Monthly Archives: July 2012

A MOCKTAIL TO TOAST THE OLYMPICS

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In honor of the Summer Olympic Games, I created an Olympic-themed drink for my son.  There’s not much to it — just 7UP with sliced cherries to represent the Olympic rings.  I used maraschino cherries for the red ring, and Roland lemon, lime, and wild berry cherries for the yellow, green, and blue rings.  To make the black ring, earlier this week I put some of the blue cherries and their juice in a small jar and added black food coloring, which worked great (and gives me some ideas for Halloween).  My son told me the drink was “cool.”  🙂

I also made Olympic Pie Crust Cookies, heavily decorated with colored sanding sugars, and was going to use them to decorate a dessert — maybe a sheetcake or trifle.  But my husband said they were lame, and the kids couldn’t wait to eat them, and I guess that’s just the way the Olympic pie crust cookie crumbles.  But just in case anyone’s interested, here they are, in all their sparkly, lame, Olympic glory.  🙂

Lame AND sparkly

And because I know you were wondering, according to Wikipedia, the Olympic rings were introduced in 1912 by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games.  The five rings stand for the union of the five continents and the meeting of athletes from around the world at the Olympic Games.

GINGERED TUNA SALAD

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I found this carved wooden cat at an estate sale:

I originally thought it was supposed to be a Mexican cat wearing a sombrero.  Upon closer inspection, however, I realized it was an Asian cat wearing a coolie hat.  (Well, that and the “Japan” carved on the bottom.). UPDATE:  Not a cat.

Cats love tuna, don’t they?  Inspired by the Asian kitty (who also appears to be a zombie), I made Gingered Tuna Salad for lunch this weekend.  To be honest, if I came across this recipe in a cookbook, I would skip right over it, as the ingredients don’t sound like they would combine to produce a tasty dish.  But I sampled this tuna salad at Central Market when they were using it to promote some crackers, and have been making a version of it ever since.

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GINGERED TUNA SALAD
Author: 
Serves: 2
 
Ingredients
  • 6-ounce can chunk white albacore tuna in water, drained
  • 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 1 teaspoon curry powder
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons rice vinegar
  • ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • Pinch of salt
  • Dash of Tabasco, to taste
  • 3 tablespoons minced crystallized ginger
  • ¼ cup chopped pecans
  • 2 teaspoons minced chives or green onions, green part only
  • Field greens or spring mix
  • Pecan or rice crackers, or favorite crackers
Instructions
  1. Place tuna in a medium bowl and flake apart with a fork. In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise, curry powder, rice vinegar, mustard, salt, and Tabasco. Stir mayonnaise mixture into tuna. Mix in ginger, pecans, and chives or green onions, mixing thoroughly.
  2. Place field greens or spring mix on two serving plates. Divide tuna salad among plates, mounding in center. Add a few crackers, and serve.