Summer cocktails and sorbets!

It's been really frickin' hot in Florida. That's pretty much the bottom line. Hot. Sweltering actually. Feels like 100+ degrees out. Literally. Thanks global warming.

Anyway, I was having a lazy Saturday this past weekend and trying to get rid of some lingering remnants in my fridge. So I decided to try my hand at summer cocktails. I'm not usually a big liquor drinker, or lemonade drinker for that matter. Or anything but coffee, water and wine when it really comes down to it. But when one has these sorts of things on hand it seems prudent to get creative.

The first cocktail attempt was my cross between an Arnold Palmer and a Hot (or rather cold) Toddy. I mixed ice tea and brandy with a splash of raspberry lemonade and some seltzer. Pretty good.

The second was inspired by my adventures in Europe, where vodka and Fanta seemed to be all the rage. I mixed some vodka with the raspberry lemonade and lemon lime seltzer to give it that little, refreshing bubble.

It didn't take long before I got sick of drinking all that sweet stuff (we're talking powdered lemonade here ... left over from the baby shower). But I couldn't let all of that raspberry lemonade go to waste. So I busted out the hot pink ice cream maker and turned it into a sorbet. Just threw in the rest of the lemonade, some seltzer and the frozen raspberries. That's what I call resourceful!

I was so encouraged by the results (the sorbet seemed to come out better than any of the ice creams I've tried) that I decided to clear off some space for the ice cream maker on my counter. After all, it's just the start of summer in Florida. And it looks like it's going to be a hot one.

What's been cooking?

So it's not like I've been totally lazy these past two months between posts. I had to eat after all. I've just been relying on some old favorites. My comfort foods, if you will. Anyway, here's a little recap of some of the things going down in my kitchen.

Bobby Flay's Chicken Cacciatore: This is fabulous. I love the layers of flavors from the spicy jalapeno to the tangy balsamic. Bobby thought of everything. I still can't believe he lost the throwdown! I bypass the whole chicken and just do mine with chicken thighs.

Emeril's Smoked Salmon Quiche with Potato Crust: A different twist on a classic quiche. Potato crust = Yum. As if potatoes weren't awesome enough, try kicking them up with some Essence of Emeril and Parmesan. Heaven.

My Pasta with Goat Cheese, Chicken and Sun Dried Tomatoes: An easy weeknight meal with lots of bold flavors.

Duff Goldman's Curried Pasta Salad: I whipped this up to go with some jerk burgers at a friend's Memorial Day BBQ. I liked it so much I've already done a sequel to go with the NFNS party leftovers. I probably used twice the curry powder the recipe calls for and spiced mine up with cayenne pepper. Throw in some dried cherries for a sweet balance the spiciness. And impress your friends ... my cubicle food buddy at work thought I julienned the broccoli for the slaw! Thanks Publix!

Emeril's Quiche Lorraine: Who doesn't love cheese and bacon? Simple, easy, freezable. Although, I freeze anything. Perfect to whip out as a snack for a spontaneous Friday evening wine tasting!

Giada's Shrimp and Lemon Linguine: A note to the home cook - don't salt the water too much when using fresh pasta, as I did when I made this recipe. I guess it stands to reason it absorbs more of it than the store bought, dried kind. I've also decided I'm not a huge fan of lemon. Besides those two things, my dinner guest was a big fan of this one.

And we did have a little baby shower action in the midst of all this, during which my friend E and I converted my pad into Kitchen Stadium to whip up six dishes in about three hours. (You have ... 20 minutes). OK, we did get a late start because we had to hit up our fav wine shop for double points Saturday. But we did it! E made a roasted red pepper dip, tuna tartare and bruschetta. My contributions were:

Leek and Mushroom Quiche: The beauty of the quiche ... I used the same quiche lorraine recipe from above and swapped in a pack of portobellos and a leek. Eyeball it.

Rachael Ray's Italian Sausage Sage Meatballs with Apricot Balsamic Glaze: Always a big hit at parties. *Note: This recipe doesn't appear to be on any authorized web sites. It's that good. I'm not about to infringe copyright on Rach's $18 million a year empire. It's in her Get Togethers cookbook.

Rachael Ray's Lemon Pepper Chicken Bites: Why I keep making stuff with lemon is beyond me. But everybody else liked it. I served with some teryiaki.

So that's a lazy two months of cooking for me! Not surprising : )

Lapse into Laziness

Well I guess you could say I fell off the blogging bandwagon there for awhile. It happens. Don't get me wrong. I've still been cooking and eating well these past two months. I suppose I was just too distracted by, well, all of life's little distractions to blog about it. Or perhaps all of the cooking was really more of a distraction from the distractions... There's something to think about!

Either way, I've been meaning to get back on track, and finally this weekend presented the perfect opportunity: My Next Food Network Star premier party. When I was home in Buffalo a few weeks ago and first saw the promo, I couldn't believe that it was time yet again for the show that brought us Guy Fieri, Aaron McCargo Jr and Melissa d'Arabian. So I sent out all my invites and started the menu planning.

I'm big on themes for this sort of occasion. Recall, the Next Iron Chef premier where everyone had a secret ingredient to cook with. I thought better this time of imposing any restrictions on my guests, so figured I'd just come up with my own guidelines. And then the perfect idea hit me. I would make a recipe from some of the former winners.

Anyway, here we go again! Without further ado, here's what I came up with.

Melissa d'Arabian's Salmon Cakes: The recipe does not include a dip, but I whipped up a simple mayo one with the ingredients that go in the salmon cakes (mayo, dijon, onions, bacon grease and lemon).

Aaron McCargo Jr.'s Molasses Marinated Flank Steak with Roasted Red Peppers

Guy Fieri's Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp with Chipotle BBQ Sauce

As it turns out, Guy's got some pretty tempting recipes, so I rounded out the menu with these two little quickies.

Ginger Carrot Soup Shooters: I put my soup in little plastic shot glasses so guests could easily eat them. I have to say I wasn't a huge fan. A little too overpowering in its pine nutiness. I tried to give it another layer of flavor with some roasted red bell and jalapeno peppers. And as a garnish, I did a little swirl of honey on top.

Artichoke Spinach Dip with Roasted Red Bell Peppers

CATW: Suriname, Pork and shrimp pepper pot

Drum roll please ... my latest global culinary endeavor was this pork and shrimp pepper pot from Suriname. A delicious, creamy stew with spicy habanero pepper. Yum! Check out my other blog for details.

Easter Eats

If there's one thing I love more than a good dinner party, it would be dining as the guest of an equally as (or more) skilled culinary mastermind.

For Easter this year, I got to be an esteemed guest in my SoBe partner in crime's beautiful new home and enjoy a wonderful spread of traditional lamb and mint jelly, with all sorts of fixings.

Of course I'm not one to show up as a guest empty handed. For the cocktail hour (or hours as is the case with my friends) I whipped up these Rachael Ray Sage Sausage Bites with Balsamic Apricot Dip. These little Italian sausage meatballs are always a big hit with a sauce that offers the right mix of sweet and savory.

For dessert, I whipped up one of my all time favorite desserts - one I also consider an Easter staple. Carrot cake. I could not resist trying the Cake Boss Buddy Valastro's recipe, and turned to Ina Garten for the cream cheese frosting. The cake was perfectly moist and flavorful, and the cream cheese frosting rich, but not too sugary.

My efforts, however, were quite humbled by the spectacular spread. I'd never had lamb with mint jelly before, and was pleasantly surprised by the flavor combination (courtesy of Tyler Florence's take on years of tradition). It was lucky too that I saved room after the cocktail hour, since I could not get enough of another one of my friend's veggie pizza, a cream cheese, ranch dressing spread covering croissants and topped with carrots and broccoli. This recipe looks pretty similar to the one she told me.

Of course one of my favorite stars of the show were the lamb cupcakes another friend showed up with. The loving detail with which she placed little white chocolate chips to look like fur, and marshmallows for ears was just priceless!

Forget diamonds ...

... I think if Marilyn Monroe were a food friendly female around today, she'd have a new BFF. What woman's life isn't considerably enhanced by a KitchenAid?

At least that's how I feel now that I've acquired one.

I'm staying mums as far as the blog is concerned about how I acquired it. But I will say while some other things in life don't work out, the KitchenAid and I are looking forward to a long and happy relationship.

I took the honor of christening it on Easter Sunday by making one of my all time favorite desserts - carrot cake. Two words: life changing. I never would have imagined homemade cream cheese frosting so smooth, so fluffy, so quick and easy.

So yeah ... forget the diamonds. If anyone ever wants to marry me, I'm going to suggest going cheap on the ring. If you're going to spring a few thousand on me, I think I'd rather upgrade to one of those bad ass KitchenAids they auctioned off at the South Beach Food and Wine Festival. I'm thinking hot pink ... autographed by Emeril Lagasse ... Just thinking.

Rainy Day Tailgating

I had the perfect plan for my re-emergence onto the cooking scene: Polo tailgating.

Forget the big hats and sleek dresses a la Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. My polo experiences are pretty much defined by snacks, wine and friends enjoyed under the Florida sunshine.

This year's excursion promised to be the best yet. One of my friends has a grill attached to the back of his truck. Another a little tent. And of course one can not forget my contribution: the picnic table and cooler in the back of my CRV.

The menu planning began at least a week in advance, and with plans to grill who else would I look to than Bobby Flay, my favorite grill master. I found an interesting recipe for a Grilled Jerk Chicken with Mango and Cilantro Salsa. To top that off, I thought I'd whip up a munchie I saw Giada make on her show a few weeks ago, Tilapia Fish Tacos with Arugula.

Both came out pretty well. For the chicken, I used drum sticks and wings. Bobby Flay recommends marinating the meat for 24 to 48 hours, depending on how strong you want the flavor. I went some where in between, and I have to say I felt like it could have been stronger. The flavor was good, but I would have liked a little more spice. I did cheat and use jalapeno peppers instead of the one called for in the recipe.

For Giada's, I was too lazy and busy to go to the Asian market for the wontons and decided to put my own little twist on the bite size fish tacos. I rolled corn tortillas into little cones, pressed the edges tight to hold the shape, placed them in a cupckae tin and popped them in the oven until crisp.

But just as we pulled everything together, Mother Nature threatened our party with afternoon thunder storms.

Good thing we gals don't let anyone rain on our parade. We moved our party indoors : )