Month: August 2012

One Sweet Date Night

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“Oh, I’ve got a lovely bunch of coconuts, Deedly Dee! There they are all standing in a row.” OK maybe you won’t get this one unless you have children or are one, and I guess I am probably the latter of the two. Both Zazu and Rafiki sing this song from “The Lion King,” and it gets stuck in my head almost every time that I think of coconuts.

Movies are a great part of what I enjoy, including “The Lion King”, but it seems that sometimes it is the easy date choice. Every Friday for probably the last ten years, my wife and I have tried to make it a priority to have a standard date night. Sometimes they get routine by just going to a movie and having dinner. Not much conversation and interaction are involved when going to a movie, and I have been trying to think of more creative ways of enjoying time with my wife.

This last Friday for our date night we decided to make cookies for some of our friends and just spend some quality time together. We made Coconut Butter Cookies (this is where the coconut comes in) and Peanut Butter Cookies. It really didn’t take long to make the dough, then we realized that we had to refrigerate them for three hours. The Peanut Butter Cookies we could have made right away, but I like a chewy cookie. The recipe said, “for a chewy cookie refrigerate for 3 hours.” I decided to let them stand overnight, and we enjoyed the rest of the night together.

Both cookies are excellent recipes and are very easy to make. Do not let the wordiness of the one overwhelm you. It is an excellent recipe. We mixed each ingredient individually to get an even mixture and enjoyed the cleanup afterwards. After all you get to taste the cookie dough off of the bowl and spoon. It was fun, and we enjoyed being able to hand out the cookies to our friends.

So remember, “Have a sweet date night, and cook up something together.”

Recipes can be found Here:
Coconut Butter Cookies
Peanut Butter Cookies

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Simply Amazing Bourbon Flank Steak

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Meet Flank. Flank is my new friend. Liquor him up, and he is the life of the party! Our party consisted of just a few friends and a wonderful night of good, ol’fashioned steak and potatoes.

Bourbon and Brown Sugar Flank Steak is one of those steaks that you have got to try. We had some friends over and they said that it was one of the best steaks that they have ever eaten. And “OH MY” the flavor is just irresistible. Have I got your mouth watering yet? Good because it should be, and I know mine is.

First of all you will have to get some bourbon. I used Ezra Brooks Bourbon Whiskey. The Liquor Shop attendant recommended it to me, as it is an inexpensive, good quality bourbon whiskey. Then, I went to the meat counter and asked for a 2 pound “trimmed” flank steak.

Be sure to give your dish some time. I recommend that you marinade this steak over night.The sides become easy to cook, and all you need to do is throw it on the grill.

Get a Ziploc bag or a Tupperware container and combine the first seven ingredients: Brown sugar, minced green onions, bourbon, soy-sauce, Dijon mustard, and Worcestershire. DO NOT poke, prod, pinch, or do any thing else to tenderize the meat. Just stick it in the bag and refrigerate over night. Let the alcohol, sugar, and marinade all blend together and tenderize the meat on its own.

One day later, remove the steak, and stick it on the grill (5 minutes on each side approximately), depending on how you like your steak cooked. Add some cornstarch to the marinade and heat it up for a nice gravy. This steak was fast, easy, flavorful, pink in the middle, and moist.

Check out the recipe and remember, “Marinade, wait, and be the life of the party in a whole new way.”

Click on the links above for the recipe.