Autumn has officially arrived and I love the idea of a warm, cozy sip that uses locally grown apples with bourbon and smoky mezcal. This one is delicious for a swanky cocktail party but also works just fine in a red solo cup next to a bonfire or on a hayride.
The dog days of summer require something cool, strong, and slightly sweet - this one is just the ticket. Quick and easy to whip up…but impressive as a pre-dinner cocktail or for just sippin’ on the back porch. Feel free to increase the amount of vodka depending on your day -
Something magical happens when goat cheese is paired with summer tomatoes and juicy ripe peaches. This super quick salad works well as a starter course, but also equally impresses as an appetizer when served with our firecrackers or buttery grilled toast. We especially love the bright green nuance of fresh basil and mint from the garden, even though added bits of zesty arugula or watercress would make this the summer salad to end all summer salads….
Nothing on the planet is more delicious than fresh tomatoes steeped in olive oil, basil, and fresh garlic. Our SUMMER TOMATO TOAST is simple, but promises to be the belle of this year’s Fourth of July pool, lake, or river party. The tomatoes gain sweet complexity the longer they sit…so prep about an hour before guest arrival to ensure maximum flavor…and guest adoration.
Our family garden is coming along beautifully this year, and although we’re already harvesting most of the smaller varieties of tomatoes, the larger, more sought after Goliath and Arkansas Traveler fruit are still hanging green from the vine. So, our impatience can be validated by making this amalgamation of traditional southern fried green tomatoes with a Korean style preparation and sauce.
It’s finally the weekend, which means it’s time to sip, relax, and cook - and our favorite adult beverage this week is the The Natural Sip, a cool, clear cocktail devised mostly of ingredients from Arkansas. We start with subtle, nuanced vodka from Little Rock’s Rock Town distillery, layered with fresh lime, basil from our Fayetteville garden, a kiss of ginger syrup from North West Arkansas’ Pink House Alchemy, and finally topped with hydrated basil seeds and the ethereal bubbles from Mountain Valley water out of Hot Springs.
This simple, delectable fried chicken recipe is a regular dinner GO-TO in our home; a satisfying dark meat crunch with light, lemony arugula is wonderful all by itself, but if you really want to elevate it to the next level, add a classic poached egg, giving the dish a beautiful yellow yolk sauce beneath the tangled peppery greens. It might just change your life.
Here’s a super easy, delicious pan seared salmon recipe that not only takes 30 minutes to prepare, but it’s also a quick clean-up because we’re using a single pot. Like most people, we’ve been cooking a lot during the pandemic, and sometimes cleaning up after making a meal seems like a daunting task…but this recipe is quick to prepare, and quick to clean, allowing you more time to spend with the family.
