by Bette Lee Crosby | Jun 25, 2014 | Taste of the South
Taking a break from the drink recipes, here's a Crunchy Italian Mix snack from Naomi you can make for your National Library Week celebration. Recipe adapted: Weekend Recipes(Yahoo).
Naomi says – To celebrate National Library Week, I like to show appreciation for my library's staff by providing a lunch. I try to focus in on what each of them have told me that they enjoy and plan my menu around that. One of the employees loves Chex Mix/snack cracker type recipes, so I always try to find recipes that will show her that I am thinking of her in my preparations.When Sue D. sent me this recipe, I immediately printed it off. I knew I was going to make it for Sue M.
It turned out even better than I thought it was going to. The flavors are subtle, yet perfect. What I love about this one in particular is that it isn't overly salty. Normally, I can't stand that in the traditional Chex Mix recipe.
Because of its easiness, I make this recipe one to two times per week and it hasn't gotten old yet. Although the recipe calls for Crispix cereal, I use Corn Chex and I can't tell the difference. At this point, I keep the supplies for it stocked in my house so that I can just whip it up if I need to.
So, here we go!
Ingredients:
1 stick butter, cubed
3 t. Worcestershire sauce
1 t. Italian seasoning
1/2 t. garlic powder
5 cups Crispix or Corn Chex
2 cups Cheerios
2.5 cups mini pretzels or pretzel sticks
1 can (10 oz) mixed nuts
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (grated)
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
2) In a 4 cup measuring cup, combine butter, Worcestershire sauce, Italian seasoning and garlic powder. Microwave until melted. Remove from microwave and stir well.
3) In a large bowl, combine cereals, pretzels, mixed nuts and Parmesan cheese. Mix well with your hands. Pour melted butter over this mixture and stir until very well coated.
3) Place in a 15×10 pan and bake for 45 minutes. STIR EVERY 15 MINUTES!
4) Allow to cool and place in a container.
Yield: 10 cups
by Bette Lee Crosby | Jun 18, 2014 | Taste of the South
Naomi this week gives us a Bourbon Punch with Grapefruit and Mint adapted from Bon Appetit. Enjoy and share your favorite drinks in the comments!
Naomi says – Here is another Sue D. gift to me that originally started from the Yahoo Weekend Recipe group.
I have something to admit. I didn't like this original recipe. I found that it was too bitter, bourbon(y) and if left as is, would put hair on my female chest! I know that I had to do some changes in it because to me, it did have potential. If you like strong stuff, keep the original recipe. I will be showing my changes in red.
Be sure to use pink grapefruit juice. It is sweeter than regular (yellow) grapefruit juice so that does happen some. Also, the original recipe called for club soda, which was just downright disgusting in this recipe. It added to its bitterness. Even my husband, who doesn't like sweet recipes, disliked the club soda, so we switched it out for 7-up.
One of the things that I did love about this recipe was that I was able to use a whole lot of mint from my yard. Don't have home grown mint, be prepared to need about 3 packages of mint for this one recipe. This recipe made so much that I have two (1) quart bags of this frozen in my freezer downstairs.
This drink doesn't require a high quality bourbon. In fact, my liquor guy discouraged it. I used a bottle of $8 bottle of bourbon (Benchmark) that covered two recipes, this one and my Citrus Bourbon Punch.
So, here we go!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup BROWN sugar
15 FRESH mint sprigs (set aside half)
4 cups PINK grapefruit juice
2.5 cups Bourbon
12 dashes Angostura bitters
1 cup club soda (7 up)
Directions:
1) Make simple syrup by bringing the sugar and water to a boil in a small saucepan. STIR FREQUENTLY…simple syrup burns easily. Place 8 sprigs of mint in the pan and swirl. This will wilt the mint and release the oils. Allow to sit/cool for about 20 minutes and remove the mint.
2) Combine grapefruit juice, bourbon and bitters in a pitcher. Add the simple syrup and stir well. Pour into ice filled glass and top with 7 Up or club soda.
by Bette Lee Crosby | Jun 11, 2014 | Taste of the South
It's the first of summer and time to get some cool drinks ready like this Strawberry Daiquiri to deal with the heat. Hope you're summer has gotten off to a good start and one of these drinks from Naomi is sure to please.
Naomi says – I always get nervous when I hear “the best ever…” because normally the recipe is horrible. That is until I tried this daiquiri recipe. On top of being incredibly easy, this was one tasty drink. I simply loved how refreshing it was. Although my bud Sue D. sent me this recipe from the Yahoo recipe group, it was originally developed by the The Slow Roasted Italian (http://www.theslowroasteditalian.com/)
A note on the simple syrup, although they sell bottles of simple syrup for $3 a bottle, simple syrup is incredibly easy to make. Simply combine equal amounts of granulated sugar with water and place on a low boil while stirring constantly. Allow it to cool.
One other recommendation I can give is be sure to use fresh strawberries although the recipe calls for either. There is something so juicy in the flavor of a fresh strawberry that carries over in this recipe. This is definitely a recipe that I will try to adjust with other fruits.
Although, the recipe calls for Roses lime juice, I am only a fan of fresh squeezed lime juice. Again, it tastes fresher and is cheaper than the alternative given by the developer of the recipe. I believe one ounce is about 1 to 1.5 limes.
So, here we go!
In a blender, place:
3 oz WHITE rum
1 ounce Malibu coconut rum
2 oz triple sec
2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
1 oz Roses or fresh lime juice
2 oz simple syrup
2 cups ice
Blend until smooth and creamy.
Pour into a well chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a fresh strawberry and lime slice.
by Bette Lee Crosby | May 14, 2014 | Taste of the South
In the middle of celebrating, Naomi from The Pub and Grub Forum has been feeling under the weather. We've got this great drink recipe to share from her site. This recipe is slightly adapted from Toxicology 101. It's getting warmer and Cinco de Mayo has kicked off the celebrating with cocktails! Share your favorite and maybe we'll be able to feature it on Mid-Week Mixers.
Naomi says: In the original version from Toxicology 101, this drink is actually a cocktail and not a tini. When I made it, I wasn't that impressed with how it presented and thought it would do much better as a tini. Those who are my drink tasters agreed! Just look at that beautiful foam!! It was as good tasting as it was beautiful looking!
So, here we go!
Ingredients:
1.5 oz Pear Vodka (Grey Goose makes a wonderful one)
3 oz Pineapple Juice
1 oz Cranberry Juice
Directions:
1) In a CHILLED metal shaker, fill half way with ice.
2) Pour in all liquids and shake for no less than 60 seconds
3) Pour into a CHILLED tini glass and garnish with pineapple wedge!
Find more recipes on The Pub And Grub Forum with Naomi Blackburn – CLICK HERE
by Bette Lee Crosby | Apr 9, 2014 | Taste of the South
Mid-Week Mixers loves copycat recipes and the fact that Naomi shares them with us like this Margarita Grilled Chicken. Dig into this recipe and let us know what your favorite copycat recipe is in the comments.
Naomi says: My favorite chain restaurant, hands down, is Bahama Breeze. I love EVERYTHING about that place. Food, atmosphere and drinks that just can't be beat. One of my favorite dishes of theirs is Margarita Grilled Chicken. Although, I go round with the dishes that I get there because they are all so good, frequently I will head back to this one. Again, I prefer using a thinner cut chicken breast with this. I have found it cooks in a more balanced manner.
Although the original recipe calls for honey, I switched the honey out for Agave nectar. Agave nectar is much more authentic to Mexican cooking and is much softer than honey.
I saw many a recipe for this dish, but this recipe from Allrecipes.com is my all time favorite and comes closest to Bahama Breeze's version.
So, here we go!:
Ingredients:
2/3 cup chopped cilantro
1 T. Adobo seasoning
1/2 cup commercial margarita mix
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1 cup olive oil
2 T. Agave nectar (look for it in your grocer's natural foods section)
3 T. triple sec
3 T. blanco tequila
6 thin chicken breasts ( I use Purdue or cut the store breasts in half)
Directions:
1) Pour all marinade ingredients into a blender and mix until well blended.
2) Put chicken breasts and marinade into a Ziploc bag. Allow to marinade for no less than 5 hours.
3) Prepare grill and grill chicken for 10 minutes each side.
4) Serve with Mexican rice and corn on the cob. Frequently, I will make a Mexican salad to boot. Sheer heaven!!
