Research and Development

It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it.

Yes, recipe research and development in general, but cocktail recipes specifically. Because you can cook or bake something as many times as you want to (or need to) and, really, the only jeopardy you’re in is of ending up in a food coma. Not much of a down side, really.

But cocktail recipes? Those are a little more dangerous. There are rules you need to adhere to, like “by the third try you need to be sitting down, Yes, on the floor is fine, even preferable.” Little lessons you learn along the way that help you progress in your endeavors. Well, and help you to stay out of the hospital too.

Tailgater Cocktails

My youngest son is a Purdue Boilermaker this year, resulting in my taking up watching some college football games. Truth be told I’m more sitting as close to the TV as I can, mostly ignoring the game while scanning the crowd for a glimpse of my boy, but lets keep that between us, OK?

Anyway, I set out to develop a cocktail inspired by the Boilermaker. For those who don’t know, a Boilermaker is a beer with a shot of whiskey. You can pour or mix the whiskey into the beer but the way I learned was that you actually drop the shot glass of whiskey into the beer. Oh, and don’t tip that beer glass back too far, you’ll chip a tooth.

Confession time: I don’t like beer. I cook with it, I even use it in some mixed drinks, but I never really developed a taste for it. Hope this doesn’t make you think less of me. There were a few reasons, one I won’t mention because . . . well . . . TMI.  The other is that I’m very small. All beer really did was make me feel full. Fast. No dinner, no more drinks, and I swear I’d slosh when I walked.

As long as I’m confessing, I did mention in my previous post WimpGating that I’m not a big fan of eating and drinking in parking lots in cold weather. I prefer to watch the games on my couch by the fireplace. 

But if you're one of the many people braving the cold to see a game, before you go, stop by my friend Stacy's blog for her tutorial on how to make a warm lap rug. You'll be glad you did.

Another great way to warm up takes us back to the cocktails. Covering all of the options, these cocktails can be made either at home using a glass and a shot glass, or outdoors with plastic cups of two different sizes.

Since this drink wasn’t going to start with beer, the options for product development were endless. I’m proud to admit that I’m nothing if not a tenacious cocktail developer. From that spot on the floor I came up with a few choices, depending on your taste.

And, of course, an integral part of product development is the rigorous schedule of taste tests.

I have to admit that I really enjoyed them all.

Sheesh, the sacrifices I make.

You’re welcome.

Nap time.

GO PATS!
     and
BOILER UP!

 

 

 

 

Tailgater Cocktails 

                                                                         ©www.BakingInATornado.com
 
Printable Recipe
 
Ingredients (four options):
Lemon Tailgater Cocktail:   
                    8 ounces of Hard Lemonade
                    1 shot of Limoncello
                    Lemon starbursts for garnish
 
Raspberry Tailgater Cocktail:  
                    8 ounces of Raspberry flavored malt beverage 
                    1 shot of Chambord
                    Swedish Fish for Garnish
 
Lime Tailgater Cocktail:
                    8 ounces of Margarita flavored malt beverage 
                    1 shot of Patron Tequilla
                    Lime sourpatch kids candy for garnish
 
Apple Tailgater Cocktail:
                    8 ounces of Apple Ale malt beverage
                    1 shot of Cinnamon Bun Vodka
                    Apple skittles for garnish
 
 
Directions:
*Fill a glass or cup 2/3 of the way full with the first ingredient of the option of your choice. Make sure there’s room in the glass for the addition of the second ingredient.
*Pour the corresponding second ingredient into a shot glass.
*If there’s room, drop the whole shot glass or cup (drop bottom first, not upside down) into the larger glass. If there isn’t room, just pour the shot into the glass.
*Add garnish to the glass or cup.

WimpGating

What do you do when you love the food and the company and even some of the games but not so much the cold? Wimpgate, of course.

AKA: Tailgating for sissies (and proud of it).

I’m not a sports fan but I AM a team fan. Where my family will watch most any sport any time, I only watch if one of MY teams is playing.

Now I’m not going to tell you that I haven’t tailgated before. I have, just not often. I attended a college game or two but just between you and I? I slept through most of the games. I mean, Saturday morning? Bad timing, dude. Friday nights (which lasted until Saturday morning) were busy times. And Saturday morning (which lasted until Saturday afternoon, and sometimes even evening) were for sleeping.

I’ve been to a few Pro games too, but early in the season. There’s the whole “standing outside eating in the freezing cold” thing that I just don’t get. Once my nose goes numb, my ears burn and my eyes are tearing, I’m out. The only time I want to be outside in the cold is when I’m skiing down a mountain.

Wimp, I know.

I do have a lot of really fun tailgating memories. There’s an outdoor amphitheater back home that had the best concerts throughout the summer. I went quite a bit. Now that’s a situation just screaming for tailgating, a warm summer evening being the key factor.

BUT, the other aspects of tailgating have me hooked: the food and the party. And now that I have boys in college, I have more teams to call “mine”.

Raspberry Glazed Steak Rollups with Lemon Yogurt Sauce
preparation

So bring on the weekends; the games, the food and the fun. I’ve developed some recipes that are perfect for both tailgating and wimpgating, starting with this one for my Raspberry Glazed Steak Rollups with Lemon Yogurt Sauce.

Raspberry Glazed Steak Rollups with Lemon Yogurt Sauce
finished sandwich

And if my guests want the real feel of tailgating? I’d be more than happy to send them out to the driveway to eat. I’ll be here on the couch, tv on and fire roaring in the fireplace, scanning the fans in the bleachers for a glimpse of my boys. Wonder what they’re eating . . .

And for those of you hearty people who are actually tailgating and enjoy a fun project, check out this Tote Bag Tutorial by my friend Stacy Sews and Schools. I may need to talk to her about her team choices, but I do love her work:

Go Pats!

   and

Boiler Up!

Raspberry Glazed Steak Rollups with Lemon Yogurt Sauce

                                                                        ©www.BakingInATornado.com
 
Printable Recipe
 
Ingredients:
2# flank steak
1 cup seedless raspberry jam
1 TBSP raspberry flavored hard lemonade
1 tsp minced garlic
2 TBSP soy sauce

1 cup Lemon flavored Greek Yogurt
3 TBSP honey
1/2 tsp lemon zest

8 tortillas
OPT garnishes: I chose shaved carrots and roasted red pepper
 
Directions:
*In a microwave safe bowl, heat the raspberry jam for 1 minute. Whisk in the hard lemonade, garlic and soy sauce. Set aside to cool.
*Slice the flank steak, against the grain, into thin slices. Place into a gallon sized re-sealable bag.
*Pour the sauce into the bag and manipulate to be sure all of the meat is coated. Place in fridge for a few hours up to a day. Turn the bag every now and then.
NOTE: An optional way to cook this without skewers is to place the flank steak into the gallon bag with the marinade without slicing it. Cook the steak (it'll take more than 2 - 5 minutes per side) on the grill, let rest, slice and place into tortilla shells.

*Whisk the yogurt, honey and lemon zest and put into a container.
NOTE: I wash out empty ketchup bottles and save them for this purpose. I put the sauce in them and put them into a fridge or cooler, making it easy to drizzle the sauce.
*If you're using wood skewers, soak them in cold water for 2 hours. For tailgating you can place them into a re-sealable bag with water and place them in your cooler.
*Grease your grill grate with non-stick spray while the grill is still cold and turned off.
*Heat your grill to medium heat.
*Thread the meat onto skewers, if you're using this method.
*Grill the skewers for about 2 - 5 minutes, turn and grill another 2 - 5 minutes. Don't touch the skewer, carefully remove meat with a utensil.
*Place onto tortilla shells with your favorite garnish. Drizzle with the lemon yogurt sauce, roll up and slice to serve.

Love to Laugh

A few weeks ago Cluttered Genius interviewed me for a post she was writing in support of one of the collaborative books I contributed to, The Mother of All Meltdowns. In the interview she asked what makes me laugh. What a great question.

My answer to her was that I find my children’s laughter contagious. Hearing my boys laugh makes me laugh. But laughter comes so much easier when they’re little. AS they get older, sometimes you have to dig deeper to bring it out.

When my boys became teenagers I started watching the news and scanning the papers for absurd news stories. You know, the kind that make you laugh out loud and think “yup, truth is stranger than fiction.” I wanted the family dinners we had left to always end on a happy note. On nights when the conversations were more serious or stressful, I’d bring up some of those stories before we left the table. Or I’d quote some funny “bot” comments I’d gotten on the blog, or search terms people had typed into Google that somehow, inexplicably, landed them on my blog. Every meal ended with laughs all around. Perfect.

I’d done a post about funny true news stories a year ago and was asked at the time to do another. I’m pretty sure they didn’t mean a year and a half later, but I’m finally getting around to it. So from the “you can’t make this stuff up” files, here are some true news stories, some funny computer-generated bot comments and some search terms that landed people on my blog (and probably had them scratching their heads as to why they ended up here). And, of course, I’ve added some of my own comments.

Some of what we’ve been laughing about at our dinner table:

News stories:
*Someone has come up with an alcoholic drink in powdered packets (looks like a Kool-Aid packet).
     ~This is either genius or the most dangerous invention since TNT.

*Haagen Dazs is testing vegetable flavored ice creams, one with tomato and another with carrots.
     ~When reporting about it on the national news, Brian Williams said it best; “this is a purpose-defeating product if ever there was one.”

*A local man was arrested for driving his lawnmower down the street.
     ~The story gets better, when pulled over, it was evident that he had been drinking. He told the arresting officer that he was driving to a store down the street from his house. Evidently he had run out of beer.

Baked Hot Wings

 

Search terms that lead people to this blog:
*baking soda for hot flashes
     ~Wait, what? Don’t leave me hanging, am I supposed to eat it? Wear it? Bathe in it?

*alcohol free
     ~I’m so sorry but you have been horribly lead astray by Google. You are SO in the wrong place.

*name cakes happy birthday linda
     ~I’m stumped by this one too. I name my cakes but I’ve never named one “happy birthday Linda”. I don’t even know a Linda.

*domination interior
     ~What does this even mean? Who Googles this? Really, I want to know.

Bot generated blog comments:
* “Can I simply  just say what a relief to discover somebody who genuinely knows what they are discussing.” The comment goes on to say “I can’t believe you aren’t more popular.”
     ~Ummmmm, gee thanks.

* “At Trader Joe’s, the popcorn arrives packaged pre-popped and also is actually as effortless to ingest as potato chips.”
     ~OK, good to know.

* “We are a group opening a new scheme in our community. Your website provided us with valuable information.”
     ~Does this make me an accessory?

* “I was interested to find out how you center yourself and clear your head prior to writing. I’ve had trouble cleaning my mind.”
     ~Sorry buddy, your dirty mind is not my problem.


* “Permit this review and we’ll protect a fictional dog!”
     ~Wow, really? If I post your review on my blog you’ll protect a fictional dog?What do I have to do to get you to protect a real dog? Wait. Don’t answer that.

 

Baked Hot Wings

                                                                         ©www.BakingInATornado.com
 
Printable Recipe
 
Ingredients:
3 – 4 #chicken wings or wingettes
4 tsp cayenne
¼ tsp paprika
¼ tsp chili powder
¼ tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1 ½ cups Frank’s Hot Sauce
 
Directions:
*Mix together the cayenne, paprika, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
*Rinse wings and pat dry. Sprinkle liberally with the seasoning mix, pat in, turn wings over and repeat.
*Place wings in a gallon bag and refrigerate for 24 hours.
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray.
*Arrange the wings, not overlapping onto the cookie sheet. Sprinkle with more of the seasoning mix.
*Bake for 30 minutes, turn the wings over, sprinkle with more of the seasoning mix and bake another 30 minutes.
*Pour the Hot Sauce into a large bowl. Take the wings from the oven and immediately put into the bowl with the sauce. Stir to coat.

Funny Friday

Today’s post is May’s Funny Friday, a regular feature published on the last Friday of every month. Funny Friday is  collaborative project. Each month one of the participants submits a picture, then we all write 5 captions or thoughts inspired by that month’s picture. Links to the other bloggers’ posts are below, click on them and see what they’ve come up with. I hope we bring a smile to your face as you start your weekend.

 

 

Here’s today’s picture. It was submitted by me:

 

“Engineer” to the guy laying on the tracks:

1. “You may be bigger but guess who’s smarter.”
2. “This’ll teach you to steal my cheerios.”
3. “Has this thing got turbo?”
4. “You should have known this day was coming when Mom bought me the train and you the tracks.”
5. “Let’s play Survivor Living Room.”

Click on the links below and let some other bloggers make you smile:

Black Sheep Mom

Someone Else's Genius

Confessions of a part-time working mom

The Momisodes

Sanity Waiting to Happen

On the Alberta/Montana Border

Cluttered Genius

Stacy Sews and Schools

And now for something yummy:

Greek Pasta Salad

Enjoy your weekend!

 

 

PS: My Greek Pasta Salad was featured on MSN Food and Drink: 11 Tasty BBQ Side Dishes on 5-22-15.

Greek Pasta Salad

                                                                          ©www.BakingInATornado.com
 
 
Printable Recipe
 
Ingredients, pasta salad:
1 # tricolor rotini, cooked al dente and cooled in refrigerator
5 ounces grape tomatoes
½ cucumber, peeled, quartered and sliced
2 green onions, chopped
6 oz olives (black or kalamata), drained
4 oz crumbled feta
 
Ingredients, dressing:
¾ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
¼ cup red wine vinegar
1 TBSP lemon juice
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 ½ tsp oregano
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
 
Directions:
*Once the pasta is completely cooled, mix it in a large bowl with the other salad ingredients.
*Wisk the dressing ingredients for at least a minute, pour over salad ingredients and mix.
*Keep refrigerated overnight, stirring every now and then.

More Junk

This is the second in my “junk drawer” series. It started with me looking for something in my own junk drawer and realizing that a few things in there were permanent residents and always would be. I started to wonder what normal other people kept in their junk drawers, not the stuff that moves in and out but what was there to stay. So I asked some friends and got quite a varied response; from sentimental items to silly to useful to absurd. See the first group here: Junk Drawer.

Here’s a peek into some other well-known bloggers’ drawers:

Super Mario Brothers HEAD

The boys often break toys, as you can imagine, and when it first started happening I saved the pieces. I was sure I would fix them as soon as time allowed . . . but it never does. Yet, here lays Mario’s head. Why?
~Allie @ VITA - Train for Life

Salonpas

As a child, my brother and I always found my mother’s use of Salonpas really weird (perhaps it was the combined aroma of mint, menthol and camphor). Fast forward to my own adulthood, where rouge Salonpas patches can be found in many random drawers of my home, along with peppermint essential oils. I’ve definitely taken the weirdness factor up a level – when I feel migraines coming on, I wear my patch in public.

~Monica @ Marino Bambinos

old cellphones

I am embarrassed to say this. There is no sentimental reason for this. We refuse to buy the cell phone insurance! So we have always kept our previous cell phones! With two of us on the contract and a new cell phone every 18 – 24 months for the last 10 years we have quite a collection. I know we can and should donate them, but it is the fear that something might happen to our current phone that has us saving them. Most are stored in the attic now . . . but we always have our previous “extra” in a junk drawer.

~Jodi @ The Noise of Boys

stress relief

Shhhh . . . it’s a secret. Because even though you guys know me as a trashy skank, I’m pretty sure my kid would be convinced that I’m the next June Cleaver . . . if they knew who she was. And besides, I only have one like once a week – in fact, I’ll bet this stale pack was purchased three months ago. But still, it’s a comfort knowing they’re there if necessary at the end of a stressful week. And look how sweetly they rest next to my daily devotionals. Just try not to notice that those are from 2011.

~Shay Trashy @Trashy Blog

Our little tool box

If not for this item, all my butter knives would be bent up, because that’s my go to when I can’t find a screw driver.

~Sarah @The Momisodes

Plastic Cockroaches

My ex bought then to play a nasty trick on my sister so I grabbed them and stashed them away in there so he couldn’t say I threw them away, but he also couldn’t find them to play the trick. They’ve been in there 2 years and I’ve actually used them here and there.

~Aya @ More than Cheese and Beer

Tape Measure

Always ALWAYS in my junk drawer. Cause ya never know when you’re going to need to measure something.

There’s the length of cucumbers, the dimensions of a box, the size of the back of the trunk to see if a friend’s furniture will fit. And yes, the length of a cucumber is the first thing listed.

Joy @ Evil Joy Speaks

 

Seashells

It’s no secret that I’m from New England and have been living in the Midwest. I have seashells everywhere to remind me of home; in drawers, in cars, in purses and in my junk drawer. Every time I open the drawer and see a shell I smile.

~me

What’s in YOUR junk drawer?

PS: It seems fitting to end this post with a little Crockpot Chicken Soup; for the soul, for your stomach, for what ails you.

Crockpot Chicken Soup

Crockpot Chicken Soup

                                        ©www.BakingInATornado.com
 
Printable Recipe
 
Ingredients:
10 cups water
2 large bone in chicken breast halves (can use a whole cut up chicken if you prefer)
3 TBSP dry chicken broth base (more or less depending on your taste)
1 TBSP salt
1 parsnip
4 stalks celery
1 ½# carrots
2 onions
OPT: Matzo balls
 
Directions:
*Put water, salt and chicken broth base into crock pot. Add chicken.
*Cut off ends of parshnip, cut into 3 chunks and add to pot.
*Wash celery, cut each into 3 chunks and add.
*Cut ends off of carrots. Peel 3 carrots, slice and add to pot. The rest of the carrots, cut off ends, cut into 3 chunks each and add to pot.
*Peel onions, leave the root end intact. Cut one in half, leave the other whole and add to pot.
*Cover crockpot and turn to high. Once it boils, turn it down to low and leave on low for an hour, skim the top, then continue to cook for another 4 to 5 hours.
OPT: While soup is cooking, if you’re making Matzo Balls, mix them up according to package directions and place in the fridge.
*Remove chicken to a plate. Remove all the vegetable chunks but leave the small sliced carrot pieces. Using a fork, pull the chicken meat from the bones, discard the skin and bones.
OPT: If making matzo balls, turn broth back on to high until boiling.  Add the matzo balls, cover and don’t open for 40 minutes, then add the chicken meat back in for 10 minutes.
*If not making matzo balls, return chicken to the pot, cook another 30 minutes on low.
NOTE: If making this for the next day or if you have leftovers, put in fridge overnight and skim the fat off the top before serving.