Sweet Tea and Strawberry Fruit Dip

I am posting two summer recipes that are must haves in our house. First is sweet tea. Now, this is not your typical southern sweet tea. It is sweetened, but it is not sickly sweet. It is refreshingly sweet and every time I go anywhere, I must make this and take as part of my food offerings. Everyone loves it.

It is easy. Just follow these instructions and you’ll have some wonderful tea to serve during these hot days of summer. (We love it year round!)

Fill a 2qt saucepan with water and bring to a simmer.

DO NOT BOIL as this will cause the tea bags to burst and you will have to strain your tea. Remove from heat and add 8 Lipton tea bags. Make sure you have removed the tag and staple from the string.

Stir and let steep for 10 minutes or so.

Add 1 1/3 cups sugar to a gallon pitcher.

Remove tea bags from hot water and pour hot tea over sugar. Stir until sugar is mixed into hot liquid. Add enough cold water to make a gallon.

Add ice to glass and pour tea over. Garnish with a slice of lemon if desired. Enjoy!

Fruit Dip

This is such a delicious recipe and it is so easy to make.

Simply mix equal parts of marshmallow fluff and strawberry flavored cream cheese until smooth. Serve with chunks of fresh fruit. Everyone loves this. It goes fast so make plenty!

Breakfast Casserole

One of my husband’s favorite meals is breakfast. Particularly breakfast casserole. Whether it’s sausage, bacon or ham or all three, it matters not. He loves it all. Add a piece of blueberry crumb coffee cake and he is in heaven.

Here is a recipe I made last week. I must say it was one of the best breakfast casseroles I have had the pleasure of eating.

Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole

9 slices of white bread, cubed
¾ lb cubed ham
8 oz shredded cheddar cheese
5 slices of baby swiss
3 eggs
1 ¾ cups milk
¼ tsp onion powder
¼ tsp pepper


Lightly grease bottom of a 9x9 square baking dish. Line the bottom of the dish with half the bread. Top with ham, cheddar cheese then layer the swiss cheese. Add the rest of the bread. In a bowl beat the eggs, milk, onion powder and pepper. Pour over bread. Cover and refrigerate over night.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake for 40-45 minutes or until slightly browned. Let sit for a few minutes to set. Enjoy!

Tip: When I am using a glass-baking dish and it’s cold, I put the dish in the oven before I turn the oven on and allow the dish to warm up as the oven does.

So Sloppy Sloppy Joes

Ah…I love me some good BBQ. Some call it Sloppy Joe. In the Midwest, they’re called slush burgers. In the Northeast, they are wimpies and in some parts of Illinois, they are called yip yips.

Sloppy Joes are truly an American food.

Whatever you call them, they are good! I prefer mine with a bit of tang to it. You can open a can of Manwich or other leading sloppy joe mix, but I prefer to make mine from scratch. It’s easy. It’s quick and it’s delicious.

My recipe for BBQ’s (I can call them this…it’s my recipe and my blog ;)

1 lb of lean ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 c bbq sauce (I use Sweet Baby Ray’s)
½ c Ketchup
1 tsp liquid smoke
4 tbs brown sugar
1 tsp dry mustard
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp onion powder

Brown ground beef and onion in a large fry pan over medium heat.

See that tool in my pan? That is called a Mix ‘N Chop from Pampered Chef. It is great for getting all the lumps out of ground beef. I use mine all the time!

Remove fry pan from heat and drain liquid. Add other ingredients and mix well. Let sloppy joe simmer on low for a few minutes until the mix is the right consistency for a sandwich and all the flavors blend.

I like mine served up on a fresh bun with a slice of American cheese and my hubby likes his with a slice of sharp cheddar. Enjoy!

Victoria's: Critique

Restaurant Critique: Victoria’s, Appleton and Green Bay Wisconsin

I have been hearing good things about Victoria’s Italian Restaurant since moving to the Fox Valley area almost three years ago. Chris and Liz Victoria opened their namesake twenty-five years ago.

Finally, my husband and I made plans to go. Our daughter kept our son and we set off on a new adventure, looking forward to some good Italian food. Our expectations were high. We visited the Green Bay location.

Upon arriving, I was surprised the restaurant wasn’t busier. It was seven o’clock on a Thursday evening and almost all the tables were unoccupied. Granted, the sun was shining and it was a beautiful summer day, so, the benefit of the doubt was granted.

Our waitress was very attentive. Our drink glasses never emptied. And the bread she brought to our table was very good.

We ordered the dinner for two special. It consisted of a bottle of wine, an appetizer, soup or salad, a pasta entrée and dessert. We are not big wine drinkers so we opted out of the wine.

For our appetizer we ordered potato skins, my husband had a salad of iceberg lettuce and a few other veggies and I chose the tortellini soup. He had the lasagna and I ordered the ravioli with mushrooms, peppers, carrots and asparagus in a primavera sauce. For dessert, he had the chocolate cake and I ordered the crème brulee.

The potato skins were okay. Not fantastic, yet not inedible. They were large (everything served is served in large quantities) and sprinkled with bits of ham and cheddar cheese.

My soup came next. I was sorely disappointed with the soup. It was soured and the noodles had been floating in liquid long enough that they were bloated and tasteless. I set the soup aside and wasn’t too concerned as we all know I am a food snob…right? Besides, the main attraction was coming.

The plate of pasta set before me was enormous. It was also bland. On a good note, the vegetables were fresh and how can you go wrong with fresh veggies? Their flavor alone helped to redeem the dish. After sprinkling on some salt and parmesan cheese, I ate part of the meal and had the rest boxed up for my daughter.

Now for the exclamation point. Dessert. Have I mentioned how much I love crème brulee? No? Well, I love it! I love it more than chocolate, more than dark chocolate, more than milk chocolate…you get the idea.

She set the ramekin in front of me. I picked up my spoon and sunk it into the creamy dish. Uh oh…no crunch. Ummm…something is very wrong with my crème brulee! I took a bite anyway. Rule of thumb; always caramelize the sugar just before serving. That is part of the glory of Crème Brulee. The hardened sugar melting in your mouth, surrounded by the glorious taste of vanilla infused cream truly makes the dish. I was sad. I ate a few bites and left the rest for the garbage disposal.

My rating system:
1 star: Quite possibly the worst thing I’ve tasted
2 stars: I’ve had worse, but I won’t be going back
3 stars: It was ok, I might chance it one more time to see if they were having a bad day.
4 stars: This is good. I like it.
5 stars: Have I died and gone to heaven?

My ratings for Victoria’s are as follows:

Service: 4 stars
Quality: 2 stars
Value: 4 stars
Presentation: 3 stars
Décor: 3 stars

Overall rating for Victoria’s 3 stars. We may try the Appleton location and see if there is a difference between the two locations.

Thanks for visiting The Food Snob!

Why yes, yes I am a food snob!

Why yes, yes I am a food snob.

That being said, and since I have had multiple requests, well…more than multiple…lots of requests for recipes and cooking tips etc., I am biting the bullet and starting a food blog.

I have titled it “The Food Snob” because that is what I am: a food snob.

My goal is for this to be more than a recipe blog. It will always center on food in some way or another.

One day you will get a great recipe to try out…another day a restaurant critic…and still yet another may hold my favorite shopping sites or why I hate grocery shopping at Wal-Mart. Regardless of the post, you are sure to be entertained.

This blog will develop. I will add all sorts of gadgets, links, blogs I follow etc. I am starting off simple and we will see where we end up.

Leave me a message. Ask questions. If I don’t know the answer, I’ll find it.

Now, a little about myself as a cook.

Those who know me will tell you I love to cook. I love to entertain. I love feeding people and seeing them fulfilled and satisfied. I am a Christian and I consider hospitality a fairly high gifting of mine. I also hold a very high standard and like things “just so.” (Which is why I am a food snob!) Maybe that is why we never get invited to eat at other people’s houses? Things that make you go…hmmmm!

I am married. I have two children, one married and one still at home, and a dog.

We eat at the table almost every night. My cooking is generally from scratch, although I have found some shortcuts that I used in certain areas that save me time and taste almost as good, if not as good, as homemade.

I enjoy baking and cooking equally. I find common sense and little practice gets you amazing results. I would like to see the lost practice of eating homemade meals as a family around the table every evening restored in Amercia.

Food is one of the things we all have in common. We must eat to live.

To start us off, here is my amazing recipe for Guacamole. Which is what I am having for lunch, so, I must share!

Choose an avocado that yields to pressure when pressed with your thumb but is not squishy.

There is something about cutting open a perfect avocado that gives me extreme pleasure!

I like texture in my guacamole, so I add chopped onions and tomato.

Guacamole:

1 avocado, halved, pitted and mashed (you can mash this till fine or leave some chunks. It’s all about your preference)
½ roma tomato, seeded and chopped
1 slice of red onion, chopped
Two splashes of Tabasco sauce
½ lime, juiced (lemon juice can be substituted if you don’t have a lime)
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp sea salt

Mix and enjoy. This will serve two people who enjoy guacamole or one person who adores it!

To refrigerate leftovers, keep the pit and add it to the guac. This will aid in keeping it from turning brown. As will putting a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the guacamole. Happy eating!

Come to mama! ;)