orange cream floats

 










Just so you know, my family loved these and will have them again tonight BUT ours did not look like the photo in Real Simple magazine.  The photo was incredible...of course it was.  I think they must've doubled or tripled their recipe to make them overflow in such a beautiful, delicious way.  You'll want to double or triple your recipe anyway because they're delicious.  They were our family night treat.

orange cream floats (Real Simple, July 2013)
2 pints vanilla ice cream
2 cups orange juice
2 cups club soda or sparkling water

Chill 8 glasses in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Scoop the ice cream and divide evenly among the chilled glasses.  Top with the orange juice and club soda.  Serve immediately.

What I have to say- each of our goblets got 2 scoops of vanilla bean ice cream, 1/4 cup oj and 1/4 cup club soda.  They were begging for more.

summer shower

My friend Becky is having her 3rd baby very soon and as you can see her shower was amazing!  I didn't have to do much- I made a quilt which was hung from the trees (it didn't even coordinate with the theme-oops!) and threw the cheese platter together.  Kara provided the gorgeous outdoor backdrop and lots of friends came together to make the shower happen.  Look at the fun cupcake stands, cupcakes and pinwheels Lydia made.  I sat next to her last night hoping her creative juices would somehow rub off on me.  See the beautiful fresh figs?  I'd never had a fig before so I took one home and tried it.  It was delicious!!  Summertime in Oregon is magnificent.
Credit:
Cupcakes, stands, caprese salad and pinwheels: Lydia
"Baby Shower Cookies" : Lindsey M.
Figs: Kara
Curry Chicken Salad (with coconut and all sorts of good stuff): Cherie

kate's awesome lemon cookies with white chocolate chips

My husband went to a barbeque with some friends from work and came home with this recipe which is very uncommon.  He said Kate's cookies were awesome.  Last night he let our kids help him make them and they turned out GREAT!  I saw how the kids plopped down the cookie dough and the cookies still baked up just right so I consider this a fool-proof, kid friendly recipe.  Thanks, Kate, for sharing your recipe!

kate's awesome lemon cookies with white chocolate chips
1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3.4 ounce lemon pudding mix
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 14/ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups white chocolate cips
sugar for dipping

Cream the butter and sugars together.  Add the pudding mix, eggs, lemon extract and lemon juice.  Mix together the flour, baking soda and salt and add and mix until dry ingredients are incorporated.  Add chocolate chips.  Place large spoonfuls on a prepared baking sheet.  Flatten with the bottom of a glass that has been dipped in sugar.  Bake at 350 degrees for 11 minutes.

summer potluck ideas: aloha!

Summer potlucks are so fun!  Today I helped host a Hawaiian theme potluck lunch.  I made smoked pork with rice and you can see that some of our guests came up with some great ideas to share:
Aloha Burgers made by Angeli
Flip-Flop Cookies made by Lindsey S.
Zucchini Pineapple Bread made by Dee-Anna
Fruit Kabobs (not sure who made them but they were the prettiest I've seen and super tasty)
Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of the quinoa mango salad made by Lindsay P. that everyone raved about but you can find a photo and recipe at Best Bites.
There were a lot of people and a lot of good food; these were a few that caught my fancy.

plum jam

My kids picked no less than 35 pounds of plums, I kid you not.  My kids and I rolled up our sleeves and got to work.  One of my daughters, the one who adores jam the most, cut all the seeds out of them and placed them into the Vita-mix and then we started the day-long process of turning each and every little plum into jam.  Tasty, tasty jam.

plum jam
6 cups plum puree
8 cups sugar
1 package pectin
1/4 cup water

Wash the plums.  Cut the seeds out of the plum (or break open the plum and pull out the seed; we thought using a knife was faster- my daughter thought a knife was more fun).  Place the plums in a blender.  Blend away!  Place 6 cups of plum puree into a big canning pot.  Add 1 package pectin and 1/4 cup water.  Stir and cook until plums come to a rolling boil.  Add 8 cups sugar and stir.  Bring back to a rolling boil.  Boil for 1 minute.  Now you're ready to pour your jam into prepared jars.  Process the jars for 10 minutes.

blackened tilapia with remoulade sauce

 This fish is very satisfying and delicious.  A repeat for sure.

blackened tilapia with remoulade sauce (adapted from cookbook: Weight Watchers Cook it in Minutes)
1/4 cup light mayonnaise
1/4 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
2 scallions, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
4 teaspoons white vinegar
2 teaspoons capers, drained and chopped
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tilapia loins
2 teaspoons canola oil

Combine the mayo, yogurt, scallions, parsley, vinegar, capers and mustard in a bowl.
Mix together the paprika, thyme, oregano, garlic powder, cayenne and salt in a small bowl.  Sprinkle the mixture over both sides of each tuna steak.
Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet until just starting to smoke.  Add the fish and cook until done.  Serve with the sauce on the side.