Copycat Hillstone Crisp Martini: AKA The Sauvy B Martini

As I mentioned in my Lemon Bars post, I had major hand surgery on New Year's Eve.  It was 12 weeks of down time and since it was also winter, there wasn't much to do.  Mr. Devilish and I spent a lot of time watching TV, specifically Bar Rescue re-runs, and trying new cocktail recipes.  We got some new cute cow print barstools, and I sat on them and imbibed while Mr. Devilish played pretend bartender.  I'd seen the video for this martini making the rounds on social media and it looked to delicious not to try.  I love the flavor of St. Germain, which is an elderflower liqueur, with a sweet, floral and herb flavor.  And I do like Sauvignon Blanc.  I've never been much of a gin drinker, but I saw this beautiful blue bottle of gin and couldn't resist.  Our weekly outings during the recouperation period were usually to the liquor store to stock our bar with new and interesting libations.  The resulting martini was delicious.  The flavors of the St. Germain and the gin really complement each other, and it all pairs perfectly with the citrus juice and rind.  And I'll never complain about topping anything off with a splash of Sauvignon Blanc.  Just like the name, this cocktail is cool and crisp and will definitely be made often this summer.

Here it is.  In all the crisp, refreshing 
deliciousness.  Will definitely be enjoyed
on the patio this summer.

I totally chose this because of the beautiful
bottle, but now I feel like a little bit of a 
gin drinker.  

Here is our very full bar.  Fun fact, this old 
"buffet" was a shoe display in Mr. DD's parents'
clothing store when he a little boy.  They let us 
have it when we got married.  It's never been used
like a buffet, it has always been our "bar" even when 
we didn't have much to put on it.  The storage below is 
ideal for our cocktail glasses and the drawers hold our 
bar tools.  We had it painted a few years ago.  It is a great
conversation piece for sure.

Copycat Hillstone Crisp Martini:  AKA The Sauvy B Martini

1.5 ounces Gin
1 ounce St. Germain liqueur
1/2 fresh lemon, juiced
1 ounce Sauvignon Blanc wine
Lime peel/twist for garnish

In a cocktail shaker with ice:  combine gin, St. Germain and lemon juice.  Shake and strain into a martini glass.  Top with Sauvignon Blanc and garnish with a lime peel.  

Neiman Marcus Dip

I have no idea why this is called Neiman Marcus Dip.  It's not expensive to make or luxurious like a dark chocolate sauce.  It's just a super tasty dip that's awesome on crackers, great for snacking and a hit at any party.  A great friend of ours celebrated a birthday a while back.  I asked his sweet fiancée (now wife) and his sweet mother how I could help for the surprise party they were throwing him.  They know I love to cook, and asked if I could bring some chips and dips.  I wanted a great variety, so I decided on three hot dips and three cold dips.  Queso, Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip, and Buffalo Chicken Dip when into my three-section slow cooker.  Fresh salsa, Homemade French Onion Dip, and Neiman Marcus Dip went into my favorite crystal bowls I received as wedding gifts.  While everything was a big hit, I have to say the Neiman Marcus Dip was the biggest hit of all.  Well besides surprising the birthday boy.  And the giant ice carving luge for doing shots in the backyard.  If you don't have a surprise and an ice luge, then this is sure to be the BIGGEST hit at your next get together!

The best dip and biggest hit at the party!

Well except for that ice luge...

What's a birthday party without
some Neiman Marcus Dip AND
and ice luge???

Here's the birthday boy, Ross
his beautiful fiancée, (now wife!)
The got married quite a while ago.
I've had this recipe in draft form for ages.

Make your next party special

Griddled Twinkie Strawberry Shortcake

 It's National Strawberry Shortcake Day, and do I have a treat for you today!  If you thought a Twinkie was tasty by itself, imagine how insanely delicious it is after it has been lightly toasted in butter on a griddle?  Mr. Devilish Dish and I are fairly healthy eaters.  We try to eat mainly low-carb meals during the week, and I usually don't even eat much gluten.  But every once in a while, we go off the rails and when I say go off the rails I mean we get crazy creative and eat crap lol.  We had seen a similar recipe circulating on social media a while back and joked that it sounded delicious, but we were trying to behave so we had no plans to make it.  Then I saw a (probably fake) study that said, "Couples that do unhealthy activities together, like eating junk food, feel closer than those who choose healthier activities." So, for the sake of a successful marriage, we bought a package of Twinkies.  Mr. Devilish Dish simply placed them on his preheated Blackstone griddle, with a little bit of melted butter and let them brown about 1 minute per side.  The result is like a really good piece of sponge cake with an extra brown, caramelized crust.  The cream filling got hot and melty and was extra delicious topped with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.  This was such a fun twist on a traditional Strawberry Shortcake, and I might even make it tomorrow for Father's Day because it is so simple but fun! The only thing I can say about this is 1) Do not knock it until you try it and 2) This is definitely splurge-worthy for a rare little treat!

This spurge-worthy dessert was so fun 
to make and made such a fun variation
of a Strawberry Shortcake Dessert.

Just 3-ingredeints.  Well 4 if you count
the butter for the griddle.

Unwrap those Twinkies and 
slap them on a hot griddle.

Cook approximately 1-2 minutes per
side, or until they start to look golden and 
a little crispy like this.

I haven't had a Twinkie in years,
and boy was this worth it.

Look what a pretty little dessert it makes
and I think it looks gorgeous on these plates.

This is such a fun variation of a traditional
Strawberry Shortcake.  So worth it!

Who am I to argue with science lol...

GRIDDLED TWINKIE STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE

1/4 cup unsalted butter

4 Twinkies
1 small package fresh strawberries, sliced
fresh whipped cream (I always use my ISI Professional Whipped Cream Dispenser)

Preheat your outdoor griddle (or indoor griddle or cast-iron skillet) and add butter.  When butter is hot and melted, add Twinkies and grill approximately one minute on each side, or until they start to get golden in color and the edges get a little crispy.  To serve, place 2 griddled Twinkies on a plate and top with sliced strawberries and whipped cream.

Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 4-8 minutes

Gluten Free Soft and Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

One of the hardest thing to give up when I went gluten-free was baked goods.  Yes there are some good baked goods out there that don't contain gluten, like my Nutella Brownies  or my Gluten Free Peach Fritters.  They are both delicious enough you would never miss the gluten.  But a lot of recipes are just so-so substitutes for the real thing.  And most of the time I don't want to make Mr. Devilish Dish eat gluten-free just because I'm craving a sweet treat.  And I'll admit most of the time I'm too lazy to make two different things just so I can have a handful of gluten free cookies.  The exception to this is when I make my Easy Peanut Butter Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches.  A simple 3-ingredient gluten free cookie, filled with ice cream and rolled in mini chocolate chips.  It is a real treat and one Mr. Devilish Dish totally enjoys because Peanut Butter Cookies are a favorite of both he and my dad.  They happen to be my all-time favorite too, but sadly, gluten filled so I don't make them much anymore.  The 3-ingredient peanut butter cookies are a tasty substitute, but face it they aren't the real deal, and they aren't the same texture.  They are absolutely wonderful as the ice cream sandwich, but I don't particularly love them as just a cookie to eat by themselves.  Mainly because I enjoy a soft, chewy peanut butter cookie.  Which I thought I would never enjoy again until now.  A few tweaks on the 3-ingredient style peanut butter cookie has resulted in a gluten free SOFT and CHEWY peanut butter cookie!  It's a 4-ingredient cookie, simple to make and the soft, chewy texture I love! I'm so excited to have a cookie that Mr. Devilish Dish, my dad and I can all enjoy.  

Only 4 ingredients

Soft and Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies
AND
Gluten Free!

A cookie everyone will enjoy.

A few tweaks on a simple recipe.
The result is a wonderfully chewy cookie
that is soon to be a favorite with everybody!

Veggie Salad

 As many of you know, Michaela at an Affair from the Heart and I have been friends for many years. When we met her sweet daughter Kenzie was just six weeks old.  (And she was born on my birthday!) To give you some idea of our far back our friendship goes, I attended Kenzie's wedding recently!  Over the years we have shared many recipes and shared family favorites with each other.  I have a beautiful handwritten cookbook Michaela made me years ago with recipes that she is famous for, and many recipes belonging to her mom, grandma and other relatives.  It is one of my go-to recipe books and many of her long-time family recipes have been adopted and claimed by my family too.  You may also know my Devilish Nephew and his wife live in Denver.  The last couple of years we've begun a new tradition where Mr. Devilish Dish and I make a trip to see them around Father's Day and again in October to watch the OU-Texas football rivalry.  My nephew and his wife share a love of cooking like we do, and our visits consist of dining at some of Denver's best restaurants and then taking turns preparing newly discovered recipes for each other.  My nephew is quite the expert at smoking meat, and he wanted to wow us with a slab of ribs for football watching.  We built a totally Southern, football-friendly menu around his entrée, and enjoyed ribs, jalapeno pimento cheese, Coca-Cola Pickled Onions, pickles and THIS SALAD made famous by Michaela.  It's been a while since I've made this and I cannot believe I haven't shared this with you before, as it has been a pot-luck staple in our family for years.  My nephew had almost forgotten about this recipe, and he was quite glad we brought it back for his watch party.  It was the perfect accompaniment to his fall-off-the-bone ribs and a deliciously fresh and crisp side dish (far different from the usual potato salad.) Be sure and head over to An Affair from the Heart and you'll see why Michaela has been such a cooking inspiration as well as a dear friend for so long!

Coca-Cola Pickled Onions

We like to tease my Devilish Nephew about his "Bro Crush" on James Beard Award Winning Chef Chris Shepherd.  Chef Chris was named one of the 10 Best New Chefs in America by Food & Wine Magazine in 2013 and awarded the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southwest in 2014.  In 2019 all three of his restaurants nabbed the Number 1 spots on Texas Monthly's list of Best New Restaurants in Texas.  These are just a handful of accolades awarded to Chef Chris and having eaten at one of his restaurants I can personally vouch for how divine and creative his food is.  Houston is such a diverse city and Chris Shepherd's food style reflects that.  It is a blend of Asian, Tex-Mex, Latin American and Texas barbecue traditions.  Nothing makes me prouder than my nephew sharing my love for cooking and especially his desire to follow cooking trends and be adventurous in trying new foods and recipes.  His obsession with Houston's most well-known chef is not surprising, and although we tease him about it, I'm glad to see him taking advantage of the interesting cultural influence Houston has on food.  When we visited him a while back, he prepared us Vietnamese Fajitas from the chef's cookbook.  As I was thumbing through the pages I stumbled upon this recipe for pickled onions.  I was so intrigued I even took a screen shot of the page.  Upon our return trip to Houston we planned a delicious Southern-style meal based around my nephew's melt-in-your-mouth ribs.  As we were brainstorming dishes to accompany the ribs, Mr. Devilish Dish said, "How about something simple like some pickles, or maybe some quick pickled onions?" Immediately I grabbed Chris Shepherd's cookbook and said, "I know exactly how we are going to quick pickle the onions." Making this recipe was so important to us we made three stops to find Mexican Coke.  (Everyone seemed to be out of stock) We finally bought a bottle from the taco truck near the nephew's house!  I can't say enough about how delicious my nephew's ribs were.  Absolutely perfect and worthy of any Texas barbecue contest.  We also enjoyed my Veggie Salad, which is a cool, crisp alternative to potato salad.  In true Southern style we had jalapeno pimento cheese sandwiches.  While all of these dishes were unquestionably outstanding, the Coca-Cola Pickled Onions stole the show.  This is a recipe we will go to again and again and I highly recommend you follow in the Devilish Nephew's footsteps, fall in love with Chef Shepherd and make this recipe pronto!

Two-Ingredient Lemon Bars

A lot has happened since my last original blog post. We bought a boat. Mr. Devilish Dish started his own company. The Devilish Nephew has two little boys now, so I have two grandboys. The Littlest Devils. I had major surgery on my hand on New Year's Eve. I had 12 weeks of recovery with absolutely zero to do and it got me inspired to get back to blogging. Shortly after the pandemic shutdown, we did a major remodel on our house. I packed up my old office into a closet and never looked back. Then Mr. Devilish Dish took what was supposed to be my new office as he was still working for home at the time. By the time I was able to put my office back together my old computer was obsolete. I never gave up cooking though besides those two Littlest Devils and bass fishing, cooking is still my favorite thing to do - even the last few months with only one hand to work with. We recently celebrated Mother's Day -after a super quick trip to Denver to see the aforementioned Littlest Devils. I knew after a long weekend of travel the Mother's Day festivities would need to be simple and quick. Nothing could be easier than two ingredients. I'm calling these Lemon Bars, but they aren't like a true lemon bar with a lemon curd-texture, these are more like a really moist, really delicious Lemon Brownie. They were the hit of the get-together and will definitely be made again this summer.

Two-Ingredient Lemon Bars

My cute little coordinating paper plates courtesy of Dollar Tree.

I love that the plates are shaped like a lemon wedge.

Here's my Littlest Devils coloring Crae Home dishtowels 
for their great-grandmother and great-aunt.

Proud of their work!

I've been making these little "fairy wands" to stick in
all of my potted plants on the patio.  I decided they would make
adorable gifts too, and with a little fenagling, I was able
to make these cute pots complete with the boys' pictures.
Flower Pots

I found the cutest kit on Amazon that makes 6 wands,
complete with all of the parts.  So fun and easy to do:

Fairy Wand Kit

My Mother-in-Law got a super cute MacKenzie Childs-
inspired flower pot with some fresh thyme and the cutest
pink fairy wand with crown charms!

TWO-INGREDIENT LEMON BARS

1 (21 Ounce) Can Lemon Pie Filling
1 (16 ounce) Angel Food Dry Cake Mix

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Combine dry cake mix and pie filling and mix until smooth.  Pour into a greased 9x13-inch pan and bake until top is browned and starting to split.  (Approximately 35-45 minutes) It will puff up tall like a cake but fall as it cools.  Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars and dusting with powdered sugar.