lime

Water Color Fruit Cookies (+ NEW Sugar Cookie Recipes!)

June 23, 2017

I am really excited about this post for a couple of reasons. First of all, I love these cookies. They are some of my favorites to date! I have been loving this painting on cookies technique that I picked up over the past couple of months. It’s actually somewhat therapeutic to sit and paint. Plus, with watercolor, you don’t have to be so precise and exact, which I certainly appreciate!

The second reason I love this post is that each one of the watercolor fruit cookies represents the flavor of the cookie! I have been playing around with different flavors for a couple months and settled on four that will be my (actually, you have already seen them in the rotation) my go-to cookie flavors for Summer (and probably beyond).

But I will get to the flavors in a second. First let me show you how I painted the cookies! (P.S. It’s super easy!)

So the trick is to “water down” your food coloring with a bit of a clear alcohol or extract, like almond extract. You don’t want the color to be TOO pigmented, or else it won’t look like water color. Then I just mixed my colors until I found a shade I liked and painted directly on the dried icing. There is no science to it at all! I did have pictures of water color fruit up in front of me while I did this so I had something to work off of. But after a while, I just did what I thought looked good.

Now back to these cookie flavors.

I know I share a lot of sugar cookie recipes. So instead of posting all the recipes here, or sharing them one by one over the course of the Summer, I decided to put together a little mini recipe e-book with all four recipes which you can get here. Each recipe is not only delicious, but I spent a lot of time in Photoshop making them pretty, too! That way you can print them out and save them for the next time you want to make some wonderful cookies.

The lemon cookie is lemon-mint flavored and is absolutely refreshing and delicious! The raspberry cookie is a raspberry lemonade flavor, which reminds me of my all time favorite summer drink. The strawberry is strawberry and honey flavor which is subtle and sweet. And finally the lime cookie is lime and sea salt flavored which almost tastes like a margarita! (As I was decorating, I couldn’t help but think of the Willy Wonka line “the snozeberries tastes like snozeberries!”)

Also, I should mention that these recipes are not my normal sugar cookie recipe with a couple extracts thrown in. I re-developed my sugar cookie recipe just for Summer! It’s lighter and softer than normal. Plus the flavors are all natural! They are not engineered for a flavor extract, which makes the cookies that much more wonderful and delicious!

If you do end up downloading the e-book and trying out the recipes, I would love to know what you think. Also, if you like this idea, I already have some thoughts on another e-book for the Holidays!

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Strawberry Mojito Recipe

June 2, 2017

A few years ago (eight, actually), Billy and I found ourselves in Miami on the way to Puerto Rico. The first night we walked down the beach to find a place to eat (and drink), when we stumbled upon the Clevelander. Actually, you don’t really stumble upon the Clevelander. You are sort of drawn to it. It’s a huge restaurant on a corner with an expansive patio and a towering neon sign. Nevertheless, we settled in and ordered a couple mojitos.

About six mojitos later, it was decided; these were the best mojitos we had ever had! Sure, it could have been that we had consumed SIX mojitos. But I promise you I wouldn’t have had more than one if they weren’t special.

Once we got to Puerto Rico, we made a point to take a trip to the Bicardi factory where we learned even more about mojitos. From that point on, Billy and I were on a mission to make a mojito as good as the ones we had in Miami and San Juan!

We have actually gotten pretty close over the years. Every Summer when limes are in abundance, we stock up and try out hand at a few mojitos. This Summer I wanted to mix things up. We have had plenty of plain ol’ mojitos. Why not try a strawberry mojito?!

How I made them

Mojito’s require a little bit of elbow grease. Forget just pouring a couple liquids together. You have to work for this one!

In the bottom of a glass, I put mint leaves strawberries, and a bit of sugar. I don’t have a muddler, so I use the back of a wooden spoon to muddle the strawberries and mint leaves. I want my mint leaves to be beat up and the strawberries to be smashed. The sugar just acts as an abrasive to help with both of those things.

To that, I add the rum and some simple syrup and stir everything together. I top it with some ice and sparkling water. I had some lime La Croix’s on hand, and that worked perfectly!

Then I drink it as quickly as possible and make myself another one!

Just kidding! You guys have no idea how slow of a drinker I am. It’s pathetic. But I drank this strawberry mojito before the ice had a chance to melt. And that’s saying something!

It really is the perfect Summer drink! Lime and mint is already a refreshing combination. But with the addition of strawberries, it is sent over the top! It’s like that perfect drink to sip on a hot day by the beach, by the pool, or on the patio.No need to fly down to Miami or Puerto Rico. Unless you happen to find yourself there. Then definitely find a spot at the Clevelander and settle in!

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Cilantro Lime Fish Tacos

March 10, 2017

Leave it to me to start appreciating fish tacos only after I have moved away from the fish taco capital of the world (I assume). Despite growing up a stones throw from the beach and surrounded by amazing taco spots all with their own take on the fish taco, I didn’t eat my first fish taco until moving to North Carolina. That just feels wrong, doesn’t it?

Now a days if I want a fish taco I have to make the haul to the only spot in town that makes a decent one, or I can just make them at home. Since I am lazy and cheap, I tend to choose the later.

And my go-to fish taco recipe? This easy and flavorful cilantro lime fish taco!

Start with some fresh (or thawed) fish. I used tilapia which is a nice light white fish that is great for fish novice’s like me.

Generously dust the fish with a mixture of chili powder, cumin, garlic, salt, and pepper. Don’t be shy! In my opinion you can’t over season the fish. Then sprinkle on some cilantro; unless you are one of those weird people who hates cilantro, then skip it.

Now take a half a lime and squeeze the bejeezus out of it to get every ounce of juice over the fish. Then pop in the oven for a quick bake.

After about 10 minutes in the oven, the fish should be done and already flaking apart. All you have to do is take a fork to it to break it up into smaller chunks. Now they are ready to be made into tacos!

I like to top my fish tacos off with a fresh mango pineapple salsa, which is the same salsa I used in the Jamaican Jerk Shrimp skewers. There is just something about fish and tropical fruit. I don’t know what it is.

These tacos make such a nice fresh and healthy dinner that can be made in less than 30 minutes, easy! And if you are new to fish, kinda like me, this recipe will be great for you. Tilapia is a nice mild fish with that really takes on the flavor of whatever you season it with. It is also very easy to cook and practically fool proof.

Trust me.

But if you are a fish connoisseur and tilapia is too mild for you, you can definitely substitute in some ahi tuna, mahi mahi, halibut, and any other favorite fish! Make it your own!

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Margarita Chicken

April 8, 2016

When a drink after work isn’t enough, make this Margarita Chicken!

I make chicken for dinner a lot. It’s easy and requires almost no thought on my part, which is great for those long days. But plain ol’ chicken can get boring after a while. Which is why I try to mix things up every now and then.

One of our more recent chicken experiments is this Margarita Chicken. It is exactly what it sounds like. Imagine marinating chicken in a margarita and this is what you would get, more or less.

In case you aren’t sure what goes into a margarita, its a lot of lime juice, a hint of Triple Sec (orange liquor), some simple syrup, and a shot of Tequila. Since this is a chicken recipe, I decided to forgo the sweetness. But just about everything else in the marinade is just like the drink – lime juice, orange juice (instead of triple sec), tequila, and a generous amount of sea salt! Because I like my margaritas with salt. There may also be a hint of garlic and cumin in there, too. I definitely wouldn’t recommend putting either of those in your drink.

To make sure that the lime flavor was coming through loud in clear, I also topped off the chicken with some lime zest along with some salt and pepper.

After the chicken is done getting drunk on it’s very own margarita, all it needs is a good sear on a hot grill or in a pan and it is done! And don’t worry about overcooking this chicken. The lime juice and tequila makes the chicken breasts nice and moist and tender, so you won’t dry it out if you tend to overcook chicken like me.

I hope this recipe will inspire you to mix up your chicken routine. It would be perfect with a side of rice, on a nice salad, or in a taco. The options are endless!

Enjoy!

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Mango Margarita

May 4, 2014

This recipe was inspired by a picture on Instagram. I really wish I could give credit to the person, but I didn’t “like” the picture so I have no idea who posted it. Who ever it was, thank you for the inspiration!

I love a good margarita (clearly, since I am willing to make it into a tart). But some times its fun to mix things up. So when I saw that mango margarita posted to Instagram, I knew I had to try to make my own.

What makes this a bit unusual, is the chili-salt rim. Growing up in Southern California, the chili-mango flavor combination was very popular. It may seem a bit unusual but they actually go really well together! It is not at all spicy, and the smokiness of the chili and the salt really bring out the sweetness of the mango. However, the margarita is just as good without the chili if that is your thing.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!! Salud!

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Margarita Tart

April 28, 2014

I don’t know what it says about me to turn a drink into a dessert….or make my dessert alcoholic, so let’s not read too much into it, okay?

This tart is essentially just like any other lime tart with a few extra ingredients. How do you turn lime juice into a margarita? Tequila, triple sec, and salt.

To get that hint of salt, I added pretzels to the crust by processing both graham crackers and pretzels, then adding in melted butter. If that sounds delicious on its own, let me tell you, it is. I may or may not have eaten the leftover crust out of the bowl with a spoon. By itself.

The filling is essentially a margarita with condensed milk and egg yolks to make a curd. If you have the extra limes, you might as well use them to make yourself a real margarita.

If you are worried about serving this dessert to kids, the alcohol does cook out, however you could forgo the tequila completely and add in orange juice instead of triple sec to get the same effect.

I will definitely be making this again this summer. It’s tart with a hint of sweetness, plus you that little bite from the tequila followed by the saltiness from the crust. Just like your favorite margarita.

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