oven for 5 minutes, allowing the bacon to toast just a little more. Remove from oven.
5. Crack an egg and drop a whole egg into the cup, sprinkle with salt & pepper to taste.  Repeat for remaining cups.  Place back in the oven and cook until white begins to set, about another 8 – 10 minutes. The yolk should be creamy.  If a more fully cooked yolk is desired, continue cooking until desired done-ness is achieved.
6. Remove from oven when done and pop out using a spoon, serve warm.

Source: The Noshery

Pancake Syrup

This is another item on my Make Your Own Belgian Waffle Bar that was featured in our Breakfast Dinner Club last month.  Who would have known that making your own syrup was so easy?  This is perfect as your regular syrup or when you're in a pinch and run out of the store-bought stuff.  And, it's very cost effective to make.  You can store any extra in the fridge and then re-heat it when you're ready to use it again.

Sorry, no pictures of this one but I think you all know what syrup looks like.  This one had a nice syrupy consistency and a beautiful dark amber color.

Pancake Syrup
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Prep Time: 15 Min
Cook Time: 7 Min
Ready In: 30 Min
Yields: 12 Servings

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon maple flavoring
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a saucepan, combine the sugars, water and corn syrup; bring to a boil over medium heat. Simmer for 7 minutes or until slightly thickened.
2. Remove from the heat; stir in maple flavoring and vanilla.
3. Cool for 15 minutes. Serve over pancakes, waffles or French toast.

Source: All Recipes

Strawberry Topping

This Strawberry Topping was made for our March Breakfast Themed Dinner Club as part of our Make Your Own Belgian Waffle Bar.  It was rediculously simple to make and tasted very fresh.  I added some lemon juice to brighten up the flavor.  Excellent on waffles, pancakes, ice cream, or cheesecake!

Strawberry Topping
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Prep Time: 15 Min
Cook Time: 5 Min
Ready In: 35 Min
Yields: 4 Servings

Ingredients

• 1 pint strawberries, cleaned and stemmed
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Directions

1. Cut about 1/3 of the strawberries in half.
2. In a saucepan over medium high heat, combine uncut strawberries, sugar, vanilla, and lemon juice. Cook, stirring occasionally and smashing strawberries with spoon as they soften, until sauce thickens, about 5 minutes.
3. Remove from heat. Add remaining 1/3 of cut strawberries into cooked mixture. Store in refrigerator to cool before serving over waffles, pancakes, ice cream, or cheesecake.

 Source: Slightly modified from All Recipes

Belgian Waffles

These Belgian Waffles were made for our Breakast Themed dinner club last month and were the star of our Make Your Own Waffle Bar.  They are extremely light and fluffy in texture.  We put out chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, chopped pecans, blueberries, bananas, strawberry topping, whipped cream, powdered sugar, and syrup so that people could put their personal touch to their waffles. 

The original recipe says the beat the whites and yolks separately to create a light and airy waffle but I don't think this is necessary because by the time you let the batter rise and go to cook the waffles, the air that was whipped into the whites would have separated.  If you want to do this step, however, I suggest mixing the beaten egg whites into the risen batter just before cooking.  Because this recipe uses yeast as the leavening agent, you do need to allow some advance preparation.  Some reviews say that you can mix the ingredients together the night before and then allow it to come up to temperature and finish rising the next morning so that you can have fresh waffles bright and early.

It was interesting to see how as people started to arrive and our house began to get warm from the body heat, the yeast in the batter really went into over-drive and got extra airy.  At the end of the night, we had some extra batter leftover so I made them up and let them cool before freezing them in a ziplock baggy.  They re-heat really well in the toaster (like an Eggo)!

Sadly, I don't have a picture of any waffles but I do have a picture of the waffle bar setup itself.

Belgian Waffles
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Prep Time: 15 Min
Cook Time: 20 Min
Ready In: 1 Hr 35 Min
Yields: 8 Waffles

Ingredients

• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast (2.5 tsp)
• 1/4 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 3 large eggs
• 2 3/4 cups warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 3/4 cup butter, melted and cooled to lukewarm
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 cups all-purpose flour

Directions

1. In a small bowl, proof yeast by dissolving the yeast in 1/4 cup warm milk. Let stand until small bubbles form and it looks frothy, about 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, 1/4 cup of the warm milk and the melted butter. Stir in the yeast mixture, sugar, salt and vanilla. Stir in the remaining 2 1/2 cups milk alternately with the flour, ending with the flour. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
3. Preheat the waffle iron. Spray waffle iron with cooking oil and spoon about 1/2 cup (or as recommended by manufacturer) onto center of iron. Close the lid and bake according to manufacturer directions. Serve immediately or keep warm in 200 degree oven.

Source: All Recipes

Country Fried Steak

This post is about the Country Fried Steak (sometimes known as Chicken Fried Steak)...one of my favorite unhealthy breakfast entrees!  The flavor of this one was good but we all know I don't like to fry stuff so I have NO IDEA why I chose to take this task on.  Especially given that I had to fry up 10 of them and was running out of time (guests arrived when I was just starting to fry)!  I don't think I did a very good job paying attention to making sure the oil was at a good frying temperature because some of the breading ended up soggy and others a little burnt.  And, the meat was tougher than I would have liked.  Perhaps if you made a smaller batch you could be more attentive and it would turn out better.  Like I said, great flavor but not the best execution which was entirely my fault.  (Good thing I made other delectable goodies to make up for this less than stellar one!)

Pardon the awful picture.  Like I said it was a busy day in the kitchen and I think I bit off more than I could chew for this one.  To be honest, I'm surprised I got a shot at all!  Oh and by the way, this is the reason I had a TON of buttermilk leftover and hence all of the other recipes to use it all up!

Country Fried Steak
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Prep Time: 20 Min
Cook Time: 20 Min
Ready In: 40 Min
Yields: 4 Servings

Ingredients

For the Steaks

• 4 (1/2 pound each) beef cube steaks
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce (e.g. Tabasco™)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 cups vegetable shortening for deep frying

For the Country Gravy

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 cups milk
• kosher salt and ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Pound the steaks to about 1/4-inch thickness.
2. Place 2 cups of flour in a shallow bowl. Stir together the baking powder, baking soda, pepper, and salt in a separate shallow bowl; stir in the buttermilk, egg, Tabasco Sauce, and garlic.
3. Dredge each steak first in the flour, then in the batter, and again in the flour. Pat the flour onto the surface of each steak so they are completely coated with dry flour.
4. Heat the shortening in a deep cast-iron skillet to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Fry the steaks until evenly golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Place fried steaks on a plate with paper towels to drain.  If needed, keep steaks warm by placing in a warm oven. 
5. Drain the fat from the skillet, reserving 1/4 cup of the liquid and as much of the solid remnants as possible.   Return the skillet to medium-low heat with the reserved oil. Whisk the remaining flour into the oil. Scrape the bottom of the pan with a spatula to release solids into the gravy. Stir in the milk, raise the heat to medium, and bring the gravy to a simmer, cook until thick, 6 to 7 minutes. Season with kosher salt and pepper. Spoon the gravy over the steaks to serve.

Source: All Recipes