Enchilada Dinner, Quick and Easy

It’s a holiday weekend, and I’m taking a holiday from standing around too long in the kitchen preparing dinner. Here is an easy (and cheaters) way to prepare Enchiladas for my honey and daughter. Of course my daughter won’t eat until “later, mom” because she’s got places to go and people to see. Ah, to be so young and so energetic. But, we’ve all been there and done that. It’s time to relax and enjoy. So make dinner easy on yourself, but still make it sensational.

I prepared two kinds of enchiladas (I guess just to ease my guilty conscience). I did it the “Sandra Lee” way, the Semi-Homemade way. I used the Old El Paso brand of enchilada sauce instead of making my own. The last chile colorado (red chile sauce) I had in the freezer went to making the Chile Colorado Stew a couple of weeks ago. But my enchiladas were still good. I like the Old El Paso brand. NO, I’m not getting paid to say that. There are some of their products I would not use, like the dinner taco kit or their beans. But their enchilada sauce is acceptable, besides it’s named after my city. What can I say? General Mills has good taste in picking brand names. So, I hope you guys have a wonderful 3-day weekend. Stay safe and enjoy life.

Red Picadillo Enchiladas

1-pound ground beef
½ onion, chopped small
1 large tomato, diced
1 dozen corn tortillas
1 can (10 ounces) Hot Old El Paso Red Enchilada Sauce
1-teaspoon cumin powder
1 package (8 ounce) shredded cheddar cheese
Oil for frying

In a teaspoon of oil, sauté your onion and tomato. Add ground beef and cook until no longer pink. Drain and set aside.
Warm up your enchilada sauce in a large skillet. Add 1 teaspoon of cumin to give it a slight smoky taste. Keep temperature on low.
In a separate smaller skillet, eat 2 tablespoons of oil. Get this hot but not smoking. Dip individual corn tortillas for 1 – 2 seconds and flip over. This will soften the tortillas and make it ready for the sauce. Immediately dip softened tortilla into the enchilada sauce and remove to a plate.
Spoon 2 tablespoons of prepared picadillo (cooked ground meat mixture) onto center of tortilla. Sprinkle some cheese on top and roll your enchilada. Place on a cookie sheet.
Continue until all 12 are done.
Pour remaining sauce over prepared enchiladas. Sprinkle remaining shredded cheddar over the top of enchiladas and bake for 15 minutes in a 350-degree oven. Serve warm.

Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

2 large cups cooked, shredded chicken. White meat or dark, your choice.
½ onion, minced
1 dozen corn tortillas
1 can Old El Paso Green Enchilada Sauce
1 package (8 ounce) shredded Mexican Cheese Blend
Oil for frying

Follow the directions as for the red enchiladas. Soften tortillas in hot oil, dip in sauce, spread with chicken, top with a few sprinkles of cheese and minced onion, roll and place on cookie sheet.
Pour remaining sauce on the enchiladas and sprinkle with remaining cheese.
Bake 15 minutes in 350-degree oven. Serve warm.

Now make some Spanish rice and a simple salad of iceberg lettuce, sliced tomatoes and sliced avocados and sit down at the table to eat with your family.

Now comes the easy part, let your better half clean up the kitchen. LOL.

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Mexican word of the day is: MUSHROOM
Orale vato, when me and my whole family get in the car, there's not too MUSHROOM.

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Please check out my new chocolate blog: Mexican Chocolate Lore and More. Let me know what you think about it and how I can make it even better for you. Muchas gracias mis amigos y amigas.

Fajitas

What are fajitas? Fajitas are strips of meat or chicken that started out being marinaded in lime juice and spices and then grilled to a medium rare perfection. Along with the chicken or beef, onion and peppers are grilled alongside to give the grilled meat it's exceptional flavor.

The fajitas are served with warm flour or corn tortillas, sour cream, salsa such as pico de gallo, and guacamole. It's a wonderful weekend meal prepared over the outdoor grill. Of course if it's raining or storming, grill the beef or chicken indoors over a grill pan. I love my grill pan. You can cook any cut of meat or chicken and attain the same beautiful grill marks made on your charcoal grill. So go ahead, marinade a couple of chicken breasts and a piece of skirt steak, or flank if you prefer. Make some guacamole, pico de gallo, and caramelize some onion slices. Grab a Corona beer, sit back and enjoy.

Tequila-Lime Marinated Fajitas

1 pound chicken breast
1 pound beef skirt (or flank)

Marinade
½ cup lime juice
½ cup tequila
1 tablespoon minced fresh jalapeños, seeds removed
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons oil, separated

Combine marinade ingredients and mix well. Place the meat into one 1-gallon size zip lock bag and the chicken into another. Pour half of the marinade into each bag. Squeezing out the air, zip each bag and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Use remaining oil to oil the grates of your barbecue grill. Get grill HOT. Grill quickly to a medium rare. Slice cuts of meat into thin strips and serve immediately.

If you are cooking up the fajitas indoors, cut the chicken breasts and skirt steak into thin strips before adding to a heated grill pan.

Heat large skillet (preferably cast iron) with 1 tablespoon oil. Cook meats (one at a time) discarding marinade. Cook 8 to 10 minutes for beef and 5 to 8 minutes for chicken.Serve hot with warm flour tortillas, guacamole, pico de gallo, sour cream and grilled onions. Serves approximately 4.

Aprovecho queridos amigos.

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Mexican Word of the Day: Chicken
My wife wanted me to go to the store, pero chicken go herself.
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Please check out my new chocolate blog: Mexican Chocolate Lore and More. Let me know what you think about it and how I can make it even better for you. Muchas gracias mis amigos y amigas.

Mariachi Music

So what do you do when you're cooking?? I listen to music. Today I wanted to hear mariachis, so I brought out my Mariachi Vargas CD and played "Son de la Negra" full blast.
Most of you know what mariachis are, but for those of you not familiar with this type of music, let me explain. I wrote this piece a while back explaining the origins of mariachi music. I hope you will enjoy reading it.

"EL MARIACHI"
There are varying opinions on the origins of the word Mariachi. One opinion is that the word comes from the French word mariage meaning marriage, where strolling musicians were hired to play and entertain. The word also refers to strolling musicians going from restaurant to restaurant or walking down the streets playing their music. In researching the word, I also found that the Coca Indians (1500's) of Mexico used the word mariachi to refer to any person that engaged in musical activities. Whatever the origin, the best definition for the word mariachi is Mexican Folk Musician.

Early in the history of the mariachi, before the 1930's, these musicians wore workmen's clothing of the time, white shirts and pants -calzones de manta- huaraches (sandals), and straw hats. They traveled around from hacienda to hacienda looking for work. After Gaspar Vargas, founder of Mariachi Vargas, went from Jalisco to Mexico City, mariachi music became much more popular in the urban areas of Mexico and their costumes changed. They now could be seen wearing the typical traje de charro, a Mexican horseman's outfit. This outfit consisted of a waist-length jacket, tightly fitted pants open slightly at the ankle to fit over short riding boots called botines, a wide rimmed sombrero, large bow tie and wide belt. The jacket and pants were and still are decorated with beautiful embroidery and silver buttons.

Historically, the instruments used by the mariachi were those introduced by the Spaniards. These consisted of guitars, vihuelas (violas), harps, and violins. With their widespread popularity, mariachis chose to expand their use of instruments to include the trumpet.

Mariachi music began its roots in the countryside. These strolling musicians played for fiestas including weddings, birthdays, religious and patriotic holidays, and sometimes even funerals. Las Mañanitas is a traditional tune played at birthday celebrations and saint days. They were often hired to play serenatas (serenades) during the rites of courtship, conveying messages of love. Mariachi music has also been incorporated into the Roman Catholic mass.

After Gaspar Vargas went to Mexico City with his mariachi group, mariachis could be found playing for legendary song writers and singers like Pedro Infante, Miguel Aceves Mejia, and Lola Beltran. Soon mariachi groups were contracted for motion pictures, giving rise to their popularity. Radio and television played their music of sones (like the son from Jalisco - La Negra) to zapateados, jarabes, and polkas.
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Of course, Mariachi Vargas aren't the only ones I listened to. I also pulled a CD by Linda Rondstadt called "Canciones de Mi Padre."
Linda went back to her roots several years ago and put together this CD of songs that were her father's favorites.


I've added a couple of you tube videos that you might enjoy. You don't have to listen if you don't want but I hope you do. The music will have you dancing and maybe even singing along.

So now you know what I do while I'm cooking.

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Please check out my new chocolate blog: Mexican Chocolate Lore and More. Let me know what you think about it and how I can make it even better for you. Muchas gracias mis amigos y amigas.

BEST BLOG DARTS THINKER - Award

I got this beautiful award from
My Household Capers!. Isn't it gorgeous. Thank you so much VG, you are so sweet and I really appreciate it. So now it's my turn to hand it over to two other worthy recipients. And the winners are...

Katie from:
Salt and Chocolate
Katie is a sweetie and I like her style of cooking, very down home style.

Alison from:
Betty Lives!
I like Alison's retro type blog. What can I say, I live in the past.

So, please, everyone, go on over to their blogs and congratulate them. Everyone deserves to be recognized and told how much we appreciate all their hard work on their blogs. All foodies are great in my opinion and everyone has something to share that we can learn from. So to everyone I say, thank you. I just prove that you're never too old to learn.

Please check out my new chocolate blog: Mexican Chocolate Lore and More. Let me know what you think about it and how I can make it even better for you. Muchas gracias mis amigos y amigas.

Piloncillo, Mexican Brown Sugar

Piloncillo is a block or cone shaped piece of unrefined sugar used in Mexico. It has been around for hundreds of years and is found in many recipes. One of these recipes is Capirotada, a traditional bread pudding made around the hoidays. The piloncillo is used for making the syrup, panocha syrup, that is drizzled over the bread pudding. It is also used in preparing Cafe de Olla, Mexican coffee. In this recipe, the piloncillo is mixed in with dark roasted coffee, cinammon, and maybe some anise seeds.

Piloncillo has a very high molasses content, therefore the color varies from light to dark brown. To produce it, sugar cane is crushed and the liquid boiled and poured into molds. These molds are either block shape or cone shape. When it dries, the cones are packaged and sold as Piloncillo. These are hard molds of sugar. To use it, you must either chisel it or grate it. But the taste is divine.

I woke up with a craving for Piloncillo bread that I used to buy at the Bowie Bakery, El Paso's finest in Mexican pastries. But alas, I couldn't get down there. But I did have some piloncillo on hand and decided to incorporate it into some brown sugar pound cake. Well, I just made myself a cup of coffee and sliced off a big old chunk of my Piloncillo bread. Life is good.

Brown Sugar Pound Cake

(Inspired by Martha Stewart recipes)

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp

3 cups sifted all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar

5 large eggs

3/4 cup buttermilk

1 cone piloncillo, chopped

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

Prepare 2 (8 x 4 inch) loaf pans by greasing and flouring.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time until well combined. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt. Alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk to butter/sugar/eggs mixture. Combine well. Fold in piloncillo pieces. Pour into two prepared pans. Bake for about an hour. Cool 10 minutes then turn out onto rack to cool completely.

I drizzled mine with a little powdered sugar/ milk combination. But you can leave yours plain if you like. Now make yourself a cup of coffe and enjoy.

Please check out my new chocolate blog: Mexican Chocolate Lore and More. Let me know what you think about it and how I can make it even better for you. Muchas gracias mis amigos y amigas.

Shrimp vs. Pasta, A Delicious Compromise

Here's a delicious way to compromise with your honey. He wants seafood, you're craving pasta. We combined the two dishes and I added Panzanella Salad made with bolillo cubes. We both ended up having a great weekend meal. That was on Sunday, because Saturday I had meat loaf and mashed potatoes in honor of the King - Elvis.

Ain't love grand? The art of compromise is what's kept us married for 20 years. We are so different from one another, that without the compromise, something would be totally lacking in our lives as individuals. Our distinct personalities make us a whole as husband and wife. He takes off where I leave off and vice versa (is that how you say that?). When life gets tough, we look at each other and say, " This too shall pass." It has made us stronger for each other and for our children. So compromising with what we cook is really a snap. I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as we did and don't forget to compromise with the one you love. You might end up with a delicious meal.

Grilled Shrimp in Garlic Butter Sauce over Angel Hair Pasta
serves 4 (three for Bob, one for me)

1 pound medium shrimp
1 (1 pound) package Angel Hair pasta
wooden skewers, soaked in water

Sauce:
1/2 cup (1 stick butter)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/3 cup white wine
2 tablespoons minced parsley (optional)
thinly sliced lemon slices (optional)

Prepare sauce by mixing all ingredients in small saucepan over medium-low heat. Bring to a simmer. Cook for 2 minutes and keep warm.

In a large pot of salted, boiling water, cook pasta according to directions.

While pasta is cooking, skewer shrimp in soaked wooden skewers. Soaking the skewers prevents them from burning on the grill.(I like to use a stove top grill pan when I'm not grilling a lot of food. It easy, convenient, and quick.Also leaves the grill marks that make food look temptingly delicious. But you can certainly use an outdoor grill just as well.)

Lightly brush the grill pan with olive oil to prevent shrimp from sticking to the grate. Heat grill pan to medium high heat. Lay the skewered shrimp on the pan and brush with sauce.Cook for about 3 minutes and turn shrimp over. Brush again with sauce. Cook another 3 minutes or until shrimp turn pink and are fully cooked.

Drain pasta and stir-in 1 tablespoon olive oil. Pour pasta onto large platter. Lay cooked shrimp on top of pasta. Drizzle with remaining sauce. Top with minced parsley and lemon slices.

Bolillo Salad

4 cups bolillo cubes
light olive oil
1 package mixed greens for salad
cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 bottle sun-dried tomato vinaigrette (I like to use Good Seasons)

Spread the cubed bolillo on a large baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil. In a 350 degree oven, toast the bread cubes until lightly browned. Put browned cubes in a large salad bowl. Toss with 1/2 cup vinaigrette. Add salad greens and halved cherry tomatoes. Serve with additional vinaigrette.

Please check out my new chocolate blog: Mexican Chocolate Lore and More. Let me know what you think about it and how I can make it even better for you. Muchas gracias mis amigos y amigas.

Elvis Has Left The Building!

Elvis Presley,
January 8, 1935 - August 16, 1977

Oh Lordy, was I ever crazy for Elvis. I still have all of his records (on CD of course) and listen to them when I get meloncholy.

This picture isn't Elvis though. His name is Norm Jones, an Elvis impersonator at the Graceland Chapel in Las Vegas Nevada. Bob and I renewed our wedding vows for our 5th year anniversary back in 1993 and Elvis presided over the ceremony. Yep, that means Bob and I have been married for 20 years. The ceremony was a dream come true. Norm did his thing with incredible believability. He preached, he sang, he said "Thank you, thank you very much."

I will always cherish that day. My son gave me away and my daughter was the flower girl.
Here we are with Norm at the end of our Vegas wedding. Organized chaos ensued as family and friends who had traveled to Vegas to help us celebrate our vow renewal stormed Elvis wanting to have their picture taken with him after he'd sung his last song. Norm, of course, was gracious enough to oblige.

Elvis would be 73 years old now. I wonder if he'd still be rocking? Who cares, I'd still go see him just like I saw good old Tom Jones.

Elvis certainly loved to eat. Elvis fan clubs around the country got together and created a cookbook in his honor. It's titled Graceland's Table. There are some cool photos of Graceland and quotes from his good friend and road manager, Joe Esposito. Apparantly, one of his favorite meals was meat loaf and mashed potatoes. I knew there was a reason I loved this man (asided from his swivel hips).

So, if you've got some Elvis music, play some today and and spend a few moments remembering the King. Me, I'll probably make some meatloaf and mashed potatoes and look over my photo album of pictures taken the day Elvis married me to my honey Bob.

Hey everyone - I've started my Mexican Chocolate Blog. Be sure and visit and let me know what you think.

Chile Colorado

Days are still hot and humid, but the nights are beginning to cool off a bit. It's still not cool enough to bake comfortably, but it will be soon. I was looking through my recipes and found my Chile Colorado. So I thought you might like to have this one. In a few days I'll post Chile Verde. Enjoy!

Chile Colorado
Makes about 12 servings

4 ounces dried New Mexico chiles

3 cups water

½ cup olive oil or salad oil

2 large onions, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

5 pounds boneless beef chuck, cut into 1 ½ inch cubes

½ cup all-purpose flour

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 teaspoons each ground cumin, ground cloves, dry oregano leaves, dry rosemary, and dry tarragon

2 large cans ( 28 ounces each) tomatoes

1 can ( 14 ½ ounces ) regular strength beef broth

Garnishes: choose from the following, arranged in separate bowls: 2 cups ( 8 ounces ) shredded Cheddar cheese, 2 cups diced tomatoes, and 1 large onion, finely chopped.



Rinse chiles; discard stems and seeds. Break chiles into pieces. Combine chiles and water in a 2 ½ to 3 quart pan. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat, cover, and simmer until chiles are soft (about 30 minutes).

In a blender, whirl chiles and their liquid until puréed. Rub purée through a fine wire strainer; discard residue. Set purée aside.

Heat oil in a 6 to 8 quart pan over medium heat. When oil is hot, add onions and garlic; cook stirring often, until onions are soft (about 10 minutes). Sprinkle meat with flour. Add meat and chile purée to pan and cook, stirring for 5 minutes.

Add cilantro, cumin, cloves, oregano, rosemary, tarragon, tomatoes (break up with a spoon) and their liquid, and broth. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring often, until meat is very tender when pierced ( 3 to 4 hours).
Offer garnishes to add to individual servings.

Beer Braised Beef Ribs

It’s Wednesday and already it’s been one heck of a week. A couple of weeks ago I decided to start an additional blog, one about another one of my passions – Mexican Chocolate. I had a list of objectives I was determined to accomplish by certain deadlines (set my me) and get the blog online by last weekend. Well, as we all know, we can set all the deadlines we want, but if life has a different deadline for you, life’s going to win out.

My beloved husband Bob, had a carcinoma detected on a recent visit to the doctor and was told it had to come out. They said it was no big deal. So we made the appointment and he took a weeks vacation time so he could recoup. He had surgery last Tuesday. Came out of the doctor’s office with this huge bandage on his face. After having the doctor go in to the area twice to make sure that he’d gotten it all, Bob was told he could go home and rest. He was also told he could go into work the next day.

Well we got home and he started bleeding all over the place. Got that stopped. Being a manly man, he went into work the next day and was back home by 10 am. He rested and his face puffed up like a balloon! We called the doctor and we were told, oh it’s OK. It’s common. It might be common, but we hadn’t been told. Anyway, Bob had his stitches taken out yesterday – on his birthday. What a day. He’s been napping and feeling a little better everyday. So I thought I’d make him one of his favorites, Beer Braised Beef Ribs. I’ll work on my chocolate blog later this afternoon and let you know when it’s up and running so you can come and visit. Thanks for putting up with the rant, but I guess it comes with the territory of being a foodie buddy.

Beer Braised Beef Ribs
Makes 6 servings

5 pounds boneless beef ribs
2 to 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 large onions, cut into rings
2 cups sliced carrots
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 or 2 cups of your favorite beer
1 cup crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon of your favorite mustard
Salt and pepper to taste

Salt and pepper ribs, and preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Brown the ribs on all sides, turning 7 to 10 minutes. Depending on how many ribs you're cooking, you may have to do this a few times to brown all the ribs. Place browned ribs in an oven-safe casserole dish.

Add remaining 1 tablespoon fat to skillet if needed. Sauté the onions until browned, stirring frequently so they don't burn. Add the carrot slices and sauté another 2 to 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 2 minutes longer. Pour in the beer, tomatoes and mustard. Increase heat to high
and simmer for 1 minute. Pour the tomato mixture over the short ribs and mix thoroughly.

Cover the ribs and bake 2 1/2 to 3 hours until meat is very tender, but turn the ribs every 45 minutes while they are baking. Add water if needed. When desired doneness is achieved, remove and serve.

Rest In Peace Isaac Hayes

Nopalito Casserole

What can you do with a cactus?
This is a prickly pear cactus casserole. It's delicious and certainly a favorite with the Mexican-American Border cuisine scene. Cuisine-scene, I like that. Nopales can be found pre-cooked so you won't have to go to all the trouble of carefully trimming the prickly spines and cooking the paddles, as they're called. In Spanish they are called or referred to as Tunas . Also, if you overcook them, they do tend to get slimy, you don't want that. Some people, like myself, love the occasional nopalitos dish but can't tolerate the sliminess. Otherwise the taste is unique. Who says you have to have Green Bean Casserole every Thanksgiving? If you would like to learn more about Nopales, go tho this Gourmet Sleuth site to read about them.

Nopalito Casserole

1 can cream of mushroom soup
4 cups (2 jars) cooked nopalitos
¾ cup milk (to thin soup)
1 1/3 cups crushed chicharrones (fried pork skins)
Salt, pepper, paprika

Mix soup and milk in a 1½ quart casserole dish. Season with salt, pepper, and paprika to taste. Stir in cooked nopalitos and 2/3 cup of crushed chicharrones. Bake at 350° for about 25 minutes. Top with remaining chicharrones and continue baking for 5 more minutes. Serves 6.
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Mexican Word of the Day: Bishop
One day me and my vieja went to the movies and
She fell down and I had to pick the bish-op!

New Awards

A big THANK YOU goes out to Dibs from Chitra Amma's Kitchen for the BFF award, plus the Brillante Weblog award. Dibs you are so sweet and a great foodie buddy too, that's why I keep going to your site.

So now it's time to pass it along to the next generation.

Tina from Mommy's Kitchen
Tina's a great fellow Texan who is down to earth and has a beautiful, and informative site.

Michelle from BIG BLACK DOG
She has a wonderful blog site and I absolutely love her stove!

Leslie from Menue Maker Mom.
This foodie buddy works hard to create weekly and monthly menus that we all can use. And we really appreciate it.

Allyson from What's New in Allyson's Kitchen.
This site is easy to read site, has great diversity and super pictures.

Gina from Doña Lupe’s Kitchen.
My kind of food. I love this site cause it’s a taste of my culture. Beautifully done.

Please log on to each of these wonderful foodie friend sites to congratulate them and check out their wonderful sites. Congratulations everyone!

Strawberry Tequila Rose Bundt Cake

This cake is delicious. It's not just a regular run of the mill bundt cake, it's made with Strawberry Fanta soda and Tequila Rose. The flavors jump out at you and your mouth starts doing back flips of joy. I am submitting this cake to Ben's "I Love Baking Event" on his What's Cooking blog site.

I hope you will vote for me and if you would like to enter Ben's twice monthly event go to his blog site and sign up. It's alot of fun. Now for the recipe.




Strawberry Tequila Rose Bundt Cake

1 French Vanilla cake mix in a box
1 (3.4 ounce) box of French vanilla instant pudding
3 eggs
1/3 cup oil
1 cup liquid ( I used 1/2 cup Fanta Strawberry soda and 1/2 cup Tequila Rose)chocolate covered strawberries (optional)

In a large mixing bowl, combine cake mix, instant pudding, eggs, oil, and liquid.
Mix on low speed for 1 minute. On medium speed, mix for 2 minutes.

Spray your bundt pan with non-stick spray, making sure you get into every nook and cranny, especially if you use a rose bundt pan like I did.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes and invert cake onto cake plate. Drizzle with Strawberry Glaze.

Glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup Tequila Rose
1/4 cup FANTA Strawberry soda

Mix until smooth and of drizzling consistency. If the glaze is not smooth enough to drizzle, add more soda, a teaspoon at a time.

Chocolate-Covered Strawberries:
1 pint strawberry basket
1 (12 ounce) bag chocolate chips
1 tablespoon shortening

Wash and pat dry strawberries. Prepare a baking sheet by lining with parchment paper. Set aside.
In microwavable bowl, melt chocolate chips and shortening for 1 minute. Remove from microwave and stir until completely smooth. Allow to cool 5 minutes.

Dip strawberries in chocolate and place on parchment paper lined cookie sheet.

Refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes.

Our Weekend Fiesta

Hi there. I love being part of the foodie blogroll. You guys are so professional and consistent with doing your posts. I'm usually a day late and a dollar short, so to speak. The Leftover Queen Forum could easily be turned into an exceptional online food magazine of great caliber. If you take a stroll through the different blog sites, you will see photographs of incredible quality. Recipe preparations that were artfully and creatively displayed. I'm quite proud to be a member of such an elite group. So to all you food bloggers out there, I raise a toast, un brindis, to a group of people in a beautiful world of their own creation.

My contribution for this week is sharing a small weekend fiesta. Hope you like these simple recipes that were prepared with loads of love for my family.

Sandia Sangria
Makes 6 to 8 glasses

1 cup chopped watermelon, pureed
2 bottles of prepared Sangria wine
Ice
8 watermelon wedges, rind removed

Place 2 cups of ice into a pitcher. Add the watermelon puree and the Sangria wine. Mix until well combined. Chill at least two hours. Serve in wine glasses over ice and a wedge of watermelon.

Watermelon and Asardero Skewers
Makes 8

4 cups watermelon, cut in 1 inch cubes
4 cups asadero, cut into 1 inch cubes
8 wooden skewers
Kosher salt

Alternate watermelon pieces with cubed asadero on wooden skewer. Chill until ready to serve. Right before serving, sprinkle with Kosher salt.

Pico de Gallo and Guacamole Crostini

1 French bread baguette
Olive oil
Guacamole
Pico de Gallo

Slice French bread on a slight diagonal, 1 to 1-1/2 inch in thickness. Brush lightly with olive oil. Broil in oven for 6 to 8 minutes. Remove and allow to cool a bit. Serve on a platter with guacamole and pico de gallo.

Flank Roll with Stuffing
8 to 10 servings

1 (2 pound) flank steak
1 package stove top stuffing mix (I used cornbread stuffing for this recipe)
1 cup cooked sausage
1 small white onion, minced and sauted in oil until soft
1/2 cup chopped green chile
Salt and pepper

Prepare stove top stuffing as per package directions. Mix in cooked sausage, onion, and green chile. Flatten flank steak on baking pan. Spinkle with salt and pepper. Spread prepared stuffing mix to 1/2 inch from edges of flank steak. Carefully roll flank, starting on long side of steak, jelly roll style. Secure with toothpicks. Turn roll over so that toothpicks are on the bottom. Sprinkle roll with additional salt and pepper. Bake, uncovered, in a 375 degree oven for 45 to 50 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to rest, covered with foil, for 15 minutes. Slice in 1/2 inch slices and serve warm.

Wine Marinated Fruit Salad

1 medium seedless watermelon
1 cup cantelope melon balls
1 cup honeydew melon balls
1 cup green seedless grapes
1 cup quatered strawberries
1 tablespoon minced mint leaves

1 1/2 cups white wine
1/3 cup sugar

Over low heat, dissolve sugar in white wine. Set aside to cool. Cut watermelon in half lengthwise. Scallop the edges of one of the halves to make it look pretty. Using a melon baller, make watermelon balls from pulp. Comine watermelon, cantelope, honeydew, grapes and straberries carefully to keep from breaking the pieces. Drizzle with cooled wine syrup and sprinkle with mint. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for 1 hour before serving.
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Mexican Word of the Day: Tissue
Hey vato if you don't know how to do it, let me - tiss-ue!