Sweet Cherry Wine Sangria

*Yep, that's my image. I don't have a fancy pitcher, but this one worked just fine.

Sweet Cherry Sangria

I’ve had ok Sangria, and I’ve had some brain-melting-awesome sangria. Regardless of the quality of the final product, it’s almost always “good enough” to enjoy on a hot summer’s day.

I looked for a good recipe but ended up kind of winging it at the end, using this recipe from Allrecipes.com as a base. It turned out FAN-TAS-TIC.

Prepare in the morning for an afternoon / evening event. Prepare the night before for brunch or lunch. You want to give the fruit a chance to soak up some of the alcohol, and for the flavors to mix together.

What you need (Per batch. I suggest you plan to make two):

1 bottle Grand Traverse Bay cherry wine (or equivalent)
3/4 C brandy
12 oz lemon-lime soda, or to taste (Sprite or house brand preferred at our place!)
1 C orange juice, or to taste (pulp or no pulp, it’s your call)
1 lemon, sliced thinly
1 lime, sliced thinly
1/2 orange, sliced thinly
1 apple, cored, pared, sliced or cubed (you could just use half I guess…)
1 C fresh pineapple chunks (do not use canned… really!)

Optional fruit:
Personally, I think the more fruit the better, but it’s your call. Use any or all of these in combination.
1 cup of cherries, pitted, halved
5-10 strawberries, stems removed, sliced thinly
1 small handful raspberries, rinced
1 nectarine, cored, chunks or sliced thinly (skin on)

What you do:

• Prep all your fruit as you like it. I LOVE eating the fruit after I’m done drinking my sangria, so for me chunks of apple, nectarine, and pineapple are awesome. If you just want the fruity flavors, you may be better to slice everything super thin. Your call. 
• Put your fruit in a large pitcher and pour in the brandy. Let soak for at least 2 hours, preferably longer. 
• Chill your wine, orange juice, and lemon-lime soda in the meantime. 
• About an hour or two before serving, add the wine to the pitcher and stir gently. 
• Immediately before serving, add the lemon-lime soda and orange juice to taste. If you like, add more wine / brandy to taste. Gently crush your fruit if you wish before serving (I do not like it this way, but many do). 

Serve over ice or not, with cherries for garnish or not, and enjoy!

Strawberry Jam in Mason Jars

*ya, dis mah jam. Like, literally... it's my jam.

Certo Strawberry Jam

When I was younger, my mom took us every year to pick strawberries from a local farm. We’d pick basket upon basket of strawberries, eating probably a third as many while out in the field. We would eat some fresh for the next few days, and my mom invariably would slice some up and serve them with angel food cake and whipped cream… a summer staple. The rest, though, were reserved for jam.

My mom made her jam in a giant yellow pot on the stove. It was a simple recipe: purée the strawberries, add sugar to taste, and boil to thicken. Sometimes, after it was finished thickening she would pulse it in the food processor a few times to get the big chunks out, but not always. Then, we’d pour it into peanut-butter jars and store them all in our big chest freezer. It didn’t matter what time of year we opened one of those jam jars, the smell and taste of summer always came through. It was heavenly.

Now that I’m grown up (ish), I wanted to try making my own. I also wanted to try canning it, because we don’t have a chest freezer. After asking around, the consensus was that Certo’s own recipe is the way to go, so that’s what I did… mostly.

The Certo recipe calls for very specific, precise measurement… not my forte, I’ll admit. I tried to follow their rules but frankly, I didn’t, and my jam turned out amazing. I would say if you’ve never made jam before, go straight to the Certa site and follow their recipe. If you’re a little more comfortable, read on!

What you need:

2 pints fresh strawberries (I got mine at the grocery store, conveniently packaged in pint containers. Score!)

7 C sugar

½ tsp butter (optional)

1 pouch fruit pectin (Certo obviously recommends Certo brand, which I like)

Canning supplies:

Boiling water canner and enough water to fill it half way, jars, lids, etc.

You’ll want to prep your jars ahead of time. Wash your jars and screw bands in hot soapy water, rinse, and set aside. Put a small saucepan on the stove with your flat lids and heat until it bubbles, then remove from heat and set aside. I kept mine in the sauce pan on a trivet and that was easiest for me. Have your supplies near at hand and ready to go.

What you do:

• First, fill up your boiling water canner about halfway, and set on high or medium-high heat to start the water warming. Ideally, your water will be boiling by the time your jam is ready.
• I hate lumpy jam. This was definitely a consideration when I adapted this recipe. I used 2 pints of strawberries which was close to 4 cups of raw, prepared berries. I cut off the stems, sliced them in half, and then threw them in the food processor. I basically puréed them before even cooking. You could, I suppose, do this later. The end result was about 6 Cups of pureed strawberries.
• Next,  I threw the strawberries into my cooking pot on medium-high heat. As the strawberries warmed, I turned the heat up a little (to 6 or 7 on my burner).
• Once the strawberries start steaming, add your sugar and stir well.
• Bring the heat up to high (not max), stirring frequently.
• Add the butter if you want to in order to reduce foaming. I didn’t bother with this, but I did scoop off some of the foam with a slotted spoon.
• Bring your strawberries and sugar to a full rolling boil. That means that it doesn’t stop boiling when stirred.
• Stir in the pectin, then return your mixture to a full rolling boil. Once there, let it boil for another minute or two, stirring constantly and skimming off foam frequently.
• Remove from heat. Skim any remaining foam.

Canning:

•  Ladle jam immediately into prepared jars, filling almost to the top (within 1/8 of an inch).
• Using a damp paper towel, wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with hot flat lid and screw bands on tightly.
• Place jars on elevated rack rack, the lower into canner full of boiling water. The water should cover the jars by a good 2 inches.
• Boil jars for 10 minutes.
• Remove jars from canner and place upright on a rack to cool. I used my cookie rack and it worked just fine. Let the jars cool completely before you do anything else.
• Once cooled, check your seal by pressing the middle of the lid. If it springs back, the lid is not sealed and you’ll need to freeze or refrigerate your jam. If you are going to freeze it, remove some of the jam first or you may burst your jars.  

My Made-Up Shrimp Stir-Fry

*Yes, that is my image, captured on my phone. Not sure the colors are terribly accurate, but it's the best I've got.

My Made-Up Shrimp Stir-Fry

Last night I was in a bit of a pickle. I had to be somewhere at 7 o’clock, I got home later than planned, and I didn’t know when the hubs was going to get home. Thankfully, I had a pound of frozen, deveined, easy-peel shrimp in my freezer. I set that to thaw as soon as I got in the door, and started looking for recipes. I had planned on shrimp for dinner but didn’t have much planned beyond that, and didn’t have time (or ingredients, in some cases) to make any of my more involved shrimp recipes.

So, I winged it, with great results (thank goodness)! I started out using this recipe from A Calculated Whisk, just to make sure I was on the right track. What followed was pure garlicky magic.

What you need:

1lbs raw shrimp, peeled, deveined, tail off, thawed if frozen
2 Tbsp olive oil
2+ tsp minced garlic (I didn't measure that carefully. It was about 2 tsp and it was nice and garlicky.)
Salt & pepper to taste
1/2 tsp smoked paprika or to taste
1 package frozen steamable veggies: I used cauliflower, broccoli, carrots
1/2 C water

What you do: 

• Heat oil in large skillet over medium low heat.
• Add garlic. Sautée until garlic is soft but don't brown, approx 2 minutes.
• Add shrimp, turning heat to medium. Stir to coat with oil and garlic.
• Sprinkle salt, pepper, and paprika evenly over the shrimp.
• Cover and cook for 4 minutes. Do not overcook!
• While cooking the shrimp, put your steamable veggies in the microwave on high.
• After 4 minutes, remove shrimp from skillet and set aside.
• Remove veggies from microwave and toss into skillet. Coat veggies with pan sauce.
• Add 1/2 C water to pan, stirring.
• Cook veggies in skillet, covered, for 2-3 minutes, or until tender.
• Toss shrimp back in, stir it all together while cooking for 1 more minute.

Serve hot. Sprinkle a tiny pinch of Parmesan cheese on each serving if desired.

Shrimp Creole

*Yep, those are my images... of my dinner! 

Pinterest is taking up all my time but man is it tasty! I got this recipe via Pinterest, but it's posted by Never Enough Thyme... you can see it right here. The whole reason I started keeping this blog is that I often change recipes on the fly, and unless I write down my own little variations, I forget them and have to start over every time I want to make the dish. So in a rare twist, I didn't change one single thing about this recipe. Really! I followed Never Enough Thyme's recipe to the T, with amazing results. I've never cooked shrimp creole before but I guarantee I'll do it again. 

The author over at Never Enough Thyme specifically requests that if you want to re-print her recipe that you write it out in your own words or link to the original post. Obviously, I've already done the linking part, but I really don't want to make her mad because I will probably be going back to her site for more recipes... I'd hate to get blacklisted. So I'm going to write it out my own way and hope for her blessing, but please: visit her site to see the original... let this post just be a guide to Never Enough Thyme! :)

What you need:

1 lb Raw shrimp, peeled, and deveined. I used flash-frozen peeled / deveined / tail-off. 

2 Tbsp butter

3/4 C yellow onion, chopped (not as fine as dicing, but smallish pieces mmmkay?)

3 small celery ribs, chopped (see above.)

1 green pepper, cored, seeded, chopped (see above the above)

3 garlic cloves, minced. I used 3tsp of pre-minced garlic from a jar... you use what you like.

1 28oz can of diced tomatoes with juices (Oh, a variation! The original calls for 3C of diced tomato with juices, but the cans don't come in that size so I just approximated. I left a bit of tomato in the can but not much.)

3 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1/2 tsp dried, but trust me, use fresh!)

1 bay leaf

1/2 tsp grated lemon rind (Hubby did not like the lemon. May try without it next time)

12 dashes of Tabasco sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

2 servings of rice

Garnish:
Juice of 1/2 lemon (since you're already going to use the rind, why not juice that lemon?)
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley. If you don't care about garnish, just skip this step... then you don't have to buy a whole pile of fresh parsley just for this recipe! I wouldn't repeat this next time. 

What you do:

Rinse your shrimp and set it aside. You'll want it to drain and be fairly dry when you add it at the end of the recipe. 

Boil water for your rice. You need the rice to be ready when the dish is finished cooking, so start both at the same time (or cook the rice ahead, whatever. You don't want to have to wait when the creole is done!)

Melt the butter in a large sautée pan, then add the onion. Cook until the onion is wilted, stirring often. Do not brown the onion! Add celery, green pepper, and garlic, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often, or until the veggies are softened.

Add the tomatoes, thyme, bay leaf, Tabasco, lemon rind, salt, and pepper. Simmer for 15 minutes uncovered, or until most of the liquid is gone. Mine took only about 12 minutes and then I had to cover it or I wouldn't have had any liquid left at all. So mind it carefully while its cooking! 

Add the shrimp. Stir it in well, then cover it. Set the timer for 5 minutes and DO NOT COOK FOR ANY LONGER. Seriously, don't do it. The worst thing is over-cooked shrimp. It will take no more than five minutes... trust me. 

Garnish with lemon juice, parsley, and whatever else you want. Serve over rice... because yum! 

The Prettiest little veggie dish in town

*These are my pics! 

I am a serious Pinterest addict. I know that the first step is admitting I have a problem, but whenever I do that people are like, "Oh really? Have you found any good recipes on there?" and I have to tell them YES!

Like this one by Just a Pinch Recipes. Seriously the best vegetable dish I've ever made, and the prettiest. It was a work of art to my eyes and my taste buds. The hubs and I have already talked about a bunch of ideas to vary the recipe and possibly even add a protein, but I'm not sure I want to mess with perfection.

What you need:

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp minced garlic
1 medium yellow onion
1 medium zucchini
1 medium yellow squash
1 medium potato
1 medium tomato
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp kosher salt and pepper to taste
1/4 C shredded cheese (I used a colby jack this time)
2 Tbsp shredded aged parmesan

Update 1/19/2014: I made this recipe tonight with just yellow and zucchini squash. It was delicious. You definitely can vary the veggies if you're feeling adventurous!

Update 3/6/2015: I made this last night with only zucchini squash (4 medium). I also used fresh basil (about 1.5 TBSP), and kosher salt. Finally, I used a very mild Parmesan cheese (BelGioioso, comes in a shrink-wrapped triangle wedge, tastes more like a moderately aged asiago than a parm). I didn't change the cook time or anything, just the ingredients. It turned out amazing.

What you do:

First up, preheat your oven to 400F. Take your favorite 8x8 baking dish and spray it with a non-stick, or oil it up in your preferred method. I used olive oil and a paper towel. Do your own thing.

I will admit the prep for this recipe is kind of long... especially if you are hand-cutting all your veggies. If you have a mandolin or a food processor that will slice thinly (and very consistently), by all means, go for it!

If not, cut up your tomato, squash, zucchini, and potato into thin slices. Try to make the slices of each veggie consistent with each other.

Finely dice your yellow onion. Be anal about this: make the pieces very small! It will pay off.

Heat the oil in the pan. Toss in your onion and garlic and sautée until they soften... Probably about 3-5 minutes. Don't brown the onions... just soften them.

Once they're done, spread the onion and garlic into the bottom of your 8x8. Try to keep it even so the flavors will spread out through the whole dish.

Next is the artsy part: stand all your sliced veggies up vertically in an alternating pattern. You'll probably get 3-5 rows of veggies into your dish. I used a little less tomato than the other veggies, so when I got to my last row I had to re-arrange a few slices here and there to get everything spread out evenly. The pattern itself doesn't matter, by the way... but if you keep it consistent, the flavors will all blend together in layers of awesomeness.

Once all your veggies are standing up pretty, sprinkle the salt, pepper, and basil over the whole dish.

Wrap it in foil and bake for 30 minutes.

Once the time is up, take the foil off and inhale deeply. Once you've done that a few times, sprinkle the shredded cheese on top of the dish, trying to keep as much as possible over the rows of veggies. Repeat with the parm.

Throw it back in the over for another 15-20 minutes, or until your cheese looks brown and the bottom of the dish is bubbling. After the additional 15 minutes, I turned on the broiler and left the dish in there for another 2-3 minutes just to get it really brown at the top. This is optional of course.

Pull it out and let it rest for a few minutes. This would be great as a side, but we ate it as our main course and it was delicious and very satisfying. It was sad to break into the pretty rows to serve it (and messy too; we used a large spatula to select segments of the rows to serve them!), but oh em gee was it delicious!

Simply Shrimply Spicy Pasta

*I totally did not take this picture. As you can see by the watermark, it's from Budget Bytes.

I don't get a lot of "weird" food cravings, but when I do crave something I definitely get some serious tunnel vision about it. So, when I realized I'd been thinking about almost nothing but shrimp for over a week, I decided it was time to do something about it. 

I've only ever cooked shrimp once or twice before; I'm a little intimidated by seafoods in general, as they are so easy to under or over cook. Still, I decided I needed to be brave and give it a shot, and I'm glad I did. The ever-amazing and wonderful Budget Bytes provided the base recipe (here), and I messed with it a little until it tasted the way I wanted, which was freaking delicious. 

A few notes about this recipe: Your home will likely smell like garlic shrimp for a day or two after making it. It's worth it. Also, the recipe calls for fresh parsley; so do yourself a favor and use fresh parsley. You can get by making it with dried (I did it), but the burst of fresh herbs will add a flavor dimension to this meal you just can't get with dried, IMHO. When you're picking up the parsley, get some fresh basil too. Trust me. 

What you need:
1 (15oz) can of Diced Tomatoes

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 Tbsp Butter

4 Cloves Garlic, minced (or 3-4tsp of minced from the jar... or more, if you like it zesty!)

1/2 lbs Raw Peeled and Deveined Shrimp (I bought a 3/4 lbs bag of flash-frozen raw/peeled/deveined shrimp for like $8; they only take about 10 minutes to thaw by running them under cool waater.)

1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes

1/4 tsp Chili Pepper Flakes (Hot, optional)

1/4 tsp Salt

Black Pepper to taste

A small handful of fresh Parsley (about 4T worth).*

A small handful of fresh Basil (see above)... (if you like basil. If you don't, just skip it.).*

8oz fettuccine or equivalent of your favorite long pasta (I use angel hair). 

What you do:

• Mince your garlic if you're using fresh. Tear or finely chop about 2T worth of parsley and basil and set aside. Roughly tear the rest of the parsley and basil to sprinkle on when serving. Set aside.
• Boil water for the pasta. Add the pasta. Cook the pasta. Got that? Once it's tender, drain it and set it aside. 
• Rinse your shrimp with cool water (unless you just thawed them under cool water, which would render this step unnecessary.) Be sure to drain the excess water. 
• While the pasta is cooking, add the olive oil and butter to a large skillet over medium heat. 
• Once the butter melts, throw the shrimp and minced garlic into your skillet. Sauté the shrimp and garlic for 3-5 minutes; just until the shrimp is opaque and slightly pink. Once done, remove the shrimp from the skillet and set it aside. Use tongs; you want to keep as much butter/oil/garlic in the skillet as possible.
• Pour the can of tomatoes, juices and all, into the skillet, along with your pepper flakes (both if using both), salt, and pepper. Stir to combine and then let the sauce simmer for 5-6 minutes; it should thicken slightly. 
• Once the sauce thickens, toss your shrimp back in there and simmer it all together for 1 minute. Then, add the drained pasta into the skillet as well and stir it all together. You want the sauce to coat the pasta. 
• Taste and adjust your salt/pepper if needed. Remove from heat. Sprinkle a little of the roughly torn parsley / basil over the skillet before serving, reserve a little if people want to garnish with more. 
• Serve hot with some fresh Parmesan cheese tossed on top. 

*Like I said, you can totally swing this recipe using dried herbs, as I did. I used about 1T each of dried parsley and basil in the sauce and didn't reserve any for garnish... next time, I will definitely use fresh, but in a pinch you'll be just fine.