Watermelon and mango salsa is a refreshing salsa you can serve with pork tacos, chicken quesadillas, and nachos.
The sweeter the fruit, the better the watermelon mango salsa recipe will taste.
What can you eat watermelon and mango salsa with
tortilla chips
tacos
fajitas
quesadillas
burritos
enchiladas
One of my favorite dishes to serve is fish (salmon) topped with watermelon and mango salsa. It’s refreshing, and a burst of flavor that goes well with salmon.
How to make fresh watermelon mango salsa by hand
Get your biggest cutting board out and get ready to start chopping!
It’s best if you start with the bigger fruits – watermelon and pineapple first.
Cut the larger fruit pieces into ~ 0.5 cm pieces.
They will fit on a tortilla chip well if you cut them this size.
How long is fresh watermelon mango salsa good for
Watermelon mango salsa is best served in the first 2 days, but you can keep in the fridge for up to 3 days after making it.
Chop watermelon, mango, and pineapple into small pieces ~ 1/2 cm cubed. Put them into a medium size bowl.
Put on gloves. Begin to cut jalapeno in half. Remove all of the seeds and membrane from the jalapeno. Discard these. Finely cut the jalapeno into tiny pieces. Add these to your bowl. Wipe the surface of your cutting board clean and discard gloves.
Finely chop red onion and red pepper, add these to your bowl.
Chop cilantro and add it to your salsa.
Juice lime and add it to your salsa.
Pour olive oil over salsa. Add salt, paprika and cumin to taste.
Your salsa is ready to serve. Store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Coconut chocolate mousse is made with coconut milk which makes the chocolate mousse extra creamy and rich.
Be sure to use full fat coconut milk, not light.
You will need a stand mixer to whip the coconut milk as it does take awhile to whip.
No eggs are needed for this coconut chocolate mousse recipe! Egg free and dairy free chocolate mousse that tastes absolutely decadent!
You wont believe its vegan. It does look grainy and not a smooth color like full dairy and egg chocolate mousse. But, the texture is creamy and delicious! You will love it!
Try sifting the cocoa powder to make it light and fluffy. This will prevent the grainy bits in your mousse.
Separate coconut cream and coconut water by pouring the water out of the can. You can use this water for a different recipe, we wont need this portion for our vegan chocolate mousse. Whip cream portion of coconut milk until fluffy – a few minutes on high with a stand mixer.
Add cocoa powder and icing sugar gradually until full combined. It will be a bit grainy.
Add the vanilla extract and mix together.
Place vegan chocolate mousse into serving cups. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.
Using a potato peeler, add chocolate shavings from a chocolate bar. This will create the scroll look for the topping on the mousse. (optional)
Cookies and creaming icing is full of delicious cookie crumble and has a hint of vanilla.
Cookies and cream icing is a buttercream icing that has crushed cookies throughout the icing.
You can use cookies and cream icing for icing cakes, as a macaron filling, or as a cupcake icing.
How to make cookies and cream icing
Cookie and cream icing can be broken down into only a few different components:
Butter for buttercream icing
Cookies: choose your favorite cookies for your icing. Some of my favorite cookies to use are Oreos, birthday cake Oreos, vanilla creme peek freans
Milk (alternatives include: half and half for a more rich flavor, oat milk & skim milk for a lighter flavor. The percentage of milk I usually choose is 2%. It’s a nice balance of flavors and creaminess
vanilla- you could get the vanilla flavor from the filling in the cookie, or vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
How to make cookies and cream buttercream icing at home using a stand mixer
Prep Time10 minutesmins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: icing, macaron filling
Yield: 60macarons
Author: Jenna Atkinson
Equipment
Stand mixer
Materials
1/2cupbutterroom temperature
2tbspOreo crumbs
8Oreo Cookiessmashed into small pieces
1 1/2cupsIcing sugar
2tbspmilk2%
4tspvanilla extract
Instructions
Begin by creaming the butter until it is fluffy, just a few minutes by a stand mixer.
Add your vanilla extract and cream together.
Add the milk and mix together. It should be a but liquidy and not fully come together yet.
Add Oreo crumbs.
Put Oreos into a ziploc bag. Place the bad on a wooden cutting board and then put the cutting board on a strong surface. You could put it on your kitchen counter or on your dining room table. Smash the cookies using a kitchen mallet or crush them up with the opposite end of a wooden spoon until they are all broken up into smaller pieces.
Remove the Oreos from the bag and put them in your stand mixer bowl. Mix together with butter mixture.
Start adding the icing sugar 1/2 cup at a time and beat it until it’s fully combined and a nice consistency. If you need the icing a bit more stiff add a bit more icing sugar. If you need the icing more runny, add a splash of milk.
Your icing is ready. For any leftovers, store in the fridge for 5-7 days. For anything longer, store in the freezer for up to one month.
If you’re coloring your bear macaron black, you’ll have to get a different color for the bear markings. You might have to use melted white chocolate for the coloring to show up on your black bear macarons. You can use a food safe paint brush to gently brush the white chocolate onto your bear macarons.
When you bake your bear macarons they will be approximately 2″ in diameter.
The bear macaron template has 2″ in between each bear macaron. This gives you more than enough space so your bear macarons are piped with plenty of room for them to spread out.
Place the bear macaron template underneath your silicone mat or parchment paper fitted on a baking pan.
Begin by piping a round circle for the bear head.
Add ears to the bear macaron by piping the ear and dragging the macaron batter downward into the round circle.
Remove your template from underneath your silicone mat or parchment paper.
Remove the air bubbles from the macarons by banging the bottom of the baking pan.
Bake the macarons, cool, and fill them.
Add the bear macarons eyes, eye brows, and nose using an edible marker.
Store your bear macarons in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Let them dry for about 30 min until a skin forms.
Bake your macarons for the same amount of time your recipe calls for.
Let your macarons cool completely. Fill your macarons and then they are ready to decorate!
Begin decorating by using an edible marker to draw on the eyes, nose and mouth.
Feel free to maybe add some pink icing dots on either side of the cheeks for more of a colorful look. You could also add a couple pen marks in the ears to give it more depth. Have fun with your bear macarons and make them your own. 🙂
Vanilla earl grey lavender ice cream is a creamy tea flavored ice cream with a hint of vanilla.
The ice cream base is made by tempering eggs to make it have a rich flavoring.
Earl grey is steeped into the milk while making the base of the ice cream to add the tea flavor.
Lavender is added to infuse the ice cream with a earthy lavender taste.
How to use lavender from the garden in baking
When your lavender is in full bloom and ready to harvest, cut the stems below the flowers. Dry your lavender by with laying them near a sunny window or tie them together and hang them upside down.
Culinary Lavender vs Garden Lavender
Do you need to use culinary lavender instead of lavender from the garden?
No you don’t need to use culinary lavender in your baking. You can use your fresh lavender from the garden.
Why?
Culinary lavender gives off a sweet fragrance. Your lavender from the garden might not be as sweet, so it might not give you the perfect flavor you’re wanting. The more sweet the lavender, the more intense lavender flavor it will give you.
I don’t use the stems when I use lavender from my garden. The most sweet part of lavender are the flowers, so I just put the flowers/buds into my baking.
If you wanted to try out using lavender in different recipes you can try grinding up the lavender using a mortar and pestle. Then add it to some sugar to give you that rich sugar/lavender-perfect for your morning coffee with a hint of lavender!
Lavender ice cream ready to be chilled and churned
What can you bake with lavender flowers from the garden?
How to make vanilla earl grey lavender ice cream using lavender from your own garden. Infuse earl grey tea into your vanilla ice cream mixture, then use your ice cream maker to churn it.
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Active Time45 minutesmins
Fridge/Freezer9 hourshrs
Total Time10 hourshrs
Course: Dessert
Keyword: ice cream
Yield: 10scoops
Equipment
Ice Cream Maker
Materials
2cupsheavy cream
2cupshalf and half
1tspvanilla extract
1/3cupdried lavender
1tea bagearl grey tea
4egg yolks
1/3cupsugar
Purplegel food coloringoptional
Instructions
In a medium saucepan (make sure it holds >1.5 liters) combine the heavy cream and half and half together. Add lavender to the saucepan without the stems. Bring to a gentle simmer for a couple of minutes over medium heat.
Remove your saucepan from the burner. Add earl grey tea bag to the pot and let steep for 4 minutes. Remove and discard the tea bag.
In a large bowl whisk egg yolks and sugar together. Gradually temper the eggs by adding a bit of the hot cream mixture (couple of tablespoons at first) to the eggs and whisk vigorously to make sure not to cook the eggs. Add all of the hot mixture to the bowl gradually until it’s all incorporated.
Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat until the mixture thickens (couple of min).
Remove the saucepan from the burner. Use your large bowl from before and add your food colouring if desired. Place a mesh sieve on the bowl and pour your hot egg/cream mixture through the sieve. Whisk the food coloring until it’s combined. Add the vanilla extract. Let cool to room temperature/cold enough to put in the fridge. Refrigerate overnight. Freeze your ice cream bowl overnight as well.
Unicorn macarons are one of the most intricate macarons you can make to bring to a baby shower, or birthday celebration.
Unicorn macarons are so beautifully decorated, your guests will be amazed at how much detail and work you’ve put into these enchanting cookies. See video here.
You will dazzle your friends and family with these adorable desserts. When I brought them to my friend’s birthday, a few of them said they didn’t want to eat them because they were too special!!
Be prepared to decorate your unicorn macarons for at least 2 hours to make sure they’re perfect.
See video below for a quick demo on how to decorate unicorn macarons.
What recipe to use for unicorn macarons
You can use your favorite Italian method macaron recipe for your unicorn macarons.
Use gold dust (powdered food coloring) with a little almond extract and paint the gold unicorn horn using a food safe paint brush.
Use pink powdered food coloring and a little almond extract together to make a paint. Paint the pink color on the inside of the ears of the unicorn using a food safe paint brush.
Let dry for 20 minutes.
Store your unicorn macarons in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
No need to worry about pouring hot pasta water into the sink. It will not burn the surface or change it in any way. The color will hold up and the surface left unchanged.
Heat resistant up to 536° F
What are silgranit sinks made of
They are made with acrylic, pigments (color), and granite.
How to clean a blanco silgranit sink
Use a little baking soda and water with a cloth and wipe clean
When cleaning your sink, usually just rinsing it down with water will do the trick.
Baking soda and water is only for more of a deep cleaning routine.
We purchased anAnthracite Blanco silgranit sink for our kitchen renovation. We’ve had our Blanco black granite sink for over a year already and we absolutely love it.
Our sink is in pristine condition, and still does not have a single scratch or dent in it even after a year of use.
Blanco silgranit sinks are the best choice for your new kitchen if you’re looking for more or a variety of colors and styles. Blanco silgranit sinks are budget friendly, and will last you the life of your kitchen.
Why choose a Kraus Granite sink
Kraus granite sinks are one of the top of the line sinks on the market. If you want a luxurious sink handcrafted in Italy for your new kitchen, a Kraus granite sink is the way to go.
It comes with a lifetime warranty so you can be sure of it’s strength, and resilience over the lifetime of your kitchen.
UV protection to keep the color strong after being subjected to sunlight
resists stains and scratches
absorbs sound- making it much more quiet
holds up to extreme temperature changes
Kraus granite sinks have a higher heat resistance temperature than Blanco Silgranit.
Heat resistant up to 650° F
What are Kraus granite sinks made of
granite and ceramic nanoparticles
Some of the Kraus granite sinks have a ledge on the outside ring of the sink. The ledge holds a custom cutting board for your prepping needs! This saves you some of your precious counter space.
The drain is positioned in a way that completely drains the sink dry. Their sinks are made of a non-porous material which makes them easy to wipe clean!
Kraus granite sinks are the top of the line sinks when it comes to reliability and strength for your new kitchen. Although, there aren’t as many different sinks to choose from or as many colors as Blanco.
However, Kraus withstands higher heat temperatures than Blanco Silgranit sinks. Kraus has taken functionality to heart with its added cutting board capabilities to most of their granite sinks.
Depending on your needs for your new kitchen, if you can find a size and color of sink you like, Kraus is the best way to go. If you’re looking for a different color and more of a variety with styles, you’re best to go with Blanco.
I started my search for an espresso machine after I moved out. I had started having Starbucks a little too often for my wallet to handle, and I figured I would like to have coffee to wake up in the morning. I started researching Italian coffee machines for home use for 3 weeks straight, several hours a day. I was trying to find one that was going to last me a long time.
Styles of espresso machines.
Automatic
Semi-automatic
Super-automatic
I wanted one that I could still steam the milk myself, and do the dosing/tamping myself (semi-automatic). I didn’t want to just push a button and have the coffee made for me (automatic).
How to learn how to make a latte at home
Here are a few videos to help you learn how to make a latte at home. Learn how to grind, tamp and steam milk.
I came across one machine that was a semi-automatic and it was more of a professional grade machine. It took some time for you to get the hang of it, but once you did could achieve quality coffee for years to come.
I wanted an espresso machine that was going to last me awhile. I didn’t want to just buy the cheap one and throw it out in a year or two.
The best Italian coffee machine for home use is the Rancilio Silvia.
It is only manufactured in Italy. They test every machine to make sure it’s working perfectly before they send them out. The compartments are made so that any part can be replaced or fixed if needed. They want you to have this machine for a long time, it’s built to last.
I wanted a machine that I was going to have little maintenance to do on it. I’m not one for cleaning every little thing all of the time, so this was going to have to be something I could handle but not interfere with my busy life.
After thoroughly researching the Rancilio Silvia, I discovered there was only 2 maintenance procedures that needed to be done on a regular basis:
When the coffee starts tasting not as good as it usually does, you should clean the screen. This will give you the aromatic flavour from your italian coffee maker that you love!
I purchased my own Rancilio Silvia in November 2012 and I absolutely love it. I had never owned a coffee maker before this so it was a steep learning curve. Watching videos and practicing daily made me be able to improve my skills and pull delicious crema for my morning coffee.
I’m so glad I put in the time and effort to learn this machine because looking back, I never knew I was going to have this machine for years to come.
I visited my aunt at her house 6 months after purchasing my espresso maker and I noticed that she had the exact same machine and grinder I did!! (Rocky grinder)
I had no idea she had the same one! She told me how her brother had owned the same machine as her for longer than her. My aunt at the time had already owned her Rancilio Silvia for 10 years. She still owns it today and loves it!
One thing that isn’t the greatest is that the drip tray is very short. You have to drain the tray every few days or it overflows. I try to do it every time I use the machine so I don’t have it overflow on me. I’ve had a huge mess to clean up when I’ve forgotten about it!
One of my favourite desserts to make with my espresso machine is affogato.
Homemade Affogato
Affogato is made with a couple scoops of ice cream, freshly brewed espresso and white chocolate shavings on top. It’s to die for!!
Another dessert I like to make with my espresso machine is Espresso Ice Cream. It’s decadent and rich with flavor!
I also love making iced coffee with my espresso machine. I typically add 4 pumps vanilla, 2 shots of espresso, ~6 ice cubes, and 1 cup of milk. Throw it all in a blender and enjoy your freshly made iced coffee! For an extra treat, put 1 scoop of vanilla ice cream or birthday cake ice cream for more of a creamy flavour. Yum!
If you’re looking for a new skill to learn and a coffee machine that will last you a long time, the best Italian coffee machine for home use is the Rancilio Silvia by far! You will love learning how to make coffee and maybe one day you’ll be able to create beautiful latte art with your milk steaming skills. I have not mastered this at all…. It’s been almost 8 years so maybe I’ll get there one day!
How to make focaccia bread with olive oil infused with herbs at home in only 2 hours.
Prep Time25 minutesmins
Active Time20 minutesmins
Rising Time1 hourhr20 minutesmins
Total Time2 hourshrs5 minutesmins
Course: Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack
Keyword: bread, focaccia bread
Yield: 10slices
Equipment
Oven
Saucepan
13" x 9" Pan
Materials
1/2cupolive oilextra virgin
2garlic clovesminced
1tspthymedried
1tsprosemarydried
1/4tspblack pepper
1cupwarm water(100-110 degrees F)
2 1/4tspinstant yeast
1/4tsphoney
2 1/2cupsflour
1/2tspsalt
pinchfinishing saltoptional
Instructions
In a small saucepan on low heat combine olive oil, garlic, thyme, rosemary and pepper. Cook for 5-10 min until fragrant stirring occasionally.
In a large glass bowl combine warm water, yeast, and honey. Let sit for 5 min until frothy.
Add the flour, salt and ¼ cup of the herb olive oil to the yeast mixture. Mix only until just combined and knead only 10-15 times. Don’t overwork the dough.
Cover the bowl with a towel and let sit for 1 hour to rise.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Pour 2 tbsp of the herbed oil into a 9×13’’ pan. Use a paper towel to spread the oil to the entire bottom of the pan, and into the corners. Transfer the risen dough to the baking pan and use your fingers to dimple the dough all over. Pour the remaining oil over the dough. Spread the oil all over using the back of a spoon.
Let rise for 20 min.
Add a sprinkle of finishing salt if desired.
Bake focaccia bread for 15-20 min. Let cool on a wire rack. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container. Place the container in the fridge to make it last longer. Best served the day of or use within 2 days.
How to make coffee ice cream using an ice cream maker.
Prep Time30 minutesmins
Active Time25 minutesmins
Fridge/Freezer time9 hourshrs
Total Time9 hourshrs55 minutesmins
Course: Dessert
Keyword: ice cream
Yield: 10people
Equipment
espresso maker
Ice Cream Maker
Saucepan
mesh sieve
Materials
2cupsheavy cream
1cupwhole milk
1/2cupsugar
1/4tspsalt
5egg yolks
1/2tspvanilla extract
4shotsfreshly brewed espresso/strong coffee
Instructions
In a medium saucepan over low to medium heat add the heavy cream, whole milk, sugar and salt. Whisk to fully dissolve the sugar ~ 4 to 5 minutes.
In a large glass bowl place add the egg yolks and whisk the yolks together.
Slowly whisk 1 cup of the hot milk mixture into the egg yolks. You do not want to cook the eggs. Only add a couple of tablespoons at a time at the beginning and whisk vigorously to prevent the eggs from cooking. Continue whisking until 1 cup of the hot milk in mixed into the egg yolks.
Add the egg yolk mixture to the saucepan. Whisk until it comes to a simmer.
Remove the saucepan from the heat source and mix in the vanilla and espresso or hot coffee.
Pour the mixture through a sieve and place in fridge until chilled (about 6 hours, but leave it overnight in the fridge to make it easy).
Add mixture to ice cream maker and churn for 20-25 min.
Freeze mixture for another 3 hours until fully chilled for ice cream and not just soft serve.
