Spring, please come quicker.

We made a fruit pizza, and it was great! It could have been much better if the birds were singing, the heat a blazing, and the fruit, in season and ripe. Anyways we just used prepackaged sugar cookie dough, flatten it out. Bake it following the directions. Then I made a cream cheese frosting while Jillian cut the fruit. The frosting was just cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. then you arrange the fruit to your liking!

Afternoon drinks with Bobby and Jillian.

Little brother Bobby came over the other day with a bottle of Hendrick's gin and A bottle of Canton. We made some pretty good cocktails and shots. My mom bought me a really sweet glass shaker for my birthday so first we made martinis with some strawberries, limes and equal parts Canton and Hendrick's, shake the life out of it. Good martinis should have a nice balance of sweetness, alcohol, and water. The melted ice tames the drink and makes straight liquor drinkable. Second we made Hendrick's recipe gin and tonics. I shook two parts gin with some grated cucumber and ice, strain over ice, add one part tonic. Cucumber slices for garnish. These were both delicious and we all had a nice little buzz!

http://www.domainedecanton.com/
http://www.hendricksgin.com/

More snacks.

The best snack ever is an onion bagel with melted brie cheese on it!!!!

Snacks.

The other night Hailee and KaCee came to hang while I was at work. I guess they were watching something about shrimp and Hailee really wanted some shrimp so I told them I'd cook it for her. They brought back a thirty dollar bag of shrimp!! Cool with me, right. Mike has this great cook book, that I found this shrimp recipe in it, called "5 spices, 50 dishes," and the spices are basically what comprises curry spice. It would have been amazing with fresh, not frozen, shrimp but it turned out nicely. Precooked frozen shrimp usually has a salt content in it already I thawed out the shrimp and marinated it for only like 30 minutes, shrimp doesn't take long for flavors to stick like beef or chicken. The marinade was some olive oil, lemon juice and zest, fresh parsley, cayenne, curry powder, salt, pepper and paprika(not the exact recipe, but I never do.) Then you throw it all in a hot pan with a little bit more olive oil. On medium-high heat put a lid on it so your shrimp don't dry out. Sautee them until there is no more water and a few crispy edges. Enjoi!

Cheese Plate.

We went to Whole Foods again, and for Jillian and I that means fancy cheese. Alton Brown had a cheese show on his food science show and we always make cheese plates, so I figured I would post one. You gotta have a base. I cut some ciabatta bread in half and squared it, a little parsley, pepper and some Spanish basil infused olive oil. I pressed them in the panini maker and made them extra cripy. And fruit also goes great on a cheese plate, but all we had was an apple, but it was surprisingly delicious! Then clockwise from the apples, 1. A three milk blend, sheep, goat, and cow, it's hard with a sweet finish, grates nicely. 2. An aged English white cheddar that's Hillary's. Actually she always buys it, it's soft and sharp. 3. A Rubusto dutch cheese made from pasteurized cows milk. It's soft and spongy kinda like muenster. I love it, probably my favorite cheese on the plate. 4. An unpasteurized raw milk with vegetable in the middle. Veggie ash can be used for making thin rinds and protecting the cheese from the elements, or like here a line of it in the middle creates a visual contrast, and a unique taste. 5. In the middle, and the loose two next to the apple (must watch my plating before I take pictures!) is an Aged Gouda that was aged for 1,000 days. This is a very unique flavor as well, it has crunchy bits in it and it's very hard, but yet again very tasty. Go Cheese!!!