Las Paletas Con Mi Amiga

{ Las Paletas is a Mexican ice pop made with whole fruit & the freshest ingredients in flavors you won't normally find in the frozen food aisle. Click on the link above to see how they'll be featured on Food Network this month. }

In late May I was blessed to be able to visit Kacey of Chronicles of a Mommy. We had been corresponding, exchanging surprises in the mail & talking for about 1 1/2 years & it all started through blogging. 

This was special. 

We have Angie & Wordful Wednesdays to thank, for that is where we started seeing one another's blog. I am so happy I met this lady for she has enriched my life far more than I ever expected. It just goes to show that a woman doesn't need a certain number of friends, she just needs the right kind. 

Visiting with Kacey was:

waking up with family

like a picnic in the park

easy like Sunday morning { before church }

And meeting Kacey was especially like....

making a friend for the rest of my life!

Kacey took me to a little hot spot for something cool to snack on after lunch. It was Las Paletas, a popular place in the art deco section of Nashville where you can get ice pops made with the freshest ingredients with the coolest combinations of flavors.


Right away I knew I wanted the cucumber chili ice pop. It was amazing!!!!!! Talk about refreshing but with a bit of heat, something you wouldn't normally expect in an ice pop & exactly why I dig it.

So as soon as I got home I started researching on how to make my own at home. While there are many recipes out there I came up with my own variation & loved it. Oh how it brought back so many sweet & cool memories. 

CUCUMBER CHILI LAS PALETAS

{ Printable Recipe Here }

2 cucumbers plus an additional half cucumber, divided

1/8 cup lime juice

1/4 cup agave syrup

1/4 - 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Dash or 2 of crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp salt

Place empty ice pop molds in the freezer to chill. Dice 2 cucumbers with skin on into 1 inch pieces. Puree in food processor or blender until smooth. Strain into a medium bowl through a fine mesh strainer, pushing out the juice. You will have about 1 cup of juice. Set aside.

Peel the remaining half cucumber & cut into little pieces. Set aside.

Add the lime juice & remaining ingredients to the cucumber juice. Pour some of the mixture into each mold, leaving about a 1/2 inch space at top. Stir several pieces of fresh cucumber into each mold. Place lid on the molds & freeze for 2-4 hours. 

Run warm water over molds to loosen pops. Enjoy.

{ Food for Thought }

I used the larger amount for both the cayenne & crushed red pepper and while I loved it so, I think I will use the lesser amount for a more subtle heat.


Lovingly Linking to Wordful Wednesdays at Seven Clown Circus

Baked French Toast Cups

I kicked off the July 4th weekend with a little visit from my best friend Tam & her kids. They came over to hang by the pool & while the kids played, well, we played. Let's just say that the Beaujolais was not the only thing chilling.

{LOVE my bucket. Comes in handy}

We had such a good time that I convinced Tam to bring her kids back over to spend the night while she relaxed with her hubs. I made this yummy treat for breakfast the next morning. So much fun to make, adorable on the plate, & a healthier alternative too! The kids enjoyed it as did Tam when she came to get the kids in the morning.

4 slices whole wheat bread, cut into cubes
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk (I used fat free)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
dash of ground nutmeg
For the apples:
1 large apple of your choice, cut into cubes
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

In a medium skillet, saute apples with butter & cinnamon for about 5 minutes, or until soft. Set aside. In a medium bowl, mix the eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon & nutmeg until well combined. Add bread cubes & mix together until all the bread is saturated. Add the apples & mix until well distributed. Using a regular size muffin tin, scoop bread evenly into 6 greased muffin cups. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until set & lightly golden brown.

{Just before going into the oven}

{Just fresh out of the oven}

{Food for Thought}

The original recipe, here, had drizzled icing over them but I opted for regular light syrup instead. As with any french toast or pancakes, in my opinion, alone they could be a bit sweeter but with the syrup alongside or the icing, if you prefer, it's just the right amount.

{Click Here to Print Recipe}

Girl Time & Pomegranate Mimosas - Wordful Wednesday

Girl time - we all need it!!!!! Last week, both my best friend Tammy & I were a bit stressed & needed to get together. Honestly, I have been in a major funk for the past 2 weeks & am just starting to slowly get myself out, or at least I hope. 

What helps is a lovely evening with a best friend! I am so fortunate Tammy lives just a couple of miles away. So, she came over in her PJ's which fit right in with my attire, something probably from the day before, with the way life has been lately, & we shared a few appetizers, including the flatbread & shrimp veggie wontons, as well as a new cocktail.

The wonderful people over at POM Wonderful sent me a complementary case of their all natural pomegranate juice. It came a few hours before Tammy was coming & since I forgot to buy the white wine for the sangria I planned to make, the pomegranate juice came in handy.

Say hello to my little friend, the POM Mimosa. All you need is: 

1/2 oz. freshly squeezed pomegranate juice or POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice
1 glass of dry champagne
1/2 oz. Cointreau

Pour champagne into a champagne flute. Add pomegranate juice & float the Cointreau on top. If you don't have Cointreau then orange juice may be a nice addition. Go visit POM Wonderful for other great recipes!

Do I need to mention we polished off the entire bottle of champagne???

Tammy also got a little play time in with Nash & has since got a little doggie herself!

Here's to friends. Happy Valentine's Day to all of you. The time I spend with you each day is Girl Time too & I need it!

Brought to you by Angie & Wordful Wednesdays from:

This Little Piggy Went to the Market........

I'm a bit disappointed in myself for writing a very long emotional post late last night, telling myself I would not delete it this morning, only to come back & censor myself by shortening it quite a bit, leaving it up for an hour, only to come back again & deleting the entire thing. Maybe I just wasn't ready for it..........another time.

So, for something upbeat instead...................

I wanted to share some pics of a restaurant/market we went to last weekend for an early lunch with my parents. This place is to me what 5th Avenue or Gucci or a cute boutique is to many of you. This is where I like to spend my money. Forget the shoes & handbags, give me some beautifully colored pasta & wine in crates!!!!!! Click pic to enlarge.

Beautiful, packaged gourmet goods. Love it!!! I wish this place was my kitchen, especially the top left pic. My Dad is as happy in this kind of environment as I am, middle right. I was a good girl & came out with just a bottle of Pinot Grigio & pasta, bottom right. Talk about opening a bottle of woop woop on someone. Hah. It was very good!!!!!! I've yet to try the pasta though.

Alrighty, I leave you now with wonderful weekend wishes. I have a party to go prep for.

Labor Day & Burger Sliders

The holiday weekend was great! Started out with some Kenny Chesney on Friday. While I had a great time hanging out & tailgating with hubby, it was a reminder that concerts are just not my thing unless the circumstances are perfect. Meaning, good seats & actually being able to SIT in them. We did have good seats (bottom left pic) but I was so disappointed that everyone stood from the very 1st song to the very last.

The rest of the weekend was relaxing. Quality time with just Terry & Tristan as we swam together while listening to some good music. Terry surprised us when he came home with a beautiful new guitar. As he walked in the door, Tristan said "daddy, you're in a band?" No, he's reviving a hobby from long ago & I'm really glad for him. And while I finally bought the Twilight book everyone is raving about, the only reading I did was of an entire Goosebumps book yesterday with Tristan. He is not even 5 but loves this series.

Saturday, we enjoyed family & friend time with our BBQ. Tristan had a ball with Tammy's girls, Tiffy & Tori, as well as his cousins as they enjoyed their last day in Florida. We caught lizards on the patio & hung one from my ear. I won't even mention & post the pic of me trying to hang him from my lip but it was so cool to see Tristan & the kids amused. 

We played superheros (above right of Tammy, me & sister Andrea) & when it finally stopped raining we watched the kids play in the pool until I jumped in clothes & all. Good times! My heart swelled a bit watching the kids (middle pic), ages ranging from 3 to 9, as they sat & put a puzzle together & played a board game. The clouds & rain did not stop us from having a beautiful day!

SlidersThese little burgers were great, inspired by a recipe from Emeril. They were fun to make & a nice change from the regular sized burger. One was a bacon cheddar mixed in with the meat & the other was regular. I didn't feel like mixing up my own meat so I re-shaped store bought pre-made patties into 3 inch patties & just sprinkled them with some garlic powder & salt & pepper. They only took 5-6 minutes on the grill. I served them on little Hawaiian rolls & topped them with some creamy horseradish mayo.

Creamy Horseradish Mayo from Emeril

In a small bowl whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream and horseradish and season with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Place in a nonreactive bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve, up to 3 days in advance.

Hurricane Tuesday/Weekend Update

Just came into work for a few hours while we all wait for this hurricane & want to post a few more pictures from the wonderful weekend. I can promise tomorrow that I will have some yummy recipes because I plan on cooking tonight since I'll be home early. So, we will be back to our regularly scheduled food program. I also received my wonderful martini set & took quite a few photos of that last night while I made mojitos.

Another couple pics of Peanut. You can really see how small he is in
the pic above as I am holding the bowl for him to eat out of.

Below is one of my favorite beach bars, the Patio Bar & Grille in
Deerfield Beach, FL. This place just recently experienced a major makeover & it is beautiful. I loved it before when it was just a hole in the wall.

My new profile picture. Very appropo I think. I love the Blue Moon.

The 4 of us: Terry, Me, Tom & Tara. I would have fun with them in a cardboard box.

Me & Terry

Above: One of my all time favorite beach side lunches. Light & delicious & most importantly, leaves lotsa room for the drinks.

Below: I LOVED the way our drinks were served at our late night dinner. Anyone in the Boca area should visit Abe & Louie's Steakhouse. It was outstanding!

The appetizers were to die for. Stone Crab out of the shell served with a mustard sauce, and ahi tuna. We were all in heaven!

It's easy to see why I wasn't so disappointed we didn't make it to Islamorada. It was a weekend of best friends, delicious food, great cocktails (I never even mentioned Tom makes the best cappucinos), the salty air & the beautiful beach. Good times, good times!!!!!

MOnkey MOnday!

Because of the weather threat to the Keys, we decided to stay at our friend's house in Boca Raton for the weekend. Tara has been my best friend since 7th grade in New York, so spending the whole weekend with her & her husband was a blast. The weather was beautiful as we knew it would be the calm before the storm. We were more concerned with traffic, gas shortages, pending Keys evacuation & just thought it best not to go TOWARD the issue.

Tara & Tom are huge animal lovers so in addition to two dogs & a few sugar gliders, they have a pet monkey I was so excited to meet. In addition to monkeying around with Peanut, we had a delicious breakfast at an outside cafe, went to the beach, ate at one of my favorite open air beachside bars, napped, tried a couple martinis, laughed until I cried, enjoyed an outstanding late night steak dinner (first time having a bone-in filet mignon & dinner at 9pm) & realized just how much I missed Tara. The weekend ended up being just as fantastic as we had set it out to be, it was just in a different locale.

Here's Peanut sporting her diaper. She is actually much smaller than she appears in this photo. She won't ever get to be more than 1 lb. So small in fact that she sits comfortably on the bill of my husband's baseball hat. We know!

Tomorrow, I will post photos of our weekend including my

new profile picture!

Happy Monday all!!!

Martini Wishes for Tammy

I had my girlfriend & fellow foodie Tammy come over last night. She's going through a difficult time right now so it was an emotional visit but we managed to get some good bites in, a little bit of laughter & a whole lotta Grey Goose.

We started out with the normal Vodka & Tonics as we snacked on some sushi I picked up on the way home, as well as some pita chips & hummus. But as the night was drawing to a close we had a new dessert cocktail I threw together, to go with the White Chocolate Macadamia Nut cookies I made.















Tammy enjoying what I am calling the Choco-Coco Martini. Recipe below.

Now, I am taking a BIG RISK & may get disqualified from the Martini Party competition over at Molly's, who once told me to "slowly step away from the Stirrings" martini mixes but I was in the mood for something different & picked up something on the fly.
















I find most chocolate martinis to be too sweet so I picked up some coconut water (in the mixed drinks aisle) & used it with the chocolate martini mix. The result: very enjoyable, one is perfect & not overly sweet. Use of coconut or another flavoring you like was ideal!!!

CHOCO-COCO MARTINI

1 part Grey Goose Vodka
1 part Stirrings Chocolate Martini Mix
1 part Coconut Water (comes in a can)

Mix all in a cocktail shaker over ice. Strain and fill your martini glass. Enjoy, while talking about how things will get better, how I'll be right here for you, how you will be strong & get through, & how much I love you !!! Oh sorry............this one's for you Tammy!!!!