Peach & Raspberry Sangria

I drank some lovely peach sangria on my recent trip to Savannah, and I HAD to make some for myself when I got home! It's really the ideal summer beverage. Fruity, refreshing, and easy to drink, Peach & Raspberry Sangria is perfect for porch-sittin' or soaking up some sun at the pool or beach. And the fresh fruit at the bottom of your empty glass is a juicy added bonus! The sweet peaches and tart raspberries combine with a hint of citrus in triple sec to give this sangria a bright, summery flavor.


Peach & Raspberry Sangria
Makes 8 Servings
Total Time: 5 minutes

0.75 L white wine (I used Pinot Grigio)
11.2 oz peach nectar
6 oz club soda
3 oz triple sec
2 peaches
6 oz raspberries

1. Slice peaches.
2. Mix all ingredients. Pour over ice and enjoy!

I found peach nectar in the ethnic food section of my grocery store. The rest of the ingredients are very standard! I chose Pinot Grigio rather than a Riesling or Moscato because I didn't want the sangria to be overly sweet. The peach nectar and fresh fruit add a decent amount of sweetness! I think Pinot Grigio ended up striking just the right balance.

Just slice up the peaches and mix everything together! My Georgia peaches from the farmer's market were so soft and sweet and fragrant. Almost too ripe, which is right where you want them.

There's something about drinking sangria that makes me want to kick my feet up and relax. A little summertime day-drinking by the pool or at a cookout and I am one happy girl! And how easy is this recipe?! No blending or muddling or syrup-making. Just slice, mix, and enjoy!

Watermelon Margaritas

It's Saucy Jocey's Kitchen's 1st birthday! I can't believe it! This experience has been an absolute BLAST and I can't wait to continue experimenting with food, dirtying-up my kitchen (my fiance and I have a clutch deal going - whoever cooks doesn't clean), and showing you all what I come up with :) Although the school year leaves me pretty swamped, it's summer again, which means more free time and more blogging! I can't wait. As for the coming year, a few of my goals for my blog are:

1. Improve my food photography. Get a new camera too?

2. Post at least once a week on average. Note - that's about what I averaged this past year, but next year I will be even MORE swamped than I already am, with more school, work, and planning a wedding :) I'm DEFINITELY not complaining - I'm a lucky girl! I'm also a busy girl though, so once a week blogging is a reasonable goal I think!

3. Redesign my blog. I've dabbled a little in html (surprisingly little considering my major - computer science), so I can figure my way around some website designing I think! 

4. Cook healthier. Don't get me wrong, I love the occasional fried chicken and sugary baked good, but for every day, my goal is to eat healthier than I do now. I would like to make a not-putting-as-much-garbage-into-my-body lifestyle change. Paul and I joined an organic produce buying club recently, which keeps fresh organic produce in the house at all times, which I LOVE. 

To anyone stopping by to read my blog, thank you :) sharing recipes and stories with you all this past year has been a joy, and I look forward to many more!

To celebrate year one - a fruity summer cocktail of course! Margaritas scream summertime to me, as do watermelons. This marg is definitely a lighter cocktail as far as alcohol content goes, as opposed to Beergaritas which are more on the potent side. Feel free to add more tequila to your liking! A bit slushy and not overly sweet, this is the perfect poolside cocktail! 

Watermelon Margaritas

Makes 5 (1 cup) servings

Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

3 cups chopped watermelon

1 1/2 cups limeade (simply limeade ideally)

1/2 cup tequila

salt for the rim of the glass

Puree 3 cups of chopped fresh watermelon. Mix watermelon puree, limeade, and tequila. Serve over ice with a salted rim!

It's a little baby watermelon! We got this mini guy in our organic produce share from Annie's Organic Buying Club. It's been such a nice change to have organic fresh produce always around to snack on and cook with! Paul and I get the 3/4 share, which two people can finish in a week if they put their minds to it, but it's a tiny but of a challenge. But that's good, because it forces us to eat more fruits and veggies than we used to :)

Give the watermelon a rough chop so you can measure out 3 cups, and puree in the food processor!

Mix the pureed watermelon with limeade...

... and tequila! These margs are definitely on the easy-drinking side of the cocktail spectrum. Feel free to add more tequila if you want!

Serve over ice with a salted rim, sit back, relax, and enjoy!

My Big Fat Greek Recipe Collection

In honor of Greek Easter on Sunday, I thought I'd compile and share my Greek recipe posts! Greek Easter as a youngster for me meant celebrating with loads of family, loads of food, and an Easter egg hunt with hundreds of eggs filled with candy and cash (not just coins my friend, bills. The Greeks don't mess around with Easter).

Even if you don't celebrate Greek Easter (or Easter at all), look at Sunday as an excuse to eat Greek food! It's also Cinco de Mayo - What's a girl to do? Greek for lunch, Mexican for dinner probably. Check out my Cinco de Mayo Pinterest board for recipes and entertaining ideas!

Pictured to the left is little-me and my Papou :) Some of my fondest memories of him are of him coming over to my house and cooking for us, dictating the recipes to my parents. My parents gifted me with those written recipes a few months ago, and I was so happy I was brought to tears.

I feel the most connected to my Greek culture when I'm cooking! Below are some recipes from my family, some from me, and there is a whole recipe book full of more to come! Enjoy!

  Not only is Greek Salad undoubtedly DELICIOUS, but Greek Salad Dressing is extra virgin olive oil and vinegar based, do it's healthy! I love making a chunky salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, feta, and red onions. One of my go-to pot luck/tailgate/picnic dishes is Greek Pasta Salad, which is just the normal salad with rotini pasta and chicken! It's wonderful with or without the chicken.

One of my favorite dishes of all time is a Chicken Souvlaki with Tzatziki Sauce. For me, the more garlic, the better, which is why I could pretty much eat tzatziki sauce plain by the spoonful. There's only one time in my life when I uttered the words "Well that's just too much damn garlic." I was eating skordalia at a restaurant and my dad (the only full-blooded Greek at the table) was the only one who could eat the seemingly half potato, half garlic spread, which is usually very tasty, but had gone a little overkill this time. Anyway, the point is, if you love garlic, you will love tzatziki sauce! Try it if you haven't already!

These 3 recipes are straight from my grandparents' recipe book. Tiropita is a savory cheese pie, which is enticing enough I think! The phyllo dough is buttery and flaky and the cheese filling is hot and creamy... You can't beat it. You just can't. 

Dolmades are stuffed grape leaves, and just about every recipe for the filling is different. Ours is ground beef and rice based, but there are quite a few vegetarian versions out there too! These little bite-sized meaty bundles are the perfect hor d'ouevre!

Last but not least, for dessert - the simple, understated perfection that is Rice Pudding. It's nothing fancy, but it's my FAVORITE. I even like it better than baklava! I know, I know, where's the baklava? It's still in the book! Coming soon though :) don't worry.

Check out My Big Fat Greek Recipe Board on Pinterest! 

I hope you all enjoy my family's recipes :) It makes me happy to be able to share the love and share the food. It's the Greek woman in me - I need to feed people. Now go eat some Greek food!

Apple Crisp

I present - my fiance's great grandmother's FAMOUS Apple Crisp! Paul's mom was kind enough to share the family recipe with me, and I'm delighted to share it with you all! Paul's mom made Apple Crisp this past Thanksgiving when our families celebrated together, and there were more than a few "I like this better than apple pie!" statements made.

The filling, with sliced tender apples, brown sugar, and cinnamon, is everything you want in an apple pie type dish, but I WAY prefer this crumble topping to the classic pie crust. It's buttery and sweet with slight texture variations from it's crumbly nature. Absolutely heavenly.

The family serves it cold, but I couldn't wait when I pulled this batch out of the oven - I loved it warm too! Top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon and prepare for your life to be changed.

I would like to thank my future in laws for sharing the recipe with me :)

Grandma Daniel's Apple Crisp

Makes 10-12 servings

Preparation Time: 45 minutes

Baking Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 1/2 hours

Ingredients

8-10 Macintosh apples

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup flour

1 cup white sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick)

Whipped cream for serving

1. Grease a large baking pan (at least 9 x 13).

2. Peel, core, and thinly slice apples. Mix brown sugar and cinnamon. Mix half the brown sugar mixture with the sliced apples and place in the baking pan.

3. Mix white sugar, flour, salt, and baking powder in a separate bowl. Mix one egg into the sugar and flour mixture with a fork until the mixture is uniformly crumbly. Pour crumble topping over the apples.

4. Sprinkle the rest of the brown sugar mixture over the apples. Pour melted butter on top. (Refrigerate at this point and bake later if you would like) 

5. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes. Serve cold (or warm!) and top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon.  

 

Aren't these beauties?! These are Fuji apples - my grocery store didn't have Macintosh apples. Go with Macintosh if you can!

Grease the baking pan and preheat the oven. Peel...

Core (or cut around the core)...

And slice the apples. Try not to eat too many as you go.

Look, Ma! I almost peeled it all in one piece! :P

Mix the brown sugar with the cinnamon. The melted sugar becomes kind of syrupy when the apple crisp bakes and it complements the tart apple flavor perfectly.

Mix half of the brown sugar mixture with the sliced apples.The other half of the brown sugar will be part of the crumble topping!

Place the apples in the large greased baking pan.

Mix the white sugar, flour, salt, and baking powder. Now for the crumbly part! Mix in one egg with a fork, kind of grinding it in, until there is a uniform crumble happening.

 It's coming along, but keep mixing...

There we go! Crumbly goodness.

Pour the crumble mixture over the apples.

Sprinkle the remaining brown sugar mixture on top.

And now... For the grand finale... Drizzle an entire stick of melted butter over the whole damn thing.

There are no words....

 Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Salivating....

Top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

I hope you all make this wonderfully sweet, tart, buttery dessert and enjoy it as much as I do!

P.S. I just discovered Tasty Tuesday blog hops? What is this?!

Beergaritas

Are you longing for summertime? I know it's January, but honestly, Florida isn't very cold. And damn it, I was craving a margarita! 

My friends introduced me to beergaritas over the summer, and drinking them by the pool quickly became a weekend ritual. Let me just tell you... you get some bang for your buck with these. They're quite strong but still drinkable and refreshing due to the limeade concentrate and lime juice. 

Whip up a batch of Beergaritas, relax, and pretend it's summer!

**Thanks Laura and Dan for the recipe!**

Beergaritas

Makes about 4 servings (5 1/4 cups)

Total time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

6 fl oz tequila

12 fl oz corona beer

12 fl oz limeade frozen concentrate

12 fl oz sprite or club soda (depending on your desire for sweetness)

1 Tbsp lime juice

Mix all ingredients and serve over ice with a salted rim. Enjoy!

Sweet Potato & Pumpkin Soup

Well this soup just screams "Fall" doesn't it? With the classic pumpkin pie spices - cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice, and two staples of the holidays - pumpkin and sweet potatoes, this soup makes your kitchen smell like November and December. The soup has a slight sweetness from the brown sugar, but it's not like you're eating pumpkin pie soup. The brown sugar simple highlights the other spicy fall flavors in the soup. I chose not to puree the sweet potatoes because I liked the idea of a sweeter version of a chunky potato soup, but you could puree the soup if you like. Enjoy the fall flavors and subtle sweetness of this festive holiday soup :)

Featured in La Petite Fashionista Magazine!

Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Soup

Makes 3 servings

Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients

1 large sweet potato

15 oz pumpkin puree

2 1/2 cups vegetable broth

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp allspice

1. Mix pumpkin puree and vegetable broth in a large pot. Turn the heat to high.

2. Peel sweet potato and chop into 1 inch cubes.

3. Add sweet potatoes and spices to the pot. When the soup comes to a boil, turn the heat to low and simmer covered for an hour or until the potatoes are tender. Turn the heat off and mix in the heavy cream. Enjoy!

Whisk the pumpkin puree into the vegetable broth and turn the heat to high.

Peel one large sweet potato and cut it into one inch cubes.

Add the potatoes and spices to the pot! Get ready for your kitchen to start smelling like fall...

Bring the pot to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and cover for 1 hour. The potatoes will get nice and tender!

Turn the heat off and mix in the heavy cream. Mmm so luscious and warm.

I really enjoy how familiar all of these ingredients are, yet I've never tried them put together in this way before! I'll be honest, I'd been dreaming about this soup but wasn't quite sure what to expect of the final result. I'm quite pleased with the blend of sweet and savory that I achieved :) Just enough sweetness to highlight the savory/spicy fall flavors without being overwhelming. If you are in the mood for something outside the box yet familiar, try some Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Soup!