Tag Archives: easy

Easy Caramel Sauce

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While traditional Caramel Sauce needs a candy thermometer, that is way too difficult for my lifestyle right now. One of the best parts about this recipe (like what I try to do with all of the recipes I share here) is that you cannot make any mistakes , (a little less sugar or a little less butter, no problem!). You also can whip it up in no time with ingredients that most everyone has readily available in their kitchen. This sauce works really well on top of baked apples and drizzled on apple pie. 

 

Ingredients for caramel are usually in everyone's kitchen cupboards.

Ingredients for caramel are usually in your kitchen already.

  • 1 Cup Brown Sugar
  • 1 Stick Butter
  • 1 Cup Cream (or Half and Half)
  • 1 Tablespoon Vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon salt (unless your butter is salted, than a pinch will do fine).

 

Put all ingredients except vanilla in a pot over a low flame. Whisk to melt butter.

Whisk ingredients except vanilla over a low flame.

Whisk ingredients except vanilla over a low flame.

 

Once the caramel is thickened, put in the fridge to thicken more.

Once the caramel is thickened, put in the fridge to thicken more.

Continue to whisk until the mixture thickens. Remove from flame and stir in vanilla.

 

 

Store in glass container and put in the fridge. Caramel will continue to thicken in the fridge.

 

 

 

 

Homemade Caramel made with milk, butter and cream. So easy!

Homemade Caramel made with milk, butter and cream. So easy!

My husband and daughter are ice cream afficianados. That is to say, they are very particular about the type and kind of ice cream they eat and exactly what tops it. This sauce is family approved.

My Favorite Healthy Summer Snack – Jimmy Buffet & Shark Week

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What is better when you’re in the hot sun either poolside or at the beach than frozen, seedless grapes?

 

Frozen Grapes are so delicious poolside or at the beach.

Frozen Grapes – easy, healthy snack option.

I love biting into the cold, sweet and somewhat crispy grape and I love the flavor. So much better than a popsicle! And needless to say, much healthier too.

 

Frozen grapes also make great “ice cubes” for Sangria when you’re on the go for Summer Concert in the Park series like the one we just went to at the Hermosa Beach Pier.

 

 

http://instagram.com/p/rhkarnG4yI/?modal=true

The concert was smartly sponsored by Shark Week – Jimmy Buffet played for free! So many younger kids knew all the words and sang along swimmingly (pun intended). Must have learned the words from their parents.

 

 Posh Spice also eats frozen grapes to stay thin. (But she also said in a different interview that she hadn’t had a brownie in like 20 years or something though. Poor Posh!)

 

 

healthy snack, kids, hollywood, diet, secrets

Homemade Limoncello

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I love making gifts for people. And, food gifts are especially nice because they think of you and how much time and love you put into their gift while enjoying it. One of the items I love to make is homemade Limoncello. Living in California, it’s easy to grow lemons. The tree I planted only a few years ago is now blessing me with lemons on a regular basis. While we’ve contemplated moving to other places, I’m not sure I could live anywhere that I couldn’t have a lemon tree. Luckily for everyone, lemons are always available in every market. Be sure to use only organic lemons since the skin is what is used for this recipe.

 

I tried making a batch with herbs and a batch with Vanilla bean and they were not as good as the original, simple Italian recipe. You can double this recipe easily if making several bottles. 

 

One of the benefits of living in California is being able to grow your own Lemons.

One of the benefits of living in California is being able to grow your own Lemons.

  • 12 Lemons (Organic) 
  • One 750 ml Bottle Vodka or Everclear*
  • 4 Cups Sugar (or less if you prefer)
  • 4 Cups Filtered Water

 

After rinsing and drying your organic lemons, use a potato peeler (my favorite is Cutco brand) to peel off all of the top yellow layer of the lemon skin (you do not want to get much of the white “pith” as it is a little bitter). 

 

Put the lemon peels into a sealable glass gallon container that has been sanitized in your dishwasher or if you don’t have a dishwasher, boil the container and it’s lid in pot full of water for at least 15 seconds. 

 

Add the alcohol. If you are using Everclear, *add an additional 2 to 3 cups of filtered water to dilute it a bit since Everclear is 190 proof. 

 

Let your lemon and alcohol sit for anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months before adding the simple syrup and bottling.

Let your lemon and alcohol sit for anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months before adding the sugared  syrup and bottling.

Put into a dark place and let sit for a couple of weeks to a couple of months. The longer you let it sit, the better it will taste.

 

When ready to bottle, make your simple syrup by heating filtered water in a pot on a medium flame, add your sugar and stir until it’s melted in and then immediately remove from the heat and let cool completely. 

Meme enjoyed the Limoncello I made for her recently. This makes me happy!

Meme enjoyed the Limoncello I made for her recently. Yay!

Add the cooled simple syrup to your lemon and alcohol mixture and stir. Strain into bottles and enjoy! Throughout the year, I like save my clear Tequila and Vodka bottles to reuse for Christmas gifting. 

 easy limoncello recipe great food gift 

 

 

 

 

My Favorite, Easy Vinaigrette

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When my husband and I dropped our son off at college in Santa Cruz, California, we were blown away by the local ingredients (e.g. organic produce grown and served on campus) and loved how the student cafeterias featured other local products like salad dressings. We saw beautiful young adults from all over the globe sitting under trees reading books

Organic horticulture grown on campus at U.C.S.C. is served on campus to lucky U.C.S.C. students.

Organic horticulture grown on campus at U.C.S.C. is served on campus to lucky U.C.S.C. students.

and thought…..”How wonderful to be able to just read and learn every day while someone else cooks for you and you get to eat these types of wonderful ingredients!”. Youth may indeed be wasted on the young. 

 

But not all salad dressings are created equal. While there are many dressings in the marketplace that are healthy and free of GMOs, dangerous pesticides and other questionable ingredients, there are many that aren’t. Just pick up random bottles when you’re in the market and read the label. 

 

Not only are homemade salad dressings budget-friendly and quick and easy to make, but you can really taste the salad ingredients. In my opinion, the dressing should enhance the salad itself, not drown it’s flavor. 

 

The other trick that my friend Maura showed me is put VERY little dressing on the salad and be SURE to add Salt and Pepper directly onto the salad itself (not just the dressing). 

 

The trick to a great salad is very little dressing and Salt and Pepper on the greens.

The trick to a dressing a delicious salad is add very little dressing and add Salt and Pepper directly on the greens.

  • 2 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
  • 1/2-1 Teaspoon Dijon (or just a small squirt! I don’t usually measure frankly).
  • 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

 

Mix with a fork. Add oil last. No need to add the oil slowly because the mustard will emulsify the dressing together. I also like to add sugar to this recipe when I top a salad that includes fruit.

easy dressing recipe healthy balsamic vinegar california restaurant