Persimmon & Brie Crostini

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appetizer, brie, crostini, food, foodie, hors d'oeuvres, persimmon, recipe, snack

I love when persimmons begin to arrive at my grocery store in autumn. This underused fruit is perfect for autumn and winter snacking.

Ingredients: 
1 persimmon, 1 baguette, 1 wedge of brie, fresh basil leaves, olive oil, balsamic glaze, fresh ground pink Himalayan salt

Directions:
Slice the baguette into small pieces. Drizzle both sides with olive oil and toast. Thinly slice brie and layer onto the baguette slices. Slice the persimmon and then cut into thirds or fourths (depending on the size of your persimmon) and layer on top of the brie. Use your baker’s torch to lightly brown the edges and top of the persimmon and melt the edges of the brie. Sprinkle with fresh ground pink Himalayan salt and drizzle with balsamic glaze. Garnish with freshly slice basils leaves.

XOXO,
Young Wifey

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Feta Dill Dip

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appetizer, dill, dip, feta, food, foodie, pot luck, recipe, snack

We’re 2/3 the way through 2014, and I have yet to post a recipe! Yikes! Since it’s quick and easy, I often make this tasty dip. Last weekend, I made it for a party, but went a little too crazy when adding the dill. 

Ingredients:
1 c. Feta, 1/2 c. milk (or 1/2 c. Greek yogurt), 1 Tbsp. dill weed, 1 clove garlic (minced), 1 lemon, fresh cracked black pepper, parsley

Directions:
Zest and juice lemon and set aside. If you like your dip to be chunky, mix all remaining ingredients together. Blend it for a smooth dip. Mix in zest and lemon juice (to taste). Garnish & serve.

Garnishes:
kalamata olives, roasted red peppers, parsley, dill, capers, etc…

Serve With:
pita chips, pita wedges, cucumber slice, bell peppers, carrot sticks

DIP TIP: When taking the dip to a party, I transfer the dip into the original plastic feta container for easy transport.

XOXO,
Young Wifey

Frozen Grapes

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appetizer, clean eating, dessert, food, foodie, frozen, fruit, healthy, snack, treat

We’re amidst another heat wave. Between the heat waves, there’s rain that lasts for weeks, it’s like Mother Nature doesn’t want us to spend much time outdoors this summer. On hot summer days, there’s nothing more refreshing than frozen grapes. In my house, they’re actually preferred over ice-cream (yes, Hubster too!).

Delicious Snack of Frozen Grapes

15 Reasons Why I Love Frozen Grapes…
1) Two summers ago, Pumpkin wanted me to write down my frozen grape “recipe” so he could ensure that others could make it too.

2) Grapes are the only fruit I like to eat frozen (unless in a smoothie).

3) Frozen grapes are incredibly kid friendly. The preparation is easy enough for little hands and short attention spans.

4) We had frozen grapes on skewers served on silver trays at our wedding (perfect for a hot July outdoor wedding). Each skewer had 2 black, 2 red, and 2 green grapes.

5) Frozen grapes are perfect for keeping wine, champagne, or sparkling water chilled.

6) Even if you don’t like grapes, you will probably like frozen grapes.

7) Frozen grapes make a fantastic healthy snack or dessert, so you don’t have to feel guilty for feeding them to your kid (or eating them yourself) everyday!

8) Almost anyone who visits us during the summer, knows they will find and help themselves to frozen grapes.

9) When you have a bowl full of two or three varieties, they’re just as appeasing to the eye as the mouth.

10) Eating them helps keep you hydrated.

11) Frozen grapes make a fantastic spa day snack!

12) Grapes have amazing health benefits, good for curing indigestion, lowering cholesterol, anti-cancer properties, etc…

13) They are an incredibly satisfying post-workout snack.

14) Frozen grapes are a fairly inexpensive snack as long as you buy the grapes in season. Since grapes freeze and last well, you can much on them well past season.

15) There is almost no prep!

Directions (if you really need them):
Use only seedless grapes. Wash grapes and pull off stem. Blot grapes dry with paper towel. Pour into a gallon size freezer bag and place in freezer. Allow to freeze for a few hours before eating.

Some people like to sprinkle with sugar or unprepared flavored gelatin. This is a big no-no in my household, but try it if it appeals to you.

What’s your favorite cool-down treat?

XOXO,
Young Wifey

Dipping Sauce for Dumplings

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appetizer, dipping sauce, food, foodie, pot stickers, recipe, rice vinegar, sauce, snack, soy sauce

Pumpkin and I love steamed vegetable and chicken dumplings (or pot stickers) . Hubster isn’t a fan, but oh well… more for us! One of our favorite Chinese restaurants even has the word dumpling in their name…

I don’t like to dip mine in plain soy sauce (Pumpkin likes to pour the sauce over his), so this is what I quickly whisk together.

Dipping Sauce for Dumplings

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. light soy sauce, 2 Tbsp. rice vinegar, 1 tsp. minced garlic, 1/2 tsp. fresh grated ginger, 1/2 crushed red pepper flakes

Directions:
Mix ingredients together and keep at room temperature until ready to serve.

Young Wifey’s Yummy Dipping Sauce

XOXO,
Young Wifey

Fruit Salsa

Tags

dessert, food, foodie, fruit, recipe, salsa, snack, tortilla

Fruit Salsa has been all over the foodie blog world recently. In the past I’ve made fruit salsa to put on top of grilled chicken and pork. A friend brought a yummy fruit salsa to a picnic last year, but it was more like a diced fruit salad. Then I stumbled upon a recipe serving fruit salsa with cinnamon tortilla chips. I tried the recipe, and it was really good, but not exactly what I wanted. I adapted the recipe to please my taste buds, and I thought I had nailed it. Just to be sure I tested on my family at our Mother’s Day BBQ. Everyone loved it, but I didn’t photograph it before it was demolished… Now, my sister is visiting from Scotland and I decided to make it for our family get together yesterday. Devoured instantly!

Fruit Salsa & Cinnamon Tortilla Chips

Fruit Salsa Ingredients:
1 lb. strawberries, 1 1/2 c. raspberries, 1 golden delicious apple, 1 Anjou pear, 2 lemons, 3 Tbsp. raspberries preserves, 1 Tbsp. dark brown sugar

Fruit Salsa Directions:
Mix together preserves and sugar, set aside. Zest and juice lemons. Hull strawberries and cut into small pieces. Core apples and pears into small pieces and soak them in the lemon juice for a few minutes. Cut raspberries into quarters. Mix all ingredients, except the lemon juice together. Let sit for 5 hours before serving.

Cinnamon Tortilla Chip Ingredients:
10 flour tortillas, 1/2 c. sugar, 1 Tbsp. dark brown sugar, 2 Tbsp. cinnamon, 3 Tbsp. softened butter

Cinnamon Tortilla Chip Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix together cinnamon and sugars. Lightly rub tops of tortillas with butter and then sprinkle with cinnamon mixture. Use a pizza cutter to slice the tortilla into triangular chips. Bake for about 10 minutes or until crispy. Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack. Store in a plastic zip top bag until ready to serve.

If you want to prepare this ahead of time I suggest to chop the fruit and mix the coating the day before and toss the fruit together the morning before serving.

I also make a great berry salsa and tropical fruit salsa.

How was your weekend?

Blue Corn Kernels

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air popper, blue corn, blue popcorn, corn kernels, food, foodie, microwave popcorn, popcorn, recipe, snack, stove top popcorn

One of the small joys of my Christmas break was finding blue corn kernels. I love blue tortilla chips, but they’re difficult to find around here. Needless to say I was elated when I came across a bag of blue corn kernels. Blue pop corn!!! No, the popcorn isn’t blue, just the kernels.

Blue Corn Kernels

Isn’t that beautiful? And they have a sweeter taste than yellow kernel popcorn. I haven’t unpacked our air popper yet… I need to get those remaining boxes unpacked!

I like the stove top popcorn method. Heat 3 Tbsp. of vegetable oil in pot over medium heat, add a few kernels. When they have popped, add 1/2 c. kernels and cover. Continually shake pot over heat source so kernels don’t burn. When kernels stop rattling and the popping starts to slow, turn off the heat and continue shaking pot until remaining kernels stop. Remove from burner and allow to rest two minutes before uncovering.

Hubster likes the microwave popcorn method. Grease the inside of brown paper bag. Add kernels and shake to coat them. Fold over top of bag and make a small slit to allow steam to vent. In our microwave this works well with our popcorn button. You however might have to listen as yours pops to know when to stop it.

Whichever method you chose, this is way healthier than store-bought microwave packs, Jiffy Pop and definitely movie theatre popcorn. Add your butter, salt, or whatever spices you desire while popcorn is still warm.

I like some grated parmesan cheese. What toppings do you like on your popcorn?

Soft Pretzel Sunday

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baking with kids, cooking with kids, food, foodie, postaday2011, pretzels, recipe, snack, soft pretzel, vegetarian

One of the things I miss about home, fresh soft pretzels.
One of the things I miss in my everyday life,  cooking & baking with Pumpkin.
With  the demands of our schedules, we don’t get to spend a lot of mother-son time alone… Today I got him into the kitchen to bake soft pretzels with me. He did most of the work, from measuring ingredients to mixing. I showed him how to knead the dough and let him take over, showed him how to roll and shape the pretzels and let him play…

Soft Pretzel Sunday

This recipe was modified from one we found in a cook book a while back (it was copied on a piece of paper, so I’m not exactly sure of the origin).

Ingredients:
2 tsp. dry yeast, 1 1/2 c. warm water, 2 1/2 tsp. sugar, 1 tsp. fresh ground sea salt, extra salt for sprinkling, 3 1/2 c. flour, 1 egg

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425°F. Place yeast in bowl and cover with water, stir until dissolved. Let sit for 5 minutes. In separate bowl mix together flour, sugar and salt. Slowly add flour mixture to yeast, stirring until smooth. Knead dough on lightly floured surface for about 4 minutes. Cut dough into 15 pieces. Roll each piece of dough into about a 12″ rope and twist into a pretzel . Beat egg and brush over tops of pretzels, sprinkle with sea salt. Place pretzels on greased baking trays. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

I wanted to sprinkle some with sesame seeds and some with poppy seeds. Pumpkin vetoed the idea, but agreed to be more creative next time we make pretzels together. Serve with spicy brown mustard.

We sit around the tables for meals, but not usually for snacks… boy did this change today. The three of us sat around the table gobbling the pretzels like vultures. Pumpkin was really proud of how they turned out. He should be, they turned out fantastic.

What have you baked/cooked recently with a child in your life?