A Big Hit! Trix Krispies...

It's been a big food week here at P&P. A dinner party on Tuesday and Book Club on Thursday warranted yummy food.

I made these special little delicacies (a treat I found on Pinterest - go figure) on both Tuesday and Thursday.

Trix Krispies: I'll be adding pics soon!

Trix Krispies

A fun twist on a classic!

Ingredients

• 1 1lb bag of mini marshmallows
• 1 box Trix cereal
• 1/4 cup butter

Instructions

1. Place the butter and marshmallows in a large pot on medium heat and stir to melt.
2. Turn off heat.
3. Mix in your trix and stir making sure the cereal is well coated
4. Spray a 9x13 in pan with cooking spray.
5. Pour into greased pan and press down with a spoon.
6. Cut into squares.
7. Serve to a cheerful crowd with a twinkle of moxie and mirth.

Notes

You can use wax paper to press down Krispies or spray cooking spray on the back of the spoon you are using. It's a handy trick. Also, I use a 1lb bag of marshmallow (I am brand loyal to Jet Puffed) because I like a marshmallowie treat - feel free to adjust!

Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

This little recipe I made up because I was tired of my low carb lifestyle being un-fun! And let's face it, any kind of food that requires assembly is pretty fun. For instance, when you get yogurt, places like Big Spoon and Yogurt A Go Go let you choose your toppings and apply them yourselves. At Rice Noodles they have rice wraps that come with a host of ingredients and a bowl of hot water all for your assembly.

My Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps are the same: assembly required!

Ingredients:

1 pkg. boneless, skinless chicken thighs (you can use breasts but the results are very dry and gritty)
1 diced whole yellow onion
4 Tbs sesame oil
2 Tbs soy sauce
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1 can water chestnuts, diced
3 Tbs roasted sesame seeds
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp white sugar
1 Tbs brown sugar (I know this sounds weird, but it's the key to the addictive nature of these!)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 head of iceberg lettuce
1 bunch cilantro
Bottle Mae Ploy chili sauce

Directions:

Put chicken thighs in a food processor and pulse several times until ground. In a large frying pan, heat 2 Tbs sesame oil on medium heat. Add onions, garlic and salt and pepper and sweat until opaque, 7-10 min. Add chicken and stir together until meat and onions are combined. Add water chestnuts, soy sauce, sesame seeds, ginger and brown sugar. Stir and simmer on low heat for 5 minutes stirring constantly. Add the remainder of the sesame oil. Remove from heat, cool and serve with lettuce, cilantro and chili sauce.

Fancy Adult Beverages

"Misbeehaving" 

Ingredients:

Honey Oat Vodka (pictured on the right and recipe here), Lavender simple syrup and the peel of an orange (for garnish). You also might want to get some edible flowers, just for the fancy factor!

"The Hustle"

Ingredients:

Vodka, bloody mary mix, Porcini Mushroom Salt, stewed mushrooms and Frog Balls (pickled Brussels sprouts) Mix two parts vodka with 2 Tbs mushroom consomme and float 1 Tbs BMM. Garnish glass with salt and skewered brussels sprout and a fresh cherry tomato.

Sometimes I get sort of daydreamy. I'll doodle the day away thinking of all kinds of goodies - gardening, painting, pinterest...

Three days ago I found myself daydreaming about 42 Below's Manuka Honey Distilled Vodka! It's my all time favorite alcoholic beverage. So I got out of bed, worked out and drove myself to BevMo. I walked to the aisle where the 42 Below is and...GONE! There was no Manuka Honey Vodka there, much to my chagrin. I asked the store manager when they might get some in stock. Shock and horror...according to him there has been a manufacturers discontinuation of the product.

I became obsessed and sought out a way I could recreate a similar taste. I followed a recipe on Chow and made my own. The difference is that this is Honey Oat Vodka.

And then I concocted a refreshing cocktail. For the "Misbeehaving" you'll also need to make your own lavender infused simple syrup.

Lavender Simple Syrup:

2 tsp lavender buds
1/2 C water
1/2 C sugar
cheese cloth
fine mesh sieve

In a small sauce pan bring mixture to a boil. Turn heat off. Cover and steep 30 minutes. Strain  until there are no bits and refrigerate. Best used within the week.