Drunken Fruit Salsa

I made this salsa to enjoy on top of the bbq chicken for my brother's birthday (see previous post). I made it both "drunken" and "non-drunken" since we were also feeding Everett :) It was my first time eating & making fruit salsa, and I think it was a hit.

Drunken Fruit Salsa
(I doubled it to feed the 7 of us)
1 medium mango, peeled and finely diced**
3/4 cup chopped fresh strawberries
1 kiwi, peeled and finely diced
3/4 cup pineapple, finely diced
2 tbsp fresh mint, chopped
1/4 cup rum (leave out if you want it "non-drunken")

Stir together all ingredients in a bowl. Refrigerate for 1-3 hours, stirring once or twice. Serve on top of bbq chicken! enjoy!

**the best way to cut a mango:
hold the mango so that the longest side of the mango is vertical, essentially you want to have it so the pit is standing vertically. slice top to bottom, curving around the pit as much as possible. When you feel resistance you are likely cutting into the pit, so you want to angle out a little more. Once you have cut off both sides of the pit you want to hold one side in your hand, peel down. Now you will cut into the mango in a checkerboard way. Then you pop the mango inside out, and the mango will be like a porcupine, sticking out so you can easily pop it off the peel.

(I realize these instructions aren't the best, so here is a video on youtube, watch from the 1:30 mark: http://youtu.be/lvLdPjpELyU it really is so much easier to enjoy mangos once you learn this! my mom-in-law taught me)

Punch

I was asked to bring punch to our family gathering this weekend, and had a hard time finding a good punch recipe online. so many of them were complicated or had all kinds of weird ingredients.

basically i improvised from one that i found online, and everyone at the gathering seemed to really like it, so I thought I'd share it:

Punch:

ingredients:
1 can lemonade
1 can cranberry juice
1 can orange juice
1 can pineapple juice
2L of gingerale

directions:
allow cans to warm up slightly from frozen so that they are easier to mix in, even just running them under some hot water after they have been sitting on the counter for about 15 minutes (or more). Empty cans into punch bowl, and fill each can with water once, and adding that to the punch bowl. Mix so that all frozen chunks of juice are dissolved. Slowly add 2L of ginger ale.

I was thinking of adding some frozen raspberry sherbet, but actually just forgot to.. I did have an ice ring that we added to help keep the punch cool, and it didn't dilute it too much at all, since the juice is still pretty strong.

enjoy!

(was enough for my family of 19)

pumpkin spice latte cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

nothing says autumn like pumpkin spice lattes

and so.. what could be better than pumpkin spice latte CUPCAKES!

my mom saw my friend kara post this on Facebook.. so, she passed it on to me, and now i have made them. yum.

ingredients:

2 2/3 cups flour

3 tbsp espresso powder

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp salt

1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree (equals 1 3/4 cups - basically about half the can i found at the store)

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup canola or vegetable oil

4 large eggs

1/2 cup coffee or espresso, for brushing

preheat the oven to 350 degrees. line cupcake pans with paper liners.

in a medium bowl, combine the flour, espresso powder, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt. stir together and set aside.

in the bowl of an electric mixer, blend together the pumpkin, sugar, brown sugar and oil. add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

with the mixture on low speed, add the flour mixture in two additions, mixing just until incorporated.

fill the cupcake liners about 3/4 full. bake until the cupcakes are golden and a toothpick inserted into the censer comes out clean, 18-20 minutes. transfer the pans to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes then remove the cupcakes from the pans.

while the cupcakes are still warm, brush them two or three times with the coffee or espresso, allowing the first coat to soak in before repeating. let cool completely.

*the recipe called for whipping cream topping, but i decided to make cream cheese frosting on the suggestion from my sister leah. and i think it was a wise choice!

Cream Cheese frosting:

1 pkg cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 cups icing sugar

mix in an electric mixer until well blended. pipe onto cupcakes once they are cooled, and sprinkle with cinnamon. enjoy!!

fruit dip

a classically delicious dip to serve with fruit to guests
i made it last night for a group of friends, and it was a hit

1 container of strawberry cream cheese, softened
1 jar of marshmallow fluff
1 cup cool whip

mix together the cream cheese and the marshmallow fluff until completely blended together. it helps to pour hot water over a spatula before scooping the marshmallow fluff out of the container, it helps it to stick a little less. also, leave the cream cheese out of the fridge for a good 30 minutes to help soften it.

fold in the cool whip and continue folding until fully incorporated.

refrigerate till needed. serve with cut up fruit, like melon, strawberries, grapes and pineapple.

enjoy!