Foodie Friday – Strawberry Pretzel Salad

This is one of my absolute FAVORITE summer treats.  The term ‘salad’ is used pretty loosely, as I would call it more like a dessert casserole maybe?  At any rate, I get excited every time my mom makes it :)

When hubby and I were discussing on our menu for Mother’s Day, I suggested this dish.  It’s my first shot making it so I had to call my mom and verify a couple of things, but overall it wasn’t bad for my first go at it.  I have a feeling I’ll be making it more as the summer goes along :)

Ingredients
3/4 cup margarine or butter, melted
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 1/2 cups crushed pretzels (don’t crush too fine)
2 cups boiling water
1 large package strawberry jello (I used sugar free)
1 lb package frozen, slightly thawed strawberries
8 oz package cream cheese (I used 1/3 fat)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 small container Cool Whip (I used light)

Directions
1.  Combine margarine, brown sugar, and pretzels.  Mix well.  Pour into lightly buttered 9x13” dish.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.  Set aside and allow to cool completely.

2.  Dissolve Jell-o in water.  While hot, add chilled strawberries.  Cool in refrigerator until mixture begins to set (around 2 hours).  Stir occasionally.

3.  Cream the cream cheese with the sugar and fold in whipped cream.

4.  Spread cream cheese mixture over COOLED crust.

5.  When Jell-0 mixture begins to set, pour it over the top of the cream cheese mixture.
6.  Refrigerate until firm, preferably overnight.  It’s best if you eat it within a couple of days before the pretzels get too soggy on the bottom.

It was a big hit and not too shabby for my first try!  Definitely a crowd pleaser :)

I hope everyone has a fun and safe Memorial Day weekend!

What dessert do you look forward to enjoying during the summer?

Until next time,

LiveJournal Tags: Foodie Friday,strawberries,recipe,Mother's Day

Anniversary Trip

Hubby and I have been married 5 years now…my how the time flies by!

(photos by David and Jess Photography)
We got married on Pensacola Beach and have returned every year for the past 5 years to celebrate our anniversary.  This year was no different!
We started off our anniversary with breakfast at the Bodacious Brew, a new coffee shop and breakfast place I found that I wanted to try.  The Bodacious Grits were great, and ya gotta love latte art :)

After breakfast, we headed back to the hotel hubby had stayed in the night before (he did some business down in FL and I had flown in that morning).  We checked out and headed over to Jackson’s Steakhouse, where we met my friend, Kristin, for lunch.  Why did we choose this restaurant?  The first martini is on the house at lunch…that’s enough to rope us in!

After lunch we said goodbye to Kristin and headed to the beach for awhile.

We finally checked into our hotel, the Holiday Inn Express Pensacola Beach, at around 5 and got ready to head to our anniversary dinner at The Global Grill.  Hubby is always trying to get me to try new foods (I can be a little picky…) and he definitely succeeded at dinner.  We had sheepshead fish, Carpaccio, Brussels sprouts in a Gouda cheese sauce, and….
  
Rabbit livers.  Yes, I said rabbit livers.  I was VERY hesitant, but our waiter insisted it was one of the best things on the menu and explained to me how they were prepared, so I reluctantly agreed.  But…they were actually really good!  They soak them in buttermilk which helps to pull a lot of the gamey flavors out of it, breaded them in cornmeal and fried them, then put them on a thin crouton with an aioli sauce.  I think I even ate 3 of them.  And for dessert, carrot cake with pumpkin ice cream.

If you’re ever in the Pensacola area, I HIGHLY recommend this restaurant.  Just be sure you make reservations…it stays full every night.
Saturday we got up and headed out to the beach for the morning.  We had a late lunch at a new restaurant on Pensacola Beach, Red Fish Blue Fish
 
Then we headed to see the Pensacola Blue Wahoo's play the Mississippi Braves in some Double A minor league baseball!

We were the ONLY ones in the stadium cheering for the Braves, but they won!
 
Sunday morning we packed up and headed to lunch at hubby’s favorite restaurant, Peg Leg Pete’s.  He was still on the kick of making me try things, so he ordered a half dozen Buffalo Blue baked oysters.

They weren’t half bad :)  I had red beans and rice and he had a fish sandwich.  After lunch we headed home.  We lucked out and had gorgeous weather the entire time we were there and missed the heavy rains and flooding by 2 days!  I’m already looking forward to heading back next year.
Do you have an anniversary tradition with your significant other?
Until next time,
 

LiveJournal Tags: anniversary,Pensacola Beach,Mississippi Braves,Pensacola Blue Wahoos,Bodacious Brew,Jackson's Steakhouse,Holiday Inn Express,The Global Grill,Red Fish Blue Fish,Peg Leg Pete's,vacation,beach

2014 Georgia Publix Half Marathon recap

This race happened back in March…it’s probably about time I did a little recap, huh?

We had a fun night planned for the day before the race.  We all met at the expo where we did a little shopping and hanging out.

  

We met up with Matthew and Angela and continued to browse the expo and do a little shopping.  Brandi, Ramona, Katie and I had all decided to get a hotel room near the start/finish line so we could hang out more and be closer to the race.  Worth every penny!  After checking in and putting our bags down, we headed to meet everyone for some carb loading at Max’s Pizza!

 

Soooo tasty!  We had a great group and it was nice to chat over dinner.  We had some fun afterwards taking some group pictures :)  We all walked back to Matthew and Angela’s hotel, the Glenn, to hang out at their Sky Lounge. 

(I think we’ve all decided that next year we’re staying here)

After more drinks and conversation, we headed back to our hotel to get some shut eye…we did have a half marathon to run in the morning :)

The alarm went off and we slowly made our way out of bed, dressed, and headed to the start line.  We met up with Brandi’s parents and then headed to our corrals.  It was soooo nice to be able to sleep in and not have to worry about riding MARTA or anything!

While in the corral I was able to meet up with my friend, Elizabeth.  We met at the 26.2 with Donna weekend, but she’s a local and it was nice to see her again.  She ran as “Where’s Wilma?”

Of course I had to get a pic with my BRF Brandi :) (even if it is a little shadowy)

Finally, it was time to start!

 
This was a tough race for me as I hadn’t really been running like I should.  I didn’t take a ton of pictures since I was focusing more on running and making sure that I finished. 

I do like to stop and take a picture with this beautiful background, though :)

Soon after, it was time for me to take my favorite during-race fuel – Huma Gel

I was feeling pretty decent.  I then came up on the Old Fourth Ward…this neighborhood has one of the best cheering sections during the whole race.  I really enjoyed their energy last year and was looking forward to seeing them again this year.

I came to about the halfway mark, and one of the food stations was located here…Jelly Beans!

I made sure to stay to the left here!  I was NOT prepared to make a 13.1 mile mistake!

Soon after breaking off from the full marathon, we ran into Piedmont Park.  This is another one of my favorite parks of the race…great cheering section and some really nice views of the city.  We go back onto the streets of Atlanta -

Just a 5k to go!  Then I came into the Georgia Tech campus.  I’m a UGA girl so I had to show my dislike for the bees :P

However, they did have orange slice, and even though they were a little big, it was still a nice mid-race treat!

As I ran through the food station, I came across a woman who was running her first half.  I asked how she was doing and she said good, so I continued on.  We met up again with a little over a mile to go until we reached the finish line, and I told her we would finish together.  We chatted about her training and how, at 58, she decided to run her first half, and she was doing great!  Katie, who was volunteering near the finish, came and ran with us for a bit.  We made the left turn and down to the finish line we went!  The woman (whose name I have forgotten!! Ugh!!) was so excited!  She turned and hugged me and thanked me for helping her through the last mile.  We got our medals, water, heat blankets, and chocolate milk and parted ways.

Half marathon number 7 was done!  I ran into one of the ATLrunsDisney girls, Kim, and we chatted while she waited on her husband to find her.  Brandi and Ramona had already headed back to the hotel so I slowly made my way there to shower and get ready to meet up with everyone for brunch at Chick-A-Biddy’s!

 

Even with the hills, I do love this course…still undecided if I will run it again next year…maybe I’ll volunteer instead.  Who knows :) 

While I’m not crazy about the orange shirt, I do love the medal.  One side of the lanyard has all different Atlanta landmarks that we passed while on the course – Carter Center, Little 5 Points, Piedmont Park, Centennial Park, MLK Center…and I love the bronzed look of the peach.  Well done!

After finally getting home, it was time for Guinness and I to cuddle up for a well deserved nap!

 
I enjoy all my races, but they’re even better when I’m with my running family.  They make the pain worth it.

Until next time,

LiveJournal Tags: Georgia publix half marathon,Chick-A-Biddy,Glenn hotel,Max's Pizza,half marathon,expo,Huma Gel

Foodie Friday – Margarita Cupcakes

I’ve made these a few times before but haven’t posted them here.  Hubby’s company had some clients coming in for a training during Cinco de Mayo and they were trying to figure out some way to incorporate it during their visit.  He mentioned to his boss that I make good margarita cupcakes, so there ya go!

Ingredients
For the Cupcakes:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
Zest and juice of 1½ limes
2 tablespoons tequila
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup buttermilk

To Brush the cupcakes:
1-2 tablespoons tequila

For the Tequila-Lime Frosting:
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2¾ cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 tablespoons tequila
Pinch of coarse salt

Directions
1.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees and line cupcake tin with liners.

2.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.

3.  In an electric mixer on medium high speed, cream together the butter and sugar until pale, light and fluffy (about 5 minutes)
4.  Reduce the mixer speed and add the eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly before adding the next.
5.  Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the lime zest, lime juice, vanilla extract, and tequila.  Mix until combined.  Don’t worry if it starts to look curdled…it will come together!
6.  Reduce the speed to low and add the dry ingredients in three batches, alternating with the buttermilk in two batches.  Mix only just until incorporated, using a rubber spatula to give it one last mix by hand.

7.  Divide the batter between the cupcake liners.  Bake for approximately 25 minutes or until just slightly golden and a toothpick comes out clean.  I personally usually decrease the cooking temp to 300 degrees in my oven but cook them the whole time.  I also don’t turn the pan halfway through.  Make sure you fill the liners up with enough batter.  I didn’t in my first batch and the paper will start to peel away from the cake.

8.  Allow them to cool 5-10 minutes in the tin before transferring them to a cooling rack.  Brush the tops of the cupcakes with tequila and allow them to cool completely before frosting.

9.  To make the frosting, whip the butter on medium high using the whisk attachment for 5 minutes.  Reduce the speed to medium low and gradually add the powdered sugar.  Make sure you scrape the sides of the bowl.  Mix on medium high for 30 seconds, then add the tequila and lime juice.  Continue to mix on medium high until everything is incorporated and frosting is fluffy.  If it’s too soft, add powdered sugar one spoonful at a time until it’s thick enough for your liking. 

10.  Frost cupcakes and, if you like, garnish with some lime zest, some sea salt, and a thinly sliced wedge of lime.

You totally don’t have to use alcohol in these cupcakes.  If you do decide against it, add 1 tablespoon of vanilla to the frosting.

I had some left over so I took them to my office and my coworkers really enjoyed them. I haven’t heard yet from the hubby’s coworkers on what their clients thought of them. 

It’s definitely a great dessert to take to a summer get together with family and friends!

Until next time,

   

Recipe by Brown Eyed Baker

LiveJournal Tags: cupcakes,Foodie Friday,margarita,lime,Cinco de Mayo