Home Made Calzones

Home Made Calzones

Ingredients:

1 Batch Garlic Herb Pizza Crust (recipe here)

1 cup marinara sauce

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Additional fillings of choice (I used 1 cup ground turkey and 1/2 cup ricotta cheese)

1 egg

1 tbsp. water 

1/2 tsp. garlic salt

1/2 tsp. dried parsley

Additional marinara sauce for dipping

Directions:

1. Make crust per instructions and separate in to fourths. 

Cherry Chocolate Scones with Almond Glaze

I've never made scones before and found them a little intimidating. I've red many recipes that said you needed a special attachment for your mixer or had to cut the butter in a specific way. This made me nervous, so I kind of avoided scone recipes before. However, I recently read a version that used a cheese grater to cut the frozen butter, and I thought I would give it a shot. I recently bought some delicious sweet black cherries and thought they would be great combined with some chocolate chunks I had in my pantry. I finished it off with a delicious almond glaze. I wish I would have made scones sooner, because they were actually really easy to pull off! Mine didn't turn out that pretty, but they tasted good! I'll definitely be experimenting with different combinations in the future. Enjoy! 

Cherry Chocolate Scones with Almond Glaze

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda 

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, frozen

1/2 cup fresh (or frozen and de-thawed) black cherries, pitted and quartered

1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips or chocolate chunks

1/2 cup vanilla yogurt (I used Dannon Light and Fit)

1 large egg

For glaze:

3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted

1/4 tsp. almond extract

3-4 tsp. non-fat milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large mixing bowl and stir until well combined. 

3. Grate butter with large holed cheese grater. Use fingers to mix butter in with flour mixture until coarse crumbly texture is reached. Gently stir in cherries and chocolate. 

4. In separate bowl, whisk together yogurt and egg until smooth. Stir sour cream mixture into flour mixture until large dough clumps form. Press the dough into a ball. 

5. Transfer dough ball onto lightly floured wax paper and pat into a circle about 8 inches thick. Cut dough into 8 equal triangles using a knife. 

6. Place triangles onto greased cookie sheet and bake 15-17 minutes or until golden brown. 

7. While scones are baking, combine powdered sugar, almond extract and milk in mixing bowl. Whisk until smooth and desired consistency is reached. Allow scones to cool 5-10 minutes before applying glaze. Enjoy! 

Blood Orange Mojitos

The other day I was shopping at Whole Foods and I saw that they were having a sale on oranges. I had no idea that I was buying blood oranges! As soon as I cut the first one open, I know I wanted to try my hand at making my own blood orange simple syrup. This easy recipe is perfect in alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks alike. And my personal favorite cocktail is the Mojito, so of course I had to make a version with my new syrup! Cheers!

Blood Orange Mojitos

Ingredients:

8 mint leaves

1/2 lime, cubed

Ice

2 oz. blood orange simple syrup

2 oz. Bacardi silver rum

4 oz. club soda

Additional lime/blood orange segments for garnish

Directions:

1. Place mint and limes bottom of glass and muddle about 5 times. 

2. Fill glass with ice, add syrup and rum and shake well in cocktail shaker. 

3. Pour back in to glass and top with club soda and garnish. Enjoy!

Blood Orange Simple Syrup

Ingredients:

Juice of 2 blood oranges

Zest of 1 blood orange

Peel of 1 blood orange

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in large saucepan and bring to boil, stirring often. Boil until all sugar has dissolved. 

2. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Strain through fine mesh strainer into jar or bottle. 

3. Use immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to 1 month. Enjoy!

Caramel Cinnamon Whiskey

Last fall I went to a bar that made their own caramel-infused bourbon and fell in love! I never knew it could be so easy to make this myself! All of my friends that have tried my infused whiskey are obsessed. My favorite way to drink this is shaken over ice then strained into a shot glass. However, you could also enjoy it on the rocks, in apple cider, or in any cocktail of your choosing. Cheers!

Caramel Cinnamon Whiskey

Ingredients:

1 bottle Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey

1 package soft caramel candies

Directions:

1. Place entire package of unwrapped caramels in large bottle or carafe. 

2. Pour whiskey over candies, covering completely. Make sure there is a few inches of empty bottle at the top. 

3. Cover and shake vigorously for about 1 min. 

4. Let mixture sit overnight and shake again until all solid candies are dissolved. Enjoy!

Homemade Garlic Herb Pizza Crust

Pizza! My ultimate guilty pleasure! I could eat pizza every day for the rest of my life and be completely happy. However, delivery can get really expensive. With this simple recipe, you can make your own pizza and cheesy bread right at home! Yummy!

Garlic Herb Pizza Crust

Ingredients:

1 cup warm water

1 packet (2 1/4 tsp.) dry active yeast

1 tbsp. honey

1 tsp. fancy garlic salt

2 tbsp. garlic herb infused olive oil

3 cups all purpose flour

Directions:

1. In large mixing bowl, combine water, yeast, and honey. Stir until well combined. Let set 5-10 minutes or until bubbles form. 

2. Add salt, oil and half of the flour. Stir until well combined. Continue to stir in additional flour gradually until the dough reaches ideal consistency: slightly tacky, but not sticky. 

3. Knead dough for 5 minutes to form glutens. (This makes a soft, chewy crust.) 

4. Lightly grease the bowl and dough, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise at room temperature 1-2 hours. 

5. For best results, let chill in refrigerator for at least 30 min before rolling crust out. 

6. Put pizza stone in cold oven and turn oven on to 500 degrees. Let oven and stone fully heat up. 

7. Roll out crust on wax paper (makes transferring to stone easier). Add desired toppings. 

8. Transfer pizza to stone. Bake at 500 for 9-10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and crust is golden brown. 

DIY Infused Olive Oil

DIY Infused Olive Oil

I have a slight obsession with olive oil. I use it in a lot of my cooking and frying. I think it gives a great flavor to food, without being overpowering. This infused version kicks any recipe one notch. One of my favorite things in the world is good bread dipped in olive oil. Most grocery stores sell infused or flavored oil, but I prefer to make it myself. It is cheaper, and I get to customize the exact flavor I want. I love this super garlicky flavor with a kick of basil, but feel free to experiment with your spices! It's all in the fun! This is also a great home made gift that everyone will love! That is, if it doesn't get gobbled up immediately!

Ingredients:

2 cloves garlic 

1/4 cup fresh basil leaves

2 tsp. dried oregano

1 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

1 tsp. sea salt

2 cups extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

In airtight container, add all herbs and seasonings. Pour in olive oil. Put lid on container and shake until well combined. Let oil sit at room temperature least 24 hours before consuming. Oil is good for up to two weeks, and will develop more flavor with time. Feel free to customize ingredients to your liking!