Happy Hour Friday: Giada’s Orangecello

This has been a crazy week of long days and sleepless nights. I have cooked and eaten; recipe tested and failed; photographed and trashed. Frustration and disappointments have been plentiful this week, as has the manual labor. Spicehubby and I have been working hard on “Stage 3″ of our backyard makeover.

Irish Coffee

It’s finally Friday, so you know what that means. Everyone is gearing up for the approaching weekend. Tailgating parties, fall festivals, school carnivals, and an all-around sigh of relief that the work week is finally coming to an end.

It also means it is Happy Hour here in the land of spice. The celebratory cocktail for today utilizes the liquid goodness we made last week: Irish Cream. Add just a few ingredients you are likely to already have on hand, and voilá! A delicious after dinner/dessert cocktail.

Macaroni & Cheese Pie

I suppose I’m jumping the gun just a bit on comfort food. Summer is still playing out its last few days, but I couldn’t help firing up the oven and making one of my favorite, classic comfort foods: Mac n cheese!

There are probably as many mac n cheese recipes as there are families in the US. And I don’t think there’s ever a wrong way to combine cheese and pasta! It’s just. SO. GOOD.

Pumpkin Smoothie

It’s that time of year when something familiar is in the air… Confusion. Is it summer? The humidity is not quite as high as usual. There is a soft morning breeze that brings with it the smell of blooming sweet olive trees. And the light has a different quality about it. No, it isn’t really summer.

Is it fall? Sunny days still bring temps of 90°+. There are no changing leaves or absence of birds at my backyard feeders. And the only fall colors to be seen are from the few decorations on neighbors’ homes in anticipation of the season for which we are all so ready. No, it isn’t fall either.

These are the in between days. Pockets of pleasantness framed by the ever-clinging heat. Too warm to put away my flip-flops. Too chilly to swim. Such is the changing of the seasons in my sweet home Louisiana.

Fish Tacos

At September 20, 2011
By Spiceblogger
In Lagniappe, MexiCajun Recipes, Recipes, Seafood
2

Ever since eating the most delicious fish tacos in Mexico last month, I have been wanting to try them at home. Compadres is a small cantina on Isla Mujeres that we found our last day there. Fresh Chilean Sea Bass was perfectly seasoned and pan seared then served on a flour tortilla with pico de gallo and sliced avocado. Delicious.

I couldn’t replicate the beach or the ocean view or find fresh chilean sea bass, but I was pretty confident I could give the tacos a fair shot.

…Not bad… (licks fingers and lips) ;)

Apple Pop Tarts and a Party Invitation!

My love affair with fall continues even though the season has not officially started yet. The homemade applesauce I made a couple of weeks ago was such a hit that I decided to make more and find new uses for it (even though it is ever so scrumptious on its own!).

The title of this post is “Apple Pop Tarts,” but these could also be called apple turnovers or mini apple pies. It made me feel better to call them pop tarts because I served them for breakfast! ;) But they are just as wonderful as dessert. Simply serve warm with a scoop of ice cream and …. well, you get the picture!

Homemade Irish Cream

It’s Happy Hour Friday again, and I am so excited to share this recipe with you! It’s so easy and delicious, and because it is an eggless version it will last longer in the fridge. A wonderful homemade gift idea, I have given this as dinner party favors, hostess gifts and Christmas gifts. Add a little to your weekend coffee drizzle some over your favorite ice cream, or enjoy simply over ice.

MexiCajun Sweet Potato Fries

Now that tailgating season is upon us, I’m always looking for easy finger foods to cook and serve. My go-to recipes for these casual food fests always tend to be fat-laden cheesy dips, mini hotdogs, pizza bites or some other type of one-bite diet buster. Ugh…

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t better choices to be made and healthy alternatives to be found! Even the ever-present veggie tray gets a bad reputation for the very unhealthy accompaniments we use to try to make the veggies themselves more appealing. For this snack or side dish, no condiments are required. Sweet potatoes are sweet and delicious enough on their own, so they don’t need much to make them delectable. For these fries, I’d put away the chips and dip any day!

Decadent and Delicious: Chocolate Beet Cake

Yesterday was my very dear friend Lydia’s birthday. And in order to properly celebrate the occasion, CAKE was in order! Chocolate cake, to be exact. This recipe was suggested to me by my lovely niece, baker extraordinaire and author of TheMilkandMoon blog. She posted a fabulously inspired video of this intriguing chocolate beet cake. And then she said that it was delicious. Well, who am I to argue? The gauntlet had been thrown down, and it was up to me to run with this challenge.

Walnut-Crusted Chicken Tenders

I don’t like to fry food, as in deep fry. Ever. So when Spicehubby was craving fried chicken, I started searching for alternatives. {Confession time} It is not that we never eat fried chicken (or fried fish or fried shrimp or fried….whatever). I just don’t ever cook it myself. :) Usually we eat it at fast food places (gasp!) or other restaurants. Shameful, I know. But it’s true. :/