Betty's Momtini

This cocktail was inspired by my Dad who once made himself a vodka and Gatorade to "hydrate" after a tennis match. Why? Because my Dad is smart, and works with his resources. Similarly, the situation may present itself, say, where I have vodka, but no cranberry juice, but am desperately in need of a martini. And that's precisely why the Momtini was created - so that I could work within my resources.

Take 1.5 oz of vodka and 2.5 oz of "Roarin' Waters" Capri Sun. I like the kiwi strawberry flavor, but hey, that's just me (and baby Focker, of course). Pour this mixture over ice in a cocktail shaker to chill and shake vigorously. Meanwhile, rim a martini glass with sugar. Then pour the vodka mixture into the glass, and garnish with a strawberry if you happen to have one. If not, improvise, because that's what this cocktail is clearly about.

The verdict? It's no Cosmo or Pomtini, but it's not bad either, and it's a nice alternative to the somewhat pricey Rimmers mixers, especially if you are out of those...but Publix just had a 3 for $5 sale on Capri Sun!

Giada's Cocktail Creation: Redneck Sangria

No pictures of this one but it is dead easy to make!

Ingredients:
1 bottle cheap red wine
1 bottle Mountain Dew
1 bottle apple juice

Pour wine into pitcher. Use about 1/2 as much Mountain Dew and apple juice as wine. If desired, garnish with some canned peaches and serve over ice. Not the best sangria I ever made but it was definitely drinkable!

June Challenge Results: Made From Scratch

This month, I read Sandra Lee’s “Made From Scratch: A Memoir.” I have never watched Sandra Lee’s show on the Food Network and have never been particularly interested in her, but I admit, like everyone else in the Cook Club, she intrigued me at the South Beach Festival, and now she’s on my radar screen. So, I came across her memoir and decided to read it for the June Challenge. I was amazed to find out that Sandra’s childhood included a severely dysfunctional family and abuse, forcing her to grow up well before her time to take care of five brothers and sisters. She is entirely self-made and very dedicated to her craft: making life easier for busy women with the “semi-homemade” concept. As a working mom, I can certainly appreciate the concept of combining fresh and package foods to create a delicious, healthy, and quick meal for my family. But while I came away from Sandra’s story with a respect for her that I didn’t have before, I found the writing bland and a lot of the details lacking. The book was just semi-ok for me.

I do have two of her cookbooks, and was inspired to break one out to try a new recipe. I chose “Crock-Pot Beer Cheese Chicken” to try. The recipe follows:

1 onion, diced large
1 cup frozen green pepper, diced (I used once fresh pepper)
16 oz bag of diced red potatoes (I used wedges from the refrigerator section)
Garlic Salt
Pepper
1 can of Campbell’s condensed cheese soup
¾ cup Lager beer
4 chicken breast halves
3/4 cup bacon pieces

Combine onion, pepper and potatoes in the bottom of your crock-pot. Season both sides of chicken with the garlic salt and pepper, then lay chicken over vegetables. Combine beer, bacon and cheese soup in a small bowl, then pour over the chicken. Cook on low 3 ½ to 4 ½ hours.

My Rating:
I had high hopes for this recipe, but it was just ok for me. The chicken was very tender but the sauce was too thin for me, and not as flavorful as I hoped. Mr. Focker said he liked it, and maybe with a few tweaks, I could be more into it. Anothe semi-ok result!

Giada's June Challenge Revealed

Time to throw down the June challenge y'all! Since summer is getting into full swing and temperatures are rising, I challenge you to cool yourself down with a new summer cocktail creation. That's right, go ahead and invent a new refreshing alcoholic beverage that you would be brave enough to serve to summer guests and then share the recipe here. Bonus points for creative names and/or garnishes!

Happy drinking!
Giada

Betty's June Challenge

School is out, summer reading lists are in, and those temperatures are starting to climb. So, this month, hang up your apron, get out of the kitchen, and get to the lake, pool or beach with a good book. Your challenge this month is to read the memoir, biography, or autobiography of someone with a culinary presence, and share your review with us. Ruth Reichl is a great place to start if you haven’t read any of her books, or pick up Julie Powell’s 2nd book, “Cleaving.” Want to read “My Life in France” but haven’t gotten to it yet? No time like the present! “Confections of a Closet Master Baker” made me want to bake, and Kathleen Flinn’s “The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry” was mouthwatering. Dig up a culinary inspired title all on your own, or check out one of these. If you are so inspired, kick up the challenge a notch and make a recipe of your choosing inspired by your novel and tell us about that, too. Enjoy!

Final May Results from Betty

I would have put up this post last night, had I realized it was May 31, but somehow, I was in a Memorial Day weekend enduced fog! How is it June 1 already? Time for Betty and Giada to roll out some new June challenges!

Before I get to that, I need to wrap up May. I decided to make a Cooking Light Recipe from my 5 Ingredient, 15 Minute cook book, and though my hopes were high, the recipe was kind of a bust, until you get to the nutritional info.

Athenian Flounder:

2 flounder fillets ($6.99 for 2 servings of frozen fillets)

Greek Seasoning (pantry staple)

1/2 a package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry ($0.75 for the whole box)

1 plum tomatoes, diced ($0.41)

1/2 package of feta cheese ($2.29 for the whole package)

1 cup Quinoa (7.5 servings in a whole box for $5.39)

Directions:

Coat the flounder in the Greek seasoning, then lightly saute the flounder fillets in a non-stick pan coated with cooking spray, turning once. Once the fillets are cooked through, top with the spinach, tomato and feta and turn off the heat. Serve with a side of Quinoa cooked according to the package directions.

This recipe was super healthy with the lean fish, spinach, and the 100% whole grain Quinoa, but it was a little lacking in flavor for me. The only reason I would make it again? The nutrition info. The flounder had 147 calories per serving and 3.1 fat grams with 25.3 grams of protein. The Quinoa added another 172 calories, 2.8 fat grams, and 6 grams of protein. So yeah, a whole dinner for under 325 calories and 6 grams of fat? I can give up a wee bit of flavor for a meal with those stats.

If I were to adapt this recipe to serve our family of 3, all I would need to do is buy a bag of Goldfish crackers and add $1.66 to the cost of the meal. Avery doesn't exactly try a lot of new things these days!

Giada's Cake Challenge Results

Well I got my cake challenge completed just under the wire last night. Finished frosting it at about 11:15pm. It is admittedly not my best effort in the kitchen but not too shabby considering the amount of entertaining our family has done in the last couple of weeks. I was kind of caked out after two recent birthdays at our house so it took me a while to gear up for this challenge. I chose to bake a carrot cake because it is wholesome, but also a little spicy. Just like me!

I used Williams Sonoma's recipe and while it wasn't bad, I will probably try a different one next time. I was not a fan of the frosting, which proved to be a little too cream cheesy for me, even after adding about half a box of powdered sugar to try and even it out a bit. I don't know, maybe the cake would have been better if I had plumped the raisins and toasted the walnuts per the recipe directions, but seriously, who has time to plump raisins? I am usually lucky if I get a shower everyday, so consider a cake with any kind of raisins a success. I did zest an orange for this so it felt fancy enough at that point. It turned out edible and thus went to work with my husband today so we don't eat the whole thing!

Looking forward to see what the June challenges have in store for us, cooking friends! Until then...