A Taste of the Keys...Coconut Encrusted Flounder with Pina Colada Sauce

Several years ago, we visited the Florida Keys in December for several weeks.  It was AMAZING!  One of the best things there is their food.  We stayed at a cute little Inn that had a restaurant on the grounds.  We went there several nights during our stay and I have to say, I ordered the same thing every single visit.  The Coconut Encrusted Flounder with Pina Colada sauce caught my eye the first time we went.  No one else ventured out, they got the ususual grilled fish and shrimp that they could get anywhere.  When my dish came they all wanted to try it, which isn't bad but when you let 7 people try your flounder, there isn't a whole lot left...and this dish was something I was super stingy with...but I shared like my momma taught me.  Since our trip to the Key's I have been searching for a recipe that sounded like it would be similiar or a restaurant that served this flounder.  No luck.  After my husband's last fishing trip, he brought home some flounder and I thought, what better opportunity to try to figure out this dish by myself.  So I tried the following recipe.  I highly recommend this to anyone.  People who don't like flounder or coconut would even love it!

Breading:
1 cup coconut

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 egg-lightly beaten

1 pound flounder

3/4 cup melted butter/margarine

Pina Colada Sauce:

5 ounces COCO Real Cream of Coconut Mix

4 ounces crushed pineapple

4 ounces sour cream

Prepare your pina colada sauce first so it can be chilling while you are preparing the rest of the meal.

Simply mix all three ingredients together and place in the freezer while you finish the meal. 

Preheat oven to 325.

Lightly grease cookie sheet.

Mix first 4 ingredients together in medium bowl. 

Lightly beat egg in small bowl.

Dip flounder in egg then coat with coconut mixture on both sides.

Place on cookie sheet.

Continue until done.

Lightly pour melted butter over filets.

Place in oven for 25 minutes. 

Check for flounder to be white and flaky.

*Optional, after cooking for 25 minutes.  I placed my oven on broil and browned the top of the filets to brown them and lightly toast the coconut. 

When you are ready to serve, pour some of your sauce over your filets and dig in!

Sadly, the flounder was gone before I was able to snap a picture of it.  This credit goes to www.anguilla-beaches.com from one of their restaurants.  Who wouldn't want to go there?!?!

Jute Flower Pots

I love the look of burlap and jute twine.  There's just a Southern feel to it that just warm and welcoming.  Since I love it so much, I tend to buy it whenever I think I'm getting a "good deal" and I have more jute than I know what to do with.  With the weather getting warm, I'm loving all the flowers that are blooming and would LOVE an herb garden on our porch. I thought that this would be a cute way to dress up some terra cotta pots.  This project took me about 15 minutes for a 4" pot.

Things you will need:

Terra Cotta Pot
Jute Twine
Hot Glue Gun
Scissors

Start by dabbing hot glue to the side of your pot at the very bottom and then place your jute/twine to the hot glue.

Start a line of hot glue around the pot and start going in circles.

You have to go pretty fast because you don't want your glue to get cool and make your jute bulky.

Go as far as you'd like to go up your pot.  I decided to stop once I got to the rim.  I like terra cotta so I wanted a little to show on this one.  I may make some more with more/less because I still have a LOT of jute to get rid of!  Post pictures of your pots so I can see what you've done!  I love seeing others work!

Tulle Wreath

There is something happy about the colors in a peacock feather.  So bright and full of strong energy and I LOVE tulle, especially since it is so easy to work with.  Below are the simple instructions for creating your own tulle wreath, peacock or not. 

You will need:

1- 10" Straw or Foam Wreath

Coordinating Tulle 6-10 yards depending on how big you want you wreath

Step 1:

Cut your tulle in strips.  Mine is 3" wide by 20" long (this does not need to be perfect)

The easiest way I have found is to roll the tulle up and cut using the rotary cutter:

but you could also use scissors!

Step 2:

Grab your straw or foam wreath form and start looping the tulle around (some people wrap ribbon around the wreath first, but I have found it is not necessary if you make the knots tight enough.  I got the ends even (like I would my shoelaces) and then tied a knot!  I also cheated and used 2-3 strands of tulle at a time so it would make more poof...and cut down on the time I spent making this! 

If the tulle starts to get in your way, you can put it in a pony tail :)  I simply wrapped a hair band around the tulle to get it out of my way when I was tying my knots.  You can put your strands in a pattern, like mine, or you can simply eyeball it! 

Once you get around the wreath you are done!  Trim anything that is too long!  Add any embellishments to your wreath.  I added three peacock feathers to match my theme with a straight pin. 

Please post pictures of your tulle wreaths if you make them! Also, check back tomorrow for a yummy cupcake recipe!

 

Sassy Pearl Bobby Pins

I have been eyeing these for a while on Etsy.  I think they will look so cute if i just want to pin my bangs back or feel like a classic Jersey Shore poof at the top of my head...regardless, I wanted them but wasn't going to pay the going rate for them on Etsy.  So I grabbed some Bobby Pins I already had, along with a package of pearls I already had and some 20 gauge beading wire from WalMart for a whopping $2. 

Step One:

Cut your wire the same length as your Bobby Pin (you can go longer if you want to cut it off at the end but I found that the shorter the better!)

 

Step two:
Bead your pearl center of your wire.  Once you have it there, bend down each side.

Step Three:
Bead your bobby pin through each strand.  See below. 

Step Four:

Twist one wire around the top of the bobby pin and one wire around the bottom of the bobby pin.  Once you are at the end, squeeze the wire so that you don't poke yourself, or your friends if you give them away. 

This is something that took practice with me, but I've never worked with beading wire.  It gets much easier with practice.  I'd love to see what others come up with so if you make this, please share!

Taco Soup

Lately it seems like we have been unusually pounded by old man winter.  This week was possibly the worst for our small town who sees a couple inches once or twice a year.  This time we had a solid 1/2" of ice on top of our 6" of snow.  For most people it isn't a big deal, but our entire town was shut down.  Finally on Wednesday I was able to get out of the house and it's a good thing because I was getting a serious case of cabin fever.  I ventured out to get groceries and the ingredients for some Taco Soup that I had been craving for 2 weeks.  I couldn't exactly remember the recipe because my roomies used to cook it for me in college...so I just did my best and it was amazing.

Ingredients:
2 pounds ground beef
1 medium onion
1 can- stewed tomatoes
1 can- Rotel Tomatoes
1 can- Chili beans
1 can- Kidney Beans
1 can- Pinto Beans
1 pkg Ranch Dressing Mix
1 pkg Taco Seasoning
2 cups of water
Sour Cream
Cheese
Frito's

Chop up your onion and then ground beef and onion in a skillet.
While that is browning, dump all of your remaining ingredients into a crock pot and stir.
Once the beef and onion has browned, add to crock pot and stir soup. 
Let ingredients warm for 1hr 30min.
Serve with a dollop of Sour Cream, Cheese and Frito's.

Serves 6-10 and cost around $20.

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes...delicious...

Last week I dedicated two nights after work towards baking miniature cupcakes for my mom's holiday party.  Mom is preparing enough for 150 of everything so...after the time I made enough cupcakes for that (and the extras I was supposed to make for my family) I had gone through 3 or 4 batches of batter. I was so tired of mixing pumpkin spice cupcakes I never wanted to see one again...until I had one for breakfast the next morning :) So since I love this recipe so much, I thought it would be something worth sharing...something that I hope your family enjoys as much as mine does. And after this, I promise to not do anything else PUMPKIN...for a while anyway.

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoons coarse salt
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon groung ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup melted unsalted butter
4 large eggs
1 can (14-15 ounces) pumpkin puree
Preheat your oven to 350. Line the cupcake pan with liners.
Mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices. Add butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar and eggs. Whisk in pumpkin puree. Fill each liner about 3/4 full with batter.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes and a cake tester comes out clean.



Let cool completely before icing.
Icing
8 oz cream cheese at room temperature
1/4 c butter at room temperature
1 t vanilla extract
2 t cinnamon
3 cups powdered sugar
Cream butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Add vanilla and cinnamon. Slowly add powdered sugar. Ice cupcakes.

Thanksgiving isn't Thanksgiving without the Pumpkins

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving...and not a ton of leftovers to deal with :)  This year I have been on a pumpkin kick and the family has jumped on the bandwagon with me...we've had pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin spice cupcakes and now pumpkin cheesecake.  Now, forgive me for saying this but...I have NEVER been a pumpkin fan.  In fact, I have always passed over the pumpkin pie or sweet potato casseroles, eww.  It seems like pumpkins are a Thanksgiving staple so I have learned to eat it, once it's doctored up enough of course.  I made two cheesecakes from this recipe but you can make one if you use a springform pan.

Crust:

• 1 3/4 c graham cracker crumbs
• 3 T sugar
• 1 stick melted butter

In a bowl, combine crumbs and sugar.  Slowly add melted butter. Press down flat into a 9-inch springform pan or a pie pan. Set aside. If you are using a pie pan, you will need to make two.

Filling:

• 3 (8-oz) packages of cream cheese at room temperature
• 1 (15-oz) can pumpkin puree
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 c sour cream
• 1 1/2 c sugar
• 1/2 t cinnamon
• 1/4 t nutmeg
• 2 T all-purpose flour
• 1 t vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Beat cream cheese until smooth.
Add pumpkin puree, eggs, sour cream, sugar, spices, flour and vanilla. Beat together until well combined.


Pour into crust.  Bake in oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes.
Refrigerate 4 hours before serving.