Salty Dogs.

I love to have this drink on a sunny day.

It is so refreshing.

What you will need:

(Makes one drink)
1.5 oz. gin
5 oz. good grapefruit juice (We used Uncle Matt's organic grapefruit juice. It was very good!)
pinch of kosher salt
ice
grapefruit slice

Add ice to your cup. Salt the ice. Add gin and grapefruit juice and mix well. Garnish with grapefruit.
Enjoy!

Fondue!

Fondue is SO good!
I decided that I wanted to have it for my 30th birthday, so my wonderful husband made it for me!

Ingredients:
6 oz. Emmentaler cheese, grated
6 oz. Gruyere cheese, grated
3/4 c. dry white wine, we used a Chardonnay
1 TBS cornstarch
1 garlic clove, cut in half
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 TBS brandy
good gluten free bread, cubed
whatever else you want to dip in your fondue. We decided on mushrooms, red bell pepper, asparagus, potatoes (tossed in olive oil, garlic and fresh tarragon,) and cauliflower.
We felt the bread was the best, but the veggies were great to break up the flavor and texture.

Grate your cheeses into a bowl. Add the cornstarch and toss to coat. You really want a good coat over your cheese, so if you need more than a tablespoon add more, but don't over do it.

Cut your garlic clove in half and rub it inside a heavy saucepan, throw the rest out.
Put your pan on a medium low burner. Add your wine, cheese, and brandy and stir constantly until your mixture is melted. Add nutmeg. Ours was ready in about 6 minutes.

Add the cheese to your fondue pot (or the saucepan you cooked it in, which is what we did.)
Enjoy!

Oak Barrel Aged Manhattans

Manhattans are Shane's favorite drink.

Over the years we have experimented with different brands of whiskey, different quantities of vermouth and bitters, and finally felt that we reached a happy point in the "perfect Manhattan" adventure. That is until a friend of ours introduced us to Oak barrels.

Aging your own drinks is SO much fun. Depending on how long you leave it in your barrel and the ingredients you use, your drink will taste different every time!

This recipe fits in a 2 liter oak barrel. We purchased the barrel from Oak Barrels Ltd.  (they have a wealth of information on aging on their site.) We have been very satisfied with their product.

Here is what you  will need:

1.75 liters of whiskey (we prefer Maker's Mark, but use what you love.)

1 c. sweet Vermouth, we use Martini Rossi

1 tsp of of Angostura bitters

Mix them well and pour into your barrel. 

Let it age for a week, then try it. Try it every week until you are happy with the taste. We usually age a batch for about 4 weeks. When you are satisfied with the taste, move it from the barrel into a decanter. 

Start a new batch!

As your barrel ages each batch it will loose some of the oaky flavor, so you will have to age each batch a bit longer. On average you can make 4-5 batches out of one barrel.

If you just want to make one Manhattan, here is what you do:

Fill your shaker with ice. Add 2 oz of whiskey, 1/2 oz of sweet vermouth, and 2-3 dashes of bitters. Shake. Pour into your chilled glass. Add a cherry, or two, and enjoy!

Peanut Butter Banana Bread (NOT gluten free!)

This recipe makes a very moist banana bread that is packed with flavor!
Here it is:

This recipe makes one loaf.

1 1/2 ripe bananas, mashed. About 4 bananas. (My grandma McGrady taught me to freeze ripe bananas until you had enough to make something out of.)
1/3 c. fat free Greek style yogurt
1/3 c. all natural chunky peanut butter
3 tbs unsalted butter, at room temperature (seriously, that is important)
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. sugar
1 tbs Mexican vanilla
1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp all spice
1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
We did not use nuts in this recipe, but walnuts would taste great!

cooking spray

Set your oven to 350 degrees. 

Mix together the bananas, yogurt and peanut butter until well combined, but not too smooth. Then, add butter and eggs. When those are combined, add sugar and vanilla and mix together.

In a separate bowl combine your dry ingredients, including your spices.

With your mixer on low, slowly add your dry mixture to your wet. Do not over mix, just combine the two.

Apply cooking spray to your loaf pan. Pour in the batter and bake at 350 degrees for about an hour and 10 minutes, or until the center of the bread is fully baked (when you insert a wooden toothpick it should come out clean.) Set the bread on a cooling rack until you can't wait any longer and eat it!

Pea Puree Crostini

We made this last night and it was super delicious. 

This recipe makes six generous Pea Puree Crostinis.

What you will need:

1c. peas (we used frozen defrosted peas, but fresh would be even better!)

2 cloves of garlic

1/2 c. grated pecorino romano (you could use parmesan cheese)

mint leaves (about 6)

about 1/2 c. olive oil

crème fraiche

A nice crusty  gluten free bread, sliced and toasted.

Blend all of the ingredients (except the crème fraiche) in your trusty blender.

Serve on top of bread, or use it as a veggie dip. 

Add a dollop of crème fraiche and eat!

Key Lime Yogurt Panna-Cotta-ish dessert.

Shane and I found delicious key limes at our local store. We talked about making a key lime pie, but decided we didn't want all the whipped cream. We came up with this refreshing dessert. It is so tart and delicious!

16 oz. Greek Yogurt. (We used Fage fat free yogurt)
1 pkg gelatin
1/2 c. sugar
1 c. boiling water
1/4 c. fresh squeezed key lime juice (about 6 key limes)
zest of 2 key limes
pinch of kosher salt
1 tsp. vanilla

Add sugar, zest, and gelatin in a bowl. Add boiling water and stir. Let the gelatin bloom (about 5 minutes.) Add lime juice. Let it cool a bit before whisking in the yogurt.

We mixed green, yellow, and red food coloring into our yogurt to make that great green color, then using a spoon added it to our yogurt cups to make those sweet dots.

Put the yogurt mixture in individual cups and let them set in your fridge, about 3 hours.

Enjoy!