I know that summer has officially begun when the I hear the sounds of the ice cream truck making it's rounds through my neighborhood.🍦 I can't speak for all ice cream truck vendors but the one that makes frequent appearances on my street sells all the "old school" classic frozen treats plus boozy gelato and doggie ice cream. 🐶 Ice cream trucks have changed since I was a kid. No more looking for a dollar before running out the door to flag down the driver.💵 The ice cream trucks of 2023 accept Venmo, cash app and zelle. 🤣 Maybe I'm just nostalgic but does anyone else think that the some of the appeal to the ice cream truck adventure was springing into action to find loose change in the sofa at the first sound of that universally recognizable music? There's no doubt that the iconic ice cream truck is a symbol of summer. But let's not forget the other classic treats that represent all the things we love about summer - strawberry shortcake, blueberry pie, key lime pie and cobblers loaded with fresh summer peaches. 🍓🫐🍋🍑 There's just something special about baking with the ripest, sweetest summer fruit. One of my personal favorite treats to kick off the season has always been strawberry shortcake. If you are a fan, like me, you need to give these Drop Biscuit Shortcakes a try. They're even more delicious than they look - trust me. Drop Biscuit Strawberry Shortcake Biscuits 1 3/4 cups flour 4 teaspoons baking powder 1 Tablespoon raw sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1/2 cup butter, frozen 3/4 cup whole milk Strawberries 1 pound fresh strawberries, sliced thin 2 Tablespoons sugar 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice Whipped Cream 1 cup heavy cream 1/4 cup powdered sugar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Place a biscuit on each plate, top with 1/3 cup strawberries and a dollop of whipped cream. 😋
Ciao!
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A couple of weeks ago, my little town hosted a live wrestling event. It was so much fun and I laughed harder that night than I had in a really long time.🤣 Why is it that it's hard to look away when we anticipate something disastrous is about to happen?🤪 I'm not sure what this says about me, but I fully enjoyed watching live Luchador wrestling on Friday night in downtown Monroe. 🤼♂️ I, in no way, claim to be an expert on wrestling skills but in my opinion, the wrestlers didn't seem to be using a lot of wrestling techniques that night. There were some great actors and some not so great (but hilarious) actors but all of the participants dressed the part of a professional wrestler. 😬😅 It's not a coincidence that I chose to post pictures of Luchador wrestling on by blog post about grilled mussels.💪🏻 What better way to highlight my mussels recipe than with men in stretchy pants, showing off their muscles? 🤣 It's no secret that I love mussels (the edible kind 🤣) but I've always prepared them in relatively the same way. I like them steamed in a pan with some combination of fresh herbs, lemons, wine and butter. When I saw this new recipe for grilled mussels - I was super excited about finding a new way to prepare my favorite seafood dish. Grilled Mussels 8 Tablespoons butter 4 cloves garlic, minced 2 Tablespoons fresh dill, chopped 1 Tablespoon lemon juice 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes 4 pounds mussels, scrubbed
Drizzle 1/4 cup melted butter over mussels. Serve remaining butter beside dish.
Hope you enjoy these as much as I did. Ciao! Are you more of a glamper or a camper?🤣 I'll let you guess which I prefer but I will tell you that I like to have a bed to sleep in instead of the ground.😅 (I also appreciate the convenience of a bathroom.) Don't get me wrong - there are some aspects of camping that I really enjoy. The hiking - the outdoors - the campfires - the food.🏕️ Doesn't everyone love s'mores?😅 Here are a few pictures from a hike that we took in Gatlinburg with friends, a few weeks ago. It kind of looks like I'm a camper - doesn't it?🤪 We played the part of hikers/campers during the day but... we retreated back to our comfy treehouse rental beds and kitchen after our day of hiking adventures. 😅 We didn't get the chance to do any outdoor cooking on this trip but it's not because I don't enjoy cooking outdoors. Why does all food taste better when it's cooked outside, on a fire, in the woods? Does it really have better flavor or is it just the experience of consuming it al fresco? I think we can all agree that everything tastes better when it's cooked over a campfire. 🌽🌭🍔🥩🍗 Striking the delicate balance between making a delicious camping meal in the woods and preparing something that's practical is not always easy. Let's face it - it's not easy to pack all of the necessary ingredients, condiments, tools and equiptment that it takes to make hamburgers over the fire. Am I the only person who doesn't ever remember to pack a spatula? I'm pretty sure that you don't want to hear any camping tips from me but I can give you a super easy campfire meal idea. These Shrimp Boil Foil Packets can be assembled at home, kept in a cooler and put right on a grate over a campfire to cook. To make things even easier, open them up and enjoy it right out of the foil "bowl". #nospatulaneeded🤪 I can't think of anything easier than these self contained meals and ... they're delicious. Oh, and if you're not a camper - you can cook them on the grill or even in an oven. Grilled Shrimp Boil Foil Packets 1 pound small red potatoes 10 Tablespoons butter 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 1 1/2 pounds shrimp, peeled 3 ears corn, husked 8 ounces chicken sausage, sliced 1/2" thick 2 Tablespoons Old Bay seasoning 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 Tablespoon lemon juice 2 Tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
Carefully open packets and sprinkle with fresh parsley. Ciao!
If you like Mexican food - you need to come to visit my little Georgia town. We have an abundance of Mexican restaurants. There's so many that you could eat at a different Mexican restaurant every night for a week and still not hit them all. 🌮 Don't get me wrong - I love participating in taco Tuesday as often as possible but I also wouldn't mind having a decent Italian or Thai restaurant in town. Apparently, I'm not the only person who thinks that these 16 square miles in central Georgia is saturated with nachos and margaritas. One of the largest restaurants in town, specializing in gourmet street tacos, has recently made the decision to move away from Mexican food and transition to a new "Southern Style" menu. Why compete in the super competitive Mexican food market when you could offer the only upscale Southern cuisine in town? The coolest part of the menu transition is that the restaurant is asking locals to come and sample the new food and provide feedback. Sign me up for that!! 🤣 I was able to secure a couple of tickets to a Tuesday night tasting a couple of weeks ago. My sweet husband and I were able to try all of this amazing food. The transition to the new Southern style menu will take a few months but I'm excited about the prospects. I thoroughly enjoyed all of the food samples that I ate that night but... I did miss out on taco Tuesday.😅 So this week, I'm not missing out on our weekly Mexican feast. This week, I'm making taco rice. It's amazing and delicious. Taco Rice 2 cups sushi rice 3 1/2 cups water 2 Tablespoons canola oil 1 onion, chopped 1 pound ground turkey 1 ounce taco seasoning 2 Tablespoons ketchup 2 Tablespoons mirin 2 Tablespoons soy sauce 1 teaspoon instant dashi (I couldn't find this in the grocery store so I just left it out.) 1 cup Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded 2 cups shredded lettuce 1 avocado, sliced 1/2 cup salsa lime wedges
Top with cheese, lettuce, avocado, salsa and lime wedges.
Ciao! Our 30th wedding anniversary is coming up this Fall so we're planning a fun trip to celebrate. I've been doing a lot of the planning and organizing of the vacation, basically because I love playing travel agent.🛫 In my next life - I'm going to be a travel agent because I actually love the whole process of vacation planning. I love looking at places to visit, planning adventures, choosing places to stay and most importantly, picking the food to eat while we're there.🤣 Choosing hotels and airbnb's hasn't always been something that I was always adept at though. Thankfully, my super flexible and adaptable husband has always just rolled with it when I've chosen a place to stay that didn't exactly meet our expectations. Luckily, he still lets me chose our vacation accommodations - and I've gotten better at it.😂 While doing my research for our Fall anniversary trip, I stumbled on my dream rental space. The cutest little bakery hotel!! A BAKERY HOTEL!!! 😍 A hotel with an actual bakery just a single staircase below the sweetest little, rentable room. 😅 It's pretty much my dream to be woken up by the smell of freshly baked bread every morning. As if that wasn't enough, the bakery hotel also an in house bread maker who invites guest to participate in workshops.🥖 Vacation bakeries are my weakness. It's a good thing that I don't live somewhere that requires me to walk past patisseries on a daily basis because I have absolutely zero will power to pass by the shops with that intoxicating smell, without stepping in. I'm pretty sure that I've literally drooled over the sweet confections in bakery cases. 🤣 Any time after noon and I will go for the chocolate bakery treats. If it's early in the morning, it's the buttery, crispy, sugar sprinkled pastry topped with fruit in a bakery draws my attention immediately. Is there anything better than a cream cheese filled pastry? The jury's still out on whether or not is was a good decision for me to figure out how to make these at home, for myself. 🤪 Cream Cheese Breakfast Pastries 6 ounces cream cheese, at room temp 2 Tablespoons sugar 2 teaspoons lemon juice 1 teaspoon lemon zest 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 (17.3-oz.) package frozen puff pastry (2 sheets), thawed 1 1/2 cups fruit 1 large egg Sanding sugar
Bake 15-18 minutes at 400. Ciao!
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