vin dolce

Last night my husband and I went to vin dolce, the wine bar in downtown Edmond, Oklahoma. It was phenomenal! The atmosphere was trendy yet comfortable, the service was top notch, the food was delicious, the wine was perfect, and the entertainment was rockin'. 

 

We started our evening with a bottle of Pascual Toso Malbec - a perfect red for a cool January evening.

 The crab cakes were a delicious accompaniment to our wine.

 Every seat in the house was full and every person seemed to thoroughly enjoy the wine, food, atmosphere, and entertainment.

We also sampled the bacon artichoke dip... absolutely addictive.
With bacon (meat candy according to my friend Dennis), artichoke, garlic, cheese how can you go wrong?

 

Our entire experience at vin dolce was set to the music of Justin Young. He had the whole place rocking as he played a long list of great songs from Stevie Wonder to Earth Wind & Fire to Lady Gaga and my very favorite Justin Young original JY Funky.

We finished our evening with an unusual combination dessert - chocolate covered brie.
To die for!
The brie was baked in a light pastry, covered in a warm dark chocolate sauce, and served with sliced strawberries. Our glass of Justin Vineyards Obtuse (port wine) was a perfect match.

Check out the vin dolce facebook page: vin dolce   

Check out Justin Young's website: www.justinyoungsax.com

red velvet mini cupcakes

These mini cupcakes are the perfect bite size - no fork needed. But you might not be able to eat just one! I typically top them with a cream cheese buttercream frosting. Red velvet is perfect for Valentine's Day (add some heart-shaped sprinkles or a small fondant heart for a little extra flair).

I'm going to let you in on a little secret... shhhh... I almost always start red velvet cupcakes with a cake mix. You can typically find a red velvet mix at your local market. Start with that if possible. But if you can't find a cake mix that is red velvet, look for a German chocolate cake mix and grab a bottle of red food coloring.

red velvet cupcakes

1 box red velvet cake mix*

2 eggs

1 cup mayonnaise

1 cup water

* if you can't find red velvet mix, use German chocolate cake mix and add about half a bottle of red food coloring to your mixture

Add all ingredients to a large bowl and mix with an electric mixer until just combined. (don't over mix)

Prepare mini muffin pan with mini liners (or you can use regular cupcake/muffin pans with cupcake liners). Spoon about 1 to 1.5 tablespoons of batter into each mini muffin cup.

Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 18 minutes. 

When completely cool, top with cream cheese buttercream frosting.

Enjoy!

cream cheese buttercream frosting

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter at room temperature

2 packages cream cheese (8 oz each) at room temperature

4 cups powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

pinch salt

Cream the butter and cream cheese together with an electric mixer. Add the lemon zest and salt. Slowly add the powdered sugar. Be careful that you start the mixer on the lowest speed when you first add the powdered sugar (or you may find yourself covered in powdered sugar). Increase speed and mix until smooth.

Store frosting in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!

gluten free sugar cookies

This is my favorite sugar cookie recipe. I made a whole batch for Christmas, but you could use them for any occasion. Just change up the cookie cutter shape. Snowflakes can work all winter long!  If you don't want to make these gluten/wheat free, just use regular all-purpose flour in place of the gluten free/sorghum flour.

gluten free sugar cookies

3 cups gluten free all-purpose flour

1 cup sorghum flour

1 1/3 cups butter (softened)

1 1/3 cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 eggs

*gluten free all-purpose flour is available at most super markets today

Combine flours and salt in a small bowl.

Beat butter with an electric mixer. Add sugar and continue to beat. Add vanilla and continue to beat. Add eggs one at a time. Slowly add flour mixture until just combined.

Form dough into two disks, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 2 hours. (Can be refrigerated up to three days.)

Roll dough out to approximately 1/4 inch thick. Cut out desired shapes.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 8 minutes.

Cool and add frosting/sprinkles as desired. The frosting on the cookies shown above is about 3 cups powdered sugar + about 1/2 stick butter at room temperature + about 1 teaspoon vanilla + about 1 tablespoon water. Add extra water as needed one teaspoon at a time until you get the desired consistency.

Enjoy!

recipe adapted from Mrs. Fields

donuts ...fast

If you're craving donuts in the morning (or even at midnight), these are super simple and fast to make. They're also very yummy. You probably have the ingredients on hand right now... so go ahead... make some donuts (and eat them while they're still warm)!

donuts ...fast

1 package refrigerated biscuits (I used Pillsbury Grands Buttermilk)

vegetable oil

4 tablespoons melted butter

1/4 cup sugar

1 to 2 tablespoons cinnamon

Remove biscuits from package and use a small circular cookie cutter to cut a hole in each biscuit. 

Add vegetable oil to a deep pan until it reaches about 1/2 inch from the bottom of the pan. Heat over medium-high until the oil glistens (should only take a few minutes).

Meanwhile, combine the cinnamon and sugar in a bowl. I never exactly measure cinnamon and sugar. Just add as much cinnamon as you like to the sugar to fit your taste.

When the oil is hot, carefully drop a few of the "donuts" into the oil (I fit about 3 in my pan, but the number you can cook at one time will depend on the size of your pan). Fry on one side until golden brown. Then flip over using a pair of tongs, and fry until golden brown on the other side. The donuts will puff. Remove from oil and drain on a paper towel lined plate. Continue cooking the remaining donuts in the oil. Don't forget the donut holes too!

When your donuts are cool enough to handle, dip each one in the melted butter and then in the cinnamon sugar to coat completely. 

If you're not a fan of the cinnamon sugar donut, you could always top them with a little chocolate frosting and sprinkles. Or you can coat them in powdered sugar.

Enjoy!

These would be perfect with a cup of your favorite coffee.

I made this coffee mug for Katie
(Starbucks writable mug that comes with a pen)
so fun!

arugula salad with lemon

It's the first week of the new year and I know that a very popular new year's resolution is to eat healthier. Here's a delicious salad to help you stick to healthy eating (at least for the first week).

I was first served this salad by my good friend Adrienne at a wonderful dinner in her beautiful home on the lake. Now it's a regular at our house (specifically one of Katie's favorites). Thanks Adrienne!

arugula salad

large bunch baby arugula

1 lemon

1/4 cup olive oil

freshly shredded Parmesan cheese

salt & pepper

In a large bowl, whisk together olive oil, juice of one lemon, salt & pepper to taste.

Add arugula to dressing and toss to coat. Add Parmesan cheese (and freshly cracked pepper if desired).

I like to remove the salad from the bowl once I've tossed it in the dressing and serve it on a fresh plate or bowl. This way the greens get the perfect amount of dressing.

Enjoy!

vegetable soup with fresh basil

This soup has become a favorite in our family. It has such a fresh taste and is quite healthy. We typically enjoy it with a salad and/or some crusty bread. You can include any vegetables that you like. I always use the leeks, onion, and carrot. Then I add any other vegetables I have on hand. All of the vegetables can be adjusted to your liking or to whatever is in season in your area. The key to this recipe is the fresh basil.

vegetable soup with fresh basil

1-2 leeks (white parts only)

1 small onion

2 stalks celery

1 medium zucchini or other squash

large handful green beans

2 medium carrots

other vegetables as desired (potato, mushroom, peppers, etc)

6 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons water

1/2 gallon chicken broth*

pinch thyme

6 roma tomatoes, seeded

4 medium garlic cloves

about 30 large fresh basil leaves

salt & pepper

*You can substitute beef broth or vegetable broth if desired.

Coarsely chop leeks, onion, celery, zucchini, green beans, carrots, and any other vegetables.

In a large stockpot, combine 3 tablespoons olive oil with 3 tablespoons water. Add the vegetables (except for the zucchini, tomato, garlic, and basil) and cook over medium heat until the water evaporates and the vegetables soften. Do not brown the vegetables.

Add the broth and bring to a boil. Gently boil for about 30 minutes.

In a food processor, combine the tomatoes, basil, garlic, and 3 tablespoons olive oil. Pulse until pureed.

Add the zucchini to the stockpot for the last 10 minutes. Then add the tomato and basil puree along with salt and pepper to taste. Let the soup get hot again, but do not boil. Serve garnished with fresh basil if desired.

Enjoy!

recipe adapted from Wolfgang Puck, FoodNetwork.com

Festive Tree Cupcakes

Welcome to 2012! To bring in the new year, let me introduce you to my Luscious Confections partner - Emily. We've spent many hours in the kitchen together creating all kinds of fun things over the years. We made these festive cupcakes for our New Year's Eve party. They were our buffet spread centerpiece and a huge hit with all of our guests.

These cupcakes look complicated and will have people saying "wow!" But they really are rather simple to create (instructions below). Here's a great action shot of Emily creating the trees.

Festive Tree Cupcakes

1. Start with baked cupcakes frosted with your favorite frosting. We used red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting (I'll share the recipes for those in a later post).

2. Place one sugar ice cream cone on top of each cupcake.

3. Place green frosting in a pastry bag fitted with a star tip (We used a Wilton #18). Cover the ice cream cone by piping the frosting and pulling the bag away from the cone to make individual branches. Continue until you've covered all of the cone.

4. "Decorate" the trees with your favorite sprinkles. We used silver and white pearl dragees, but you could also use any type of sprinkle you like or even leave them plain.

Enjoy!

Emily and me with festive tree cupcakes