Watermelon Basil Lemonade

I have two favorite summertime drinks: Watermelon agua fresca and flavored lemonades. This is a bit of a cross between the two. Fresh Watermelon juice is combined with fresh squeezed lemons, and basil steeped in a simple syrup. I am trying to get away from using processed sugar so I thought this would be a good opportunity to try using something a little more natural. I made the sugar syrup with
Stevia instead of white sugar. I use Stevia in the raw which can be measured cup for cup just like sugar. If you use a pure Stevia you will most likely only need a quarter the amount of Stevia as you would using normal white sugar since the sweetness is so much more concentrated.
*This recipe makes a lot! Consider halving if you don't need a large amount.

Watermelon Basil Lemonade

1/2 large watermelon (or 1 small)
12 large lemons
2 cups Stevia in the raw
12-15 Basil Leaves
1 gallon+ Water

Combine 3 cups of the water and the stevia in a medium saucepan. Bring just to a boil and remove from the heat. Add the basil leaves to the simple syrup and submerge. Set aside to steep for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, sliced the rind off of the watermelon and cut it into large chunks.
Working in batches, purée the watermelon in a blender, adding 1-2 cups of water to each batch. Strain the juice through a large seive into a large pitcher or drink dispenser. Discard solids.
Juice the lemons and add the juice to the watermelon juice. Add in the cooled syrup to the juice along with the remaining water(I leave the basil leaves in for more flavor!)
Taste and add more water as needed.
Chill and serve over ice.

Babies First Birthday

I Really, really, really wanted to use this banner for my moms birthday party, but since that didn't work out, I saved it for my littlest's first birthday dessert table. Here are the pictures of her little party:

The Dessert Table

The Birthday Cake

(Raspberry Vanilla Butter cake with Lemon Curd filling, Raspberry Butter Cream, and a White Chocolate Fondant.)

Close up of the Ombre ruffles, Fondant lace, Fondant Pearls, and the huge Fondant Flower I had SO much fun making!

Little baby smash-cake

Cannolis (to go with the rest of our Italian meal)

Peach Lemonade

Happy Birthday Sweet Little Lady.

Chicken with Orange Tomato Cream and Pesto Vermicelli

This dish was inspired by The Cheesecake Factory's 'Chicken Bellagio'.  Always a favorite dish of mine, I wanted to re-create it but put my own spin on it. Traditionally it is a breaded chicken, served over a pesto spaghetti, drizzled with Alfredo, and topped with prosciutto and arugula.
Here is my version: I started by marinating my chicken overnight before I breaded it. MUCH more flavor is infused that way. Then I breaded it, pan-fried it, and finished it in the oven. Served atop a pesto Vermicelli(I love Costco's pre-made pesto. It's cost-effective and tasty) and then topped with a burst orange tomato cream with basil from my own little herb garden(I have living herbs! Like.....I haven't killed them yet!) this makes the perfect hearty summer meal.
I suppose you could use any color of tomato..yellow would be fun! but I love the orange. I just love anything orange. It's my happy color!

For the Breaded Chicken:

4 Chicken Breasts

1/2 bottle Lawry's Garlic Herb Marinade

1 1/2 C. Flour

2 Eggs, well beaten

1 1/2-2 Cups Italian Breadcrumbs

Kosher Salt

3 T. Butter

3 T. Olive oil

Slice each chicken breast in half horizontally, so you are left with two thin pieces of chicken from each breast. Lay the chicken pieces on a cutting board and cover them with a large piece of saran wrap. Pound each piece of chicken with a mallet until they are about 1/4" thin. Place the chicken in a gallon sized Ziploc bag and then pour the marinade over the top. Seal the bag and let the chicken marinate in the fridge overnight, or at least for 5-6 hours.

When you are ready to cook your chicken, set up your breading station. Place a bowl of flour on the counter with your bowl of eggs next to it(on the right) and your breadcrumbs next to the eggs. 

Have a large frying pan on the stove with 1 T. Butter and 1 T. oil in it set to medium/high heat.(I like to place my breaded chicken straight into the frying pan instead of breading it all and letting it sit.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Have a baking sheet topped with a cooling rack next to your frying pan so that you can transfer the browned chicken directly to it for baking.

Take one piece of chicken and let the marinade drip of for a few seconds. lay it in the flour and turn it to coat. Then dip the floured chicken into the beaten eggs. Let the excess egg drip off. Place the egg coated chicken in the breadcrumbs and toss the crumbs on the side of the bowl over the top of the chicken. Then press the crumbs firmly into the chicken. Gently shake off the excess crumb from the chicken and place directly in the frying pan. Fry over medium-medium high head until the bottom is golden brown. Flip the chicken over and fry the other side until it is also golden brown. Transfer the browned chicken to the cooling rack on the baking sheet(this will ensure that your chicken does not finish cooking in its own juices and will stay nice and crispy, not soggy!).

Finish breading and frying the remaining chicken pieces(I do several at once and bread a chicken piece while another is frying).

Once your chicken is all fried, placed the baking sheet in the oven and finish cooking for another 10-15 minutes.

While the chicken is cooking, cook your pasta and make your cream sauce.

For the Pesto Vermicelli:

1 LB. Vermicelli

1/2-1 cup Pesto Sauce

Set a large pot of water to boil. Add 2 T. Olive oil and 1 T. kosher salt to the pasta water. When it has reached a rolling boil, add the dry pasta to the water and stir once. Let the pasta boil for 6-7 minutes just until al-dente. Drain the water from the pasta and place back in the pot. Add the pesto to the pasta and toss to coat. Add more or less pesto depending on your preference.

Serve hot.

For the Orange Tomato Basil Cream Sauce:

4 T. Olive oil

2 Cups Orange cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

1 T. Chopped Garlic

2 C. Heavy Cream

Kosher salt, to taste

Fresh Ground Pepper, to taste

5-6 Fresh Basil leaves, chopped

Heat a large frying pan to medium/high heat. Pour in the olive oil. When oil is hot, add in the garlic and cherry tomatoes. Saute the tomatoes for 5-6 minutes, until they have burst and started to break down and the garlic has started to caramelize. Pour in the cream and let it boil until it has reduced and is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the fresh basil.

Serve atop the breaded chicken.

Dinner Party for the Birthday Baby!

I love summer birthdays! Birthdays are great on their own, but when you can celebrate that Birthday outside it's even better. And let me tell you, I've been waiting forever to have a family member with a summer birthday, just so I can throw party outside. I have been the only summer birthday for years, but last year I was blessed with a little Love bug and I have been looking forward to celebrating her birthday ever since.

Our dinner table....good thing it's difficult to see all the miss-matched chairs!

I found these cute little lanterns at Jo-Ann's(70%off!)

Breaded Chicken with Orange Tomato Basil Cream and Pesto Vermicelli 

Peach Lemonade

Baby Green Salad with Raspberries, Brie, and Candied Almonds

Fresh Raspberry Vinaigrette 

Breaded Chicken

Orange Tomato Basil Cream Sauce

I thawed Rhodes rolls and tied them in knots to make these easy rolls.

I think the Birthday Girl was satisfied!

(click on food titles under each picture to be taken to the recipe).

Pinwheel Party

 Welcome to my table scape of shattered dreams. I had such big plans for my Mom's 50th birthday party. I made a big pinwheel backdrop to hang above my white console table which would have held all my desserts and a cute banner underneath that. I had giant pinwheels I had made to stick in the grass on both sides of the dessert table.

Unfortunately I hadn't counted on the dirt being rock hard or the massive winds that ripped down my back drop each time we tried to hang it. So sad. Here is how it turned out anyway:

 Pinwheel Birthday Cake

 Mini Carrot Cakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.

 I found these cute mini forks at Hobby Lobby.

Hand Painted fondant wafers to top the cupcakes.

 Mint Chocolate Cake Pops

I So wish this would have worked out. This bent in half mess of paper would have been really cute hanging above my white dessert table but the wind kept ripping it down.

Please notice the banner that was meant to hang under the desserts. It was supposed to read 'CELEBRATE', but we lost the R somewhere along the way and so now it just says 'CELEBATE'.

Epic Fail.

Baby Strawberry Shortcakes

 Aren't these darling? I feel like such a lady when I have these on my plate. Throw in a cup of tea and call me Kate Middleton. Ha. Just kidding. But really, these are such a dainty little dessert, great for dessert tables or tea parties. I made these for my little sister's bridal shower and they were a hit. And their tiny size is great when you have many other desserts to choose from.

The only problem was that that evening I found myself eating about 10 mini shortcakes clumped together on a plate topped with a tower of strawberries and whipped cream.

Note to self: Mini shortcakes are for parties and not for an 11 pm sugar-fest. I should have just made myself one big shortcake when I was baking.

 

Ingredients: 

 

• 2 C. All-purpose Flour
• ¼ C. Granulated Sugar, divided
• 1 T. baking powder
• ½ t. salt
• ½ C. (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cubed
• 2/3 C. Heavy Cream or Half and Half
• 1½ C. Sweetened whipped cream(Stabilized works well for this dessert)
•  12 Large Strawberries
• Powdered Sugar, for dusting

 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat mats.
2. Place flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, and salt in food processor and pulse a few times to mix.
3. With the processor running, Drop in the cubed butter piece by piece and process until just combined and forming small crumbs.
4. Drizzle the cream into processor through top while processor is running and process until dough JUST comes together.
5. Place dough on floured work surface and pat dough to form a rectangle about 1-inch in thickness.
6. Cut dough into rounds about 1-inch in diameter with a cookie cutter. Reform dough as necessary with scraps being careful not to overwork dough and re-cut into rounds.
7. Place cut dough onto prepared baking sheet. Bake shortcakes for about 8-12 minutes or until tops are just turning slightly brown. Cool on a wire rack. While the cakes are baking, cut both ends off of each strawberry. Slice each trimmed strawberry horizontally into 3 slices and place in a bowl. Sprinkle the remaining 2 T. sugar over the strawberries and toss to coat. Set aside.
8. To assemble, cut shortcakes in half horizontally. Pipe a dollop of whipped cream onto bottom round, top with a strawberry slice, pipe with one more mound of whipped cream and cover with the shortcake top. Dust powdered sugar over the tops before serving.

Makes about 36 baby shortcakes.

 Oh, and maybe form yourself one larger shortcake before you bake the dough. It may come in handy.

Salted Caramel Whoopie Pies

I've Moved! Click here to view this post.