FBF: 4th July Strawberries

This is a good one--and perfect timing for 4th July! These were a big hit and not to mention they are SOOOO easy to make! ENJOY!

FLASH-BACK FRIDAY

4th JULY STRAWBERRIES

Click on image to see full post from 6/2011

Tomato Carpaccio Crab Salad

This recipe is from Cajunlicious and I fell in love--I HAD to try this!!

TOMATO CARPACCIO CRAB SALAD

1 Heirloom Tomato (or just a "regular" tomato)
1/4 cup Jumbo Lump Crabmeat (it comes in a can)
1/2 avocado, smashed
salt & pepper, to taste
1-1/2 tblsp Greek yogurt (plain)
1/2 tsp rice vinegar
Zest & Juice of half a lemon
1/2 tsp parsley
[I did not add capers...yuk]
1 tsp red onion, diced really small
1 small Roma tomato, seeded and diced really small

• Dill for garnish
• In a medium bowl, combine avocado, yogurt, vinegar, zest & lemon juice, parsley, onion, diced tomatoes and mix well. 
• Gently fold in the crab and season with salt & pepper. 
• Place in refrigerator, tossing every hour for 2 hours or until ready to serve.
• To serve: Slice the heirloom tomato paper-thin and arrange them around the center of the plate. Place the crab mixture in a circle-mold. 
• Squeeze the other half of lemon over top and top it off with some dill.

Wordless Wednesday {{linky}}

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Last week, my daughter had a sleep study done. It took 6 months to get this appointment, so it was pretty important. She has large tonsils, snores, restless and low evergy for the most part during the day. Not sure what's going on, but a sleep study is part of figuring it out.

We are both artists, so COLOR is everywhere for us. One all the colorful wires were hooked up, she asked me if she was going to dream of rainbows. LOL too sweet!

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As some of ya'll are aware, I've been doing some re-wiring with my blog and facebook, trying to really figure things out. One of those things is figuring out why my FB page is only reaching "20%" of people who have liked my page. SOOOO, head over to my FB Page  HERE and follow these instructions:

Maybe then I'll reach more News Feeds. =)

Lastly, take this little poll by just clicking a dot, thats it, no signing in needed. Ya'll as awesome!

Now, LET'S GET WORDLESS!!

Blackberry Cabernet Roast

BLACKBERRY CABERNET ROAST

• 5 pounds eye of round beef roast
• 1-1/2 cups wild blackberries
• 2 cups Cabernet Sauvignon
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves, plus more for garnish
• 1 tablespoon thyme leaves, plus more for garnish
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage leaves
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons cracked pepper 

Au Jus Sauce

• 1 -1/3 cups wild blackberries
• 2 cups beef broth
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/3 cups Cabernet Sauvignon

Salt and ground black pepper, to taste

• Pierce all sides of meat using a meat fork every 1 in and place in a large resealable plastic bad.
• Puree blackberries in a blender or food processor. Press through a sieve to remove seeds. Discard solids.
• Combine blackberry puree with Cabernet, garlic, rosemary, thyme, sage, salt and pepper in small bowl. Pour mixture over roast and seal bag.
• Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight, turning roast occasionally.
• Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Drain meat from marinade.
• Sprinkle cracked pepper evenly over meat and place in large roasting pan.
• Pour 2 cups marinade from plastic bag into roasting pan. Discard remaining marinade.
• Roast 15 minutes, reduce oven to 350 degrees F. Continue to roast 1-11/2 hours or until meat thermometer reads 145 degrees F.
• Remove meat from pan. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing thinly across the grain.

Sauce:

• Puree 1/2 cup blackberries in a blender or food processor. Press through a sieve to remove seeds. Discard solids.
• In a saucepan, combine blackberry puree, beef broth and Cabernet, and heat over medium and bring to a simmer, constantly stirring. Boil for about 10 minutes.
• Combine cornstarch with 2 tablespoons water, then add to saucepan. Cook for 1 minute or until slightly thickened.
• Remove from heat and serve with roast.

Over the Rainbow Smoothie

SMOOTHIE MONDAY

OVER THE RAINBOW SMOOTHIE

1-1/2 cups fruit punch
1/3 cup rainbow sherbet
1/2 cup club soda
additional rainbow sherbet for garnish

• Combine fruit punch and sherbet in blender. Process until smooth. Pour into glasses; add club soda. 
• Top with additional sherbet!

For the colorful rims on the glasses, wet edges of glasses then turn them upside down and dip them into colorful sprinkles.

FBF: Chicken You Won't Believe

FLASH-BACK FRIDAY

CHICKEN YOU WON'T BELIEVE

Click on image to see full post from 6/2011

Wild Blackberry Bread

Oh yes, you read that right. I was given the pleasure to visit a friend's property and pick all the wild blackberries that I wanted. So at the end, I ended up with a little over 6 pounds. And I just L.O.V.E. it!

WILD BLACKBERRY BREAD

1-1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1-1/2 cups fresh blackberries
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice

• 
  
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder and cinnamon. Gently toss in the blackberries.
• In a different medium bowl, combine sugar and next 5 ingredients and mix until all combined.
• Add the sugar mixture to the blackberry mixture and gently stir until evenly blended.
• Pour into a greased loaf pan (8.5"x 4.5"/ normal sized) and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
• Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes still in the loaf pan, then remove it from the pan and let cool for about an hour.
• Drizzle icing (recipe below) over top. Slice and serve!

Icing:

In a wire mesh, crush blackberries through the strainer to get the juice without the seeds. You only need about 2 tablespoons of juice, so about 1 cup of blackberries should do the trick. In a small bowl, put about 1/4 cup powdered sugar. Little at a time, add the blackberry juice until its a the right consistency to drizzle over the bread.