Roasted Shrimp Cocktail–Easy Entertaining Recipe and a Giveaway

I hope you’ve enjoyed the easy entertaining recipes I’ve been posting so far.  With Thanksgiving and many holiday celebrations just around the corner, I have another scrumptious recipe to share with you today; plus a giveaway that you don’t want to miss.  A while ago, I entered GitaDini’s Giveaway on their Facebook Fan Page and won this Stacko Serving Stand as shown in my pictures.  Isn’t it gorgeous?  I have been using it for a while in parties and family gatherings.  Everyone loved it and asked me where I got this stand.  Today, you’re in luck because I’ll be giving one away to a lucky uTry.it reader, courtesy of GitaDini.



This Stacko Serving Stand is so festive because of the multiple colors cones and cups.  The size of the stand is 16” in height and 16” in diameter.  It comes with 18 cups and 18 cones, all in single portioned size.  I always love single portions for entertaining, which make it convenient to serve with different types of food and hygienic.  The best part is that the plastic cups and cones are dishwasher-safe, which makes cleaning up a breeze as well.  Honestly, with a serving stand this gorgeous, I wish to have parties and gatherings in my place everyday so I can simply displace and show off this stand on my serving table/counter everyday! 




This Stacko Serving Stand is very versatile and your serving options are endless.  From appetizer, small bites to desserts, this Stacko Serving Stand can do it all.   Okay, I should say, this Stacko Serving Stand can hold them all, because I’m the one who’s cooking.  hahaha….Want to see what I’ve been serving on this gorgeous stand?  Let me show you one by one.  From the picture above, I serve some fresh veggies sticks.  You can use whatever veggies you want or in season.  These veggies sticks are healthy and refreshing party snacks.  



Up next, my Fall favorite recipe, Candied Pecans.   I always have these candied pecans on hand as they are simply addictive and perfect for parties and snacks.  Please click here for the recipe.




Up next, my new party favorites, Portobello Mushroom and Avocado Oven Fries.  These are a cinch to make and very healthy and flavorful!  Please click here for the recipe.



In my opinion, it’s not a party until we bring out the shrimp cocktails!  (check out my post here on How to Easily Peel and Devein Shrimps) These shrimp cocktails are better than the usual ones because they are Roasted Shrimp Cocktails!  The roasting really concentrate the wonderful shrimp flavors, plus, I added some fresh thyme for some earthy and lemony freshness.  You can go to the bottom of this post for the recipe.  See how convenience these cones and cups are (see picture below)?  I added the cocktail sauce on the bottom of the cones before “hanging” the shrimps onto them.  So, each person gets his/her own dipping sauce.   Double-dipping is highly recommended and encouraged here!  I did the same for the veggie sticks above but with a ranch dressing instead.



You can also serve desserts and drinks with this Stacko Serving Stand.  I made these Meyer Lemon Sorbet with Fresh Thyme here (see picture below).  It is the perfect compliment with the thyme I used in the roasted shrimps and super refreshing as well.  Please click here for the sorbet recipe.  Besides what I’ve shown here, you can also serve ice cream, sushi hand rolls, wraps, mixed fruit, etc.  




This giveaway is now closed!

This Stacko Serving Stand is perfect for your Thanksgiving party, celebrations and gatherings.  You can check out GitaDini’s website here and order your own.  Or, if you want to try your luck and win it in my giveaway, here’s how to enter.

Giveaway Details:

1 (One) uTry.it readers will win a Stacko Serving Stand ($30 Value).

This Giveaway is open to my Readers with a Mainland U.S. shipping address.  Deadline to enter is November 22nd, 2013 by midnight PST. Winner will be selected through Random.org and announce shortly after the giveaway is closed. Prize will be shipped out directly by GitaDini.

To enter this giveaway, simply leave a comment below telling me what your favorite party food is.  Be sure to include your email address in the comment so we can contact you if you're the lucky winner.

For extra entries, do any or all of the following (simply leave a separate comment for each extra entry):

1) “Like” GitaDini on their Facebook Page, click here.
2) "Like" uTry.it's Facebook Page, click here.
3) Pin a picture from this post onto your Pinterest board and leave a comment with the link to your Pin.
4) Follow GitaDini on Pinterest, click here.
5) Add me to your Google+ circle here.
6) Share this giveaway on your Facebook page (with a link back to this post please)
7) Share this giveaway on Twitter (with a link back to this post please)


Disclaimer: As mentioned, I won this Stancko Serving Stand a while ago from GitaDini’s Facebook Fan Page giveaway.  I also received compensation for my time to write this post and review.  And GitaDini is sponsoring the prize for this giveaway.  All opinions are 100% my own and always will be. 

 



P.S.: Please click here to read about How to Easily Peel and Devein Shrimps.

Snow Ball Cookies (a.k.a. Mexican Wedding Cookies)

I call these Snow Ball Cookies because that’s what my little boy likes to call them.  When I was taking pictures for this post, he happily exclaimed, “Wow, snow balls!”  After he tasted one, he kept asking for more snow balls.  Of course, my Baby Girl got her fair shares as well.



By now, you probably have heard the other dozen names that these cookies also referred to. Such as Mexican Wedding Cookies, Italian Wedding cookies, Italian Tea Cakes, Russian Tea Cakes, so on and so forth.  I thought I had many nick names when I was young. I can’t believe my record got beat by some cookies! LOL…Mind you, these are not just any cookies. These are some buttery, melt in my mouth, and highly addictive cookies.  I love the crunch and nutty flavor from the chopped pecans in them.  Another big plus of these cookies? They are super simple to prepare and your kids would probably want to help out in rolling the dough.  And it’s okay to let them taste the dough, it’s eggless.    



I've packaged these Snow Ball Cookies during the holiday to share with my friends and family as they are very popular during the holiday season.  But I’ve already made more batches afterwards because they are simply amazing.  After you've tried them, you would want to make them all year round too, and not just during the Holidays.

Little Old Lady Recipes Book Review—Candied Nuts Recipe And a Giveaway

Have you ever giggled while reading a recipe book?  It’s hard not to if you have the “Little Old Lady Recipes-Comfort Food and Kitchen Table Wisdom” on your hands.  I had such a wonderful time reading through the recipes and "Kitchen Table Wisdom" over the weekend.

“When it comes to comfort food, little old ladies know what's up. They know what will taste good, how to fatten up a family, and what will leave their diners craving seconds (if not thirds and fourths). Collecting these gum-smacking, finger-licking-good recipes from the matriarchs of society is Little Old Lady Recipes by Meg Favreau.”

Book Cover Image from Quirk Books’ site

“Little Old Lady Recipes honors the extraordinary women who create pot luck dinners, church socials, wedding banquets, and the best desserts you've ever tasted. Every page features their simple, no-frills recipes for pot roast, meat loaf, dumplings, corn bread, fried chicken, bundt cake, and other mouth-watering favorites-along with gorgeous photography of the chefs at work and generous portions of their kitchen table wisdom ("Butter comes from a cow. Tell me where the heck margarine comes from, and then maybe I'll eat it!").”




I followed one of the little old ladies’ advise and recipe and made some of these scrumptious Candied Pecans. “A good hostess makes big show-stopping meals, but a great hostess pays attention to the details. Place a bowl of these nuts in every room guests occupy during the cocktail hour before a dinner party; it’ll give them something to munch on and help ensure people don’t get sauced too quickly.” I took the advise a step further and packaged some of these candied pecans for guests to take home after the party. They are great for holiday gift-giving as well!



Here are a couple Kitchen Table Wisdoms that I love….”A grandmother isn’t the same thing as a restaurant. Shut up and eat the eggs.”—Ruth, transcriptionist, 77. LOL…Does that sound familiar or what?
Here’s another one, “Club soda is a wonderful thing. You can use it to remove any stain, or mix it with gin and drink until you don’t care about the stain anymore.”—Chastity, deli clerk, 72. 



While I was searching which wonderful recipe to make from the Little Old Lady Recipes book, I came across this quote on the Pumpkin Butter Recipe.  “Like good-looking people, pretty pumpkins are often really stupid on the inside.  Find an ugly, knobby variety for this recipe, because it’s likely to be sweeter.  Also keep this point in mind when looking for a husband….”  Opps…..I guess it’s too late for me to follow this advise as I’m already married to my handsome hubby for 7 years now.  hahahaha….

The Little Old Lady Recipes book is definitely a fun book to read for all.  Guess what, the size of the book will make it the perfect stocking stuffer as well!  Pack it along with a bag of these Candied Pecans and you’ll be all set.  For sure your foodie friends and family would waive about them. 

Update: This giveaway is now closed!

Rules for the Giveaway:

With the courtesy of Quirk Books, one lucky uTry.it reader (with an U.S. mailing address only) will have a chance to win a copy of The Little Old Lady Recipes Book.   You have until November 27th, 12 midnight PST to enter this giveaway.  Winner will be announced and contacted via email shortly after the deadline.

Mandatory Entry: 

Simply leave a comment and tell me what your favorite holiday treat is.  

Additional Entries: (You can do any or all of the following, just leave a separate comments for each entry.  If you already did, they do count.  Simply leave a comment to tell me so.)

1) Add uTry.it to your Google+ circle.  (See sidebar to the right)
2) Click on the +1 button. (See sidebar to the right)
3) “Like” uTry.it’s Facebook page.  Here’s the link. 

4) Follow uTry.it on Twitter.  Here’s the link.

5) Tweet about this giveaway.  Or share this giveaway with your Facebook friends.
6) Subscribe to my blog via email.  You’ll receive an email to verify the subscription.  

7) Subscribe via RSS feed.

Good luck everyone!




Disclaimer: I was given a copy of The Little Old Lady Recipe Book free of charge for the purpose of this review. I was not compensated in any other way.  All opinions are 100% my own and always will be.

Spinach, Brie and Prosciutto Tart with Pecan Crust

Every once in a while, I love to enjoy a Sunday Brunch Buffet with my family.  The Golf Club House where my hubby and I tied the knot (years ago) offers a fabulous Live Jazz Sunday Champagne Bruch.  The quality of the food is great and the price is reasonable.  It’s only a few blocks away from where we live now.  The problem is, I tend to eat a lot more than I should at the buffet!  Don’t you want to try a little bit of everything they offer?  Well, even with a small bite of every dish, it’s still over my calories intake limits, especially with a few glasses of mimosas!  Yeah, although mimosa is in liquid form, it’s not calorie free (like how I wish).  What’s the solution?  Dine at home of course.     



So, what’s for brunch this weekend?  Spinach, Brie and Prosciutto Tart with Pecan Crust!  It’s really easy to prepare and you can pre-bake the crust the day before so you can still sleep-in on the day you want to make the tart.  Plus, you get to relax and dine in at home.  No need to get up early, dress up, fix your hair and get the kids ready…etc.  You can enjoy a lovely brunch in your robe and slippers!  Ha! I bet the buffet can’t beat that!   ;)  Not to mention, it’s way cheaper than dining out. 



Are you sold on this idea yet?  I hope you are because I’m really happy that I did.  This Spinach-Brie and Prosciutto Tart with Pecan Crust was amazing.  As I was taking pictures soon after the tart came out of the oven, I couldn’t help but noticed the wonderful aromas from it.  The texture of the pecan crust was crumbly with a nice crunch from the edges.  The flavor of the crust was buttery and nutty with a hint of sweetness.  The shallots was mild in onion flavor and complimented well with other ingredients without over powdering other flavors.  The custard was velvety and the salty prosciutto on top added a nice crunch.  The creamy brie on top melted beautifully and added a sophisticated cheese flavor.  I would definitely make this again, and again.