Note: I was sent samples of Goldswarm Honey in order to make this Honey Glazed Orange Ginger Shrimp. Opinions are mine alone.
Just wait until you try this Honey Glazed Orange Ginger Shrimp! The shrimp is marinated in a garlic-ginger-Chinese five spice, then tossed in an orange honey glaze and is served over rice for a wonderfully flavorful weeknight meal!
I was sent this recipe along with some absolutely delicious honey from Goldswarm Honey, a luxury honey sourced from the wildflowers of West Africa.
With its bold floral notes and deep caramel undertone, Goldswarm elevates any dish or drink into a gourmet experience. Unlike mass-produced honey, Goldswarm is ethically harvested from Nigerian beehives and completely free of preservatives, additives, and heat processing – preserving its rich antioxidants and nutrients.
This recipe for Honey Glazed Orange Ginger Shrimp seemed like the perfect way to test out (and highlight) Goldswarm Honey!
Ingredients (serves 4):
1 lb. large peeled and deveined shrimp (20-25 count)
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon finely diced ginger or ginger paste
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
½ teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder, plus more for garnish
Note: I attended a tasting of Ripe Life Wines at Spring Lake Seafood and received additional bottles of Ripe Life Wine in order to make this Homemade Ceviche. Opinions are mine alone.
Before I go into the Homemade Ceviche recipe, I want to highlight a wine company that I recently tried and love. If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen that I went to a wine tasting of Ripe Life Wines at Spring Lake Seafood in Spring Lake, NJ. I was given the opportunity to try a bunch of Ripe Life Wines’ selection paired with delicious food offerings of Spring Lake Seafood.
Ripe Life Wines grew from owner Mary McAuley’s desire to create the perfect wine for a clambake, and the Clambake Unoaked Chardonnay was born. The company now offers its Clambake Unoaked Chardonnay, a Clambake Rosé, a seafood-friendly red called Fisherman’s Red, and Moules Blanc de Blancs Brut, a dry American sparkling wine.
You can pop into Spring Lake Seafood in Spring Lake, NJ or Dock and Claw in Beach Haven, NJ to enjoy a tasting. To see my experience at Spring Lake Seafood, including the yummy food pairings, you can see that here and here.) The food and win pairings really are not to be missed!
For this post, I wanted to highlight Ripe Life Wines’ OG. The Clambake Unoaked Chardonnay. Chardonnay is commonly “oaked,” in which the wine is aged in oak barrels, resulting in flavors of butter, vanilla, or caramel. Unoaked Chardonnay, like the Clambake Chardonnay, is instead aged in stainless steel barrels, resulting in a lighter, crisp, clean finish that doesn’t compete with the delicate flavors of seafood. Clambake Chardonnay has a lovely lemon/apple/pear flavor to it, making it the perfect accompaniment to both raw seafood dishes, and richer seafood dishes such as lobster and clams with drawn butter.
As soon as I had my first sip of the Clambake Chardonnay, I knew I wanted to try to pair it with a homemade ceviche.
Ceviche, originating in South America, is a dish consisting of diced raw seafood that has marinated in acid (typically lime juice) to “cook” the seafood. The seafood is then mixed with onions, cilantro, and other ingredients to create a colorful and flavorful dish. Although homemade ceviche can sound a little intimidating, it’s actually really easy to make at home! My knife skills aren’t great, so if yours aren’t as well, the recipe will turn out just fine.
Whiskey Cake is something that has shown up to family gatherings since before I can even remember. My mom makes this cake for basically all extended family celebrations, and it has become a favorite of mine. Recently, we were celebrating a friend’s birthday and I thought a Walnut Whiskey Cake would be the perfect birthday cake for him!
My version is a bit different than the one my mom makes, but the general gist is still there. I added some candied walnuts on top because, why not, but feel free to omit them.
The best part of this recipe is it is made with cake mix and instant vanilla pudding mix, making this cake both super easy to make and incredibly moist! Using a Bundt pan makes this cake look like it took you all day to make, but the hardest part of this recipe is patiently waiting for the glaze to soak into the cake before removing it from the Bundt pan.
It’s so easy to find food inspiration in Philadelphia. We have so many cool events throughout the year, and I’m lucky enough to be given the opportunity to check out a lot of them! One can’t miss event going on right now is the Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival in Franklin Square – a celebration of light and culture that features magnificent steel-framed and silk-wrapped giant lighted sculptures, created by hand using traditional Chinese methods. The 2019 Festival will illuminate Franklin Square at 6th & Race Streets in Historic Philadelphia from May 1 through June 30 with 29 larger-than-life illuminated displays made of 2,000 individual lanterns and 20,000 LED lights in brilliant colors.
In addition to the gorgeous light installations, festival-goers can witness authentic cultural stage performances, taste Asian cuisine and American favorites, drink a toast at the Dragon Beer Garden (open nightly), and shop for Chinese folk artists’ crafts created on site as well as Festival-themed merchandise. Guests can also play Philly Mini Golf, ride the Parx Liberty Carousel (additional tickets required for both), and enjoy Center City’s best play place!
All of the lanterns are new for the 2019 Festival, including new lighting design techniques. Highlights feature a 200-foot long phoenix, a walk-through dragon tunnel, mythological creatures created from small glass bottles filled with colored water, and a host of interactive installations such as lit swings and a fortune-telling wheel. The lanterns are installed all around the seven-acre Square, and guests stroll under, around, and through the displays each evening.
Photos do not do the lanterns justice, so if you are in Philadelphia now through June 30, grab tickets for this festival if you can! The lanterns are able to be viewed for free (unlit) during daytime, while tickets are required for nighttime entrance after 6 pm (no re-entry). On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights, a second entrance at 7th& Race (Lion Gate Entrance) is open for those who
have purchased tickets in advance. Advance tickets are strongly recommended.
There are a bunch of food options for the festival including chicken satay, beef bao, Korean meatballs, shrimp tempura, veggie spring rolls, Hawaii pineapple shrimp, and much more. Square Burger, a staple of Franklin Square Park, is also open during the festival, serving burgers, cheesesteaks, and milkshakes.
After checking out the beautiful lanterns throughout the park, I strolled over to the Dragon Beer Garden for a drink and was able to try this delicious drink dubbed an Eastern Sunrise Cocktail. The recipe is inspired by a Tequila Sunrise, but uses a trio of juices (orange, lychee, and pineapple) and substitutes rum for the tequila. It was so tasty, I wanted to share a homemade version! The Dragon Beer Garden offers multiple draft, bottled, and canned beverages as well as a few themed cocktails, including the Eastern Sunrise.
Ingredients (serves 2)
ice
4 oz white rum
4 oz tangerine (or orange) juice
2 oz lychee juice
2 oz pineapple juice
2 oz grenadine
maraschino cherries and peeled lychees, for garnish (optional)
Note: if you can’t find lychee juice, look for canned peeled lychees in syrup. You can puree ~6 of the lychees in a blender and strain through a strainer which should give you about 2 oz lychee juice. If you prefer your cocktails a little sweeter, you can add some of the syrup to your blender prior to blending.
Tomorrow, March 19th, is the Feast of St. Joseph, an important feast day in Italy or more specifically, Sicily. St. Joseph is particularly important to Sicilians, because he is credited with preventing a famine in Sicily during the Middle Ages through prayer. Each year, a large feast is prepared in his honor. Desserts typically include Zeppoli and Italian Fig Cookies.
Italian Fig Cookies, or Cuccidati, also tend to show up around Christmastime, so they are more of a “celebratory” cookie than linked to any specific holiday.
I wasn’t ready to conquer Zeppoli just yet, so I thought I’d try Italian Fig Cookies! This recipe is based off a recipe from Epicurious.
I’m not going to lie. I’m a bit of a margarita wimp. I prefer my margaritas as fruity as possible. I do have a Grilled Margarita recipe, but my other margarita recipes have pomegranates and blood oranges in them. Yum.
Anywho, I came across this recipe for Blackberry Orange Margaritas in Cooking Light and knew I’d like this one! The original recipe adds spicy serrano tequila, but I decided to keep this one spice-free.
Ingredients:
6 ounces tequila
12 ounces fresh blackberries
1 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons agave nectar
Add the blackberries, 1 cup orange juice. 1/2 cup lime juice, and 2 tablespoons agave to a blender and process until smooth.
Strain through a sieve, discarding the solids. Use a spoon to press down on the sieve to strain the liquid.
Stir in the tequila. Divided mixture among 4 ice-filled glasses and serve.
Tangy, slightly sweet, and super refreshing. Exactly what I want in a cocktail!
I love the color of this too. The photos don’t really do it justice. Definitely a statement drink that would be perfect for the next time you’re entertaining. You can also make this ahead of time and pour when ready to serve.
Note: I was sent a Non-Stick Pro 12 Cup Muffin Pan, Silicone Baking Cups, and a Baker’s Decorating Tool from OXO. All opinions are my own.
September is Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month, so I’m sharing this recipe a bit ahead of time. Every year, OXO donates up to $100,000 to support an organization called Cookies for Kids’ Cancer. The organization was founded by two OXOnians (OXO employees) who were inspired by their son Liam’s battle with pediatric cancer, a disease which claims the lives of more children in the US than any other disease. Cookies for Kids’ Cancer provides inspiration and support to allow anyone to easily get involved in fundraising to find a cure for pediatric cancer.
To help reach their goal, OXO donates $100 to Cookies for Kids’ Cancer for each blogger who posts a recipe to bring awareness, up to their $100,000 commitment. I’ve posted twice a year for the last few years to help bring awareness to Cookies for Kids’ Cancer. Click here to see some of my past posts.
This year, OXO sent me Silicone Baking Cups, a Non-Stick Pro 12 Cup Muffin Pan, and a Baker’s Decorating Tool to make this post.
Here’s a little about each product:
The Non-Stick Pro Muffin Pan (paid link) features a unique micro-textured pattern that ensures even baking and adds structural rigidity. It’s made with a ceramic-reinforced, two-layer, commercial-grade coating that provides ultimate non-stick release and is scratch-, stain-, corrosion- and abrasion-resistant.
The BPA-free Baking Cups have handy tabs to help remove them from muffin tins without making a thumbprint, and the inside of each Cup is smooth and non-stick to release your treat easily. With a fill line, your cupcakes will be consistent every time.
Our easy-to-use, easy-to-fill Baker’s Decorating Tool is designed to give you complete control while decorating. The unique trigger provides a smooth stream of icing for clean lines, and the comfortable handles ensure a steady grip and protect icing from warm hands.
I wanted to make a new, fun, and different cupcake to try out all of these cool tools. My husband and I are huge fans of Old Fashioned Cocktails, so I decided to turn those flavors into Old Fashioned Cupcakes! Note: the frosting contains alcohol so this is not a kid-friendly recipe.
To bring in the flavors of an Old Fashioned, I made a Vanilla-Orange Cupcake and topped it with Bourbon-Orange Cream Cheese Frosting. To finish it off, I added a maraschino cherry and some orange peel.
This post is #sponsored by LongHorn Steakhouse. All opinions are my own.
With summer in full swing, it’s time to get grilling! As I’ve mentioned before, I unfortunately do not have any outdoor space at my apartment for a grill, but that hasn’t stopped me! I use my trusty grill pan as often as possible to bring the flavor of summer indoors.
This yummy recipe for Grilled Citrus Salmon was sent to me by LongHorn Steakhouse, and a version of this is actually available in their restaurants as part of their Summer Chef’s Showcase menu. I adapted it slightly to include ingredients I had on hand, so be sure to stop in to your local LongHorn Steakhouse to try their version as well!
As we all head out to grill this July 4th, LongHorn Steakhouse will have their Grill Us Hotline open Thursday, July 2 through Saturday July 4 from noon to 5 pm to answer grilling questions via phone and text. At-home grillers can call 1-855-LH-GRILL or text LHGRILL to 40679 (wait for a response & follow the prompts) to be connected with a grilling expert to answer questions live in real-time.
LongHorn Steakhouse was also kind enough to offer to give away a LongHorn Steakhouse Summer Grilling Party Pack to one winner! The grilling pack includes various grilling tools, koozies for your outdoor grill-out and a $25 gift card to visit LongHorn Steakhouse. More details after the recipe.
Ingredients:
Salmon
4 (7-oz.) salmon fillets
Salt and Pepper, to taste
8 oz. crumbled feta cheese
1 tablespoon freshly chopped parsley
Citrus Glaze
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1 tablespoon freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley
Summer Vegetables and Pearl Couscous
4 cups cooked Israeli (pearl) couscous (~1 cup dry)
Sometimes your sides need a bit more pizzazz. This simple recipe for Steamed Spinach with Curry Butter from Cooking Light adds a ton of flavor (and a little bit of heat if you want it) with little effort and time. The recipe below makes enough for 4 people but can easily be multiplied to fill a crowd (this would be a yummy side at Thanksgiving!)
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter (or olive oil to make paleo)
I absolutely love cranberry sauce. This not-too-tart and not-too-sweet Thanksgiving staple is always a favorite of mine.
Now I don’t turn my nose up at the canned stuff, but this homemade version for Cherry Port Cranberry Sauce is a really simple alternative. It’s also a bit of a chunky sauce instead of the smooth canned version, so it has a really nice texture to it. Plus, it can be made in 20 minutes!
If you don’t want to use port in the recipe, you can substitute in pomegranate juice.
Happy New Year!! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season! My boyfriend and I had a New Years Eve party this year, complete with a champagne bar, dessert bar, and a DIY photo booth!
Minted sent me the banner and signs as well as paper cups, plates, and napkins to really snazz up our party. Aren’t those signs so cute? The theme shown in the photos is “Sparkle Everywhere”
Their party decor is really great; Minted has decor for any party you can imagine! You can build your own package or choose from three suites: unique party, perfect party, or dream party. Minted has you covered from the napkins to the table confetti to even adorable paper straws and cake plates. You can also order invitations that match your theme!
The Champagne Bar was a huge hit. I included suggested champagne cocktails but creativity was encouraged. My favorite combination was St. Germaine filled with sparkling wine and topped with some cranberry juice.
We had a blast in the photo booth and people had fun with all of the props!
The dessert bar turned out great too! I will be sharing recipes that I made for it over the coming days but I wanted to start with a particularly appropriate New Years Eve cupcake, although these are so good you will want to make them all year round 🙂
This recipe for Champagne Cupcakes was sent to me by Golden Blossom Honey. Golden Blossom’s honey is composed of honey from three flowers — extra-white clover, sage buckwheat, and orange blossom so the flavor profile is unique and really tasty!
These cupcakes highlight the taste of the honey with the addition of orange and dry champagne, making for a really moist and flavorful cupcake.
A few weeks back I was invited to go to a super cool event hosted by Goose Island Beer. The last week in September was Goose Island Migration Week in Philadelphia and one of the events was a Painting and Tasting at New Deck Tavern. While sipping on Goose Island’s delicious beer, a painting instructor guided us through painting a Goose Island themed painting!
Creativity is not my strong suit. I can’t sing, dance, act, play an instrument… you get the idea. So I was excited and somewhat intimated by this whole process. But it was awesome. And here’s the end result!
Me, my friend Ericka, and our works of art
Please ignore that my oranges look like peaches. And that my goose on the glass looks more like Nessie. I’m still pretty jazzed with how it turned out! Ericka’s turned out great! I tried to switch it with mine before she signed it, but alas.
The Process
The feature of our painting was a glass of Goose Island Sofie in its signature glass. Sofie is a Belgian Style farmhouse ale (Saison) that is aged in wine barrels with orange peel.
This beer is SO good. I first heard of it through my sister who just loves Sofie, but this was the first time I had ever had it. After the event, I couldn’t stop thinking about Sofie so I picked up a four pack the next day! I wanted to use Sofie in a recipe and highlight the citrus notes in it, so I used this recipe I found from Cooking Light that makes a honey-beer sauce to serve with chicken. I marinated the chicken in orange juice prior to cooking to emphasize the orange peel flavor of the Sofie beer.
Ingredients:
1 cup fresh orange juice (~2 oranges)
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
My poor slow cooker never gets a break. Even in the summer, I use it quite a bit! Slow cooker meals are great because they don’t heat up your entire kitchen, and usually make at least 8 servings, great for a party or for leftovers. Plus, you can put the ingredients in a slow cooker, go to work, and have dinner nearly finished when you return!
But I need some variety every now and then, so I decided to finally try my hand at making some. This recipe for carnitas from myrecipes.com is really simple. All of the ingredients can be found in your local grocery store.
Ingredients:
1 (3-pound) boneless pork shoulder
10 whole garlic cloves, peeled
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup fresh orange juice
2 chipotle chiles canned in adobo sauce, drained and chopped
20 (6-inch) corn tortillas, warmed
2/3 cup chopped onion
2/3 cup fresh salsa (I have a Fresh Salsa recipe on my blog. Just omit the corn.)
Last year, I gave my dad sangria for Father’s Day. He loves sangria, so I thought I’d make it a yearly thing.
This time around though, I was also trying to sneak something by him. Instead of using sugar in the sangria, I used Monk Fruit In The Raw, a natural substitute. My father is diabetic, and Monk Fruit In The Raw is diabetic friendly (according to their website, “Monk Fruit In The Raw contains less than one gram of carbohydrates (by food exchange measure) and may be used in conjunction with food programs for people with diabetes as well as with guidelines for people with diabetes who use carbohydrate counting.”)
Now, I understand sangria in itself is not exactly diabetic friendly. But he is able to enjoy a glass or two once a year. The real reason I am trying the Monk Fruit In The Raw within the sangria is to see if he can taste a difference. You see, not only is he diabetic, but he is what some refer to as a “super taster.” He can tell you the secret ingredient in a recipe, and knows whether a wine is worth drinking. But, boy can he be picky too.
Unlike stevia, which leaves behind an aftertaste, Monk Fruit should be undetectable. So this is the first test to see if I can sneak Monk Fruit In The Raw into future recipes for my dad. So what is a Monk Fruit? Monk Fruit is a vine-ripened fruit found in Asia that kind of resembles a tiny watermelon. Monk Fruit In The Raw is made from Monk Fruit extract, which is about 300 times (!) sweeter than sugar. To make it measurable for consumption, dextrose (a natural bulking agent) is blended with the extract. Monk Fruit In The Raw also comes in a Bakers Bag, which is measurable cup-for-cup like sugar (in volume, not weight). The Bakers Bag contains Maltodextrin, which is also a natural bulking agent, that does not change the flavor of the sweetener. I used the Bakers Bag for this recipe.
