Cherry Gin Slushies

A few weeks ago in my inaugural This and That post I mentioned these  gin slushies by Joy the Baker. As soon as I laid eyes on those bright red beauties I knew I had to make them.

What held me back? Well I lacked other gin drinking adults to share with! My parents have come to visit and the opportunity to make a big batch cocktail arose, it was slushie time.

Joy uses fresh raspberries, frozen in her recipe. Poking around my fridge, I saw I had all ingredients minus the raspberries, and had really zero desire to leave my house again. But, there were frozen organic cherries in the freezer. Not remembering why I originally purchased them, they fit the bill.  All was well! Cherries are red, and delicious and probably just fine with gin. So I went for it.

Using Joy’s recipe as my guide, I subbed cherries for raspberries, Fresca for seltzer, and simple syrup for sugar. If you like things a little less sweet you could probably forgo the simple syrup. But I was going for sugar rush slush.

Now I am ruined forever and only want to drink gin in those slushies. Icy and refreshing. Sweet, but not saccharine with a hint of herb from the gin. Heaven. You can omit the gin and up the Fresca to make these kid friendly!

• Servings: 4-6 servings
• Time: 10 minutes
• Difficulty: Easy
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Icy cold, sweet, and a little boozy, these slushies are the perfect treat for adults at a backyard bbq during the dog days of summer.

Inspired by: Joy the Baker

Ingredients

• 1 cup of ice
• 10 ounces frozen cherries
• 1/3 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
• 1 cup Fresca
• 1/2 cup gin (or more soda if making these non-alcoholic)
• 1/4 cup simple syrup (omit if making non-alcoholic version)(also, you could use less, I like them sweet)

Directions

Add ice, frozen cherries, lime juice, soda, gin and simple syrup to blender. Blend until it reaches a nice slushie consistency. Pour and serve. If you only pour one or two at a time, you can add more ice and re-blend what is left in the blender to freshen what it left in the blender before serving.

 

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Smoked Gouda Pimento Cheese

I went to Raleigh this weekend and stayed with my good friend Ashley who was an amazing host. In addition to just being an awesome person, she made my son and I breakfast every morning. What did she make you ask? Fried Egg Sandwiches with SMOKED GOUDA PIMENTO CHEESE. It was transcendent. Unfortunately she bought it at a grocery store that does not exist where I live and that left me one option.  Make it myself.

And I nailed it.

Pimento Cheese might sound kind of gross if you haven’t heard of it before. I know when my college roommate introduced me to it I was a little skeptical. Cheese, pimentos and mayonnaise? Who thinks “You know what would go great with this cheese? Mayonnaise”. The South. That’s who. And I am so glad.

Thinking about it, its not a huge leap when you consider most chip dips are mayonnaise+other ingredients, often cheese. So not that crazy.

No matter how you look at it, this is mind blowing stuff. Smokey, salty and creamy. Unapologetically ugly, it sings on a cracker or as my current favorite, spread on a fried egg sandwich. I tried to take pictures of this morning’s breakfast sammich, but the combination of terrible photography skills, rain clouds, and my need to eat it NOW means no pictures today.

You’ll just have to make some to see for yourself!

What is your favorite breakfast food?

 

• Servings: Pimento Cheese-many servings
• Time: 15 minutes
• Difficulty: Easy
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Inspired by my good friend Ashley and-This recipe 

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups smoked gouda, shredded
• 1 cup extra sharp cheddar cheese (definitely shred your own at home, the pre-shredded kind is coated in a powder to prevent clumping, which will prevent it from properly combining in this recipe)
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 6 oz pimento, drained and chopped
• black pepper to taste
• dash Worcestershire sauce

Directions

Mix softened cream cheese and mayonnaise in the bowl of a counter top mixer or large bowl. Add onion powder and garlic powder. Add shredded cheeses and pimento. Add dash Worcestershire. Taste and season with black pepper. Serve with crunchy crackers, spread on an english muffin with an egg, on a spoon directly to your mouth, grilled cheese ect..

 

 

 

 

 

Banana “Brownies”-Actually trying recipes I pin on Pinterest

First things first, this is really more of a snack cake than a brownie to me. I’m a brownie purist, and brownies = chocolate in my book. And a chewy, fudgy texture.

That said, these were fairly tasty. One of the reviews said they are more like banana bread with frosting, and I would say that is pretty accurate. Browned butter frosting to be precise.

I have actually baked these before, about 5 years ago. The 5 bananas rapidly turning brown on my counter inspired me to try them again. That and the the aforementioned browned butter frosting. I’m really into brown butter frosting these days. Frost yourself. Or your baked good rather.

Anyway, this recipe makes a huge pan, perfect for a summer BBQ. The frosting is really rich, so a small square more than satisfies even the sweetest of teeth. I can put away some sugar and one of these is more than enough for me.

 

The next time you have some bananas that are rapidly browning, try these “brownies” instead of your regular banana bread. If banana bread isn’t your thing, this Real Deal Banana Pudding is always a huge crowd pleaser.

Do you like banana bread/pudding? Weigh in down in the comments below!

 

• Servings: 20 slices
• Time: 1 hour
• Difficulty: Easy
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Inspired by Banana Brownies

Ingredients

Brownies/Cake

• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup greek yogurt ( the original recipe calls for sour cream, I had greek yogurt in my house so I used that)
• 1/2 cup softened butter (one stick)
• 2 eggs
• 4 bananas, smashed
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Frosting

This is their recipe as written, I started with the same amount of butter and then just added butter,  powdered sugar and vanilla until I was happy. Don’t be like me. Follow the recipe. My frosting is a bit too sweet.

• 1/2 cup butter (one stick)
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons milk

Directions

Pre-heat oven 375°F. The original instructions say to use a 15×10 jelly roll pan, I used a half sheet pan. Google tells me these are similar but not the same. I put my silpat on it, but you can use parchment paper or flour and grease it.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, or a large bowl, cream butter, sugar, greek yogurt and eggs until combined. Add vanilla extract and mashed bananas. Once incorporated, add flour, baking soda. Stir to combine. Pour batter onto pan and bake for 20-25 minutes, turning the pan 180° half way through.

To make the glaze, heat the butter in a medium pot for about 10 minutes, until it turns a nice amber color and is fragrant. Add powdered sugar, and mix. It will be quite thick. Add vanilla and milk until a thick but pour able consistency is achieved. Spread over cake while the cake is still warm. Allow to cool fully before eating.

Blueberry Scones with Browned Butter Glaze

A few weeks ago I went to a tea room and had tea so delcious I almost wanted to become a tea drinker. Almost. What really left an impression on me were the scones. So much so, that as I ate a leftover scone I took home I felt the need to make myself a video review of said scone.

I stumbled upon the video and thanked one glass of wine Lauren for thinking so clearly. Because I DID love that scone and needed to recreate it. So here we are. 

Dense and slightly crumbly, dotted with sweet blueberries, I kind of couldn’t stop eating them. The scones from the tea room had demerara sugar on top of them, but I wanted something else (slash forgot to buy some).

Cue the browned butter glaze. I feel like browned butter had a huge moment in the food world a few years ago, and for good reason. Browning the butter in a pan brings a warm, nutty flavor to the butter that is highly addicting. Forgetting the sugar was the best thing that could have happened to these scones. Sometimes forgetting your grocery list can be a good thing!

These warm, crumbly, slightly sweet scones topped with a rich, buttery glaze are perfect for brunch at home. As written, this recipe makes 8 HUGE scones. Like the size of my hand. In the future I think I will make two disks with the dough to make 16 little scones verses 8 GIANT scones.

• Servings: 8 HUGE scones
• Time: 1 hour
• Difficulty: Easy
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Crumbly scones, with bursts of blueberries topped with a rich browned butter glaze. Perfect for a weekend brunch or eating by yourself in two days flat.

Inspired by Bon Appetit’s Cream Scones

Ingredients

For Scones

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup salted butter (1 stick), cut into chunks
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 cup blueberries (I used frozen)

For Browned Butter Glaze

• 1/2 cup salted butter (1 stick)
• 3/4 cups powdered sugar
• whole milk to thin to desired consistency, I used about 2 tablespoons

Directions

Pre-heat your oven to 375°F. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and flour. Whisk to combine. Throw butter into the bowl and cut into the flour, using either a pastry cutter or two knives until only small pea sized pieces remain. Make a well in the center of the mixture and add your egg and 1 and 1/4 cup of the heavy cream. Reserve 1/4 cup cream for brushing over scones.  Slowly mix dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in the center until a loose dough forms. From there, I just used my hands to gently bring the dough together in the bowl into a  firm disk shape.

Then transfer the disk to a piece of parchment paper and cut into 8 triangles. Transfer scones to a pan lined with a silpat mat or parchment paper, evenly spaced about 1 inch apart. These guys rise quite a bit. Brush with remaining cream and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes.

10 minutes before your scones are done, make your glaze. Place butter in a pan over low heat and melt. Once melted, continue to gently heat. occasionally stirring, until it turns a color similar to a light maple syrup. Add the powdered sugar and mix with a spatula. This should make a thick paste. Thin with whole milk until glaze reached your desired consistency. At this point your scones should be done. Pour glaze over your scones. Allow to sit for a second to let the glaze set, then eat.