Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Crisps

I couldn't wait to share this recipe with you all!  This is another treat that I shared with my book club.  These ladies are such a great group.  We all share a love of good reads, good gossip, and great food.  I should honestly share all the food that we eat, but I don't want you to be too jealous.  

As you know, fruit is not dessert in my opinion.  So this could just be a nice little treat for when you are in the mood for something light.  However, the cinnamon crisps might get you in trouble.  They are sort of like potato chips...betcha can't eat just one. Or twenty.  Since you are eating fruit, there's really no need to worry about consuming your weight in all that cinnamon goodness.

I used some of my favorite fruit: strawberries, blueberries, and peaches.  Just use this as a guideline, add whatever fruits you like.  If you don't have much time to make your own cinnamon crisps, serve this with graham crackers or cinnamon pita chips.

Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Crisps

For Salsa:

One 16 ounce carton strawberries, hulled and diced

One 16 ounce carton blueberries

3 fresh peaches, diced

2 Tablespoons brown sugar

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

2 Tablespoons fruit preserves (I used strawberry)

Combine all fruit in all fruit is coated.   Cover and chill in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, up to 4 hours.  

For Cinnamon Crisps:

10 burrito sized tortillas

6 Tablespoons melted butter

1 cup sugar

2 Tablespoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350.  Cover one side of each tortilla with melted butter.  Sprinkle tortilla with cinnamon and sugar until entire surface is covered.  Cut into wedges and arrange in a single layer on a large baking spray.  Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Repeat with all tortillas.  Allow to cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Another perfect dish to enjoy this summer. I love being able to enjoy tasty fruit.  Followed by a cupcake, of course.

September Bakin' Friends

This is my second month participating in the fun baking exchange Bakin' Friends.  Just in time for fall, this month's secret ingredient was....cinnamon!  I was pretty excited to be paired up with the Bakin' Friends creator, Steph! She is a busy blogger who is also a soon-to-be mommy, so I guess a soon-to-be even busier blogger!  I sent her some cookie butter blondies and I'll be sharing the recipe soon! But, you won't believe what I received..

Buttermilk Cinnamon Rolls!  I have always wanted to make cinnamon rolls!  Thanks to my Bakin' Friend Milo, I might finally have the motivation!  

Milo got this recipe from the blog Bakingdom, which is also one of my favorites.

These rolls were perfect!  Great cinnamon flavor and I can only imagine what they taste like hot and fresh from the oven!  Milo said that during baking they would make my house "smell divine!"  I would love that!  Thanks for giving me the push to finally try to make my own cinnamon rolls!

Would you like something like this delivered to your front door? Then sign up for Bakin' Friends!  I've really enjoyed it! Thanks for a great treat Milo!

Cinco de Mayo wrap-up

Hola!

I intended to get this post up a lot sooner....but, you know, cake pops got in the way.

We had a fun, laid-back Cinco de Mayo this year. We cooked at home and had two of our great friends over. Mexican food is some of my favorite and easy to make at home.

Mexico holds a special place in our hearts. We love to vacation there so much, we even got married there! While our food (and weather) wasn't exactly like Cabo, we had fun reminiscing!

I bought this figurine on the night of our rehearsal dinner, at Mi Casa, a great restaurant in downtown Cabo.

Cinco de Mayo menu:

Slow cooked pork tacos

margaritas

chips/salsa/guacamole

margaritas

Mexican cinnamon brownies

margaritas

I like a very basic margarita. I think margarita mix is way too sweet and artificial and it contains HFCS, which you know I abhor. All you need is tequila, triple sec, lime, lemon, and I like to add a little orange juice. This is a great mix for throwing together in a pitcher and honestly, I don't measure, I just mix it to taste, you know what you and your guests like.

Unfortunately, my slow cooker is one of my kitchen appliances that I rarely use. However, when I do, it's always a success. This was an easy way to make the pork for our tacos.

I started with a 5 pound pork shoulder placed directly into the slow cooker. For spices...

Combine in a small bowl:

1 Tbsp garlic powder

1 Tbsp cumin

1 Tbsp onion powder

1 Tbsp paprika

1 Tbsp cinnamon

1 Tbsp chile powder

Once combined, rub directly into all sides of pork. Then add 1/2 cup water and 2 cups orange juice. Since I was working that day, I cooked this on low for 9 hours. You could also do high for 3 hours and then switch to low for another 3 hours, until meat falls off the bone. I transferred the meat to a serving dish and then shredded it. We served our tacos with onions, cilantro, radishes, and salsa from our favorite taco truck, Rancho Bravo.

Nice taco George!

The next day, when you realize you have pork leftovers for days, you roll some up in a tortilla, add cheese, microwave for about 30 seconds and you are in Heaven!

I love brownies. There's just something about a perfect little chocolate treat! I had ambitions to make churros, or margarita cupcakes, or some other festive dessert, but my real job got in the way of my baking dreams for the day. I decided to make a regular brownie more festive by adding cinnamon.

I like this brownie recipe because it is prepared in one bowl Preheat oven to 350 and grease an 8x8 pan. Grab your bowl and mix together:

1 cup sugar

1 cup chocolate chips

2/3 cup flour

1/2 cup softened butter

1/2 cup cocoa ( I used Hershey's)

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 big spoonful peanut butter (totally optional, but I like adding it to my brownies)

1 Tbsp cinnamon

Bake for about 25 minutes. I decided to add more chocolate and cinnamon, so I melted about a cup of chocolate chips in the microwave. Spread that on top and sprinkle with more cinnamon! I thought the cinnamon added an interesting flavor. The brownies may have been slightly drier due to the extra cinnamon, but I still liked them!

All of these things are great for Cinco de Mayo, or any day! Fun meal, with little prep work, but it seems like you put in a lot of effort. Next year I'll make those churros!