Potato Kale Soup

My mom used to make this all the time! I love soup in Winter and seriously make a pot every week while it's cold here in Arizona!
This one is easy and seems to do well if you add extras to it like today I had some celery, mini peppers and broccoli that normally doesn't go in it : )The flavor is heavenly!

Easy Fire Roasted Salsa

I have made salsa for years and I always like to experiment with ingredients : ) This time around I used fire roasted canned tomatoes instead of petite diced canned tomatoes! Final result? Delish!!!

Ingredients:

2 small cans fire roasted tomatoes (undrained)
1/2 bunch cilantro (chopped)
1/3 - 1/2 of a red onion (chopped) - depends on how oniony you like it
1 whole fresh jalapeno (seeds included) - I love super spicy so I keep all the seeds
juice from 1/2 of a lime
olive oil (float a bit on top once it's in a storage container - this helps to keep it fresh)

Options: serrano peppers instead of jalapeno - in case you like it really hot!

Once you get all your ingredients ready - put it into a food processor and pulse a few times until it's a nice small chunky salsa - that's it!

I do not add salt since most tortilla chips are riddled with it. I feel adding salt to the salsa itself makes it way too salty : )

My Gramma's Cranberries

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone - a day late! I wanted to post this before Thanksgiving but I didn't have a chance to. I had to wing this recipe since I couldn't find my Gramma Mere's recipe, my mom couldn't find her copy and Gramma herself couldn't find hers. So I did it from memory and in my opinion it came out perfect! And it's so easy!

Recipe:
(2) 12 oz bags fresh cranberries - rinsed
(2) c. sugar
(2) c. water

Bring these ingredients to a boil and and let them cook about 10-12 minutes. They'll start popping and making noise : )

They look like cranberries in the snow!

 

They're starting to pop!

 

At the end of about 12 minutes they've reduced down to this!

Remove the cranberries from the stove and let them cool a bit.

Meanwhile zest 3 nice size oranges and juice 2 of them. You'll hopefully end up with about 3/4 of a cup of juice. Set aside zest and juice.

Take about half of the cooling cranberries and push them through a sieve. The idea is to push them through to release the pectin (that's what makes it thicken as it cools). Don't throw away what's left behind in the sieve!!! That's where all the nutrition is! Mix it all together with the other half of the cooling cranberries that didn't get pushed through the sieve.

Add your orange juice and zest to the cranberries and mix well : )

You'll end up with this! The color is amazing! The taste is out of this world! You'll never want to eat congealed cranberry out of a can ever again!

I love this cranberry on pancakes, waffles, vanilla ice cream, and my favorite marzipan white on white cupcakes I'll be blogging about in my next post!

And the Winner is.............

Catherine of Mrs. Toad Designs!!!!
Thank you to all who participated in Pinks & Needles First Blog Giveaway! Catherine will be receiving this handmade Holiday Cupcake Ornament made by me with lots and lots of LOVE!!!
Be sure to check out Catherine's blog at:
Mrs. Toad Designs
See you all for our Big Re-Opening of Pinks & Needles on Etsy Monday November 16th! Tons of fun Holiday gifts will be available! We'll be hosting another Blog Giveaway for the month of December - please stay tuned!

See you all for our Big Re-Opening of Pinks & Needles on Etsy! Tons of fun Holiday gifts will be available! We'll be hosting another Blog Giveaway for the month of December - please stay tuned!

My Very First Blog Giveaway!!!!!!

Choose which blog you would like to follow by clicking on "Follow Blog" at the top of the page. I keep 4 blogs current (listed below)! Choose to follow 1 or more. The more blogs you follow the better your chances for winning! I will enter your name in once for each blog you follow : )
Pinks & Needles Blog a place to keep up to date with my Etsy shop Pinks & Needles!
California Girl Confections a place where I share recipes!
California Girl at Heart a place where I share fun things!
California Kiss Studio a place where I share art!
I will be giving away a lovely handmade surprise to the Lucky person who's name I pull from a hat on November 1st!!!!!!
Please note: you can comment here but in order to be entered into the drawing you must "follow" me at 1 or more of my 4 blogs : )
Thank you so much! I look forward to my first giveaway!!!! If you are already a follower you will automatically be entered into the drawing!

Homemade Limoncello

 I've never made Limoncello before but have wanted to for years! I searched the internet over and over for a recipe that had a long steeping time and this is the one I found. ~Patty's Recipe from California
So far I have only done Step 1. I used the zest of 21 California grown lemons....I hand peeled the first 2 lemons but I was getting little bits of the white so I switched gears to zesting instead. I had quick results as far as the color of the brew changing from clear to bright yellow so I'm thinking it's going to be a good batch!!! Tune in in 2 weeks (October 27th) for Step 2! I should mention too that I used Tito's Vodka from Austin Texas. They have excellent ratings! Beating out Grey Goose & Kettle One among others!

Campy Cotton Candy Cake

The easiest recipe ever! Bake a white cake as directed. I tinted my batter the lightest color pink. For filling: Mix 2 c. sugar with 2 c. sour cream and 1 bag of coconut together ( I tinted mine aqua - hence the cotton candy refrence ). Add one container of cool whip to about 1 c. of the filling mixture - this is what you will frost the top and sides of the cake with. Once the cake is cooled split the 2 layers so you have 4. Spread the filling in between the layers and then frost with the Cool Whip mixture! You're suppose to refrigerate this cake for 4 days!!!!!! I can't wait that long!!! But if you think you can hold out before you dig in - by all means do so! It mellows and makes the moistest cake on the planet!!!