Cooking Show: Spring Fever...or What to Cook When You're Wishing for Summer!

On our recent episode of the cooking show, we tried to come up with a menu that tastes like summer.

Chase those winter blahs away with grilled beef and tropical fruit!

We started with Pineapple Sangria.  

Actually, this picture was taken just as we finished.  Finished the second pitcher, that is.  

 Then it was time for Watermelon Salad with Seared Halloumi.

Have you ever had Halloumi cheese?  It has a very high melting point, so you can sear it until it's golden and crunchy. It makes a great salad topping! That is, if you and your friends (ahem--Kerry, Amy, Kelly and Christine--I'm talking to you!) can keep your hands off of it long enough to have any left to use for said topping.

Grilled Marinated Flank Steak

When you're trying to chase away the winter blahs, the only thing better than grilled steak would be summer itself.

Click here for the printable recipe.

And finally, Cookies n' Cream Cheese Cookies.  

With a little bit of cream cheese, for creaminess and fluffiness.  And Oreos®, because Oreos®.

 Chocolate Strawberry Oreos®, because we were trying to stick to the summer theme.

Cooking Show--Girls' Night!

We filmed an episode of the cooking show last week.

My friend, Amy, cooked with me.  She suggested a theme of "Girls' Night"...she felt that she needed some different recipes to try when she gets together with friends.

We put our heads together and came up with an assortment that should satisfy all of her guests!

Artichoke Dip

You may think that you don't like artichokes, but this dip will change your mind.  The first few times I made it, I told my husband it was cheese dip.

By the time he found out that there were artichokes in it, he liked it so much that he didn't care what was in it.  It's probably his most-requested appetizer now.

Caprese Skewers with Balsamic Vinaigrette

Just thread the tomatoes, mozzarella and basil onto the skewers, throw the vinaigrette together and drizzle it on.

Outback Steakhouse Alice Springs Chicken

This is a restaurant knock-off recipe.  There's a little bit of advance prep involved, but the finish is totally hands-off--you just smother it in mushrooms and cheese and stick the whole pan into your oven to finish cooking.

It's so worth it.

Blueberry-Peach Sangria

This disappeared really fast.  Poof, and it was gone.

Cooking Show: Tailgating, Part II !

We filmed another cooking show last week.  Maureen joined me, and we came up with a few more recipes to add to her tailgating repertoire.  

When we filmed our last tailgating show, we focused on more traditional recipes like chili and wings.

This time around, we focused on recipes that are easy to prepare in advance as well as transport easily.  And since Maureen draws dozens of fans (they may say that they are football fans but I'm betting that they show up week after week because they are even bigger fans of Maureen's cooking), we wanted to prepare foods that can also be made in huge batches to feed a crowd.

(Click on the following titles to be taken to the recipes.)

Sparkling Rose & Limoncello Sangria

We started with this and by the time we finished our cooking we were lucky there was any left to photograph!

Buffalo Chicken Dip

I think it took me longer to wash and cut up the celery sticks for dipping than it did to throw the dip together.

Apple, Bacon & Grilled Chicken Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette

Oh, my, this is one of my favorite salads ever.  It will be perfect for tailgating because Maureen can prep all of the ingredients in advance, pack each ingredient in its own container and let her tailgaters create their own salads.  And douse it with the yummy balsamic vinaigrette.

Apple Crisp with Sea Salt Caramel

We proceeded to top it with vanilla bean ice cream, but for ease of travel Maureen can use whipped cream.

Whether you tailgate or not, I hope you give these recipes a try.  Happy Cooking!

Sparkling Rose and Limoncello Sangria

I realize that summer is coming to an end, but I just had to come up with one last fruity drink recipe.

It has wine and fruit, it must be sangria.  You know how I love sangria.

I added some Limoncello and it became my favorite sangria ever.