Admittedly, not the prettiest containers. But they are definitely cookout ready!

This is one of those recipes that I originally had no intention of blogging. I mean, what is there to say about making fruit salad? Chop up some fruit and maybe mix a quick dip. Easy. However, tonight marks the second Thursday in a row that I’ve found myself in the kitchen making this. I took it to a cookout at work last week, where the combination of sweet fruit and tart dip got rave reviews. A couple coworkers asked for the recipe and a couple others asked me to make it again for a Mother’s Day breakfast we’re having tomorrow. Since I’m hosting & catering my sister’s bridal shower in July, in addition to all of the usual Summer cookouts and picnics, I can see myself repeating, and playing with, this recipe a lot in the coming months.

Fruit Salad & Key Lime Dip
Makes approximately 12 servings

For the salad
1 pineapple
1 papaya
1 pint of strawberries
4 kiwifruits

For the dip
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 c. powdered sugar
8 oz. heavy whipping cream, cold
1/3 c. granulated sugar
1 Key Lime, juiced & zested

Directions
1. Prepare the fruit. Peel, core and cube pineapple. Cut papaya in half, remove seeds, and chop into cubes. Peel kiwifruits and cut into small cubes. Remove tops from strawberries and cut into quarters. Mix all fruit together in a large bowl and set aside.
2. Make the dip. Using a stand mixer, combine powdered sugar and cream cheese on medium speed. Once ingredients are combined, add whipping cream and sugar. Increase speed to high. Beat until cream is slightly firm, about 4 minutes. Add lime juice and zest. Enjoy!

My thoughts & suggestions

• I know there are people who add sugar to fruit salad. I don’t understand this, since fruit is so sweet on its own. However, I do like to let the fruit sit for at least a few hours, if not overnight, before serving. This allows the flavors to combine and the natural sweetness to come out.
• Using this recipe, the dip tastes a lot like key lime pie filling. I considered adding vanilla, but didn’t think it needed any. I probably will try adding that in the future. I’d also like to play with other citrus fruits. I think that oranges would be especially refreshing in the summer.

Dinner on the patio. Warm weather is here again!

Grilling season is here! Yesterday’s sunshine and warm temperatures had me dying to grill some burgers and vegetables for dinner. But, for the first grill meal of the season, I didn’t want to do plain old beef burgers. So I came up with these buffalo chicken burgers and cheese-stuffed jalapeños instead. Now I realize this meal probably isn’t for everyone, at least not both items together. But the husband and I are lovers of spicy food. After all, I’m the girl who, at age two, thought it perfectly acceptable to drink straight salsa. My husband will eat even hotter foods than I will. So for us, it was a fun way to eat something different on a lazy Sunday evening.

One of my favorite things about grilling is how easy it can make food prep. That was definitely the case with this meal. The most time-consuming part of the whole process was cutting and seeding the jalapeños. And it dirtied very few dishes, which is a definite accomplishment for me. To make things even easier, you could use this Jalapeño Pepper Roaster from Williams-Sonoma. My uncle has one, and gives it rave reviews. Since I don’t have a special pepper-grilling gadget, I had to adapt. Here’s what I did.

Buffalo Chicken Burgers
Serves 4

1 lb. ground chicken
1/3 c. breadcrumbs
1/3 c. hot sauce (I used Valentina
1 egg
1 tbsp. minced garlic
8 oz. bleu cheese
Freshly ground black pepper
4 large burger buns
1 onion, sliced
Green leaf lettuce
4 tbsp. mayo
4 tbsp. ranch dressing

Directions
1. In a medium-sized bowl, combine chicken, egg, breadcrumbs, hot sauce, garlic and 4 oz. blue cheese. Shape into patties.
2. Grill over medium-high heat until done, approximately 5 minutes on each side.
4. While burger are grilling, combine mayo and ranch dressing.
5. Once burgers are done, sprinkle with the remaining bleu cheese. Garnish with lettuce, tomato and the ranch sauce.

Cheese-Stuffed Jalapeños
Makes 8 peppers

8 large Jalapeño peppers
8 oz. cream cheese
1 tsp. Adobo w/ cumin.

Directions
1. In a small bowl, combine cream cheese and Adobo. Set aside.
2. Cut a vertical slit down peppers. Remove seeds while keeping peppers intact.
3. Stuff each pepper with approximately 1 ounce of cream cheese mixture. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
5. Grill peppers over medium-high heat until done, approximately 10 minutes.

Peppers waiting to be grilled. I'll definitely be playing with this idea in the future. Chorizo, bacon or veggies would all be good additions.

Blank Canvas

I have a confession. I am the owner of a box of 101 Wilton cookie cutters, most of which I have never used. I make cutout sugar cookies every year for Christmas. I did Halloween ones for a party one year. But I’ve never really thought to do cookies for Easter or any other holiday, probably because I usually come across a million other creative ideas for Easter desserts.

For the past few years, the ladies in my family have spent the day before Easter at my Grandma, Honey’s, house decorating cupcakes. We try to make our Easter cupcakes fun and creative. One year we made gumdrops into tulips. Another, we arranged the cupcakes to look like bunnies hopping across a garden. This year, I decided to break out all the Easter/Springtime cookie cutters and make a huge batch of sugar cookies to decorate alongside the cupcakes. Today, I will be passing a pleasant afternoon in the kitchen with my Mom, Sister, Grandma, Aunts & Cousins, getting hopped up on sugar and caffeine and making pretty things to eat.

Tomorrow, I am going to church with my husband, then having Easter dinner at my aunt’s house. I am really looking forward to everything. I hope that whatever you are doing this weekend, that you have a great weekend and a Happy Easter.