Kentucky Waffle and Kentucky Lemonade Cocktails

In honor of the Kentucky Derby this past weekend, I decided to make a couple of Kentucky cocktails.  Both came from Cosmopolitan and are very similar, making it easy to whip them both up. 

I wish Kevin had placed a bet because not only did he pick the winning horse, California Chrome, but he knew when the horse was going to make his move to win!  I was impressed!  However my horse,  Wicked Strong, didn't finish first and neither did these cocktails.  They really weren't bad, but I would rather have my bourbon straight with 2 ice cubes.  Oh well, at least we tried them!  

 

Kentucky Waffle

2 ounces bourbon

1 ounce lemon juice

3/4 ounce maple syrup

1/2 ounce apple cider

Garnish:  cinnamon stick

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake.  Strain into a chilled glass and garnish with a cinnamon stick.

Kentucky Lemonade

2 ounces bourbon

1/2 ounce maple syrup

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Shake and serve over ice in a cocktail glass.

 

Pizza Bubble Ring

The recipe was a request from my hubby, yes we have a pizza night like every week, but I never promised healthy recipes.  While it is similar to a previous recipe, the pepperoni cheese stick roll-ups,  it tastes so much different.  I've had this recipe before pinterest, shocking I know, so I don't know where it originated unfortunately.  It has definitely been a keeper in our household and I'm sure if you make it, it will be a keeper in yours too.  I like the standard pepperoni, but feel free to add other toppings to fit your likes.  I urge you to make this and enjoy!

Pizza Bubble Ring

8 tablespoons butter melted
1 teaspoon italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
40 pepperonis
8 ounces mozzarella in 20 pieces
1/4 cup grated parmesan
2 (12 ounce) golden layers flaky biscuits
heated pizza sauce

Heat oven to 350℉. Spray bundt pan. Mix butter and seasonings. Separate each can of dough into 10 biscuits. Place 2 pepperonis and a piece of cheese on biscuit. Roll into a ball and seal. Roll in butter and place 10 in the pan. Sprinkle with parmesan. Place other 10 on top. Pour rest of butter on top. Bake 33-38 minutes.

All the ingredients ready to go.

The first layer of biscuits.

 

The second layer added with the parmesan cheese.

The full ring above and a view from the inside with the gooey cheese below.

Serendipity 3 NYC

Many years ago my mom, aunts and I took a girls trip to NYC.  One of my requests was to go to Serendipity 3, mainly because I had heard of celebrities going there, but also for their frozen hot chocolate.  Now back then I had my super cute pink razr phone, but that meant no GPS.  I made my poor mom and aunts walk for miles and miles until we were about to give up on ever finding this place, when we saw it.  While there were no celebrity sightings there, though I did see SJP filming Sex & the City, I immediately fell in love with Serendipity.     

Fast forward a few years to a gorgeous spring day and GPS enabled phones and I was back.  Though we had the option to take the subway, we decided to walk the 2 miles instead.  I had to make it as authentic as possible to my first trip after all.  We got there about an hour after it opened and they told us it would be an hour wait already!  With a 2 mile walk already invested and nothing else planned but to go shopping, we decided to wait.  Much to our delight, we were seated within 20 minutes and on our way to enjoying our frozen hot chocolates!  It was just as I'd remembered and perfect for the beautiful spring day!  

My hunky hubby posing for a photo op.

The glorious frozen hot chocolate.

My bottomless pit of a husband wanted chicken nachos.  A weird combo with the frozen hot chocolate, especially since the drinks came first, but they were so tasty.  

Garlic Chicken Puffs

Remember the slow cooker salsa chicken I made earlier in the week?  There was so much chicken leftover that we decided to find a recipe to use up what we already had.  That's when we stumbled across this recipe for Garlic Chicken Puffs on Tidy Mom.  It was great to have something other then the tacos I had previously made.  While Kevin thought it was decent, I didn't care for it at all.  I thought the garlic powder was way too overpowering.  I didn't make mine smaller like the original, but that wouldn't have affected the garlic taste.  I would suggest tasting the filling before you use it, or play around with other spices that compliment each other.

Garlic Chicken Puffs

Ingredients

1/2 cup cooked shredded chicken 

4 ounces cream cheese

2 (8 count) cans crescent rolls

1 teaspoon Garlic powder

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Prepare a cookie sheet with a silicone mat or aluminum foil sprayed with cooking spray.  Mix the cream cheese, chicken and garlic powder.  Spoon about 2 teaspoons of the mixture onto each crescent.  Roll up the crescents and press to seal.  Bake for 11-14 minutes.

Assembled and ready to bake.  I used whole crescents instead of halving them.

The garlic chicken filling.  

Cookie Dough Pretzel and Oreo Bites

My poor husband has been looking for the Cookie Dough Oreos every time we go to the store.  I was beginning to think they were a hoax until I looked it up and somehow stumbled onto this wonderful recipe for the Cookie Dough Pretzel Bites on Sally's Baking Addiction.  Admittedly, after looking at the recipe I was a little skeptical with how her edible cookie dough would taste, so I looked for the cookie dough cafe version which I love.  After searching and searching, another common theme of ours, we couldn't find it.  I decided I would either have to put the recipe on the back burner or suck it up and try it.  Obviously I chose the second option, otherwise this post wouldn't exist.   

All the positive comments this recipe received were astounding, but it was the comments regarding variations that made me try the oreos.  It was a win-win situation.  I got to try a new recipe, and Kevin got cookie dough oreos!  The homemade edible cookie dough turned out to be amazing!  It was just as good, if not better, than the store bought kind.  I do have to warn you though, these are super filling.  I had one and was full, though Kevin powered through 4!  Seriously, how does he stay so skinny?!?!  GRRRR!!  

Cookie Dough Pretzel Bites

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 Tablespoons milk or cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

40-50 pretzels (I used oreos as well)

8 oz semi-sweet chocolate, such as Ghirardelli (I just used some of the extra mini chips and it turned out great)

1 teaspoon shortening, optional

Directions

1. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
2. In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar together on medium speed until light and creamy. Add the milk and vanilla extract and mix until combined. Turn the mixer off and add the flour and salt. Mix on low speed at first, then turn the mixer up to medium speed and mix until combined. The dough will be thick and crumbly, just keep mixing until it comes together. Mix in mini chocolate chips.
3. Roll the dough into balls, about 2 teaspoons of dough per sandwich. The amount of dough per sandwich may vary; it depends how thick you want each dough filling. Sandwich balls between two pretzels/oreos and place on prepared baking sheet. Freeze for 20 minutes.
4. While the pretzel bites are chilling, melt the chocolate with the shortening for about 1 minute in mircrowave, stirring every 20 seconds. The shortening is used to thin the chocolate out. Dip the pretzel bites halfway into the melted chocolate and place bites back on baking sheet. Refrigerate the dipped bites for at least 10 minutes to allow the chocolate to set. Cover and store pretzel bites in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

 

Yummy edible cookie dough!

Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken

So what do you do when you wake up the morning you are supposed to make a slow cooker meal and realize you forgot the taco seasoning?  One could go to the store real quick, easy for my since there is a Milk & Honey downstairs.  However, I decided to look for a homemade version since I was confident we would have all the spices needed.  Whipping up the seasoning was such a breeze.  It smelled much more fragrant than the packaged kind that I don't think I'll ever go back.  There are many different versions you can find, but the one I used is here.  I did mine without the additional cayenne pepper, but next time I will definitely add it for a little kick.  The slow cooker chicken, found here, was so delectable and, what's the word I ALWAYS use......easy!  It could be eaten with no toppings, but we added a few to ours.

Homemade Taco Seasoning

Mix all of the following ingredients together.

1 Tablespoon Chili Powder

1 1/2 teaspoon Cumin

1 teaspoon Salt

1 teaspoon Black Pepper

1/2 teaspoon Paprika

1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder

1/4 teaspoon Onion Powder

1/4 teaspoon crushed Red Pepper Flakes

1/4 teaspoon Oregano

1/4 teaspoon Brown Sugar

1/2 teaspoon Corn Starch

   

My ingredients for the taco seasoning.

Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken

Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (we used frozen, which she said was fine)

1 cup salsa

1 can condensed cream of chicken soup

Taco Seasoning (above)

1/2 cup sour cream

Tortillas

Optional:  lettuce (for wraps or topping), tomato, cheese, etc

Place the chicken in the bottom of the crockpot.  Sprinkle on the taco seasoning.  Mix together the salsa and soup and pour over the chicken.  Let cook on high for 4 hours (could probably do low on 8 hours if need be).  

Once finished, shred the chicken and stir in the sour cream.  Easy enough!  

The chicken, pre-cooked.  

I used lettuce for one of mine to make it a little healthier!

Jalapeños Mexican Grill and a Manhattan

Welcome to Jalapeños Mexican Grill where we had a pretty yummy lunch complete with margaritas.  We went on a Sunday afternoon and the place was pretty empty, but the staff was super friendly and attentive.  We originally based our decision on 2 things.  First, did they serve margaritas?  Seems to be a silly thing to consider, but when a lot of places here are BYOB, then those silly margaritas become important!  Secondly, we went with the place we thought would have the good white cheese queso like back home.  Needless to say, we thought we were accomplishing both, but sadly we were mistaken.  The margaritas were so refreshingly delicious and the food, despite not having the queso we were craving, was pretty scrumptious.  Another bonus is that apparently they will pick you up and take you home if you are planning on having one too many margaritas!  We will definitely go back, but are still on a mission to find our white cheese queso!      

The chicken chimichanga.

Kevin's usual sampler platter and their queso.  How does he stay so skinny?

The Jalapeños taxi service!

Kevin picked the Manhattan as our first drink to try out.  If you are familiar with Manhattans, I guess they are supposed to have a maraschino cherry, but we went to 3 stores and no one had them, so we did it without.  All in all, it was still pretty good, but like the queso, we are still on a mission to find the cherries!

Manhattan Cocktail (our version)

2 ounces bourbon

1/2 ounce sweet vermouth

dash of bitters

I know these aren't the correct glasses, but we are working on that!