Tag Archives: Kristin Marin

MAH JONGG WEDNESDAY RECIPES

As promised, here are the recipes from our most recent and very fun Mah Jongg Wednesday.

First, from my favorite chef, the Barefoot Contessa’s Lemon Drop Cocktails:

LEMON DROP COCKTAIL
Serves 6

2 cups frozen vodka
1/2 cup superfine sugar
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 lemon, thinly sliced

Combine the vodka, lemon juice, and sugar and pour into a cocktail shaker with ice. Pour into martini glasses and garnish with lemon.Attachment

For our lunch I made a chopped salad inspired by Joe Trama, the executive chef at Grace’s Marketplace.

YUMMY CHOPPED SALAD
Serves 6

Romaine lettuce
Garbanzo beans
Cherry tomatoes
Cucumber
Kalamata olives (buy the ones without pits)
Feta cheese
Red onion (optional – I don’t use this ingredient)
2 Chicken breasts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Wash and dry the chicken breasts and then rub them with olive oil. Sprinkle with Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Place them on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet and cook for 35 – 40 minutes.

Once the chicken breasts have cooled enough to handle, remove the skin and dice the breasts into bite-sized pieces.IMG_1563Shred the romaine lettuce and place in a large bowl. Add the Garbanzo beans and pitted Kalamata olives.IMG_1557IMG_1560Cut the cherry tomatoes in half, length-wise.IMG_1559Cut the cucumber into small diced pieces.IMG_1561If you decide to add red onion, dice it up into small pieces and add to the bowl.

Break up the feta cheese. IMG_1562Add the chicken pieces and dress with a balsamic dressing. IMG_1564I don’t season this dressing as the olives and the feta are very salty. I put salt and pepper on the table and let everyone add them to their own taste.

YUM!!!IMG_1567Dessert was a variation of a Barefoot Contessa creation. The night before the luncheon I made her fabulous Raspberry Sauce:

BAREFOOT CONTESSA’S RASPBERRY SAUCE

1 half-pint package fresh raspberries 
                                                                                                     1/3 cup granulated sugar 
                                                                                                                          1/4 cup water 
                                                                                                                                                 1 cup (12 ounces) seedless raspberry jam (if you can’t find seedless raspberry jam, pour the sauce through a sieve before chilling)                                                                                                         1 tablespoon Framboise liqueur

Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 4 minutes.
Pour the cooked raspberries, the jam, and Framboise into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and process until smooth.
Chill.

When it was time for dessert I scooped Talenti Tahitian Vanilla Bean gelato into a bowl, added raspberries and blueberries, and then topped it all with that fabulous raspberry sauce. I usually serve some biscotti with this dessert but today we had those amazing Kristin Marin Mah Jongg cookies. Plus, S1 brought some AMAZING Dulce de Leche cookies – also known as Alfajores – and S2 brought some delicious miniature Madeleines.IMG_1569IMG_1571

MAH JONGG WEDNESDAY IS BACK CHEZ MOI!

After a long absence from my hosting the OMs on Mah Jongg Wednesday, we came back here yesterday for one of our most fun MJ days ever! The day started out right away with Lemon Drop cocktails (recipes tomorrow). Perhaps we should have had lunch first but…what the heck!IMG_1566S1 enjoying a (very strong) Lemon Drop cocktail!

We finally sat down for lunch, eating lots of salad and drinking lots of cocktails. Note the gorgeous peonies in the background that K brought back for me from her vacation home in the beautiful countryside of Pennsylvania.IMG_1567Finally it was time to get down to Mah Jongg. But could it have been possible that we may have had just a few more Lemon Drops than necessary for proper game play? K actually had to take a time out for a nap! Ummm…note the Lemon Drop cocktail on the coffee table, just waiting for her to wake up. IMG_1568We continued our game play while we patiently waited for K to finally wake from her beauty sleep because…we were also celebrating her birthday…IMG_1569 IMG_1570And finally…those of you who are frequent readers of this blog might remember back to approximately one year ago when I received a gorgeous gift of six MAGNIFICENT Mah Jongg cookies from Kristin Marin. At that time I wrote:  From the amazingly talented Kristin Marin, the owner and cookie designer of Suga Me Sweet, came these breathtakingly beautiful cookies. And they are big, too – lots of bites of deliciousness in each cookie! Her enclosed business card proclaims, “Almost too pretty to eat!” and I must agree. They look absolutely yummy but they are so gorgeous that I think I am going to freeze them and save them for special gifts for my Mah Jongg students on the last day of class. Or perhaps I will serve them to the OMs when I host our lunch and game play on the 15th of this month. Or, maybe  – probably – I will just keep them for my myself!  OMG, I am so excited about these cookies – Kristin, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

Well, I did freeze them instead of eating them myself; every time I opened the freezer drawer I saw those gorgeous goodies calling out to me but I somehow maintained my self-control. I decided to finally bring them out for my dear OMs and, believe it or not, after a year of being stored – carefully and thoroughly wrapped – in my freezer, those cookies were still fresh-tasting, delicious, and incredibly gorgeous. Kristin – you are amazing! To contact Kristin, call 303-374-4577 or send an email to her at suga@sugamesweet.com. You can also follow her blog at https://sugamesweet.wordpress.comIMG_1571

ALMOST TOO PRETTY TO EAT!

Oh, boy – look what just came in the mail (and perfectly wrapped, I might add):

IMG_0697From the amazingly talented Kristin Marin, the owner and cookie designer of Suga Me Sweet, came these breathtakingly beautiful cookies. And they are big, too – lots of bites of deliciousness in each cookie! Her enclosed business card proclaims, “Almost too pretty to eat!” and I must agree. They look absolutely yummy but they are so gorgeous that I think I am going to freeze them and save them for special gifts for my Mah Jongg students on the last day of class. Or perhaps I will serve them to the OMs when I host our lunch and game play on the 15th of this month. Or, maybe  – probably – I will just keep them for my myself!  OMG, I am so excited about these cookies – Kristin, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

And, if you would like to order cookies from Kristin, here is her information. It is really hot out there this week and yet these cookies arrived in perfect condition so there is no need to worry that they will be spoiled by the shipping. Kristin really knows how to package these babies. These are the PERFECT gift for any occasion and for any Mah Jongg player!

card

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