Bite Me Dip

This is my mother in law's recipe which makes an appearance every year at our family gatherings for Christmas, Easter & Thanksgiving. "Bite me" dip is one of the staple appetizers we share while dinner is cooking and it goes extremely quickly because of how delicious it is. The ingredients are also very random but they blend together nicely to make a cheesy dip that has lots of flavor and a little bit of kick.

I decided to try my hand at making my MIL's famous dip to bring to Kate's annual holiday party back in December hence the festive serving dish. It's a great appetizer to feed about 15-20 people.

Ingredients:
8 oz. sour cream
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 jar sliced jalapeños, chopped
16 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
1 small can chopped olives
1/2 cup chopped deli ham (not shown in photo above)
1 round loaf of sourdough bread

What To Do:
Hollow out bread to1 inch thickness and keep pieces for dipping. Combine all other ingredients. Mix well and put into bread. Wrap in foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Serve with torn bread pieces, tortilla chips, crackers or bagel chips. 

 Enjoy!

A Different Mimosa

I cooked up Sunday brunch at home recently for K and myself and decided to experiment with the ingredients I had at home to make mimosas. I used Pinot Grigio wine instead of champagne along with some strawberries for garnish and we loved how they tasted.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup chilled white wine

1/3 cup ginger ale

1/4 cup chilled orange juice

Frozen strawberry halves

Makes 1  Mimosa cocktail

What To Do: 

Combine all liquid ingredients and use a cocktail stirrer to mix the flavors.  Add frozen strawberries to the top so they help keep the cocktail cool while also providing a hint of strawberry flavor.

Sip and enjoy!

10 Best Recipes from 2015

Over the years I've picked up the love of cooking new recipes. Sometimes I go to a restaurant and try something amazing and have to recreate it at home. I also get a peace of mind knowing what ingredients go into the meals that I eat and try to use less saturated fat, sodium, and other unhealthy ingredients when I can. I also use so many herbs and spices that salt is never added to my recipes and I prefer to use coconut oil and anti-oxidizing ingredients such as garlic to give my recipes flavor.

These are some of my favorite recipes that I made in 2015 and shared on the blog:

Baked Pesto Salmon & Balsamic Salad

Cheesy Artichoke Dip

Turkey Fajita Stuffed Peppers

  

Spicy Shrimp Diablos

Jalapeno & Swiss Stuffed Chicken

Crockpot Chicken Low Mein

Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole

Easy Chinese Fried Rice

Ground Turkey & Pumpkin Chili

Broccoli Salad

Homemade Moscow Mule Cocktails

This cocktail recipe is so simple and delicious. I made the mistake of presuming ginger beer was alcoholic so I couldn't find it in the grocery store only to find out it's not alcoholic and can be found in the same aisle as all the sodas such as Coke etc.

Serving size: 1 cocktail

Ingredients:
Ice cubes
2 oz. Vodka

6 oz. Ginger Beer
1/2 oz. lime juice
1 lime wedge (for garnish)

What To Do:
Fill cup with ice cubes and pour vodka and lime juice over ice. Then add ginger beer and stir well. Garnish with a lime wedge.

Most restaurants serve Moscow Mules in a copper mug. Either way they're delicious with a nice combination of sweet and spicy flavors. Here are some fun variations of this recipe that I found on Pinterest (titles are clickable):

The Angry Mule

The Apple Pie Moscow Mule

Strawberry Basil Moscow Mules

Moscow Mule Margarita

Blackberry Moscow Mule

Joining the gals over at The Sequin Notebook for their monthly cocktail linkup.

Hosting Brunch at Home

It's no secret I'm a big fan of brunch food and luckily Orlando has some amazing brunch spots to chose from when we have a free Sunday. It's also a great time to reconnect with friends and end the weekend with some good food. I've never hosted brunch at home but I think 2016 is the year to finally make it happen. Here's some great brunch menu food and drink recipes that would make a great Sunday Brunch spread for entertaining guests.

Baked Eggs in Prosciutto filled Portobello Mushrooms

French Toast Sticks

Breakfast Pizza

Poppy Seed Pancakes

Ham & Cheese Spinach Puffs

Brussel Sprout Hash with Soft Poached Eggs

Petite Crust-less Quiche

Cantaloupe and Raspberry Yogurt Parfait

And some delicious drink ideas for Sunday brunch.

Cranberry Brunch Punch

The Ultimate Blood Mary

Mimosa Bar

And some strawberry infused water for rehydration.

Broccoli Salad

Kate and I are going to be ending the Recipe Swap after this week, but we've had so much fun hosting this link up the past two years and loved having so many of you join us! Thank you all!

 

I made this recipe for a potluck at work (I doubled the recipe to feed more people) and there was not one scrap leftover so that leads me to believe everyone enjoyed it thoroughly. My recipe was adapted from this Creamy Broccoli Salad recipe which is very similar.

Ingredients:
1 head of fresh broccoli, cut into small pieces
1 small red onion
1/2 cup crumbled bacon
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup sunflower seed kernels
2 tbsp. white vinegar
1 cup mayonnaise
 1/2 cup sugar

What To Do:
Mix together mayonnaise, vinegar and sugar in a bowl. In a separate larger bowl toss broccoli with cranberries, onions, bacon and sunflower kernels. Finally add the dressing over the broccoli mixture and toss well. Place in refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours before serving. Toss one final time before serving.

Enjoy!

1. Follow Kate and myself via GFC and Bloglovin.

2. Link up your favorite recipes or food-related posts.

3. Grab our Recipe Swap button and link back to our blogs.

Holiday Cheese Ball

I made this recipe for a friend's holiday party a few weekends ago and it got so many compliments. The good news is it's incredibly easy to make and only takes a few minutes to put together. I'll definitely be making this recipe for future gatherings and parties.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

2 (8 oz.) packages of cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup light mayonnaise

1/3 cup green onions, chopped

1/3 cup dried cranberries

1 cup sliced almonds (or more as needed)
Serve with crackers



What To Do:
 Soften cream cheese and mix together with mayonnaise. Add all remaining ingredients except the almonds in a large bowl and use a hand mixer on low speed to blend well. One mixed together well shape the cheese mixture into a ball. Layer of piece of plastic wrap on a plate and cover with sliced almonds. Roll the ball around until it become fully covered with almonds. Cover the ball with plastic wrap and refrigerate for approximately 2 hours before serving.

Enjoy!

1. Follow Kate and myself via GFC and Bloglovin.

2. Link up your favorite recipes or food-related posts.

3. Grab our Recipe Swap button and link back to our blogs.

Making Our Way Around Epcot's Food & Wine Festival

I've been living in Florida for 13 years and this was the first year I made it to Epcot's Food & Wine Festival and we had a blast. My only complaint is that it gets very crowded but otherwise the food and drink samples are excellent and worth every calorie.

The Food & Wine Festival was a huge part of why we purchased annual passes in the first place. Sadly our passes just expired over Thanksgiving weekend but we definitely made good use of them over the year especially at Epcot since it's more adult-friendly and our favorite park because of the amazing food and drink options. Unfortunately I didn't get to try every marketplace at the festival but everything we did try was nothing short of amazing.

The Ocean Spray cranberry grower's display as you walk into the world showcase shares the history of cranberries, how they are grown and harvested and why cranberries are excellent for a healthy lifestyle. Not the most interesting showcase but nevertheless it shared some interesting facts.

 

We had some wine and an assorted cheese platter at the Wine & Cheese Studios. I forgot to snap a photo but the trio artisan cheese platter included:

- Karst cave-aged cheese served with honey

- La Bonne Vie goat cheese served with Craisin bread

- Rogue Creamer Oregan Blue Cheese with berry port compote

Photo credit

Greece:

Food: Chicken gyro with tzatziki sauce

Drink: Domaine Sigalas Assyrtiko Athiri

Brazil

Drink: Kaiser Brewery Xinghu Black Beer

Food: Escondidinho de carne (layered meat pie with mashed yucca)

Craft Beer:
Flight #2: Craft Beer Lovers
- 3 Daughter St Pete Beach Blonde Ale
- Florida Beer Company Passport
- Funky Buddha Vanilla Espresso Porter
- Shipyard Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout

Eat To The Beat Concert:
The performers change from week to week (2015 schedule) but we happened to catch Starship in concert back in October and they were amazing live. There are usually three show times per day and the concerts only last 35 minutes so it's not a long show and you can move on to exploring the rest of Epcot.



UK:
Drink: Snakebite (equal parts larger and cider).
You can get this all year long at the Rose & Crown Pub.

New Zealand:
Food: Lamb meatball with spicy tomato chutney
Drink: Kim Crawford Pinot Gris

Photo credit

Farm Fresh:
Drink: Florida Orange Groves, Key limen wine
Food: Loaded mac 'n' cheese topped with Nueske's pepper bacon, cheddar cheddar cheese, peppers and green onions.





Africa:
Food: Buttered chicken with micro cilantro and naan bread
Drink: Indaba Chenin Blanc

For anyone that has visited the Food & Wine Festival at Epcot, what's your favorite food or drink to sample?