"Macaroons are the new cupcake."

Is matter-of-factly what I told my mother yesterday right before sprinting into a little shop in the upscale area of Downtown Orlando called Le Macaroon. These cute, puffy little treats that come in an entire rainbow of both natural and unnatural colors, that I have seen all over the blogosphere as of late, but have yet to actually try.

Honestly, I sort of thought they were a real big city thing. And maybe this sounds silly but, I never really have thought of Orlando as a real big city. More of a pseudo city that sprung up based on the need for hotels and restaurants to surround Disney. A lot of stuff, but not a lot of character.

Little by little though, O-town has been surprising me! From fantastic little BBQ restaurants and auction houses to the cupcake shop that USA Today named one of the top 10 cupcake stops in the country!

And now... Macaroons!!!

They weren't exactly what I was expecting... more meringue and less cookie. But after the initial shock and a bite of one called Madagascar Vanilla Bean and Cassis, I was hooked.

So well played, blogosphere. Well played!

Turkey Time: Holiday Sangria!!

Thanksgiving.. the time for food, giving thanks and family. Lots of family. And as much as we love them, everyone has those few specific family members that... well... there's a reason you only see them once or twice a year, if you get my drift.

So who doesn't love a good sangria while cooking, eating and after dinner to take the edge off??

Via

Ingredients

1 bottle Merlot

1 bottle Cabernet
1 bottle ginger ale

1 cup sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cloves

2 oranges

2 red apples

1/2 bag cranberries

Combine one bottle of wine, sugar, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg and let simmer on medium high heat for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

Peel oranges, slice fruit and combine in a gallon jug with both wines.

Refrigerate and let set for at least 6 hours, the longer, the better but it tastes fine after only 6 hours if you're in a time crunch!

Add ice and ginger ale to serve.

Garnish with a cinnamon stick and any other holiday fruit of your choice!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

Turkey Time: Dark Chocolate and Coke Brownies

I know I promised this recipe last night but... well.... Nap time won against recipe writing.

I'm sorry... But, better late then never, right!?

These are hands down my go to recipe for any sort of pot luck, birthday party, work event... Anything. Who doesn't like amazing brownies??

What's even better is that these are Half-Ass-Martha-Stewart at it's best and they're completely sugar free!

Ingredients

1 box of Pillsbury Sugar Free Brownie Mix
Eggs
1 can of Coke Zero
1 1/2 cups Dark Chocolate Chips

Follow the instructions on the back of the brownie mix and replace both the water and the vegetable oil that the instructions call for with equal parts room temperature Coke Zero
After all the wet ingredients are well blended in, temper in the dark chocolate chips
Bake according to the rest of the box instructions

And that's it! If you're feeling frisky, this recipe can also use Guinness in place of the Coke Zero for a less sweet, and more Irish version!

Check back tomorrow for a killer Holiday Themed Sangria recipe that will really take the edge off some of your more obnoxious family members ;-) And swing by Gentri Lee for her awesome giveaway!

Turkey Time: Mini Caprese Salad

Via

Nick's Mini Caprese Salad if probably the definition of Martha Stewart made easy.

If you can slice things without slicing off any limbs in the process, you can make this fabulous and simple little salad!

Prep Time - 15 minutes

Dressing Ingredients

1 ½ cups fresh basil

4-5 sprigs thyme 

1/2 a lemon worth of juice

2-3 cloves garlic

3-4 tbsp Olive oil

Combine all ingredients into  food processor and chop until liquified

Salad Ingredients

2 cups fresh mozzarella pearls

1 cup sliced cherry tomatoes

1 cup sliced menagerie tomatoes

2 tbsp balsamic glaze

Slice the tomatoes and combine with mozzarella pearls

Toss tomato and mozzarella mixture with basil dressing

Chill for 1 - 2 hours to marinate

Top with balsamic glaze and serve!

Check back later tonight for my favorite... Dark Chocolate Coca-Cola Brownies!

Turkey Time with Annika & Nick

One thing I have always wanted is my own cooking show. I love teaching people things (I'm studying to be a professor, duh.) and I looooooooooove to cook! So for the rest of this week, I have something special planned for you guys!

Everyday this week, Nick and I will be sharing some of our favorite recipes to use for your holiday! So to kick off the week, lets pretend it's Wednesday November 23rd. When you have a ton of family in your house and little to no desire to cook a huge meal, the day before you cook another huge meal. Solution?

Parmesan Crusted Tilapia

Modified Recipe from Everyday with Rachel Ray

Preparation Time - 10 minutes

Cooking Time - 10-12 minutes

Simple, extremely tasty and ridiculously fast!

• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon oregeno
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 4 tilapia fillets (a little more than 1 lb)
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees

Mix dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl

Lightly drizzle the fillets with olive oil and cover both sides of the fillet with the dry mixture

Place coated tilapia onto a pan coated with tin foil and bake for 10-12 minutes or until the thickest part of the fish is white and opaque.

Serve to your guests and prepare for them to be wowed!!

For the perfect side dish to this delicious meal, check back tomorrow for Nick's signature Mini Caprese Salad!

How to have the perfect fall frolic

How to have the perfect fall frolic


Hello A Sweet Release readers!  My name is Sarah and I blog over at Desirous of Everything.  I'm in the process of organizing a little dinner party with friends that I'm affectionately calling a "Fall Frolic" and thought I'd tell you all about it.


Setting the scene-  I decided to use Paperless Post to send out invitations.   It's way cuter than sending out a mass email or facebook invite but cheaper and faster than snail mail. Plus it does this little animation thingy that makes it look like an invitation is coming out of an envelope! This is the invitation I used to help get my juices flowing for my party's over all theme:

Next the playlist.  I thought about creating an "autumn themed" song playlist but then realized that if I could find songs that talk about autumn, they're all going to sound different and might not flow together.  Instead I thought of some great albums that make nice background music but aren't super boring.  Here are some of my faves:

• The Beach Boys Smile Sessions just came out and is available for streaming here.  
• Baxter Dury's new album Happy Soup
• Journey In Satchidananda by Alice Coltrane
• Plastic Ono Band by John Lennon
• The Harder They Come Soundtrack
• Anything by Yo La Tango

Now let's talk food!  I say keep the menu simple and seasonal.  Here's what I plan on serving:

1/2/3/4

And don't forget dessert!

click for recipe!

While we're eating the soup, I'll throw the fish in the oven!

And finally, I don't know about you guys, but I always find a gathering much more festive when games are involved.  One of my favorite party games is Salad Bowl which is a mixture of charades, taboo and craziness!  Here is how you play:

1. Break into teams of 2
2. Choose a letter.  Everyone must write down 5-10 (depending on how many people you have) words or phrases beginning with that letter on slips of paper.  You can write ANYTHING you want as long as it starts with the letter.  And I mean anything- people WILL guess it eventually and the weirder it is the more hilarious.
3. Put the little slips of paper into a big salad bowl.
4. Round 1: Time a minute for each team.  Get you team mates to guess the word by describing it without saying what it is.  Do this until all of the papers are gone through. Keep track of how many your team gets each time.
5. Round 2: Same as round one but this time you can only use ONE WORD to describe what is on the paper.  I know this sounds impossible but it isn't!  You've gone through all the words already so this round relies on your memory of what is in that salad bowl.  You can only say one word but you can say it over and over with a different inflection etc.
6. Round 3: Act out what's on the paper doing charades!  This one is also very funny because a lot of the words might not be normal charade type words but at this point you really know what is in that bowl.

And that is how you have a successful fall frolic (I think). I'm going to post about my actual frolic on my blog after it happens, so please stop by and say hello, I'd love to meet you!

___________________________________________________

Thanks for popping in Sarah! I can't wait to make my whole family play Salad Bowl while I'm home for Thanksgiving!

Pass or Fail

Recently, the lovely Gentri Lee did a post on actually attempting to make the things you found on Pinterest. Sometimes it's a yay!!! Sometimes... well... not so much.

The other night I actually made an entire meal, from start to finish, out of pinned recipes. Let's see what happened, shall we?

Baked Pesto Chicken - PASS!!

Fairly quick to make, only 3 ingredients needed, and boy is it delicious!

Repin it!

Oven Baked Parmesan Zucchini Chips - ...fail

Easy enough to make but something must have gone horribly, horribly wrong. The texture was not exactly what I would call a 'chip' and even though I followed the recipe exactly, the breading was WAY too heavily seasoned.

Avoid it.

Prosciutto, Goat Cheese and Avocado - PASS!!

Simple, bite-sized and damn near irresistible. All that and avocado is a super food, so why not!?

Repin it!

Marshmallow Rolls - Holy freaking PASS!!

You guys. I just can't even. These things are insanely easy and sinfully good. Please just go make them. No really. Make them right now.

Repin it!

3 out of 4! Not bad Pinterest, not bad at all! 

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Maple Whipped Cream Topping

Just look at that pumpkin pie. Doesn't it look absolutely amazing?? Well, that's fantastic!

Because it's not mine.

Don't get me wrong, I DID make a pumpkin pie. And it WAS just as amazing as this one looks. But, the key word here my friends, is 'was.'

Maybe I should rename this recipe "Pie So Good It Doesn't Last Long Enough To Take One Pictures"? Has a nice ring to it, right?

Not really. I know.

Ingredients


Pie Filling

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar (or Splenda if like myself, you have a diabetic beau)

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon molasses

2 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree

Maple Whipped Cream

1 (8 ounce) tub of Cool Whip (I used lite)

2 tablespoon maple syrup

As far as the crust is concerned. Store bought, lightly toasted, all the way.

Beat cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric stand mixer until smooth and creamy. Add in the powdered sugar and beat until fluffy. Add the vanilla extract, molasses, pumpkin pie spice and pumpkin puree and beat until thoroughly combined.

After allowing the pie crust to cool, evenly spoon your pie mixture into the pie tin.

Evenly blend the Cool Whip and maple syrup. Try not to over mix the Cool Whip though, as it will quickly loose it's whippy-ness (Shakespeare made up words. So can I.). Pile the mixture evenly over your pie filling and pop in the fridge over night. This part is really important to let the pie settle.

Pull that bad boy out of the fridge the next day, and watch it disappear!





  

Don't-tell-people-what's-in-these Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are amazing and amazingly simple. But, whatever you do, don't tell people what's in them. I'll tell you why- yesterday I made a little over 2 dozen of these and today, they are gone. Completely, 100%, gone. Yes, they are THAT amazing. But, after the first few people that refused to eat them after I mentioned the secret ingredient, I just started refusing to tell anyone what they were until after they ate at least one.

I bet you're getting pretty curious about what this mystery ingredient is? What's wrong with this picture:

Source

Chocolate chip cookie dough? Check. Cocoa powder? Check. Brown sugar? Check. Zucchini? ...Check?

Just trust me. I used a value size tube of cookie dough so I'll list the measurements for that and for the normal size, in case you're like me and stink at conversions.

Ingredients

1 tube of pillsbury chocolate chip cookies (30 oz or 16.5 oz)

2 cups shaved zucchini (1 cup for normal size tube)

1/2 cup cocoa powder (or 1/4)

1/2 cup brown sugar (or 1/4)

1. Combine all the ingredients and stick the bowl in the refrigerator while you pre-heat your oven to 325 degrees. The dough is almost imposible to deal with if it's warm so make sure not to skip this step!
2. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes, let cool and enjoy!

Yup! That's it! Simple right? But, make sure you remember the most important rule about these cookies. No one knows whats in them, until they've eaten one.

Enjoy your weekend, my lovelies!!

Goat Cheese Chicken Gnocchi and Bacon Infused Alfredo

Chicken Ingredients


4 thin sliced chicken cutlets
4 oz of goat cheese
1 cup baby spinach
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
1/2 tsp Oregano
1/2 tsp Garlic powder
1/2 tsp Parsley

Gnocchi Ingredients
10 slices of bacon, precooked or fresh
12 oz alfredo (one regular size jar)
1 lb of gnocchi (we used wheat but any variety will work just as well)

1. Begin by heating the alfredo on low. Cook the bacon until it is crispy and either very finely chop it or just do what we did and grab the trusty food processor. Toss the bacon into the alfredo and continue heating on low until you are finished cooking everything else.

2. Now it's time to prep your spinach! Heat a small amount of olive oil over medium heat and then add your spinach. sauté the spinach until soft and set it off to the side. It will be heated in the oven with the chicken so it's ok if it gets a little cold while you prep everything else.

3. Trim the fat off of your chicken and rub it with the salt, pepper, oregano, parsley and garlic powder. Over medium-high heat brown both sides of the chicken, for about 2-3 minutes on each side and remove from heat.

4. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease a cookie sheet and place the cooked chicken slices on the pan. Top each piece of chicken with a little spinach and a slice of goat cheese. Place the pan in the oven and cook for 5 minutes.

5. Bring a large pot of water to a boil on high. Pour in the gnocchi and boil it until they all float to the top (this should take around 3 minutes). Strain the gnocchi and quickly rinse them with cool water.

6. Toss your cooked gnocchi in the bacon infused alfredo and serve under your goat cheese chicken! ENJOY!!

This recipe is Nick's original creation and all diabetic friendly! I think I may have found myself a keeper! And remember ladies, the knight with the shiniest armor has done the least amount of brave or cool shit.

Nutella And Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

I've come a long way as a chef in the past few years. This time about 3 years ago I was getting picked on still for the time I put cardboard in the oven... Now I'm writing my own recipes! Well... kind of. I still have a love for boxed cake mixes... But I'm working on that. For now, let's just think of these as idiot proof recipes!

Directions

1. Begin the mix according to the box's instructions. I used Pillsbury's sugar free Devil's Food, but you can use whatever your favorite is. Complete the directions until it comes time to dividing the batter among the cupcake cups and STOP!

And if you're anything like me, this is the point in the recipe where you make a mad dash to the nearest grocery store because you realize you have no vegetable oil… But, for future reference, you can always replace vegetable oil with butter or apple sauce of equal measure. 

So let's re-cap. What lessons did we just learn from this experience?

A) When in doubt about whether having something, call the roommates and have them check before leaving the store.

B) Google vegetable oil replacements BEFORE making a 2nd trip to the store...

C) You can substitute vegetable oil with equal parts butter (WARNING: This will make anything you're baking a little bitter richer) or apple sauce (which has the added bonus of making your recipe healthier and contain less fat!!)!!

2. Gently fold in 3/4 cup of mini milk chocolate chips

3. Line your cupcake pan and fill each hole a little more than 1/ 2 way. This cupcakers tip brought to you by my obsession with Food Network: A small ice cream scoop is a perfect, mess free way of creating uniform(ish) sized cupcakes!

4. Now stick those little lovelies into the oven!!! I baked mine on 325 F and checked them after 20 minutes. When the box gives a time span (18-22 minutes in this case) I usually opt of something right in the middle and then check the cupcakes by poking one with a toothpick. If the toothpick comes out dough-free then you're done!!

5. When you take the cupcakes out of the oven you can either let them cool on the counter or if you're in a rush, you can stick them in the freezer for about 20 minutes.

Frosting!!

My hand mixer is a vintage pink mixer that Nick ordered and customized for me for our anniversary. It's now mint green, pink and decorated with little hearts (two hearts for two years <3 )! How cute is that?

Ingredients
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 13-ounce jar of Nutella (Which is 1 1/3 cups if you opted for the 26 oz jar!)
pinch of fine grain sea salt
1 tablespoon clear vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
5 tablespoons heavy cream or milk

Directions
1. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and Nutella until well combined. Slowly add in confectioner’s sugar, and continue creaming until well blended.
2. Add salt, vanilla, and 3 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk. Blend on low speed until moistened. Add an additional 3-5 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk until you reach the desired consistency. Beat at high speed until frosting is smooth and fluffy.

And there you have it!! Enjoy!

Baked Buffalo Macaroni and Cheese

1 box (12 ounce) macaroni

1/4 cup butter

2 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup of buffalo wing sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray's Marinade & Sauce)

1 egg

1 cup grated mixed cheese (I used Colby Jack)

1 cup grated mozzarella cheese

1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

Pinch of black Pepper

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Pesto

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook pasta till al dente. While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Stir in the milk, buffalo sauce. Simmer for about 10 minutes.

2. Temper in the egg. Stir in 1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Evenly mix the pesto in with the pasta. Fold the macaroni into the mix then pour it into a casserole dish. Top with 1 cup mozzarella cheese. Bake for 30 minutes.

3. Remove from the oven and top with 1 cup grated mixed cheese. Bake for an additional 20 minutes. 

4. Let food rest for about 10 minutes before serving.