Champagne Granita... one of my favorite ways to end a meal. It's the perfect dessert at the end of a nice meal. It's sweet, but not too sweet. It's light, and not heavy on your tummy. And it's beautiful.

I've also made this with strawberries and grapefruit instead of lemon, but they're all delicious. Peach would also be really refreshing, like a bellini slushy!

I watched the one and only Chef Thomas Keller make his famous Avocado Louis on Instagram, and let me tell you. When I say it looks like a piece of art, I mean, this thing looks like it belongs in the Louvre. It's gorgeous y'all! Chef Keller is simply masterful, and so inspiring to watch. Watching him create his Avocado Louis, with such care and precision inspired me to create this ribbon salad.

While my salad doesn't belong in an art gallery, it's sure to be a showstopper when you serve it to guests.  

My weapon of choice to create the "ribbons" is a traditional vegetable peeler. It works best for me to get the perfect thin ribbon curl on the carrots and celery.  For the cucumber and radishes, though, I prefer using the mandolin. I like them to be paper thin for this salad.

TIP
Place all of the veggies in an ice water bath before assembling the salad. This seems to help everything crisp up and assists in curling the "ribbons."

This salad is so good it deserves to be an entree. Or it's lovely with a nice steak or grilled chicken. I love it, and it couldn't be easier to prepare!

The Vinaigrette
This is one of the only salads where I don't make my own dressing. ​Instead, I use Garlic Expressions. You can find it at Publix or online. It's delicious, and it's not full of thickeners, preservatives, or toxic chemicals found in most prepared salad dressings. It's American made, non-GMO, vegan, allergen free, gluten free.

Say Cheese!
I prefer to buy a wedge of blue cheese, and crumble it myself. It ALWAYS tastes better. When you buy pre-crumbled blue cheese it typically contains anti-caking agents... sounds delicious, huh? No thank you. I'll spend the extra 15 seconds and crumble my own cheese.

​An Apple A Day
We almost always have Honeycrisp apples on hand. They're Big Strong Handsome's favorite, so that's what I buy. I think almost any sweet apple would be delicious in this salad, though. Fuji, Golden Delicious, Gala, they'd all be good.

Let's Get Nutty
Whole walnuts can be a little pricey, so you can always substitute whole walnuts with walnut pieces, or pecans. Whatever you prefer.

Who doesn't love a good Cuban sandwich? They're so delicious, and such a treat! I wanted a way for us to enjoy the same flavors at home, without the bread, and of course, a quick way to make it for busy weeknight family dinners. So here's my Cuban Pork Tenderloin.

The Tenderloin
​The trickiest part of this recipe is flattening out the pork tenderloins, but once I got over trying to make it perfect, it became a whole lot easier.  I try my best to delicately filet it out with long, shallow cuts down the length of the tenderloin, but I inevitably get distracted with other things around the house demanding my attention. So I typically end up kind of hacking at this thing and end up with weird little grooves all along the inside of it, but you know what... it doesn't matter. Nobody sees that part! So as long as you can get it flat-ish... you're good.

The Flavor
You don't need 30 different herbs and spices to season this with either. Konriko Dry Mojo seasoning is everything! It has the perfect spice blend, without any preservatives or other yucky stuff.

The Ham
I've found that prosciutto works best. Now, that might be because I secretly think I should be the matriarch of a big Italian family with a brother Pauly, an Uncle Jimmy that's an attorney, a cousin Mikey that "knows a guy," and there has to be an Isabella that still lives in Naples, Italy. I digress. I've tried rosemary ham and regular deli ham, but I really prefer the flavor and texture of the prosciutto. 

The Pickles
You can use the baby dill pickles like I did, or longer pickle spears. Slices or whole pickles, though, don't really work for me on this recipe.

​The Rice
The yellow rice I made with organic brown jasmine rice and a few shakes turmeric, garlic powder,  paprika, and salt. It was delicious. No yellow number 5 here!

The next time I make this, I think I might slather the outside of the tenderloin roll with mustard as well, and then wrap it in even more prosciutto! 

TIP:
When you're putting away your leftovers, put them directly into meal planning containers. That way, you have easy grab-n-go lunches or quick dinners for busy weeknights.

I had the honor of surprising friends with a picnic to celebrate the groundbreaking of their new home, built by Providence Homes. I wanted to make it extra special for them, and not just throw out a picnic basket and blanket. So here's how I planned their perfect picnic.

I searched around the house and pulled out blankets, pillows, boxes, a small table, greenery, candles, lanterns, etc. I found 2 gray blankets, and 4 teal pillows. So I decided on a jewel tone color scheme.

Then, I set up the picnic in my living room to see how everything looked together. This took about an hour of arranging, then rearranging, taking pictures, over and over again until I had a layout that I was happy with.

When my mock up picnic set up was finished, I took a photo and saved it on my phone. This way, when it was time to set up the actual picnic, I didn't have to think about the design. I could just refer to the photo and focus on the set up.

For me, the star of the show was the purple alstroemeria flowers. They were gorgeous on the grazing board! I actually had more to use around the picnic, but I forgot them in my rush to get to the picnic site. I've found that with every event I do SOMETHING always goes wrong. The napkins aren't the right color, missing an ingredient, forgot to light the candles... it's always something. I've realized, though, no one knows but me. And nobody cares! So there's no need to stress out over every detail being absolutely perfect. Try your best, have fun, and be proud of what you created.

I've already started planning my next picnic, and ways to make it even more special. I can't wait! 

​Cheers!

Making a grazing table can be intimidating, so I put together a few easy tips and a list of everything we used to create this beautiful spring grazing table. 

• Use your favorite foods that you and your guests will actually eat. If you don't like it, don't put it on there! There's no need in using pickled asparagus if no one is going to eat it. Right?
• Don't reinvent the wheel. Find photos of a grazing table you like, and try to recreate your own version of that. 
• Create height with boxes, baskets & pedestals. I typically pull things from all over the house:  a box, a crate, a basket, or whatever I can find to add texture and height to the table. Cake plates and tiered plates work well for this too. 
• Greenery, candles, linens, and non food decor can fill in empty spaces. Again, pull things from all over the house. Don't limit yourself to just what's in the kitchen. You can use fresh flowers, eucalyptus, fake plants (shhhhh!), candles, linens, a decorative vase, pitcher, whatever you like that compliments your grazing table.
• It’s ok to mix and match wood tones & metals. I know, I know. It took me a bit to get over having everything so matchy matchy, but your wood tones and metals do not have to all be the same. You can use silver and gold, dark wood, and light wood. It can all tie together nicely. 
• You don’t have to pre-slice or cut all of your cheese. If you're putting together a huge grazing table, you don't have to pre-cut your cheese. A dramatic wedge of blue cheese nestled next to a bunch of gorgeous red grapes draped over a gold pedestal can be pretty amazing. 
• Have fun! If you're not having fun, what's the point? Am I right? And food that's prepared with love just tastes better. So put on your favorite music, dance around that kitchen, and make it happen!