Summery sangria

As we were having a recent family barbecue, my husband, his cousin from Germany and his sister made a trip to the liquor store. They came back with a big bottle of sangria - I didn't check to see what the brand was.

But to it, we added:

Sliced apples
oranges
strawberries
1/3 bottle of Hpnotiq liquor (it's a blend of cognac, vodka and fruit juices)

Pretty yummy! :)

$20 dollar challenge

At the start of the year, I began doing a $20 challenge at my local farm stand. Like many resolutions, I just didn't keep up with it. And I figured I'd shift over to the farmer's market this year when it opened, but sadly our village decided to cancel it. I'm so sad about it. Anyway, here's what I got with $20 on the most recent trip.

I went a wee bit over this time. It came in at $21.25. It's that Labriola Bread that gets me every time. I spent $3.99 on a loaf of Tuscan Pane. Here's what I got

Baby Arugula
Half cantaloupe
Two honeydew halves
3 tomatoes
cilantro
green onions
3 apples
2 yellow peppers
1 orange pepper
5 bananas
1 plum
Green leaf lettuc
1 loaf Labriola Tuscan Pane
1 cucumber
2 pears
1 yellow onion

Have you been following the $20 challenge? Let's hear yours. Go to you local farm stand with $20 and see what you can get.

I know I took a picture, but it doesn't seem to be on my camera. Bummer!

Portabella pizza

Yesterday, I had a couple prepared crusts to use up and lots of shredded cheese in the fridge, so I decided we would have pizza on the grill for dinner. I made a quick run to my local farm stand. Turned out they were out of a few things...now I know to go there late on Tuesday. That's the day they go to the big market in Chicago and come back with loads of fresh produce.

So, sadly, I wasn't able to get everything I wanted. I grabbed some peppers, but when I asked about mushrooms, he pointed out one last pack of portabellas. That's all that was left. I considered slicing it up to go on top of the pizzas and then I realized that they would make a good base for a pizza. Instead of crust, flatbread or an English muffin on the bottom, I thought I'd try these as a crust.

They do tend to dry out quickly on the grill, so I brushed them well with olive oil before adding ingredients. Here's what went on top of these:

2 portabella caps
2 tsp pizza sauce
Dash of dried Italian seasoning
a handful of spinach
slices of yellow pepper
1/2 roma tomato, sliced
a drizzle of olive oil
1/2 cup of mozzarella/provolone mix shredded cheese
fresh basil

Remove the stems from the mushrooms and scrape out gills with a spoon. Brush tops with olive oil. Add ingredients in order above or experiment by adding your favorite vegetables. Place on grill - at about 400 degrees on indirect heat for about 12 - 15 minutes or until portabella is softened throughout.

Reynold's Hot Bags

As my sister was cleaning out her kitchen for her recent move, i inherited a few things from her pantry that she wasn't packing. One was a package of Reynold's Hot Bags. I hadn't used them before, but was glad to try them out recently. They hold a large amount and are basically a bag of heavy duty foil that rolls closed on one end to keep the heat and contents inside. It allows you to cook all your meat and veggies together in one container.

I filled it up with chicken breasts, corn on the cob, diced russet potatoes and frozen green beans. I added a couple teaspoons of butter and a variety of seasonings. It went on medium heat on the grill for about 1 1/2 hours and this is what we ended up with.  You may be able to accomplish similar results with a roll of foil, but this heavy duty bag helps eliminate accidents.

Ozzie's Eatery in New Buffalo, Michigan

Last weekend we made our way up to Three Oaks, Michigan for the annual Flag Day Parade. We have gone to it for several years and usually follow it up with ice cream. We were sad to see that the place we normally visit, Olivia's Sugar and Spice, was closed - and not just for the day. It looks like it is closed permanently. It had only been there a couple years ago and was preceded by another ice cream shop.

So, following the parade we thought about heading to the Buchanan Sweet Shop, but we have been there twice in the past month. We remembered an ice cream shop in Galien, but didn't know if it would be open on Sunday. So, we decided to head into New Buffalo. We knew that parking at the beach would be free after 8, so we thought we would head that way for ice cream and then hang out on the beach.

As we we were driving, we noticed that Redamak's was packed, but a place across the street called Ozzie's Eatery was much less busy. We pulled in after we noticed "frozen yogurt" on the sign.

As we walked in, the workers already had samples in hand of their flavor of the day, black cherry. The place is adorable, with a classic car/highway motif. The walls are covered with old license plates and nostalgic signs. The tables or adorned with road map and vintage images. I fell in love with the place right away. It also appears that they have classic car shows there. I'll have to check into that.

Anyway, here's a peek at what we got. The menu also includes shakes, sundaes, concretes, burgers and fries.

Vanilla Butterfinger Frozen Yogurt in a sprinkle waffle bowl

Vanilla with Oreo topping on a sprinkle waffle bowl

Chocolate in a bowl

The place is super cute and makes you feel like you're on Route 66. :)

And this is outside, where there are picnic tables. Fun spot for the kids to eat their goodies and a good photo op - unless you have kids who hate to smile for the camera. :)