I love a lot of things about summer: vacations, swimming, picnics in the park, going to the farmers market, etc. But my absolute favorite thing has to be watermelon. I love watermelon. I eat it almost every day during the summer and I never get sick of it. There is nothing better than cutting into a big, juicy, red watermelon. It is the perfect cool-down treat. 

I enjoy eating watermelon plain but when I saw Bev Weidner’s recipe for Watermelon Spritzers with Honey and Lemon, I knew I had to save some of our watermelon to make these pretty drinks. 

To make the watermelon spritzers, you will need: watermelon, lemons, honey, seltzer water, and fresh mint or lemon balm. We used mint because we have a forest of mint growing in our backyard!

First, juice the lemons. 

Next, cut up the watermelon into chunks. 

Place the watermelon, lemon juice and honey into a food processor. 

Process all of the ingredients together until smooth.

Strain the mixture into a large bowl, pressing the juice out of any seeds or pulp that remains in the strainer.

Pour the juice into a large pitcher and chill until you’re ready to drink.

Serve with a splash of seltzer water and mint or lemon balm. 

Sip away! 

If you are looking for an easy and refreshing summer drink, you have to try these. They are perfect for summer barbecues, pool parties, or everyday sipping. They are family-friendly, but if you want to get a little crazy, you can add a little alcohol to the mix. Adults only though! 

I love serving thesen. They are simple to make and I love the bright color. Plus, our guests always ask for the recipe. They want in on the drink of the summer! Well, good thing the recipe is not a secret! Thanks Bev for sharing your fabulous drink recipe! Watermelon Spritzers are going to be flowing at our house all summer long. Make sure you visit Bev’s blog, Bev Cooks, for other fresh, simple, and tasty recipes. Cheers! 

Printable Recipe

Watermelon Spritzers with Lemon and Honey

by Bev Weidner on May 25, 2012 in Drinks, Non-Alcoholic May 25, 2012 DrinksNon-Alcoholic

See post on Bev Weidner’s site!

5.00 Mitt(s) 1 Rating(s)

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: -

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 6

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Make these as is, or add some alcohol! Yeah, do that.

Ingredients

• 2-½ pounds Fresh Watermelon (seedless If You Can Find It), Rind Removed And Cut Into Cubes
• 3 whole Lemons (seedless If You Can Find It), Juiced
• 2 Tablespoons Honey
• 2 cups Chilled Seltzer Water (more Or Less)
• 6 sprigs Lemon Balm Or Mint, For Garnish (optional!)

Preparation Instructions

Place the watermelon, lemon juice and honey into a food processor. Process until smooth.

Strain the mixture into a large bowl, pressing the juice out of any seeds or pulp that remains in the strainer.

Pour the juice into a large pitcher and chill until you’re ready to drink.

Serve with a splash of seltzer water and lemon balm or mint, if using.

 
 
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Maria and her husband Josh (who she affectionately refers to as her “dough boy”) blog at Two Peas and Their Pod. They’ve been featured on Saveur, Eatocracy, Gourmet Live, Glamour, and the Los Angeles Times, to name just a few. They’d also just recently added a little pea to their pod. We’re so glad to have them here!

 
I’m a sucker for anything with pulled pork. When I first stumbled onto this recipe for Sweet Pulled Pork Tacos with Avocado Cream Sauce from TK member 4littlefergusons, my heart literally skipped a beat. Pulled pork tacos with an avocado cream sauce? Heck yes! As the self-proclaimed queen of all things avocado I knew that I had to try this recipe immediately.

I whipped up these tacos and avocado sauce for a girls night in a few weeks ago and every single person gobbled them up. There were even leftovers that my fiancé devoured the next day. Basically, here’s the bottom line: you need these tacos in your life asap!

Here’s the drill.

Start with a little bit of your favorite salsa.

You’ll also need some roasted green chiles.

Throw some cooked black beans into a little bowl.

A touch of brown sugar is needed, too! This is what’s going to give the tacos a hint of sweetness.

And lastly, grab some salt.

Throw all the above ingredients into your slow cooker. Give them a good mix to evenly distribute all the flavors.

Cube up a piece of pork butt/shoulder. You can cut off some of the excess fat and then trim the pieces into 1 ½ inch pieces. Add the pork to the slow cooker and turn it on. You can forget about the pork for a few hours while it does its thing. And trust me, it’s going to be delicious.

Now let’s prepare the life-changing avocado cream sauce. Start by slicing up some scallions.

You’re going to need 2 avocados too.

Combine the avocados and scallions in a little mixing bowl.

Add a dollop or two (or three) of sour cream.

Toss in some lime juice and salt.

Add the cilantro.

Mash everything together until you have a creamy consistency and then set the sauce aside. If you are going to be eating in a few hours, cover the sauce with a piece of plastic wrap and refrigerate it.

Once the pork is done, take a few spoonfuls and place them into a warmed corn tortilla. Throw in a few cherry tomatoes for good measure and then top it with as much avocado cream sauce as you want. Serve it up and prepare to be wowed!

You guys, this dish is kind of-life changing. Like, you should absolutely make it in the next 24 hours. Trust me!

A huge thank you to Tonya from 4 Little Fergusons for sharing such an awesome recipe! This one is absolutely going to the weekly dinner rotation. Happy cooking!

Note: Credit goes to The Meal Planner for the brilliant idea of combining Jamie Cooks It Up’s Sweet Cafe Rio Pork and Ellie Krieger’s Avocado Cream.

Printable Recipe

Sweet Pulled Pork Tacos with Avocado Cream Sauce

by 4littleFergusons on June 14, 2011 in Main Courses, Pork June 14, 2011 Main CoursesPork

See post on 4littleFergusons’s site!

5.00 Mitt(s) 1 Rating(s)

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cook Time: 8 hrs

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 12

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If you like cilantro, this is the dinner for you! Fresh, easy and oh-so delicious!

Ingredients

• FOR THE SWEET PULLED PORK:
• 2 cups Your Favorite Salsa
• 4 ounces, weight Canned Green Chilies
• ¼ cups Packed Brown Sugar
• 15 ounces, weight Black Beans, Rinsed And Drained
• 3 pounds Pork Shoulder Roast (or Loin Roast Is Fine, Just Pricer)
• Kosher Salt
• FOR THE AVOCADO CREAM SAUCE:
• 4 whole Green Onions, Sliced
• 2 whole Avocados
• 4 Tablespoons Lime Juice
• 2 Tablespoons Sour Cream
• ¼ cups Snipped Cilantro
• 4 cloves Minced Garlic
• 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• FOR THE TOPPINGS:
• Stand And Stuff Taco Shells
• Shredded Lettuce
• 4 whole Green Onions, Sliced
• Cherry Tomatoes, To Serve

Preparation Instructions

For the pulled pork, in the bottom of a large crock pot, mix salsa, green chilies, brown sugar and black beans. Add the pork roast (salted with Kosher salt) and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4-6 hours. Take the meat out of the crockpot and shred with 2 forks. Return to the pot and mix with the sauce and beans. Leave the lid off as you continue making supper to cook away some of the juices.

To make the avocado cream sauce, slice green onions and mash the avocados. Add lime, sour cream, snipped cilantro, garlic and salt.

To serve, scoop sweet pork into a baked hard shell. Top with a dollop of avocado cream sauce and shredded lettuce and green onions. Serve with cherry tomatoes on the side.

Dig into these fresh, easy, delicious tacos! Yum!

Note: My only complaint was that if I made 2 tacos at the same time, the second taco shell got soggy while it waited. Just an FYI, not a deal breaker!

Recipe credit: Sweet Pulled Pork recipe from Jamie Cooks It Up and Avocado Cream recipe from Ellie Krieger of Food Network. The idea to combine both recipes comes from The Meal Planner, via Laughter and Lattes.

 
 
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Gaby Dalkin is the young lady behind What’s Gaby Cooking, a food blog that’s bursting at the seams with incredible recipes and food photography. She’s a personal chef and professional recipe developer, and if you follow her on Twitter, you’ll soon discover her two-fold obsession: guacamole and cheese. She has small feet, a large heart, and a smile that can light up the whole building. We’re pretty stoked to have her here.

 
If I were to choose only one meal I could have forever it would probably be a salad with all the toppings that I want. This Wedge Salad by Tasty Kitchen member Lindsay was just that: lovely greens topped with crunchy, salty, sweet, creamy goodness.

To make it you will need: blue cheese, bacon, shallots, Greek yogurt, buttermilk, iceberg lettuce (or romaine will also work nicely), red and white wine vinegar (or in my case, sherry vinegar), mayonnaise, cherry tomatoes (I used a big juicy ripe one), and flour. Also, chives would be nice for a garnish if you have them handy.

You’ll start by rendering the bacon in a pan over medium heat, letting all of the fat bubble until the bacon becomes crisp on both sides. Then you’ll remove the bacon to a paper towel and save the fat in the pan.

Next thinly slice your shallots and separate the rings.

Give your lettuce a rinse and pat it dry. Lindsay used a nice wedge of iceberg, but since I happen to love romaine, I just took off the inner leaves and layered them on top of each other. It had a nice crispness the way iceberg would. Go wild with your lettuce I say!

Dice your tomato. A medley of grape or cherry tomatoes would be nice here, simply cut in half. Or if you have a big tomato, give it a nice bite-sized dice.

Toss your shallot rings into a bit of flour.

Get your bacon fat hot again and drop in the shallots to let them fry.

Keep turning them so they cook evenly and are nice and brown.

Add them to the paper towel with the bacon and as they cool, they will crisp up more.

Start dressing the salad! Add the tomatoes, blue cheese, and crumble the bacon in your hands and sprinkle it over the lettuce.

Then add your crispy shallots all over.

Next you’ll make your dressing, which is a lovely dressing to have on hand should you decide to make a larger batch in advance. Start by combining mayonnaise and Greek yogurt.

Then a bit of buttermilk.

Then a sprinkle of blue cheese.

Then your vinegar. Lindsay used red and white wine vinegar but I happen to love this sherry vinegar I had on hand so I threw in a dash of that. Lindsay also added a bit of sugar, which you could do as well if it suits your taste buds. You can play here.

Mix it all up with a spoon and drizzle it onto your salad.

It is creamy and delicious and crunchy and otherworldly.

It’s a perfect meal when you’re dining solo on a summer afternoon. Or any day of the week or time of the year. I would eat this all the time.

Thanks so much to Lindsay for sharing this with us! Check out her website Perfecting the Pairing for other tasty treats.

Printable Recipe

Wedge Salad

by Lindsay on May 30, 2012 in Salads May 30, 2012 Salads

See post on Lindsay’s site!

5.00 Mitt(s) 1 Rating(s)

Prep Time: -

Cook Time: -

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 6

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The retro wedge salad is upgraded with a homemade blue cheese dressing and crispy shallots.

Ingredients

• FOR THE SALAD:
• 6 strips Bacon
• Oil, For Frying
• 8 whole Shallots, Sliced Into Rings
• ¼ cups Flour
• Salt To Taste
• 1 head Iceberg Lettuce, Cut Into Wedges
• 1 pint Grape Tomatoes, Halved
• FOR THE DRESSING:
• 2 ounces, weight High Quality Blue Cheese, Crumbled
• ¼ cups Plain Greek Yogurt (light Or Fat Free Is Fine)
• ¼ cups Plus 2 Tablespoons Of Low Fat Buttermilk
• ¼ cups Mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon White Wine Vinegar
• ½ teaspoons Red Wine Vinegar
• ½ teaspoons Sugar
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• Pepper To Taste
• 1 Tablespoon Minced Chives

Preparation Instructions

Fry bacon in a skillet over medium heat until crispy. Drain bacon on paper towels. When cool enough to handle, crumble it and set aside.

Add 1 inch of oil to a pan, heat over high heat. Toss the shallot rings with flour until coated. Once the oil is hot, add one shallot to test the temperature, it should start bubbling immediately. If the oil is hot, add the remaining shallots and fry until golden. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and transfer to a plate lined with paper towels. Season generously with salt while still warm.

For the dressing, in a small bowl, add the blue cheese, yogurt, buttermilk, mayonnaise and vinegars. Mix until combined. Stir in the sugar, salt, pepper and chives. You can also use store-bought dressing if time is short.

To serve, place a wedge of lettuce on the plate, top with tomatoes, crumbled bacon, blue cheese dressing and crispy shallots.

 
 
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There’s so much to say about Georgia, we don’t know where to start. Leaving Wall Street for the French Culinary Institute, followed by a stint at the Gramercy Tavern and La Chassagnette in France, her passion for food and food traditions are evident and inspiring. Visit her site at Georgia Pellegrini, where you’ll find more recipes, photos, learn all about her wonderful books Girl Hunter and Food Heroes, and enjoy her latest adventures.

 
I love homemade salad dressing, but for some odd reason, never make it! Then, after having dinner at a friend’s house a few weeks ago where I tasted the most delicious homemade dressing that she just whipped up a few minutes before the meal, I got inspired. I was ready.

Good salad dressing really does “make” the salad, plus it’s super easy! I mean, it only takes five minutes, if that! In the time it would take you to find good bottled dressing in the grocery store and make it through the check-out lane, you could have your own homemade dressing already on the table.

So, after eating at my friend’s house, I came home and searched Tasty Kitchen for simple, homemade salad dressings. This Fresh Ginger Dressing by afarmgirlsdabbles immediately caught my eye! It’s absolutely addictive and turns regular ol’ salads into something magical. Try it and taste for yourself!

I told you it’s super easy! All you need to make this dressing is vegetable oil, rice vinegar, salt, pepper, honey and fresh ginger, of course.

If you don’t like using fresh ginger because it’s a pain to peel, allow me to share with you this little secret a chef I used to work with taught me, and that is using a spoon to peel the ginger! Just lightly scrape the thin skin off with the edge of a spoon and it comes right off. It makes all those crevices much easier to peel. Once you do the spoon trick, you’ll never go back. Trust me on this.

To make the dressing, just put all the ingredients together in a pint-sized jar and shake, shake, shake!

Keep. On. Shaking!

Now you have your own sweet and spicy ginger dressing. It tastes just like the kind from my favorite Thai restaurant in Florida.


The recipe says that this dressing will stay fresh in your fridge for a week in a Mason jar. I’ll definitely be making this all summer long! Thanks for the lovely recipe, Brenda (who shared it from her grandma’s recipe box!). Have you visited her blog A Farm Girl’s Dabbles yet? You must. You simply must.

Printable Recipe

Fresh Ginger Dressing

by afarmgirlsdabbles on May 7, 2012 in Salad Dressings, Salads May 7, 2012 Salad DressingsSalads

See post on afarmgirlsdabbles’s site!

3.67 Mitt(s) 3 Rating(s)

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: -

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 10

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Sweet and full of zing, this fresh and easy ginger dressing promises to be your go-to salad topper of the summer!

Ingredients

• ½ cups Vegetable Oil
• ½ cups Rice Vinegar (or Regular White Vinegar)
• ⅓ cups Honey
• 1 Tablespoon Grated Fresh Ginger
• Pinch Of Kosher Salt
• ⅛ teaspoons Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Preparation Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a pint jar and shake vigorously. That’s it! Serve with your favorite fresh greens. Keeps well in the refrigerator for 1 week.

Adapted from my Grandma Renelt’s recipe box, one of my favorite recipes in all the world.

 
 
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Jenna is a food writer who has worked as a pastry chef and bread baker. Her blog Eat, Live, Run has great recipes, travel stories, and the perfect slogan: “Celebrating life, one crumb at a time.”

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  One of the joys of late spring and early summer is the abundance of rhubarb at the markets and in my neighbors’ backyards. Okay, those neighbors haven’t actually offered to share their rhubarb with me yet, but perhaps I could bribe them with a couple of rhubarb desserts or, better yet, one of these […]