Lemon Squint

 

  Today we were playing outside with the kids as we normally do.  However, today was warm and we broke out the water balloons and had a fun day of water balloon fighting.   I found a recipe online for a lemonade style drink.  It was ok, but nothing to post about.  However, my wife wanted another lemonade drink and went in and made the following drink.  She didn't mix it from a recipe and just made it up.  Who knows if this drink exists already or not.  However, it really doesn't matter because we both enjoyed it thoroughly and will definitely be something we will be making again.  I asked her what she put in it so I could make a post to record the recipe for all to enjoy.  We tossed around a few ideas on a name for the drink and settled on Lemon Squint.  It just seemed like a good name for a tasty drink to have while playing outside in the sun.

Ingredients
- 2 shots of vodka
- 1 shot of blackberry schnapps
- 1 shot of peach schnapps
- Lemonade

Put ice in Tom Collins glass and pour in the vodka and schnapps.  Fill the glass with lemonade and stir.  Serve with a slice or lemon or orange.  Cheers!

Quick and Yummy Cinnamon Waffles

 So my kids love Cinnamon rolls and waffles.  I decided to combine those two items into something the kids would really dig into on a Saturday morning.  I took a standard waffle recipe modified it a bit.  I then made a glaze to replace the traditional syrup.  Needless to say, these waffles were a huge hit and not one was left on the table.  They are very quick to make and are quite delicious.  Enjoy!

Quick and Yummy Cinnamon Waffles
- 2 C all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 T sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 ½ C milk (you’ll probably need a little more than this)
- 2 eggs
- 4 T butter (half a stick)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp Almond Extract

Put butter in microwave safe bowl and heat until melted.
Dip brush in melted butter and Brush waffle iron lightly and preheat. (don’t use all butter, only use one or two brushes to lightly cover waffle iron)

Add milk and eggs to bowl with butter and whisk thoroughly.
Stir in Vanilla and almond extract

Combine dry ingredients. (flour, salt, sugar, baking powder and cinnamon)
Stir the wet into the dry ingredients. If the mixture seems too thick, add a little more milk until the batter drips nicely from the stirring spoon.

Pour batter in the waffle iron to cook. Enjoy!

Serve with maple syrup or if you prefer a more Cinnamon roll glaze, follow the instructions below for a glaze.


CREAM CHEESE GLAZE:
4 Tablespoons butter
2 ounces cream cheese
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a microwave-safe bowl- heat butter and cream cheese for 30 to 60 seconds until melted. Stir together until smooth. Then whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla.

Amazing Margarita Recipe

So about 2 years ago, I was out with friends having a nice dinner at the local Mexican Restaurant.  They had an extensive menu of various margaritas and we decided to try some out.  While my friends tried the elaborate flavored and colored ones, I am more of a purist and wanted just the basic margarita.  The margarita was good, but as the dinner went on, I began to think that I could come up with a recipe that I would enjoy even more.

I researched many recipes and went to various restaurants and tried out many different styles and recipes.  I have to say, this research was quite fun! Once I had a good taste for what I liked in a margarita, I bought a bunch of ingredients and tried my hand at creating a recipe that I truly would enjoy.  After many many failed attempts (those were still fun nights), I came up with the recipe below.  I like my drinks strong, so this one has a bit of a bite to it.  I will include a few suggestions to tone it down a bit below if my original recipe is a bit too strong for you.  I have also refined this recipe to try to make it as low calorie as possible without sacrificing the flavor.

3 parts tequila (silver tequila)

1 parts sweet and sour mix
1 part triple sec
1 part lime juice

1 part Patron Citronge

spash of Lemonciello

Mix ingredients in cocktail shaker or blender and mix well with ice.  Serve with a slice of lime and salt (if preferred).

If you like a sweeter margarita, use only 2 parts of tequila and add in 1 part peach schnapps.

Let me know what you think.  My friends and family always ask me to make this margarita and I will always oblige but I would have to join in as well.

OBX Ribs

OBX BBQ RBS - 2 pork rib racks 

This recipe originated while on a summer vacation at Duck, North Carolina.  A good friend and I both wanted to have ribs one night.  Neither of us had made ribs but were determined to come up with an amazing recipe.  It may have been too much sun, too much beer or a combination, but we hit the internet and looked up some recipes with a fervor .  We picked spices and ingredients we both thought we work well and just went all in and figured if we blew it, we would just have a night out.  Either way, our wives would get to enjoy an evening with someone else doing the cooking.

After a quick trip to the store to buy our ingredients, we went at it and come up with the following recipe.  I happen to jot down what ended up in the recipe and I'm thankful that I did.  The ribs turned out delicious.  They were so tender and just falling off the bone.  The BBQ sauce simply made the ribs over the top delicious.  We have made these ribs several times since then and every time, they are just as good.  If you like ribs, give this recipe a try.  If you like them or have a recipe of your own to share, please post and share.

Marinade
3/4 cup of water
1 can of tomato paste
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cider vinegar
3/4 cup Dijon mustard
3/4 cup minced garlic

Mix all marinade ingredients in a sauce pan and boil for 30 minutes and let cool.

Peel back membrane off of ribs.
Rinse ribs under faucet
Place ribs in large pan with several inch sides.
Cover ribs in Marinade.
Cover pan with ribs with foil and let sit for at least 2 hours (over night is even better)

Heat oven to 325 degrees
Add 1/4 inch of water to bottom of pan (be careful to fill from corner to not rinse marinade from ribs.
Recover ribs with foil.
Put pan with ribs into Oven for 3 hours

Sauce
1-2 tablespoons of Olive Oil
1 Vidalia Onion
Sea Salt
3 minced garlic cloves
1 cup ketchup
1 can beef broth
3/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (may add more for taste)

Dice Onion to small pieces
Put Onion in large sauce pan with Olive Oil and a few pinches of sea salt.
Cook on medium heat to slightly brown and soften onion
Mix in remaining ingredients and simmer until sauce thickens to a nice paste.

Take ribs from oven
Heat Outdoor Grill with medium indirect heat
Carefully transfer ribs to grill (they should already be very tender)
Poor some remaining marinade from pan on ribs and let simmer for a few minutes
Cover both sides of ribs with Sauce and cook on each side for 10-15 minutes.

Plate ribs and let rest for 10-15 minutes
Enjoy.