Kale & Pomegranate Salad

Kale is one of the healthiest of all vegetables and is full of nutrients. This salad serves 2. The recipe can be easily doubled for additional servings.

1/2  bunch kale

1 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/2 cup pomegranate seeds 

1/4 cup pecans

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toast pecans on baking sheet for 5-8 minutes. Peel and grate ginger. Chop the kale and place in a large salad bowl. Mix together olive oil, lime juice and ginger.  With your hands rub the kale into the dressing mixture. Then add the pomegranate and cooled toasted pecans to the salad and toss. Season with salt and pepper. Enjoy. 

Carrot, Mango, Orange and Mint Smoothie

Ingredients
2 cups frozen mango chunks

1 cup fresh carrot juice (about 6 carrots)

1 cup fresh orange juice (about 2 oranges)

1/4 cup mint

Chop carrots and place into juicer until 1 cup of juice is present. Slice oranges and place into juicer until 1 cup of juice is present. Pour both juices, mango chunks, and mint into a blender and blend until desired consistency is achieved. Enjoy!

Mini Lime Shortbread Tarts

On New Year's Eve I made these mini lime shortbread tarts and they were delicious. As you can see from the picture above, I served them along side the Lemon- lime mini berry tarts. These berry tarts were mentioned in my blog previously and the recipe can be found here. This recipe makes 48 mini tarts. 


Ingredients

1 teaspoon freshly grated lime zest

1/4 cup fresh-squeezed lime juice (from 2 large limes)

2 tablespoons lime-flavored gelatin (jello mixture)

1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1 cup heavy whipping cream 

3 packages of 4.2 ounce shortbread tartlet shells (16 per package)

Additional heavy whipping cream and lime zest for garnish

Directions

Combine lime zest, juice, gelatin and 1/4 cup cold water in a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat until gelatin is dissolved, stirring, about 3 minutes. Pour into a large bowl and let cool about 10 minutes. Pour heavy cream into a second large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until stiff peaks are formed. Add sweetened condensed milk to gelatin mixture; beat until well combined. Fold in whipped cream and then divide evenly among tartlet shells. Refrigerate at least 2 hours, or until firm. Garnish with additional whipped cream (to make whipped cream see below) and sprinkle with lime zest. Enjoy!


Making whipped cream is simple and tastes much better than the store bought version. Simply pour one cup of whipping cream into a large bowl. Mix on medium speed until stiff peaks form. Then pipe  a small amount of cream, using a piping bag, on each individual tart.

Lemon Lime Mini Berry Tarts

These mini desserts are the perfect addition for your next dinner party. The below recipe makes 45 mini berry tarts and only takes 20 minutes in total to make. You can make the custard the day before so that they are all ready to go the day of the party. This year I am making these tarts for New Year's Eve.

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon rum flavoring- can be found in baking aisle 
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 3 packages prepared phyllo cups (45 cups total)- Can be found either frozen or not. If frozen, defrost before filling.
• 1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries and or blueberries (45 total)
• Coconut flakes

In a small saucepan, whisk eggs, sugar, rum flavoring and both juices. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, just until boiling and mixture is thickened, about 10 minutes (mixture should register 160 F on instant-read thermometer). Strain lemon-lime curd into bowl; cover surface with plastic wrap; refrigerate 2 hours or until chilled. Can be made a day ahead.

To serve, spoon 1-1/2 teaspoons curd into each phyllo cup; top with a raspberry or blueberry and a pinch of coconut. Serve immediately or refrigerate up to 4 hours.

The picture & recipe was derived in part from Family Circle. 

Cranberry Jello Salad

Looking for the perfect addition to Christmas dinner and need a break from the traditional jellied cranberry sauce this holiday season? If so, this cranberry jello salad is just the solution. This recipe was given to me by B's mom Patti and it was a hit at our last Christmas dinner.

Ingredients

1 package raw cranberries

2 oranges

1 3/4 cups sugar

1 tablespoon clear gelatin

1 small package cherry jello

1 cup finely chopped celery

1 cup finely chopped apples

½ cup chopped walnuts 

Wash cranberries and grind in a food processor. Peel one orange. Add the peeled orange into the food processor. Squeeze the juice from second orange into the food processor. Grind oranges and cranberries until well mixed. Pour into a bowl. Add sugar into the bowl and let mixture set for 2 hours. In a separate bowl, mix gelatin with ¼ cup cold water. Let sit for 5 minutes. In a separate bowl, mix 1 cup boiling water with the package of cherry jello. Combine the gelatin mixture and the jello mixture. Add the gelatin and jello mixture to the fruit mixture, stirring until well combined. Add in celery, apples and nuts and stir until well combined. Put into a pam sprayed jello mold, cover and refrigerate overnight. Enjoy!

Christmas Sugar Cookies

Throughout my childhood, the first of December meant making holiday goodies. My sisters and mom gathered around the kitchen for hours and baked every sweet imaginable. This year we are all in different cities and states but my mom still wanted to continue on with the tradition. As a result, we are each baking goodies and traveling many hours home this weekend. Once we are home we will engage in our "Holiday Swap". My contribution will be sugar cookies. This recipe has been in my family for as long as I can remember and turns out perfect and delicious year after year. This recipe yields around 3 dozen sugar cookies.

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, at room temperature                   

1 cup sugar

¼ cup whole milk                                                

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla                                                

3 cup all purpose flour

½ tsp. baking powder

Directions:

Combine butter and sugar in large mixer bowl.  Beat at medium speed, scraping the bowl often, until creamy.  Add the milk, egg, and vanilla.  Continue mixing.  Reduce speed to low.  Add flour and baking powder; beat until well mixed.  Cover; refrigerate until firm (1 hr.) Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Roll out dough on lightly floured surface.  Cut out cookies and place on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.  Bake 5-8 minutes or until edges are browned.  Cool completely then frost with Powdered Sugar Glaze.

Powdered Sugar Glaze

Ingredients:

2 ½ cup powdered sugar                     

 5 Tb. water

1 Tb. light corn syrup                                                                                                                                1 Tb. Butter

½ tsp. almond extract                                                                                                                         food coloring

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in small bowl – mix at medium speed until powdered sugar is moistened. Tint with food coloring if desired and frost the cookies. Let stand until frosting hardens.  Can be stored in freezer with wax paper between the layers. Enjoy!

Grand Marnier Crème Brûlée

This Grand Marnier creme brulee is the perfect dessert to serve to guests and takes very little prep time. MIx up this dessert when you get home from work and they will be ready when the guests arrive. 

Special Equipment

Cooking Torch 
6 Creme Brulee dishes

Ingredients

6 large egg yolks
7 tablespoons sugar
2 1/4 cups whipping cream
2 tablespoons Grand Marnier
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons brown sugar

Preheat oven to 325°F. Whisk yolks and 7 tablespoons sugar in medium bowl for about 2 minutes. Bring cream to simmer in heavy small saucepan. Gradually whisk hot cream into yolk mixture. Whisk in Grand Marnier and vanilla; divide custard into 6 creme brulee dishes. Arrange cups into two metal pans. Pour enough hot water into pan to come halfway up sides of cups. Bake custards until gently set in center, about 25 minutes. Remove cups from water and refrigerate uncovered until cold, at least 3 hours. These can be made a day in advance. 

When ready to serve, sprinkle 1/2 tablespoon of brown sugar onto each. Use cooking torch on each dish until top is caramelized and starts to change color. If you do not have a torch you can simple place dishes on a baking sheet and broil for about 2 minutes. 


The creme brulee on the right is before using the torch. The one on the left is ready to be served! Enjoy!