Lemon Bread

With my boys heading back to school, I thought it would be a nice treat (and of course incentive to get them out of bed) to bake this Lemon Bread.  I ran across this recipe in my “A Decade of Cooking – The Costco Way” cookbook – do you have any of these?  Costco typically hands out a new cookbook the day after Thanksgiving each year and they are great! 

My boys are huge fans of lemon cakes and breads – I couldn’t resist – and they LOVED it. 

Lemon Bread

Makes 1 loaf

Recipe courtesy of "A Decade of Cooking - The Costco Way"

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

6 tablespoons butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

Grated peel and juice of 1 lemon

1/4 cup chopped walnuts (recipe suggests this or poppy seeds, I chose walnuts)

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease and flour a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan.

In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar, and eggs together until light and fluffy, Add milk alternating with the flour mixture in 2 parts; mix well.  Stir in grated lemon peel and walnuts.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.  Bake for 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let the bread cool in the pan for 5 minutes.

Mix together lemon juice and confectioners' sugar to make a glaze.  Remove the bread from the pan.  Pour the glaze over the warm bread (poking holes in the bread first will make it absorb more of the glaze). 

Artichoke and Prosciutto Salad

Artichokes, prosciutto, olives, basil...and OK, even tomatoes...what's not to love?  I am not a huge fan of tomatoes that are not made into a salsa or pasta sauce, but even threw some cherry tomatoes into this salad for myself.  Quartered of course, not whole. The beauty of this salad is that you could also skewer most of the ingredients and make an appetizer out of it.  I made something similar in my guest post for Popsiculture on Hosting a Tapas Party with the skewer of basil, avocado, Kalamata olive, and artichoke heart.

This is a super easy dish - perfect for lunch or even as a first course at a dinner party.  i was inspired by a recipe I found in a cookbook that I have owned for years called "Classic Italian Recipes" - I think it was one of those Costco finds, all I know is that I have used it for years!   I added a few pieces of burrata to the salad as well, I couldn't resist.

Artichoke and Prosciutto Salad
Serves 4
Recipe adapted from "Classic Italian Recipes"

12 oz marinated bottle of quartered artichokes, drained
10-12 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup halved Kalamata olives
8 thin slices of prosciutto, cut into thin strips
1 tablespoon fresh basil leaves, julienned
4 oz burrata, cut into bite sized pieces
fresh basil sprigs, to garnish

Dressing
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 small garlic cloves, crushed
2 tablespoons course ground Dijon mustard
salt & pepper, to taste

Combine the artichokes, tomatoes, olives, and prosciutto in a mixing bowl.  Toss gently to combine.

To make the dressing, put all of the ingredients into a screw-top jar and shake vigorously until the ingredients are thoroughly blended.

Pour the dressing over the salad and toss together.

Transfer the salad to individual plates, sprinkle the torn basil on top, add the pieces of burrata to each plate, and garnish each with basil sprigs.  Serve immediately.

Pineapple Margaritas - with Sandra Lee Cocktail Time™ Key Lime Margaritas

With Sandra Lee Cocktail Time™ Margaritas being available just about EVERYWHERE now - including my favorite grocery store, Safeway,  I wanted to give the Key Lime one a try.  I used the Strawberry Margarita in these Strawberry Sparklers that I made this summer and they were delicious.

Over the weekend during a visit to our cabin, we had plans to make all kinds of different concoctions.  However, we stopped after just one.  One try and it was perfect.  I had to give all of the credit to the margarita mix.  We did come up with another recipe - but I'll keep that to myself for now, stay tuned for a second variety.

This can easily be multiplied out to make a pitcher's worth - which I probably should have done in the first place.  I couldn't keep up with the rate of consumption!

Pineapple Margaritas
Serves 1

Salt (poured onto a small plate)
Crushed ice
4 oz Sandra Lee Cocktail Time™ Margaritas
2 oz pineapple juice
Splash of dry sparkling wine
Lime slices and pineapple wedges, for garnish

Run a lime wedge around the rim of a margarita glass, then add salt by dipping the rim of the glass onto the plate.

In a cocktail shaker, add ice, margarita, and pineapple juice.  Shake well.

Add crushed ice to the glass and pour in Pineapple Margarita from cocktail shaker.  Top with a splash of dry sparkling wine.  Garnish and serve.