There's Only So Much Grilling You Can Do

Summer suppers in the South. It can be challenging because there's only so much grilling you can do to try to keep the heat out of the kitchen.  A friend who lives in the Pacific Northwest (or maybe it was my friend in New England. Either way, she's not from around here!) asked what we fix during the summer. I don't know what everyone else does, but here's one of our favorite summer suppers.

Special thanks to MS for letting me use his plate for the picture!

I found this recipe on the Betty Crocker website, so of course, I tweaked it just a bit. It's called Layered Summer Pasta Salad. The ingredients: Romaine Lettuce, broccoli, carrots, plum tomatoes, ranch dressing, and Suddenly Salad. I just chop up some Perdue Shortcut Southwestern Chicken to make it a meal. The chicken is already cooked and in strips, so it makes it a real "shortcut"!

The Directions

• First, fix the Suddenly Salad.  The recipe calls for the ranch & bacon one, but personally, I prefer the Chipotle Ranch, It really doesn't matter which variety you use. 
• When the pasta is cooked, rinse with cold water to prevent it from cooking further.
• In a bowl, mix 1 1/4 cups Ranch Dressing with the seasoning packet. Then add the pasta and the cut up chicken. 
• In a salad bowl, place the Romaine (or whatever greens you want), broccoli, and carrots. Add whatever veggies you want in there.

Since it's called a "layered salad", you're really supposed to layer the pasta mix on top of the green salad but we've found we like it better keeping them separate. That prevents someone from only getting the pasta...or the salad.

• I slice the tomatoes and put them in a bowl.
• Everyone serves themselves by layering the green salad, then pasta salad, then adding tomatoes (or bacon bits) on top. 

I usually have some kind of crackers or pita crisps to go along with the salad.
There you have a quick, easy, Summer Southern Meal!

A Most Delectable Treat (for Adults)

Picture courtesy of Picjumbo

Last summer when I was in New Orleans for a conference, I had the most delectable treat (for adults). When I went to MS' graduation in Baton Rouge, I had to indulge because I haven't seen anything like it around here. It's perfect for a hot summer day, or after taking the dogs for a walk in the evenings. Do I have your attention?

Frosé. What a treat! I knew there had to be a recipe out there somewhere that wasn't too difficult, and I found it on Bon Appétit. What is Frosé? It's frozen rosé. (Duuuh!) The first time I made it I used Pinot Noir. It was good, but not quite what I had in Louisiana. For one thing (and I probably got the wrong kind...I'm definitely not a wine connoisseur!) it was dark. It was still really good and I would definitely make it again, but using a straight up rosé is where it's at!

It is time-consuming but really easy and very much worth it. I took some to a friend's house when a few friends got together & they all enjoyed it. I took the recipe on Bon Appétit & tweaked it just a tad.

First: Pour a bottle of rosé in a 9X13 pan and put it in the freezer for at least 6 hours.

Before you take it out of the freezer, boil 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar until clear. Make sure you stir it while it gets to the boiling point. It doesn't take long for the water to boil, so make sure you don't walk away!
After the water boils, take it off the heat and put in 8 ounces of cut up strawberries. Let that sit for 30 minutes on the counter. I've let it sit longer than that just to give it a little more oomph!

Strain the strawberries and put the strawberry infused syrup into a container. Put the container in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Don't throw the strawberries away...MS  likes to put them over ice cream!

After the syrup has been in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, you're ready to assemble! Take the frozen rosé out of the freezer and chop it up just a little bit...enough for it to fit in a blender.

To the blender add: 1 cup of crushed ice, the simple syrup (the original recipe specified the amount but I think adding all of it makes it taste a little better), lemon or lime juice (I didn't have any lemon juice but had a bottle of Key Lime Juice...again, I didn't measure; I just put a couple of long squirts in), and the shards of rosé. Blend until well mixed.

This is my "antique" blender that we received when we got married...34 years ago! Since I took this picture, I had to throw it away (the base was cracked) and buy a new one.

Put the blender pitcher in the freezer for about 35 minutes. Take out and blend again. The site says that you can store the finished product in the freezer for 1 week. The batches I've made haven't lasted that long so I can't attest to that.
I would highly recommend this most delectable treat (for adults). If you're in the NOLA/Baton Rouge area you'll definitely want to try it. This homemade version is pretty close to what you'll get there! Cheers!

More Frosé recipes:
Meet Frosé
Frosé (This one is interesting...it uses grapefruit juice)
Boozy Frosé (no crushed ice but includes vodka)

Goodreads Reviews of Two Books in the Health and Happiness Series

Katie Cross is one of my favorite authors. It didn't take much to hook me with her The Network Series. I describe these books as a kind of "Harry Potter meets Hunger Games". Even though it's in the Young Adult genre, I found the books to be extremely interesting. If I've piqued your interest, the first book in the series (Miss Mabel's School for Girls) is available at no cost in the Kindle format. You can grab your copy here. You can read my "mini-review" of the series here.
Her new series is The Health and Happiness Series. The characters are 4 women who find each other initially for the purpose of losing weight. 2 women are 20-somethings, 1 is divorced with 2 children, and the other is a widow. Katie also has the first book in this series (Bon Bons to Yoga Pants) available for free in Kindle format. You'll want to grab it so you'll get to know each of the women and understand how they come together. You can snag your free copy here.

The Review: I Am Girl Power

I originally read the following book as a Wattpad book. If you aren't familiar with Wattpad, it's an app that some writers use. They will write a chapter and post it. Interaction with readers helps the writers gauge what works in a story and what doesn't. With I Am Girl Power, I found it fascinating to see the difference between where she was headed with the story on Wattpad and the final result in the book.

  I Am Girl Power by Katie Cross
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The 2nd book in The Health and Happiness Society series did not disappoint. I couldn't put the book down until I finished.
Megan's world has just turned upside down. She had the worst weekend of her life, so her twin brothers' offer to work with them at their newly acquired camp couldn't come at a better time. Even though it wasn't exactly what she was expecting, the summer gives her time to heal and make a plan.
Katie Cross' excellent writing makes you feel as though you are right there in the mountains with Megan. You can almost smell the fresh mountain air!
Great summer read!

Review: You'll Never Know

The following is a book review that appears on Goodreads. I was provided with an advanced copy of this book in return for an honest review. The release date is July 18th.

  You'll Never Know by Katie Cross
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

One of my favorite authors has done it again! You'll Never Know is the third book in the Chick Lit Series. I couldn't wait to turn the page to see what happens next.
Katie Cross doesn't shy away from delving into serious matters. Real matters. Rachelle is one member of the Health & Happiness Society. She lost over 100 pounds after a devastating evening with the man of her dreams. She's on track to run her first marathon but then her plans are derailed. She is forced to dig deep into her life to find out why the marathon is so important to her and how she gets down to the bottom of her problems and starts dealing with them to become the girl she wants to be.
This book is for women of all ages. Thanks to Katie Cross' writing style, you'll hurt for Rachelle and will be her biggest cheerleader.
You'll want to start with From BonBons to Yoga Pants to meet the girls in the Health and Happiness Society. You'll be hooked!!