Balsamic Vinaigrette

I'm not the only one who loves straight, plain balsamic vinegar, right? Admittedly, this salad dressing is has a higher vinegar-to-oil ratio than normal, but I can't help it - I love me so balsamic! 

While the flavor of balsamic vinegar is bright and beautiful on it's own, this vinaigrette adds a little more deliciousness to the classic salad dressing. There's a new sweetness from the sugar that highlights the natural sweetness of balsamic, and lemon zest adds citrus flavor without upping the sour factor like lemon juice would! 

Obviously this dressing is perfection on the classic Caprese salad. And why not use this as the dressing for pasta salad? Just shake or whisk all of the ingredients together, and enjoy!

Featured in La Petite Fashionista Magazine!

Balsamic Vinaigrette

Makes 1/2 cup

Total Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tsp Dijon mustard

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp lemon zest

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

Whisk together all ingredients, and enjoy!

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?!

Gameday + Food = Love

I have to say, one of my favorite pastimes is watching sports and eating large quantities of delicious food. I get the sneaking suspicion I'm not alone in this! 

Whether you're throwing a Super Bowl watching shindig or tailgating before a live game, these recipes are ideal for getting your gameday on! All of the necessary gameday food groups are covered: dips, bbq, and buffalo chicken. Then for good measure, there are adorable kickoff cupcakes to satisfy your sweet tooth, a killer cocktail, and a few healthier options.

For your sports-watching, face-stuffing enjoyment - my gameday menu!

1. Buffalo Chicken Wing Dip. My friends get mad at me if I don't make it :P

2. Sideline Sippers. The perfect refreshing cocktail with a kick.

3. Greek Chicken Pasta Salad. Skip the chicken and you've got a great vegetarian option!

4. Guacamole. I like my guac chunky. This gives you some fresh veggies to go along with all of the other sinful deliciousness.

5. Pulled Pork Sliders. Slow cooking the pork makes this recipe effortless and perfect for feeding an army of people!

6. Buffalo Chicken Pizza. It's hard to describe how incredible this pizza is...

7. Baked Zucchini Fries. Crispy finger food for veggie lovers.

8. Kickoff Cupcakes. Festive cupcakes channeling their inner Almond Joy!

9. Sweet Pepper Salsa. Rounding off the dip category, this salsa starts off sweet but can be as hot as you'd like it!

Want entertaining/decorating/fashion tips for gameday? Check out the first issue of La Petite Fashionista Magazine for lots of gameday goodies! (P.S. Look Ma', I'm on the cover!! :P).

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!

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Um. Buffalo Chicken Pizza. I'm kind of speechless. This is all of your favorite buffalo wing flavors - on top of pizza dough... It's as good as it sounds, and I think I'm just going to leave it at that!

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Makes 1 large pizza or 2 medium pizzas (about 4 servings)

Total time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

Pizza dough

1 chicken breast, cooked

1 celery stalk

1/4 onion

3 Tbsp ranch dressing

2 Tbsp hot sauce (give or take a Tbsp depending on your spicy tolerance)

4 oz part-skim mozzarella cheese

4 oz low fat crumbled blue cheese

Garlic powder to taste

1. Chop celery stalk and onion.

2. Chop chicken and mix in half the hot sauce.

3. Roll out pizza dough to desired crust thickness. Layer ranch dressing evenly on the dough, then add chicken, celery, onion, mozzarella cheese, and blue cheese. Drizzle remaining hot sauce over the pizza. Sprinkle on garlic powder to taste.

4. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes or until cheeses are melted and dough is cooked. Drizzle with more hot sauce if desired, and enjoy!

Chop celery stalk and 1/4 onion. It's nice to have a little bit of crunch along with all of the creamy cheese!

Chop cooked chicken breast and smother in half of the hot sauce. Trust your instincts here with the amount of hot sauce. Everyone has a different spiciness tolerance, so add hot sauce accordingly!

Roll out the pizza dough and add the ranch dressing as you would normally add tomato sauce. You could use blue cheese dressing here instead if you prefer!

 Add chicken, celery, and onion...

And mozzarella and blue cheese. MMMMM!

Drizzle extra hot sauce on top and sprinkle with garlic powder. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes and let the bubbly goodness begin...

 I don't know why it took me so long to make this pizza! I've had it at a few different restaurants, and I have an unhealthy obsession with buffalo chicken wing dip, so this pizza makes PERFECT sense. So easy, and just a party in your mouth. As I said before, it's every bit as scrumptious as it looks!