I lived with my family in Colorado for seven wonderful years. My love affair with the Centennial state goes way back and to live there with my family and see the mountains every day was a privilege. But I missed Spring. I didn’t even know that I missed Spring until I moved to Florida. Spring in Colorado has its charms, 70 degrees and sunny one day, a foot of snow the next day. And do not plant anything before Mother’s Day, we made that mistake year one–sacrificing a bounty of new flowers to a Mother’s Day special that dumped a foot of snow on the tender blooms. No wonder there was no one was at the nursery on a Saturday!
Spring in Florida, however, is a whole different affair–the air is warm and breezy, everything is sparkling green and the flowers, trees and shrubs are in riotous bloom. Garden centers here are packed on Saturdays and Schmoo and I have been spending a lot of time putting our own touches on the new home with some beautiful hibiscus, bougainvillea, petunia, red geraniums and hanging baskets.
Spring in Florida also brings the “Springbreakers” and the Casa Caudill was happy to welcome my cousin Doug and his family from Ohio for some seriously needed family time– complete with actual hugs (get vaccinated), and a meal worthy of a beautiful Spring day in Florida. It’s really the ultimate Summer meal but I have also found that this particular menu is universally loved by guests and super easy to prep ahead of time so that you can enjoy your guests:
- Sesame Ginger Chicken and Beef Tenderloin skewers
- Grilled Mixed Vegetable skewers with red/yellow/green peppers, onions, tomatoes and mushrooms over yellow rice
- Valerie Bertinelli’s pull-apart garlic bread
- Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter brownies
I started with 3 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts and 2 pounds of beef tenderloin. I cut the chicken up in cubes and sprinkled them with salt and pepper before adding a bottle of Lawry’s Sesame Ginger marinade. I put the chicken in a sealed 13×9 casserole dish and set aside in the fridge. For the beef, I left the tenderloins whole since I only had a limited number of non-stick skewers that I needed for the chicken and vegetables. I prepped the steak simply with kosher salt and pepper–be sure to let the steak sweat at room temperature after salting for at least 15 minutes before grilling.
For the vegetable skewers I chopped up 2 sweet onions, a green pepper, and several yellow and orange mini peppers, tomatoes and whole mushroom. I collected all of my vegetables in a big mixing bowl and set that aside. For the yellow rice you cannot beat the Zatarain’s brand. Its tasty, simple to make and can easily be amped up by replacing the water with broth or stock. For my rice I used a box of chicken stock and otherwise followed the directions on the box.
The fun thing about kebobs is that you can enlist your guests to help assemble the skewers. I know that I like to be useful in the kitchen as a guest and I have found that others are usually happy to help and if they are not, they are welcome to hang out on the lanai with Schmoo and keep him company while he grills their dinner to perfection. The grill is strictly a one-man operation so our guests are safe from being put to work there.
I previously posted about Valerie Bertinellis’ pull apart garlic bread. If you like garlic bread, and who doesn’t like garlic bread, you MUST try this bread. So addictive. Worth every calorie. Valerie, if you’re reading this, I thought you were cute as a button on One Day at a Time, but now that I have seen you on your cooking show, I still think you’re cute as a button. But with mad culinary skills and what looks like a sweet Schmoo-like relationship with your husband. #fangirling #valeriebertinelli
A meal this savory needs a sweet finish, so I made dark chocolate peanut butter brownies. I started with a classic Betty Crocker dark chocolate brownie mix to which I added a cup of Reese’s peanut butter chips. There a few tricks to successful brownies and I offer mine–keep on eye on brownies in the oven and pull them 3-5 minutes before you think they are actually done–the top should be shiny and a knife inserted into the middle will come out “not quite” clean. Let the brownies sit on the counter for 15 minutes before scoring them with a plastic knife. Then allow the brownies to cool completely in the pan. Remove the brownies using a mini spatula–love my Pampered Chef version. I like to layer brownies on my cake stand separating the layers with wax paper.
I was not super close to my cousins growing up in Cincinnati, Ohio. My Uncle and my Dad were successful business partners but did not spend a lot of their “down time” together. My cousins lived on the other side of town and we saw them sporadically. That all changed when we became young adults and forged our own relationship. Fact is, my cousins are super cool humans who are also kind, smart and interesting. We do not see each other as often as I would like, but its true there is a bond among cousins.
To Doug, Heidi, Taylor and KC–we loved having you at the newest Casa Caudill and we are so delighted that you keep visiting us. Our casa is su casa, no matter where it is. Please come back and see us when Sawyer is in the house. Safe travels and happy eating….love y’all.
The Casa Kitchen 