Dessert Ready in a Prosecco

This week I am pulling back the curtain on this post.  It is going to be solely authored by me, Rhonda.  No “we” or “us” as I narrate this post.  I am just going to own it and go for it on my own.  Don’t worry, Craig will be back next week. 😉

With that direct candor out of the way, I am excited to share an oldie that has been twisted up a bit —  Prosecco Summer Dessert.  This dessert has been around for awhile.  I am not going to lie.  It is close to the perfect dessert for late summer.  During these hot, hot days of summer, who wants to turn on the oven to prepare a dessert?  Not me!  The good news is that with this tasty gem, you don’t have to add any extra heat to your house.  In fact, this recipe is so easy that my 16 and 17-year-old sons could make it!

This dessert is a faithful go-to when headed to a potluck or special occasion.  In fact, earlier this summer I took this dessert to a gathering that also had Nothin’ Bundt Cakes.  Many of us cannot resist choosing those cute, yummy bundtinis when passing through the food line.  However, I must profess that at the end of the dinner my serving bowl was EMPTY and there were still some bundt cakes left.  How is that for a crowd pleaser?

To make this dessert you need only a few simple ingredients: fresh strawberries, angel food cake (I purchase mine from the store), a box of instant vanilla pudding, a container of cool whip, milk and a mini-bottle of prosecco.  You can also add other fresh fruit, such as, blueberries, blackberries or kiwi.

This dessert can and usually is made sans the prosecco.  I got the idea for adding prosecco to this recipe when I made Strawberry Prosecco Cake this spring.  The cake soaks up the prosecco and adds to the overall yumminess factor.

First, cut the angel food cake into bite size cubes.  Slice your strawberries and other fruit.  Set aside.  Make the package of vanilla pudding according to directions.  Blend the container of cool whip into the vanilla pudding.

For this recipe I purchased a small bottle of prosecco.  These little bottles come in very handy.  As you know I have quite an affinity for Aperol Spritzes, but I don’t want to open a full bottle of prosecco each time.  These small bottles are perfect to keep on hand for recipes, such as this.

Place a layer of angel food cake in a large glass serving bowl or trifle bowl.  Pour a small amount of prosecco over the layer of cake.  Top the cake layer with strawberries and other fruit.  Pour a layer of the vanilla pudding mixture over the cake and berries.  Continue layering the ingredients for 2-3 layers.  Garnish the top with fresh berries.  Place in a refrigerator until ready to serve.

If you are viewing this post via email, visit us at www.theblindpig.blog for a complete printable recipe of Prosecco Summer Dessert.

Try out this easy, tasty, fresh recipe.  I am sure that it will quickly become one of your hosting secrets!

 

100th Post! Rosa Spritz

Rosa Spritz picThis week’s post is TBPBlog’s 100th Post!  We are celebrating our special post with a continuation of our February series “Roses are Red…”, and a toast of a little bubbly with a delicious rosa twist.

The Rosa Spritz is the perfect cocktail for February.  We’ve had this idea for quite some time, but we wanted to save this cocktail for a special post. With “love in the air” and reaching our 100th post, we thought this was the ideal moment. Want to surprise your sweetheart with a unique cocktail that shows just how much you value her love?  The Rosa Spritz is just what you need.

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The main ingredient in the Rosa Spritz is Malfy Gin Rosa.  We’ve shared Rosa’s sisters with you in past posts like, A Spritz of Spring, and Jingle Gin Punch.  The Malfy Rosa: Sicilian Pink Grapefruit Gin has a hint of grapefruit flavor with a beautiful blush rose’ color.  The combination of the Malfy Rosa and some bubbling prosecco makes for a beautiful romantic cocktail to serve your sweetheart for Valentine’s Day.

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Making the Rosa Spritz is so easy.  You need only 1.5 ounces of Malfy Rosa.  Top off with chilled prosecco and garnish with a wedge of grapefruit or a rose petal.

When we first started The Blind Pig Blog, we wondered if we could find enough ideas to reach out to our readers each week with a new recipe or idea to share.  Now upon reaching the century mark, it is evident that not only do we have enough ideas, but the more ideas we generate, the more that we uncover.  Thank you for taking the time to reach out, comment, share, recruit other readers, and for all of your support of our tiny corner of the internet!  Cheers!

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Disclaimer:  The beverages on this site are meant for adults 21 years of age and older.  We do not condone underage drinking, and never drink and drive.

 

New Year’s Eve Treat: Holiday Cheese Spread

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Our Christmas was filled with laughter, cheer and lots of good drinks and food.  In fact, we probably partook in a little too much good food, but we just couldn’t help ourselves!  Rhonda made Merry Margaritas and Jingle Gin Punch on Christmas Eve, and Christmas Morning Bread to kick off the day.  We loved hearing from many of you through Facebook and texts that tried out Golden Mint Crinkles and Yum Rum Balls.  Now we are getting back into our exercise routines and regular life.  However, there is another great food and beverage holiday lurking around the corner — NYE!  What are your plans for the big evening?  In the past we have hosted a fun  casino party and served our Pineapple Infused Vodka, but this year we are ringing in 2019 quietly at home.

Whether you are hosting a rocking evening or headed out to ring in the new year with friends, we have a quick and easy holiday appetizer that you can serve:  Holiday Cheese Spread. This spread only looks complicated and tastes even better.  Your friends and family will be very surprised that you whipped this up in a matter of ten minutes.

We adapted this recipe from a recipe we found on www.foodnetwork.com.   You will need a pound of cheddar cheese cut into chunks, softened cream cheese, prosecco (oh bummer!), parsley, nutmeg, red pepper, pecans and dried cranberries.

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Place the cheeses, prosecco, parsley, nutmeg and red pepper in a food processor.  Process until smooth.  Spoon into a bowl.  Mix in cranberries and pecans.  Cover and chill.  We refrigerated ours for a couple of hours so the flavors could blend.

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Place in a serving bowl and voila!  Now you have an easy tasty fresh appetizer for your holiday party.  We served ours with French bread slices for our photos.  Later we ate the remaining spread with crackers.  We preferred it with crackers, but you can also serve it with fresh veggies.

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The cranberries and pecans give the spread a more decadent and festive look, and you can drink the rest of the prosecco as you wish! (wink)

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If you are viewing this post in your email, visit us at http://www.theblindpig.blog for a printable version of the recipe for Holiday Cheese Spread.

If you are planning your NYE, here are some other great ideas for New Year’s Drinks:

Midnight Spice

Merry Margarita

Aperol Spritz

Boulevardier

Cranberry Rum Slush

French 75

Gin and Tonic

Jingle Gin Punch

Pineapple Infused Vodka

Rojo

Zaya Manhattan

Have a safe and happy New Year’s Eve!  We will see you in 2019!

   

Disclaimer:  The beverages on this site are meant for adults 21 years of age and older.  We do not condone underage drinking and never drink and drive.

Please Pass the … Peas?

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It’s so close to Thanksgiving and we have so much to be thankful for here at The Blind Pig Blog.  First and foremost we are incredibly thankful for all of the blessings we have received this past year. Of course, Blind Piglets #1, 2 and 3 top off the list!  We were reflecting on some of our blessings the other night.  It is such a shame that we live in such a fast paced world, that we are often focused on the next big thing instead of taking time to reflect and have gratitude.  Another thing that we are very grateful for, as corny as it may sound, is all of our wonderful subscribers.  We are so happy that you take time out of your lives each week to read our silly little blog and try out some of our flights of fancy.  With that said, we are always welcome to more and more subscribers!  Please use one of the subscriber buttons on our website and encourage friends and family to join us each week.  We have many more fun recipes and concoctions to share with you through the holidays.

When you saw the title of today’s blog post, you may have thought, “Peas? Yuck!” (That’s what Craig thought.  More on that in a bit.)  We want you to hear us out.  We discovered this recipe on the The Food Network website.  It is a recipe originally created by Giada De Laurentiis, which is why it caught Rhonda’s eye (and of course the fact that it has bubbly prosecco as an ingredient).

Craig unfortunately was not raised with good peas.  What we mean by that is that his mother made only canned, soggy peas for dinner.  He hated peas so much that they were often the last thing on his plate.  His mother would not let him leave the dinner table until his peas were eaten.  Luckily, his mother had a huge fern next to the kitchen table.  Craig, being the opportunist that he is, would scrape his peas into the potted plant when no one was looking. That is some serious pea issues to bring into adulthood.  Fast forward a few decades and Rhonda is trying to convinced Craig that Prosecco Peas are not his mother’s peas.

Why now?  Why peas?  When we discovered this recipe, we decided that it would make an easy, tasty and fresh side dish for Thanksgiving.  Keep on reading to the end for more tasty Thanksgiving suggestions.

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To make Procecco Peas, you will need a few simple ingredients.  This is where our recipe diverges from Giada’s.  We are sure her peas are quite delicious, but if the ingredients are not easy to find at our local Kroger, it is not going to make it on our table very often at mealtime.  Are we right?  You will need 4 ounces of bacon, sweet onion, a bag of frozen peas, fresh mint leaves, freshly grated parmesan, salt and prosecco.  Stay with us. We are aware that the ingredients sound like an unusual combo, but the final product is delish!

First you cook the bacon in a large skillet.  Drain off most of the fat.  Next add the onions to the pan and cook until soft.  Stir in the peas and cook until heated through.  Raise the heat to high and add the mint, salt and parmesan.  Toss to combine.  Add the prosecco and remove the pan from heat.  Stir until everything is evenly combined.  That’s it!

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The bacon, prosecco and touch of cheese give these peas a delicious flavor.  The bacon provides a nice complement to a turkey or ham dinner.  If you make this for your Thanksgiving meal, you will be hearing lots of, “Please pass the peas.”

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If you are viewing this post in your email and would like a printable recipe.  Please visit us at http://www.theblindpig.blog.

As promised, we have some other great recipes that you might like to use during the Thanksgiving holiday.

Beverage Ideas:

3 Hot Chocolates with a Twist    

Gold Medal Coffee

Golden Pumpkin Spiced Martini

Midnight Spice

Breakfast Ideas:

Angry Orchard Bread

Easy Pumpkin Beer Bread

Zaya Banana Bread

Kerrygold Cinnamon Rolls

Kerrygold French Toast

Sides:

Prosecco Peas

Autumn Salad

Snacks:

Salted Whiskey Caramel Corn

Desserts:

Templeton Pecan Pie

Wishing you a wonderful, safe Thanksgiving holiday!

    

 

 

A Better Aperol Spritz

aperol spritzHello Friends!  How was your week?  We have been busy around The Blind Pig Headquarters searching and trying out a lot of new recipes to share with you!  However, before we move on to something new, we wanted to share a classic cocktail with you that we feel we have actually made a little bit better.

Remember a couple of months ago when we went to California for a much needed anniversary trip?  We stayed at our friend Mike’s house and he offered to make us an Aperol Spritz.  Normally, Rhonda perks up at anything with the name of spritz because she knows it contains prosecco or something else bubbly and delicious.  However, Rhonda has tried Aperol Spritz’s in the past.  They were all the rage when she visited Blind Piglet #1 in London last spring.  This classic cocktail has been a little bit heavy on the Aperol side, which takes some acquired taste.  However, Mike’s Aperol Spritz was very drinkable and delicious.  So Mike shared his secret sauce with us!

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To make an Aperol Spritz you need: Aperol, chilled prosecco, and olives in saltwater.  What is Aperol?  Aperol is an apertif made in Italy.  It has a bitterness to it — thus why Rhonda did not like the flavor. The olives we used were purchased at Whole Foods.  You want to make sure to splurge and buy some higher end olives to round out the bitterness of the Aperol.  And while you’re at it — toss in more than one.

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Place a large cube of ice in your glass.  It is very trendy to now serve an Aperol Spritz in a large cabernet wine glass.  Since it is a classic cocktail it also has a distinct appeal in a rocks glass — especially when you use a large block of ice.  Next pour in a ounce and half of Aperol over the ice.  Pour 2 ounces of chilled prosecco over the Aperol.  Finish with an olive or two.  Sip and Savor.  If the Aperol is too strong for your taste, just add a little more prosecco to your glass.

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If you are viewing this  post in your email. Visit us at theblindpig.blog for a printable recipe.

Will you enjoy a classic Aperol Spritz this weekend?  We would love to hear about it!

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A special shout out to some of our new subscribers!  We are glad you stopped by.  If you are new around here, make sure to check out these popular posts.

Blog Index

Six Great Drinks for Fall

The Easiest Bread You’ll Ever Make

Pecan  Whiskey Ice Cream

   

Disclaimer:  Beverages on this site are meant for adults 21 years of age and older.  We do not condone underage drinking, and never drink and drive.

 

World Cup Fever: French 75

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Today we are sharing our final post in our series for the World Cup.  Three fifths of The Blind Pig household was in mourning after the England/Croatia match up this week.  We were hoping that we would be sharing another version of a gin and tonic with you for our finale post.  However, for those of you that do not follow World Cup soccer, France and Croatia made it into the finals.

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Photo by Blind Piglet #2.  He’s such a great photographer!

The Blind Pig family are fans of the French.  We visited France in 2015 had a wonderful experience.  You gotta love those Nutella crepes!

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Since we do not know of any great Croatian cocktails to share with you, which we are sure there are many, we are going to share the French 75 with you this week.  The French 75, or also known as Soixane Quince by the French,  is an easy, tasty, and fresh recipe that is made with gin, simple syrup, lemon juice and sparkling white wine.  It is the perfect drink to serve as a refreshing summer beverage or after dinner with a dessert.  Beware, since the drink is mainly gin and sparkling wine, it can sneak up on you quickly.

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If you are reading this post via email, visit our website for a printable version of the recipe.

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Will you watch the World Cup finals on Sunday or will you just have a French 75 and call it a day?  Give it a try.  We would love to know what you think about it.

  

Disclaimer:  The beverages on this site are meant for adults 21 years of age and older.  We do not condone underage drinking, and never drink and drive.