It Inspired Me

I bought a yellow melon that tasted similar to cantaloupe but no one in my house wanted to eat it so I decided to make a smoothie with it.  I tried this and it was a HIT.  Hope you enjoy it as much as we did. 1/2 melon 2 cups straberries 2 T sugar 1/4 c milk (unless melon is NOT frozen, then leave this out) Mix all and enjoy!

Ingredients 12 fresh spearmint leaves 1/2 lime 2 tablespoons simple syrup (equal amounts sugar and water heated until sugar dissolves, cooled) or 4 teaspoons sugar Ice 1 1/2 ounces light rum (recommended: Bacardi) Club soda Lime wedge and mint sprig, for garnish Directions In a tall glass, muddle or mash together the mint leaves and lime. Add the simple syrup or sugar and fill the glass with ice. Add the rum and top with club soda, stir well. Garnish with a lime wedge and a sprig of mint. This recipe was provided by professional chefs and has been scaled down from a bulk recipe provided by a restaurant. The Food Network Kitchens chefs have not tested this recipe, in the proportions indicated, and therefore, we cannot make any representation as to the results.

I need to preface this with two things.  First, I didn't have vanilla yogurt so perused reviews for alternatives.  I found a few different reviews who had other suggestions.  So, I altered my recipe to eliminate the yogurt.   Let me just do this...here's the original recipe:  1 banana, cut in chunks 1 cup grapes 1 (6 ounce) tub vanilla yogurt 1/2 apple, cored and chopped 1 1/2 cups fresh spinach leaves  Place the banana, grapes, yogurt, apple and spinach into a blender. Cover, and blend until smooth, stopping frequently to push down anything stuck to the sides. Pour into glasses and serve. Here's what I made: 1 banana 1 cup red grapes 1 cup orange juice 1/2 apple, peeled and cored 1-1/2 cup fresh spinach leaves 1/4 cup sugar Mix well. I have to admit that I continued to tinker with the concoction, but feel it went downhill after the above mixture.  Next time I wouldn't listen to my child who said it needed something, and would leave...

Biscuit Strawberry Shortcake This is a perfect finish to any meal. I make the best out of fresh berries with this dessert.—Stephanie Moon, Boise, Idaho. 8 ServingsPrep/Total Time: 30 min. Ingredients 2 cups all-purpose flour 3 tablespoons sugar, divided 1 tablespoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup cold butter 1 cup milk 2 pints strawberries, sliced 1 tablespoon orange juice 1-1/2 cups whipped topping In a large bowl, combine flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Gradually stir in milk until a soft dough forms. Drop the dough by heaping tablespoonfuls into eight mounds on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake at 425° for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack. Meanwhile, place strawberries, orange juice and remaining sugar in a bowl; toss gently. Split shortcakes in half horizontally. Place bottom halves on serving plates; top with whipped topping and strawberries. Replace shortcake to...

Delicious!  Jean made this at our recent visit. It looked simple and the result was really good.  It's a keeper for sure. 1 bunch thin asparagus spears, trimmed 3 tablespoons olive oil 1 1/2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese (optional) 1 clove garlic, minced (optional) 1 teaspoon sea salt 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 tablespoon lemon juice (optional) DIRECTIONS: 1. Preheat an oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). 2. Place the asparagus into a mixing bowl, and drizzle with the olive oil. Toss to coat the spears, then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, garlic, salt, and pepper. Arrange the asparagus onto a baking sheet in a single layer. 3. Bake in the preheated oven until just tender, 12 to 15 minutes depending on thickness. Sprinkle with lemon juice just before serving.

I was looking to try some gluten free cookies and came upon this recipe.  As I am still savoring the taste from my "sample", I can attest these turned out good.  The entire batch only made one tray of cookies, but they were delicious.  The recipe called for one cup of sugar.  Since my peanut butter was sweetened enough, I decreased the amt of sugar down to 1/2 cup.  1 cup natural peanut butter 1/2 cup sugar 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1 large egg, lightly beaten Coarse sea salt, for sprinkling Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and place the racks in the upper and lower third of the oven. In a medium bowl, mix the peanut butter, sugar, vanilla and egg until well combined. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the mixture about 1 inch apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Flatten the mounds with the tines of a fork, making a crosshatch pattern on the cookies. Sprinkle coarse salt on top of the cookies. Bake until golden around the edges, about 10 m...

I've been wanting to make peanut butter for quite some time now.  I think my desire started when seeing the machine in the isle at Whole Foods.  After seeing a link to this post, I had to try it.  After making it I realize you really don't need a recipe.  But, I have to give a shout out to Avery at Averie Cooks.  She has taken pics along the entire process.  If I had not read her step by step description of how the butter will look, I would have thrown in the towel and marked it as a kitchen fail.  My next step is to experiment with the nuts used and additives.  It was simple and tasty.  Check out the process here: http://www.averiecooks.com/2012/07/homemade-peanut-butter.html