Too Cute Tuesday: Lobster Ravioli

Every Tuesday, it’s friends, a craft, and a cocktail. To get involved, check out the Too Cute Tuesday archives, join Too Cute Tuesday on Facebook, or contact Nicole to start your own Too Cute Tuesday group (it’s free and fun, we just like to coordinate!)

The whole shebang started on Saturday night when I got a phone call from my sometimes lobsterman boyfriend. “I’m bringing you six lobsters.” It was a good catch day and so Dan got to take some (not a usual thing).

I tried to make my own ravioli dough. At the point, I left to buy won ton wrappers. Problem solved (and stressed diminished) for $2.50.

I began to cook. I made a garlic olive oil sauce and a scallion butter when I got another phone call. “I told Joe and Beth we’d go out with them tonight. Is that ok?”

Of course it was nice to meet some of Dan’s friends but Sunday, we also had friends over for lunch who are ‘sick of lobster’ from serving it to out of town guests all summer. In other words, Sunday afternoon, Dan Dan the Lobsterman went back to fishing for the week and I still had two lobsters and a couple ‘sauces’ left.

I decided to make lobster ravioli so that I could use what I had created in terms of Saturday evening sauces and try something besides boil and serve. Sure lobster is good boiled (especially with rice wine vinegar and butter!) but Too Cute Tuesday is all about trying new things!

I ended up modifying this recipe on the Food Network for Lobster Ravioli to not have to create the dough (not to say I didn’t try of course but see steps below to see where I went wrong). Tonight, it was just me crafting… in other words, nothing stopping me from consuming a large amount of pasta unattended.

My dog is scared of anything: her grooming brush, cameras, and we can now add tasty ravioli to the list.

Too Cute Tuesday: Pralines

Every Tuesday, it’s friends, a craft, and a cocktail at Too Cute Tuesday. Get in on the fun, start your own TCT chapter, check out the archives, or connect with us on Facebook.

I just got back two weeks ago from Savannah Georgia, home of River Street Sweets and their wonderful pralines. I bought some for Chef Dan and proceeded to eat them all in the hotel room (shhh). I brought him back some pecans (in a sealed bag) and vowed to make some pralines when I got back home.

Chef Dan stirs the praline mixture, essentially sugar, vanilla, and pecans. Hey, even if it doesn't turn out, at least it'll taste good!

Then, I proceeded to sprain my ankle for the third time this summer. Thank goodness my pantry is stocked and Chef Dan only needed to pick up two of the ingredients on his way to Craft Central. Also, thankfully, there wasn’t too much involved in praline making and people were able to 1) relax and give me sympathy for my injury and 2) recover from last week’s epic craft failure, the first in Too Cute Tuesday’s history.

As Sue said of the experience, “Our crafting egos needed a reality check anyway.” True. But we were back on game tonight with this super easy craft. Dan whipped us up a signature drink: The Sad Lemonade to celebrate him finding blue curacao in our geographic area (for those wondering, Global Beverage Warehouse in Ellsworth).

Materials:

Sue helpfully licks the praline dish to help me with dishes. She's so sweet...or is she just opportunistic?1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons dark corn syrup
1 cup evaporated milk
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups pecan halves

wax paper

Cocktail of the Night: Sad Lemonade
Put 1 oz vodka and 2 oz blue curacao in a glass. Fill with lemonade (or if you’re fancy like us,pomegranatelemonade)

Looking for something non-alcoholic or just more southern? Try the sweet tea recipe I was going to make before I got gimpy.

Too Cute Tuesday: Naan Bread

Every Tuesday, it’s friends, a craft, and a cocktail. To learn more, see all the posts together at www.toocutetuesday.com or check out the Too Cute Tuesday Facebook page.

All this month, we’re making all those food items we’ve always wanted to try. My friend Morgan sent me this link way back about how to make Naan bread via Videojug. Only 10 minutes to rise and 10 minutes to bake with 10ish minutes prep? Sounds easy to me. And with mint to use up in my fridge, it’s mojito time! (I mean, come on, what else are you supposed to do with mint?!)

Sue rolls out the naan- easy!

Materials

1 tsp. yeast
1 tsp. demarara sugar
1 tbsp. warm water

7 oz. flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 tbsp. natural yogurt
2 tbsp. milk

If you want to hear an authoritative-sounding British woman give you the instructions, watch the video below. Otherwise my overly simplified instructions

1. Mix ingredients in group one together. Put aside in oven (not warm- just warmer than your kitchen) for 5 minutes.

2. Mix group two ingredients together and put aside. Add group 1 (now frothy mixture) and stir. Knead for five minutes, cover with wet towel and stick in the oven (not warm).

3. Make mojitos. Debrief with TCT friends about firefighting training and dog behavior while bread rises.

4. Take out dough and cut into four sections. Roll out but not too thin.

5. Spread vegetable oil on cookie sheet and add dough. Preheat oven for 275 degrees F and cook naan for 10-15 minutes. Serve warm, in our case, with chicken marsala (also in Videojug series).

6. Eat Indian food with a chocolate chaser. Aren’t you crafty, and now full of tasty food!


Indian: How To Make Naan Bread

Too Cute Tuesday: Lettuce Wraps

Every Tuesday, it’s a craft, a cocktail, and friends. To see all the posts, check out TooCuteTuesday.com or check us out on Facebook.

A few of our members have requested different food items so the month of May is dedicated to food. Dorrie requested we attempt lettuce wraps à la P.F. Chang a few weeks ago so we’re starting with that. And if you have requests, let us know!

Izzy shows off her mad knife skills. At Too Cute Tuesday, we encourage playing with sharp objects.

Recipe modified from Recipezaar

Materials/Ingredients

3 tablespoons oil
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 cup water chestnuts
2/3 cup mushroom
3 tablespoons green onions
1 teaspoon minced garlic

Too Cute Tuesday: Salt Water Taffy

Too Cute Tuesday is a weekly event involving a craft, a cocktail, and friends. To learn more check us out on Facebook or see the TCT posts at www.toocutetuesday.com.
This past Sunday was Maine Maple Sunday and while sap production is lower this year than was expected (something to do with the relatively warmer weather we’ve been having), we are not letting that get us down at Too Cute Tuesday!
We decided to make maple flavored salt water taffy because it was easy and it involved sugar, two factors we often consider with crafting.
Armed with buttery scissors, I am up to evil candy cutting.

Dorrie deals with our mass of taffy, with buttered hands and a tolerance for heat. Now that's taking one for the team!

Ingredients:
2 cups white granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons butter
1-1/2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon flavored oil
7 drops food coloring
maple syrup or other flavoring
food coloring (optional- we didn’t use it)
candy thermometer
sauce pan
cookie sheet
plastic wrap or wax paper
scissors
extra butter
Cocktail of the Night: Triple Phat Limeaid (two parts lime juice, 1 oz citrus vodka, 1 oz cognac, 1 oz orange liqueur. Shake and pour.)
If you need more detailed directions, check out eHow. Otherwise, we’ll take you through our process below:
1. Gather sugar, syrup, salt, and water. Dump in saucepan. Heat and stir until sugar is dissolved. Heat mixture slowly to 260ish degrees F. (Mental note: You might want to actually get a candy thermometer to do this. Ours only went up to 220. D’oh!) Candy will be at the hard ball stage, which means you can put a bit of mixture in a cup of cold water and it makes , you guessed it, a hard ball. Stir in maple syrup (or any flavor and coloring you are using).

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