Spatulas, Corkscrews & Suitcases

RED, WHITE and BLUE DESSERT RECIPES: Patriotic 4th of July Desserts

Have a Star Spangled Banner holiday with these red, white and blue patriotic dessert recipes! Red, White and Blue Flag Cake; Fresh Strawberry and Blueberry Pie; Strawberry and Blueberry Shortcakes; Red, White and Blueberry Dessert Pizza; Red, White and Blueberry Cobbler; Red, White and Blue Fruit Salad. See a recurring theme? All but a few of these are my own tried-and-true recipes that I've posted over the years with Examiner and Suite101. My family enjoyed every last bite! Have a safe, happy and delicious 4th of July holiday!

Fresh Strawberry Pie Recipe: Big juicy strawberries chilled in homemade strawberry glaze, nestled in a graham cracker or vanilla cookie crust and topped with fresh whipped cream.

 

Red, White and Blue Flag Cake Recipe: What would the 4th of July be without a Red, White and Blue Flag Cake? Blueberry stars, strawberry stripes and sparklers set this Firecracker Cake off quite nicely!

 

 

Red, White and Blueberry Cobbler: Fresh Cherries, blueberries and raspberries found their way into a deep dish stoneware pie pan, sprinkled with some cinnamon and a bit of freshly grated lemon zest all topped with a buttery sweet cobbler dough and a dollop of whipped cream.

 

 

Red, White and Blue Dessert Pizza: Striking grilled pizza with raspberries, blueberries and pineapple all nestled in a sweet cheese topping on top of cinnamon dough. Perfect for a 4th of July cookout!

 

Red, White and Blue Strawberry Blueberry Tart: This strawberry tart is made with a sweet shortbread crust, filled with strawberry jam, fresh strawberries and blueberries. Top it all off with fresh whipped cream, or serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

 

 

Red White and Blue Fruit Salad Recipe: It doesn't have to be cake or pastry to qualify as dessert, so why not make it a healthy dessert with his patriotic fruit salad with the colors of the flag! Red strawberries and raspberries, almost white bananas and pineapple, and as blue as you can get blueberries make one beautiful fruit salad!

 

 

Red, White and Blueberry Cheesecake Recipe: Take this Strawberry Cheesecake Recipe and add blueberries to the topping along with the strawberries. Fresh tastes best, but canned strawberry and blueberry pie filling work just fine too.

 

 

Red Velvet Cake with Blueberries: Traditional Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting topped with fresh blueberries. Can't get much better than this!

 

 

Strawberry Cream Cake with Blueberries: Yellow cake filled and frosted with fresh whipped cream, strawberries and blueberries. Very refreshing and perfect for a summer party.

 

Strawberry & Blueberry Shortcakes: Take the traditional Strawberry Shortcake recipe, split some homemade Buttermilk Biscuits in half, sprinkle with fresh blueberries, and add plenty of whipped cream to these delightful berry shortcakes!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Recipe: Fresh strawberry rhubarb pie recipe is a summer favorite. Classic fruit pie with sweet strawberries and tart rhubarb mixed with sugar and spices, and baked in a double crust. Add some blueberries or blackberries for the holiday!

Blueberry Pie Recipe Made with Fresh Blueberries: Plump blueberries picked fresh from the blueberry bush, mixed with sugar and a pinch of cinnamon or nutmeg and baked in a flaky doubled crusted pie crust. Serve with a side of fresh raspberries or strawberries for a red, white and blue dessert!

Fresh Strawberry Muffins: Made with my favorite blueberry muffin recipe, these strawberry muffins are chock full of fresh strawberries and topped with brown sugar streusel for an easy summer picnic or brunch. Add fresh blueberries or blackberries to your muffin batter for a red, white and blue treat!

Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares Taking Casting Applications for Restaurant Makeovers

Kitchen Nightmares is Looking for Providence, Rhode Island Restaurants and Beyond!
If you want Chef Gordon Ramsay to come into your restaurant to troubleshoot your problems and try to get you back on the road to success, contact them now. Restaurants must have been open at least one year, offer dinner service, and have at least 35 seats.

Check out my article on Examiner for another full episode of Kitchen Nightmares Revisited #1

FOX's reality cooking show, "Kitchen Nightmares" starring Chef Gordon Ramsay, wants to help revive a Providence, Rhode Island restaurant. They'll be casting in the Providence area all this month, looking for restaurants in need of a make over – whether it be in the kitchen, troubled employees, lack of business, etc.

NOW CASTING IN: PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND AREA
LOS ANGELES
BOSTON
NY TRI-STATE AREA
NEW ORLEANS – BATON ROUGE
SAN FRANCISCO

Email or Call for Information
[email protected]
Call: 1-323-252-2353

Are You Ready To Be on Kitchen Nightmares?

If your restaurant is chosen, be ready for an intense adventure. Previous episodes show restaurant owners, chefs and wait staff being cussed at, criticized, and scolded. All through the experience however, you'll be driven and encouraged to make your restaurant the best it can be, and Ramsay is the famous celebrity chef that can make it happen.

How To Apply to KITCHEN NIGHTMARES: Casting Application
It's a long application – 14 pages to be exact – with all sorts of questions you wouldn't normally find on a standard job application. FOX wants to make sure you and your restaurant are perfect for the makeover. Check here for some of the weirdest questions you've ever seen on an application!

Make Sure to Include These Items In Your Application
Your name and contact info (including a phone number), name of your restaurant and your specialty, how many seats you have, and most importantly... Why you need their help!

If you are a Restaurant Owner fill out or download the application online at www.theconlincompany.com and email it back to: [email protected].

Sources: Fox.com, Brittany Parker, Casting Associate, Kitchen Nightmares
Photos, etc: Used with written permission by FOX Broadcasting Company, Brittany Parker, Casting Associate, Kitchen Nightmares

If I Were an Oscar Mayer Wiener.....

In Honor of Oscar Mayer
I wrote an article yesterday for Examiner.com called 'Oscar Mayer Bologna & Wienermobile Man Dies at 95'. I added a YouTube video of the little boy that sang the jingle in the 1973 commercial at the end. After writing the article, I felt like we needed to remember him by having Oscar Mayer wieners for supper (OK, truth be told, it made my mouth water just thinking of them). I also wanted Red Bliss Potato Salad to go with the wieners. I surprised myself by having everything I needed on the boat, so I didn't need to go out to the store. How many boaters can say that, huh?

When John came home he saw the potatoes and the wieners and put 2 & 2 together. Grilled hot dog buns, Oscar Mayer wieners, green relish, yellow mustard, minced onions and celery salt. Oh, and the potato salad. We sat down, had supper and watched the video. Man, did that take us back. Everybody knew those songs!

Go check out my article and let it take you down memory lane! Here's another video that isn't in the article. Enjoy!

IT'S GRILLED PIZZA TIME!

Pizza On The Grill
It's warmed up sufficiently enough in Rhode Island to start grilling pizzas again! I made two, a Marinated Flank Steak Grilled Pizza and Grilled Veggies & Kalamta Olive Pizza. And if any of you have been following my blog for any length of time, you'll know we had wine up at the top of the dock too. It was a nice, cheap red Pinotage! Can't even tell you what it was because we already threw the bottle away! But at $8.99 a bottle, it wasn't something I felt like cataloging and photographing. Even still, it paired well with pizza ;-)

A Summer of Grilled Pizzas?
Yes, it certainly will be a summer of pizzas! The grill is clean, the weather has changed for the better, and the pizza is calling! So, keep your eyes on this blog. As I get cranking, the recipes will start spilling out! I just posted THREE new Grilled Pizza articles on the Examiner for you to read. They're the first of many. Go check them out and get re-acquainted with the Pizza Grilling and eating process!

 

GRILLED PIZZA

How To Make Grilled Pizza - PIZZA ON THE GRILL is gaining popularity, and with good reason. It's quick & easy, and it's the best pizza you've ever eaten! Here's a quick how-to for making homemade grilled pizza.

How To Make Homemade Pizza Dough - So, you've got all your ingredients to make Grilled Pizza, but you have no idea where to start? How do you make pizza dough? How do you roll the pizza dough? Here's an easy homemade pizza dough recipe with suggestions on how to buy pizza dough.

How To Grill Pizza - You've made your own homemade pizza dough or purchased it. Now it's time to fire up your grill and start smokin! How hot does the grill need to be? Does the pizza dough fall through the grates? This article will tell you how to grill pizza easily and deliciously!

Grilled Pepperoni Pizza - There's nothing quite like a Pepperoni Pizza, especially if it's grilled outside on the gas or charcoal grill! Add some sauce, fresh basil, fresh mozzarella cheese, and top it with spicy pepperoni!

RECIPE ROUND-UP & GIVEAWAY REMINDER!

                                           


EASTER is Almost Here!
I can't believe Easter is this coming Sunday. Is it me, or has the time just flown past us? And, Easter is late this year too! I've been real busy trying to get all my Easter & Spring Recipes together for all of you to try. There's lots more for Easter in the sidebars. <<<--- Look on both sides --->>> I've been rearranging and categorizing everything to make my blog more user-friendly.

                                      

Recipes & Articles from Week Ending 4/7

• Pistachios & Salmonella: Food Recall
• Quiche Lorraine Recipe with slideshow
• Cute Easter Cupcake Round-Up!
  
• Hot Cross Buns Recipe - Easter Rolls
• Key Lime Pie Recipe
• Easter Egg Bread
• Strawberry Fool Recipe
• 10 Strawberry Dessert Recipes with slideshow
• Strawberry Cheesecake Muffins
• Strawberry Cheesecake Parfaits
• Fresh Strawberry Muffins Recipe
• How to Make Chocolate Ganache with slideshow
• How to Cook Perfect Pasta

                                          


Other News
There's nothing from Suite101 this week, as they're going through another major round of copyright theft. This time it's massive. So far, about 700 articles have been scraped from the site without permission, violating copyright laws. So, I've laid low, putting all my efforts into the Examiner for now. All my recipes from Suite are still available to use, email to friends and print off, so don't be shy! The Coconut Cake with Coconut Buttercream Frosting is especially yummy for Easter!

I've put Dorie on the shelf for another week or so while I push through Easter. This is one of my biggest holidays for recipes, so Dorie and I have put our relationship on hold for a few weeks. Nothing personal, we'll start dating again real soon!

The Examiner has extended their Sign-up Promotion until June30th! So, if you're still on the fence about joining, let me know?

AND, don't forget the Garofalo Giveaway!

                                           

The Secret to Perfect Pasta

HOW TO COOK PASTA - Do I rinse pasta? How long do I cook pasta for? Do I add salt to the pasta water? Still confused about how to cook pasta? If you follow these pasta preparation tips from Garofalo Pasta, you'll get perfect pasta every time!

Garofalo Pasta
Do you know the secret to creating the perfect pasta dish? "We do - premium pastas from Garofalo Signature", says Garofalo Pasta. "Perfect pasta dishes start with premium pasta created in Gragnano, Italy's birthplace of pasta. All Garofalo Signature pastas are produced at Garofalo's headquarters near the ruins of Pompeii, using time honored pasta making techniques and only the finest durum wheat, sourced from across the globe by owner Massimo Menna."

Once you have chosen the perfect pasta, be sure to also consider these preparation and pairing tips from Massimo Menna of Garofalo Pasta!

CONTINUE READING FOR TIPS, RECIPE IDEAS & LINKS

Don't forget the Garofalo Pasta & Partida Agave Nectar Giveaway!

RECIPES, WINNERS & ARTICLES Round-Up

                                        

Week Ending - Today!
Here's my latest recipes. articles and giveaway winner posts for the week ending...um...Monday, March 30th. Lots of ooey, gooey things like Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake, and my absolute favorite in the whole wide world, Coconut Cake with Coconut Frosting! Yes, Kerri & Erika, here it is! My secret weapon...I mean recipe! I've also included a few of my favorite things because spring is here, and Easter is coming! The Lemon Meringue Pie is to-die-for, as is the French Lemon Tart. Oh, and try the Blueberry Muffins, my other, other Easter brunch favorite!

                                                                 

Last Call for Examiner Referrals. The deadline for referrals is tomorrow by midnight MT. Email me if you have questions. My ID # is 4208 when you get ready to apply! It's easy, seems like everyone gets in!

                                                                        

And finally, I did an article for The Daily Tiffin, and did it here as well on Kids in the Kitchen. You'll get to see my two granddaughters up-close in the kitchen!

                                                                       

Recipes Galore!

• Popular Lemon Dessert Recipes for Spring
• Top 10 Cookie Recipes
• Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake
• Best Blueberry Muffin Recipe Evah!
• Coconut Cake & Buttercream Frosting Recipes

                                               

Last Call for Alcohol...I mean Examiner!

• LAST CALL for Examiner Referrals! (Deadline 3/31)
• Cupcake Cookbooks - Kids in the Kitchen
• Best Kitchen Gadgets & Small Appliances
• Dessert Express Cookbook & Winner!

Finally, and I really do mean finally...I'm including my Grown-Up Macaroni & Cheese Recipe one more time because I can. And, it really is so good, that I'm gonna make it again tomorrow night for supper...again!

                                                                

LAST CALL for Examiner Referrals!

                                                     

Examiner Referral Deadline
Just wanted to remind everyone that was interested in writing for the EXAMINER - March 31st is the deadline for referrals. If you need more info about this, click here and read all about it. This is especially appealing for all you Food Bloggers, as you can use your old material and photos from your own blogs. Instant content! Everyone that I've referred has been approved, so either it's really that easy, or they're really that good! I like to think it's the latter, that we Food Bloggers have what they want!

If you have any questions before filling out the application, email me and I'll talk you through it. Just be sure to use my number #4208 when applying. Thanks again for the interest! See you on the flip side!

RECIPE UPDATES - New & Improved!

                                 

Hi Everyone!
I'm trying to update my email list for the future weekly newsletter. I'd like to tie all my foodie groups together in a more "professional" manner, so you're not groping to find everything I do.

As some of you might know, I started writing for Examiner.com. over a month ago. And while most of you already subscribe to my feeds and email updates for Spatulas & Corkscrews and Suite101, I noticed that many of you don't know this feature exists with Examiner. In other words, you're missing a ton of recipes, etc!

When you click here, you'll see a "Subscribe to Email" button at the top, right next to my mug shot! Each time I post a recipe, you'll get an email letting you know what I've been up to! If you've already signed up, I thank you very much for hanging in there with me and supporting my addiction for all things delicious! Big things are happening, and I want you to be part of them!

Love you guys! XO

Examiner.com - Providence Edition

                                 

Are You A Freelance Writer?
If you love to write, I came across a great online outlet for writers and a great way to make some extra money.

According to Amy from the Examiner, "Examiner.com is becoming the leading online site for local news and information. We are specifically looking for people who want to write and share their knowledge as a Local Examiner at the Providence Edition of Examiner.com. (They are looking in over 60 cities nationally)

As an Examiner you will have a great opportunity to inform others about a subject you love and to promote yourself and, further your career. The talented people we’re looking for have local expertise in one of the following subjects:

1. Arts and Entertainment 2.Bars and Clubs 3.Business and Finance 4.Careers and Workplace 5. Neighborhoods and Communities 6. Education and Schools 7. Family and Parenting 8.Fitness and Weight Loss 9.Food and Drink 10.Games and Hobbies 11.Health 12.Home and Living 13. News 14.Pets 15.Politics 16. Style and Fashion 17.Recreation 18.Relationships 19. Religion and Spirituality 20.Restaurants 21.Shopping 22.Sports 23.Gadgets and Tech 24.Transportation 25.Travel."

You can visit the site and apply for all 60 cities by going to:

About Examiner.com

Oh, and when you do, please enter Donna Diegel #4208, on the bottom of your application. That's me!

photo-rolve,sxc