Thai Iced Tea

Right before I moved to the Netherlands I had this amazing concoction called Thai Iced Tea!  It's amazing, really sweet and spiced! It's a perfect summertime treat.

I use this recipe http://whiteonricecouple.com/recipes/thai-tea-recipe/ to make it from scratch, I add a vanilla bean to it, helps round it out flavorwise for me.  You can buy a mix, if you can find it, and it will be the traditional orange color.

Fried Olives

Not sure what to have at your next martini party? I have the answer! Fried olives naturally are the way to go! They are super simple easy to make and the worse  you can do is burn them.

1c Green Olives (you used stuffed ones if that's what you like)
1 egg Beaten
1/2c Bread Crumbs
Oil

Heat oil on high heat.  Pat olives dry,  Roll in egg and then roll in bread crumbs.  Fry until golden.  That's it! Enjoy!

Variations are adding different ground spices to the bread crumbs. Using Panko instead of regular bread crumbs. You can also make a dipping sauce if you feel so inclined!

CHEESE DIP!!!!

As you can tell I generally just use recipes as templates so I was ecstatic when this wondrous recipe came into my email from Epicuriuos: How to Make Baked Cheese Dip Without a Recipe   Here is one of my conncoctions and a list of what I used.  This recipe is really super duper easy and great for parties, you can serve it in a big container or even individual ramekins!

I always use cream cheese as my base then everything else is usually what I have on hand, to make it creamier I use sour cream or mayonnaise. To add flavor I use Frank's Wing Sauce or a Spicy BBQ Sauce, you can use regular Frank's or salsa, really however you want to flavor is great, there is no wrong way! Just make sure it's semi thick!  Then I added about 1 1/2 to 2 c cheese, a cheese that melts you can also add feta, goat cheese, or blue cheese if you want but they don't tend to melt to have the desired affect, depends on how liquidy the mixture is.  I grate in a small onion and a couple cloves of garlic. Salt and pepper, then mix it until combined and dish into whatever you'll be baking in.  Top with buttered bread crumbs if you so desire and bake about 30 minutes, let sit for a bit and right before serving put in for 5 minutes.  It will be really hot and it is cheese so be careful when taking your first bites.

Teal Squeal

This blended drink is the perfect drink for Mermaids, it's the best color ever and it's blended so it's cold and refreshing!

1/2c Vodka

1/4c Blue Curacao

2c Ice

1/2c pineapple

Combine all ingredients in blender and blend well. Garnish with pineapple.

I froze my fresh pineapple in order to cut down on using the ice so it wasn't watered down and it worked well, didn't have enough to garnish though. Makes enough for about 2 highballs mostly filled, the other glass I made was fuller. I might try making it as a punch this summer with pineapple juice.

Roasted Rainbow Carrots

Roasted Rainbow Carrots, they're also glazed! Rainbow carrots are great because they are a variety of colors so they really make for quite the astounding looking dish! There are orange ones, purple ones and yellow ones in this mix!

4 Bunches Rainbow Carrots
Olive Oil
Honey
Salt

Preheat oven to 450. Cut carrots into thick pieces.  Toss in Olive Oil,  Place on baking tray in a single layer, careful not to over crowd. Roast for 15 minutes, turning once.  I then glaze mine in a pan with some warmed honey. Sprinkle with salt and serve!

Detox Waters!

Trying to stay hydrated but get tired of plain bland water?  Try making your own flavored water! You can get scientific with to try and heal different ailments or you can just try different flavors!

The water in the foreground is pineapple, strawberry and basil.  I used frozen pineapple and sliced a couple strawberries really thin.  The water in the background is all frozen, it's frozen cranberries, cherries and blackberries!

Bashful Blue

Found these beautiful blue glitter roses at a vendor at Albert Cuyp, so had to do a makeup look!

I used Sugarpill eyeshadows in Afterparty, Hellatronic, Holy Ghost and Tiara, Lit Cosmetics glitter in Northern Lights and the lipstick is Nyx Cosmetics Cosmic Metals in Speed of Light.  Robe is from Amazon.

Panzanella

Summer is coming and here is the perfect recipe to take to all those summer get togethers you have coming up!  It's super easy to do prep, the most work you do is cut things up!

This panzanella picture here is one I made with fried basil and capers, those are both totally optional, I don't feel they actually added anything to the dish though.

1 baugette cut into cubes about 1/2inch
1/2c Olive Oil
8tbsp butter
3 cloves of garlic sliced
16oz of mozzarella (I buy the packages where it's in small balls and I always buy extra just in case)
6lb vine ripened Tomatoes
1 sm onion (pictured is a purple one but you can use any variety)
Balsamic vinegar
Handful of Basil

Preheat oven 350.   Heat olive oil, garlic and butter over medium heat until butter melts. Remove from heat. Mix Olive Oil mixture and bread cubes together until bread is evenly coated.  Put bread on a baking sheet in a single layer, Bake 10-15 minutes until golden brown.

Cut tomatoes in sizes approximate to the bread cubes. Dice onion, and place onion in balsamic vinegar, they will soak it up and add a little bit of extra pop. Cut basil into strips and add to tomatoes.  Add the mozzarella. When ready to serve mix in a bit of Olive Oil into the vinegar and onions to make a dressing, add this to the tomatoes mixture. Then add bread, mix together and serve immediately.

If you  would like to make the fried Basil and Capers you'll need a small pan with oil, heated on medium heat.  Put about 1/4c of capers on a paper towel and kind of pat dry so the don't spatter. Line another plate with a dry paper towel.  Then you simply fry the basil and capers, they cook pretty fast so be ready!

Gin and Tonic

I'm currently really into Gin and Tonics, so I've been trying several different Gins and all kinds of tonics when I go out, this was the first one I made at home though.

2 ounces Kyro Distillery Koskue Gin

2 lime wedges

3–4 ounces tonic water

Cucumber for garnish

Add gin to a highball glass filled with ice. Squeeze in lime wedges to taste, then add them to glass. Add tonic water; stir to combine.

To make the ribboned cucumber garnish use a vegetable peeler lengthwise on a cucumber, you can also use a mandolin but because of the length that can be a bit more difficult.

Princesses, Petals and Pink! OH MY!

The perfect thing for slightly cool weather is Pink Parkas, especially perfect if there are petals around!  I am wearing a hot pink pocket parka from Primark, Disney cami dress from Target (a millon years ago and on clearance), pink glitter keds, hot pink fishnets from Amazon and Violet tights from We Love Colors! I simply adore We Love Colors for Plus size tights, they have 50 colors to choose from plus fishnets and splash patter! The tights are definitely opaque and feel absolutely great! They are talking about expanding to different patterns for the plus sizes too the example was a leopard print!

Muffin Frittatas!

This is not an exact recipe thing I make (as is most things, I will however include the link I referenced to begin with.  The great things about frittatas are they're versatile, high protein, and you can make them ahead and freeze them! If you use silicone muffin cups clean up is a breeze which is always awesome.

Here's a basic example of what I do as I said they are very easy to modify and I'll try and include some examples of what I've used.  This is the recipe I used as a template: http://www.incredibleegg.org/recipe/muffin-frittatas/

Preheat oven to 350F

7eggs
1/4c milk
1 small onion
1 clove garlic
1c shredded cheese
1lb ground meat
Anything else you want to add (spinach, bell peppers, tomatoes, potatoes etc)

All of mine have sauteed onions and garlic in them, 1 small onion and 1 clove of garlic.  1lb of ground meat (beef, chicken, turkey, occasionally pancetta).  I season the meat with salt, pepper, garlic powder and either chilli powder or cayenne, depending on what other things I'm adding with it I'll add other dried herbs such as thyme, dill, rosemary etc.  I also season the meat with things like taco seasoning.  Bell pepper is a good addition for a little bit of crunch, it'll get cooked while everything is baking but will still be firmer then if sauteed with the onions and garlic.  Spinach is also something that frequently goes in the frittatas.  The first thing I do is cut up everything, then I saute the onion and garlic while I cook the meat.  These both need to cool before you can mix in with the eggs.  After those I have cooled I whisk about 7 eggs with about 1/4c milk seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder and any other seasonings you want.  I add 1c of shredded cheese (anything you want mozzarella, cheddar, gouda, etc) mix and then add everything else and mix it all together. I then fill all my muffin cups to the top with the mixture. Bake for 20 min, they will puff up a little bit.