Gazpacho

This is a great receipe during the summer when its too hot to turn on the stove, but it is delicious year round. Try it with a few pieces of good bread and a green salad and a Spanish wine.

Ingredients:

-1 japapeno pepper, deveined and de-seeded, finely chopped
-1 hothouse cucumber, halved and seeded, but not peeled
-2 red bell peppers, cored and seeded
-4 plum tomatoes
-1 red onion
-3 garlic cloves, minced
-23 ounces tomato juice (3 cups)
-1/4 cup white wine vinegar
-1/4 cup good olive oil
-1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
-1 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Roughly chop the cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes, and red onions into 1-inch cubes. Put each vegetable separately into a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until it is coarsely chopped. Do not overprocess!
After each vegetable is processed, combine them in a large bowl and add the garlic, jalapeno, tomato juice, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Mix well and chill before serving. The longer gazpacho sits, the more the flavors develop.

Cream Cheese Frosting

I find that, in a time pinch, you can get away with box cupcake mix if you make your own frosting and the cupcakes will taste homemade. Here is the recipe for cream cheese frosting that I use:

1 pound (two 8-ounce packages) cream cheese, softened and cut into small pieces
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened and cut into small pieces
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
5 cups confectioners’ sugar

Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the cream cheese and butter a few minutes until smooth. Add the vanilla and continue mixing well. Gradually add the sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating continuously until smooth and creamy. Cover and refrigerate icing for 2 to 3 hours max, to thicken before using.

To make this recipe into lemon cream cheese frosting (my favorite on lemon cupcakes), add the juice of 1 lemon after mixing all other ingredients. DELICIOUS!

Macaroons

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 1/3 cups flaked coconut

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine the coconut, sugar, flour and salt. Stir in egg whites, vanilla and almond extract; mix well.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 325 degrees F for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Base recipe from internet: http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/coconut-macaroons-2/Detail.aspx