Eat and Drink like a Diva!

Cocktails

Here are a few drinks that we can say are truly, Donna and Lora.
Need we say more?

©©©©©©

Yes, the Donnalora.

Lucky you! You're getting the recipe for the one and only, Donnalora.
Right now, right here, and only here.

This drink was created just for us by our favorite waiter, Steve, at one of
the rare places in town where you can get real-priced great food and.... whis-kay!

Murphy's Irish Pub

So, here it is. So beautiful and simple and perfect.

Shake over ice and serve in a tall glass.
With two cherries. (I just added that.)

Makes us hum the old Irish Ballad, Annie Laurie, for the rest O' the day.
Here are the lyrics so you can sing it too!

Max Welton's brae are bonnie,
Where ear-ly falls the dew.
And 'twas there that Annie Laurie,
gave me her promise true.

Gave me her promise true,
and ne'er for-get will I,
But for bonnie Annie Laurie,
I'd lay me down and die.

Hey, I think I can hear you!

©©©©©©

Bloody Mary's naughty daughter  - literally

(Recipe for one serving)

 1 Tall glass

4 medium sized ice cubes
(Ice takes up valuable space and is therefore only important in
keeping beverage cool.  Less is more with ice.)

2 shots Vodka
Absolut is fine or Grey Goose or Belvedere, depending on your politics

V-8 juice- Hey! It's healthy!

Worchestershire sauce

Tabasco sauce

1 jar of Mezzetta’s Italian Mix Giardiniera
(I LOVE this stuff.  It is my favorite food)

Ground black pepper

Toothpicks

• Put ice cubes in glass

• Add 2 shots of chilled vodka (Sometimes more.  You never know.)

• Add a couple dashes of Worchestershire sauce

• Add a couple dashes of Tabasco Sauce

• Add 2 tablespoons of Giardiniera juice (mmmmm!)

• Add dash of black pepper

• Skewer Giardiniera bits of your choice with toothpicks (Go buy it.  It’s in a jar near the pickles and olives at Safeway)

• Add skewered bits to glass.

• Top with V-8

• Stir well

Let the Giardiniera marinate in the drink before eating.  You will be tempted to eat it right away,
 but trust me, it is better when it’s been soaking in the vodka for a while. 

Sometimes I have this for dinner. 

This drink is also excellent with Blue Diamond Wasabi & Soy Sauce
or Lime 'n Chili Almonds (see Diva Picnic)

So, you're welcome! Now go make one, or better yet, tell your favorite bartender
to add these to her bag of tricks. Share the love. And toast the Diva's.

Back

Recipes Smecipes

So, ok. We don't cook much. But with these favorite
recipe's of ours, nobody has to know.

Disneyland Fish Tacos, aka I'm on vacation at home dinner.

One package of Gortons Original Batter Fish Fillet Tenders*

One bottle of Serrano Ranch Salad Dressing

One package of Fresh Express Coleslaw

One package Mission Corn Tortillas

1-3 limes (lemons will do, if you don’t have limes)

One bottle of fruity (not too oaky) Chardonnay, slightly chilled 

*Two fish fillet tenders equals one serving, so cook as many tenders as you need for the number of servings you are preparing. 

1. Open Chardonnay and enjoy one glass while getting all items together to make tacos
2. Bake tenders according to package directions
3. Remove tenders from oven and wait 5 minutes before assembling fish tacos (they are hot!)
4. Warm tortillas for 1 ½ minutes on medium high in the microwave to soften
5. Have another glass of Chardonnay while waiting
6. Open package of shredded cabbage and put 2-3 tablespoons in center of each tortilla
7. Place two tenders on cabbage
8. Squeeze juice of lime over tenders, 1 teaspoon or so
9. Drizzle salad dressing over tenders (1 tablespoon or more if you want)
10. Pour third glass of Chardonnay
11. Fold tortilla over into “taco” shape and eat!

This is NOT a low fat or low Carbohydrate meal.
It is meant to be eaten in vacation mode ONLY…
i.e.
Long weekend;
Weekend with much alcohol consumption
(it’s a great foundation meal if you are planning on consuming a lot of alcohol);
Cinco de Mayo, Siete de Mayo or Trece de Mayo;
Right after a messy break-up with your boyfriend;
When your phone has been shut off because you haven’t paid the bill (again),
or any other “special time” when you are in the mood for fat and carbs.

 
We don't know which meatloaf is more simple,
Meatloaf or our meatloaf. What a word. Meatloaf.

One-1.25lb package of ground turkey

1 large squirt Ketchup

6 dashes or so Worchestershire Sauce

1-Egg

½ cup bread crumbs (Italian-style, or Garlic Herb)

3 dashes Pepper

1 dash Garlic Salt

One small white onion, chopped and sautéed, room temp

Large mixing bowl

9X9 glass pan or similar, whatever, it all works

Pam cooking spray

Warning-This recipe requires the use of your BARE HANDS TOUCHING MEAT, so I recommend a nice bottle of Pinot Noir.  Drink one glass before you begin. 

1. Preset oven to 400 degrees
2. Wash hands
3. Put turkey, ketchup, worchestershire sauce, egg, bread crumbs, pepper, garlic salt and onion in mixing bowl and mash together with hands, until thoroughly mixed.
4. Wash hands
5. Spray glass pan with Pam
6. Put turkey mixture in the glass pan and spread with fingers until even
7. Wash hands
8. Use a spatula to make squares out of the turkey (like you’re cutting brownies).  This increases the surface area and makes it cook faster.  Faster is better.  Most of the time.
9. Bake for 25 minutes.  If you can flip each turkey square towards the end of the cooking time, that’s better because the turkey fat congeals on the top and looks gross.  Be careful not to burn yourself.

Remove from oven and let stand for a couple of minutes for serving.  This is a good quick dinner for meat eaters.  Serve with Pinot Noir and some kind of vegetable.

Enjoy!

Good Girl Veggies

Yep, we eat 'em!

Here’s my recipe I sorta ripped off from one of my favorite restaurants.
I guess I’m not such a good girl after all. But we feel good when we eat our veggies,
and this recipe is Diva-easy, which means anybody could make it.

 -1 cup of brown rice

-Newman’s Own  Low Fat Seasame Ginger dressing

-1 bag of pre-shredded cabbage. The one I got was for making cole slaw. Ew. Gross.

-1 bag of frozen Stir Fry veggies
(broccoli, sugar snap peas, green beans, carrots, celery, water chestnuts, onions and red peppers)

-1 bag of frozen California style veggies
(cauliflower, more broccoli and more carrots)

(You could opt for fresh veggies, which I totally recommend, but I don’t have
time for all that chopping and crap, so I use the pre-packaged frozen ones.)

-Something satisfying to sip

First thing/worst thing is to make the rice.
I admit, I was intimidated by this at first, but it’s actually pretty simple.
Before you begin, go make sure you have a pot with a lid that fits. I was pleasantly surprised and excited to find that I actually had one!
Then, measure 2 ½ cups of water (and do measure it), 1 cup of rice (you don’t even need to rinse it!), a bit of salt, and if you want, a little butter. Put it all into your pot, and when it starts to boil, turn the heat down to pretty low, put the nicely fitting lid on it, and don’t open it for 45 minutes. Simple! The hardest part for me was not peeking.

Do NOT forget to either set a timer or look at the clock so you know when time is up. 

While that rice magic is happening, get a large bowl and dump in the bags of frozen veggies
and about a cup or so of the cole slaw mix.
Pour in about ¼ to ½  the bottle of  Newman’s, and mix it up. Let this sit and thaw a bit ‘til the rice is done. 

Now, go have a glass of tasty beverage and play Sudoku. You’ll find one in the back of The Sun. 

Just about the time you’re ready to throw your pencil across the room and crumple up the newspaper, your rice should be done. Get out your wok or a frying pan if you don’t have one, coat it with olive oil and get it nice and hot. When your spit sizzles (just kidding), empty the bowl of veggies and stir fry ‘em up! You’ll know when they’re ready. Put the perfectly (or not so) cooked, yummy rice into a cute bowl and top with your nice veggies.

That’s IT!!!

 This will feed about 4 people. Or 2 people and 2 lunches the next day. Or 3 big pigs. Or a 1 person dinner and 3 lunches. Or, well, you get it.

The Best Bean Salad I've Ever Eaten
I had it in Nicaragua.  I'm still dreaming about it (so I dream a lot, ok?)


Brought to you by the Nicaraguan Bean Stealing Monkey, aka DivaLora

1 small sweet red pepper chopped into little bits
1 small sweet yellow pepper chopped into little bits
1 can/bag/whatever of small red beans
(NOT kidneys.  If you can't find real red beans, just stop right here and don't go any further)
A ½ cup fresh pineapple chopped into little bits
A ½ cup (or more) GOOD Feta cheese (go to a store with a cheese counter,
like a gourmet food store.  Don't get that processed crap).
1 lime with lots of juice in it. Just figure it out, or get two to be sure.

If beans are dried, prepare according to package.  I know.  This takes a ridiculous amount of time.  Either follow the directions or just forget about it, otherwise you'll try to cook the beans on the stove in boiling water then forget about them while the water boils off to nothing thereby setting the pot on fire and necessitating the use of a fire extinguisher (if you have one) after evacuating all the kids to the sidewalk.  Just follow the directions, ok?

Mix all bits together and squeeze juice of lime(s) over all.

Marinate for a few hours.

Eat with fork or potato chips. Or fried banana chips if you are in Nicaragua

Please, I've had enough. Take me back.