Charlie Murray Inspired Strawberry Margaritas

Posted on May 10, 2011 by kelleychisholm

 

In my recent  Strawberry Fields Forever post, I mentioned some great strawberry margaritas inspired by my late and great, dear friend, Charlie Murray. Charlie was famous for his frozen daquiris he made on our annual Memorial Day trips to the beach. These drinks were awesome, with just the right amount of rum and mixer, and ranged from strawberry, strawberry-banana, peach, pina colada, White Russian – you name it, he’d make it. And Charlie knew how to get the ice blended just right so each batch would be delightfully smooth. Perfect daquiris with great friends on the beach – life doesn’t get too much better!

Since I had an abundance of fresh strawberries, I decided instead of using rum to use tequilla (Jose Cuervo Black in this mix) and make some strawberry margaritas, Charlie Murray style. These are so easy to make, and easier to drink! And you use the can of the margarita mix for your measuring cup – how simple is that?!

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Strawberry Fields Salad Recipe

Posted on May 8, 2011 by kelleychisholm

 

In my recent post, Strawberry Fields Forever, I mentioned this salad and how good it is, especially with  the fresh strawberries. It’s wonderful as a side salad to accompany something light, such as pasta salad, roast chicken, quiche, etc., but is also great by itself for lunch  – add some crusty bread and a glass of iced tea or white wine and you’re ready to go!

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Strawberry Tart Recipe

Posted on May 5, 2011 by kelleychisholm

 

“The Queen of Hearts, she made some tarts, all on a summer day: The Knave of Hearts, he stole those tarts and took them quite away!” – Lewis Carroll

This tart is definitely worth stealing; it is soooooo good! With a cream-cheese base, chocolate and fresh strawberries, who could resist it? On a recent trip to the grocery store, I saw this recipe on the cover of Taste of Home, and was lucky enough to find it online at: http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Strawberry-Tart. I have changed a couple of things in the original recipe, such as using reduced fat cream cheese and more chocolate (and next time I make this I will actually double the chocolate I used.)

The tart is easy to assemble and sinfully good! If you volunteer to bring a dessert to your next gathering, consider making this – it is as wonderful as it looks, and it won’t last long! Yum, yum, yum. I will probably make this on July Fourth, and add blueberries along with the strawberries for a patriotic dessert.

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Strawberry Fields Forever

Posted on May 5, 2011 by kelleychisholm

 

“Let me take you down, cause I’m going to, Strawberry Fields. Nothing is real  – and nothing to get hung about” – Paul McCartney and John Lennon

When you’re in the middle of a strawberry field, nothing is real except the sweet ripe fruit of your labours that you will soon be enjoying! I love having so many strawberry farms in Wake County and in our surrounding counties. Picking your own berries and then  immediately eating them – it doesn’t get much better than that! And since many farms in our area are open from mid-April to the first week in June, we can visit them more than once in a season.

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Kel’s Homemade Potato Salad

Posted on April 24, 2011 by kelleychisholm

 

Now that summer is almost here and we are grilling more, I love to make a cool and creamy potato salad to accompany whatever we’re having. I’m not a big fan of egg or mustard in my potato salad, so I keep this one simple and just add celery, onions, mayo, vinegar, dill weed, salt and pepper to red skinned potatoes, with their skins intact.

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Ten Tasty Tuna Salad Sandwiches: Part 2 – Marvelous Melts

Posted on April 19, 2011 by kelleychisholm

“The fishing was good; it was the catching that was bad” – A. K. Best

In Part One of Ten Tasty Tuna Salad Sandwiches, I wrote about some of my favorite “cool classics” where the tuna is served cold on some sort of tasty bread. The focus of Part Two is on tuna melts, where the tuna is topped with some sort of cheese (one of the world’s wonder foods as far as I’m concerned) and heated. As I mentioned in Part One, I am picky about my tuna salad and compare everything to my grandfather’s concoction (click here for his recipe.) All of these melts start with a great base of tuna salad that I would happily eat cold.

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Pampa’s Tuna Salad Recipe

Posted on April 17, 2011 by kelleychisholm

As I mentioned in my post: Ten Tasty Tuna Salad Sandwiches, my grandfather, Kelton Virnelson, used to make the best tuna salad. He only used BumbleBee white albacore tuna, and would add diced celery and onion, white pepper (it was more aesthetically pleasing to the eye), fresh lemon juice and homemade (yes, homemade) mayonnaise. I’ve tried my best to replicate his recipe but use lowfat, store-bought mayo (usually Duke’s Light) instead of his homemade version.

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Ten Tasty Tuna Salad Sandwiches: Part 1 – Cool Classics

Posted on April 14, 2011 by kelleychisholm

 

“You can tune a piano, but you can’t tuna fish” – REO Speedwagon

I’m extremely picky about my tuna fish salad, and can credit Pampa, my beloved grandfather, for that. He used to make the best tuna salad and only used Bumblebee brand white albacore. Pampa added diced celery and onion, white pepper, fresh lemon juice and homemade (yes, homemade) mayonnaise. I’ve tried my best to replicate his recipe but use low-fat, store-bought mayo (usually Duke’s Light) instead of his homemade version. Click here for his recipe.

Most restaurants that are open for lunch offer some sort of tuna fish salad, whether it is served as a sandwich, a tuna melt or just plain on a bed of lettuce. I’m normally not a big fan of relish or boiled eggs in tuna salad, probably as a result of being spoiled by my grandfather’s wonderful concoction. However, even though I am picky, luckily I have found 10 tuna salad sandwiches/melts that I will gladly order because they are so tasty – some actually have eggs and/or relish in the mix.

I’m splitting this  post into two parts: Part 1 is about some tasty cool classics – tuna salad served cold on some sort of tasty bread. Part 2 reviews tuna melts – warm tuna salad with some sort of melted cheese on top.

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Restaurant Review: Coquette Brasserie, Raleigh, N.C. – Ooh La La!

Posted on April 10, 2011 by kelleychisholm

“A coquette is like a recruiting sergeant, always on the lookout for fresh victims” – Douglas Jerrold

Located in Raleigh’s North Hills shopping area, Coquette Brasserie is a great French restaurant owned by Kevin and Stacey Jennings of the Urban Food Group. It is in the same location that was originally Savannah Restaurant and then South. I was sad to see South close (I had some of the best fried chicken ever there), but was excited see another restaurant from the Jennings, who also own Frazier’s Wine Bar and Porter’s City Tavern on Hillsborough Street as well as Vivace, also in North Hills.

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Cheats – Super Fast and Easy Vegetable-Pasta Soup

Posted on April 7, 2011 by kelleychisholm

Here’s a fast and easy recipe for veggie/pasta soup. It takes no time to assemble and cook, looks cheerful (especially on a cold, dreary night) and tastes great. Perfect for when time is limited but you still want something “homemade.” Low in calories and fat as well! I like to serve this with garlic-cheese bread (recipe follows) or a salad.

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Posted in Low fat, Pasta, Rice, etc., Recipes, Soups and Such, Vegetables/Vegetarian/Vegan | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments