Blood Orange And Mint Granita
I was originally intending to share this recipe with you, except the feta frozen yogurt turned out tasting like stale socks. No, doesn’t sound enticing? I don’t think so either.
What redeemed the recipe for me was this granita, which is meant to accompany the froyo kind of like a sidekick. An outrageous and daring one. That ended up stealing the show. First to enter the stage is the bright punch of blood orange, vibrant and vivacious, a vixen if you will. In typical two-step fashion, the mint comes later and imparts its cooling aftertaste reminiscent of my favorite beverage: the mojito.
I’m happy I have something to show for my efforts. And is it something! My magpie tendencies kicked into high gear after I’d crunched it up with a fork. All I wanted to do was bottle it up and hold it captive to the light. But, looks aren’t everything, and in this case, this granita functions perfectly as a guilt-free dessert. I mean, it’s basically a deconstructed sno-cone minus the artificial flavoring and more gorgeously-flavored.
Granitas are so simple to make! More clean-up than preparation, you basically juice and zest the heck out of blood oranges (I believe the proper term is ‘pulverize’ haha), toss a handful of mint in, and blend. Run the sludgy liquid through a sieve, freeze the remains, and ta-da! The granita is born.
BLOOD ORANGE AND MINT GRANITA
From Food52
Makes enough for roughly 4 people
Ingredients:
4 juicy, ripe blood oranges
big handful of mint leaves
lemon juice, if necessary
Directions:
Cut the blood oranges in half and run a knife around the inside rim. Gut them with a spoon over a bowl to catch all the juice, and put the guts into the bowl. (Don’t worry if a bit of rind goes in, as we just want as much pulp and juice as possible.) Zest the orange peels into the bowl. Throw in a handful of mint and immersion blend or food process the mixture til it is quite pulpy.
Strain through a strainer. Pour a thin layer of the liquid into a freezer safe baking dish. Freeze for 2 to 3 hours. When mine was completely frozen, I set the dish on the counter for awhile to let it melt a bit. Then, using a fork, tines facing up, push down into the granita like you’re mashing it. It should give pretty easily if it’s melted enough.
Alternative, you can check on your granita every now and then, raking it with a fork every time it looks like the liquid is freezing. After a couple hours, the granita should be frozen but flaky.
M&M; Birthday Party
I put together my son’s 4th birthday party last week. He’s into a lot of things, but nothing in particular stood out as a theme. That is until someone posted a photo of an M&M wedding cake on Facebook. I had my inspiration. My son loves M&M’s in all different varieties. He devours whatever flavored M&M’s I buy to make recipes with. He’s not picky when it comes to his favorite candy. So I researched Pinterest for DIY party decor and kept my eyes open when I was out shopping. I tried to keep it simple because it wasn’t going to be a terribly big party, but I wanted it to be special for him.
I put together my son’s 4th birthday party last week. He’s into a lot of things, but nothing in particular stood out as a theme. That is until someone posted a photo of an M&M wedding cake on Facebook. I had my inspiration. My son loves M&M’s in all different varieties. He devours whatever flavored M&M’s I buy to make recipes with. He’s not picky when it comes to his favorite candy. So I researched Pinterest for DIY party decor and kept my eyes open when I was out shopping. I tried to keep it simple because it wasn’t going to be a terribly big party, but I wanted it to be special for him.
The first thing I had found was 10 inch red plastic M&M dispenser at CVS pharmacy. I used that as my centerpiece. It was too cute to pass up. Then I found a small 5 inch plastic bubble gum machine at Toys R Us that I used as a cake topper.
I wanted the party goers to have a selection of M&M’s to choose from, so I decorated a Archer Farms carton with some card stock I had on hand. I cut out some circles with my Fiskars ShapeCutter Template, then embellished it with little “m’s” I cut out with my Sizzix Sizzlets dies in the Bounce font (which apparently they don’t make anymore, my scrapbook tools are now antiques). I added some circle tags to label the M&M flavors.
I found most of my other supplies at Walmart. I bought plates, napkins, and party hats in all the M&M colors (except brown). I jazzed up the plain party hats with some more cut outs. For these “m’s”, I used my Cricut machine with the Tear Drop cartridge. I was trying to use what I had on hand. If you want the official “M”, you can find it on the Cricut Plantin SchoolBook cartridge.
I used my Cricut machine to cut out these big “m’s” also. This was one of the ideas I found on Pinterest for wall decorations. I used double stick tape to keep them up.
He’s the whole thing all together. Simple, but colorful and fun. It was raining outside, so we played some movies for the kids, but they didn’t care, they ended up going in the pool anyway.
I made all sorts of treats to go with the theme, Chocolate Chip M&M Cookies, M&M Rice Krispie Treats, M&M Pretzel Sticks, and more.
I use the extra “M’s” I cut out to decorate the table. I placed the M&M dispenser on a candlestick holder I had to make him more prominent.
Here are the Candy Coated Oreo M&M’s I blogged about earlier this week. I placed each in matching cupcake liners from Wilton that I had found at Walmart.
This is the cake I made, inspired by this one below. The kids thought it was amazing. Mission accomplished.
Here’s the birthday boy all smiles when he saw his cake. He was excited by all the mini M&M’s pouring down the front. All the kids wanted a slice with the M&M’s on it.
The cake was just two Pillsbury Funfetti cake mixes and two cans of Betty Crocker Fluffy White frosting. I knew I would be spending all my time perfecting the decorating, so I didn’t make the cake and frosting from scratch this time. Plus, I really love Funfetti cake. And if you are wondering if I place each M&M individually on the cake , the answer would be YES! My husband thought I was nuts. He said I should just throw them on there, but I am a type A personality and everything has to be perfect.
For the favor bags, I bought individual packs of Birthday Cake M&M’s and added some bubbles and other candies. The clear bags are from Walmart and the tags I made myself. I put all the kids names on the back. I attached the tags with matching bakers twine I had on hand.
It was a lot of work, but I like being creative. The looks on the kids faces said it all, it was worth it.