Well, well, well. Look at that. We made it to week 2 and you’re still here (I know I’m a day late with this post, I was away this weekend and didn’t have time to prep this; but rest assured it won’t happen again…)! Thanks for sticking around for another fun post! There is a button to subscribe at the end of the page, if that’s something you’re interested in… no pressure. I’m really excited about this week’s post, so I won’t waste any more time…

Schwally in the Kitchen: Valentine’s Day Potluck – Easy Recipes to Impress your Friends

Alternative Titles (with a little inspiration from ChatGPT): 

• Valentine’s Day Feast: Recipes for a Perfect Group Celebration
• Sweet and Savory: A Valentine’s Day Dinner for Your Closest Pals
• Heartwarming Flavors: Valentine’s Day Recipes to Savor with Friends

HERE’S THE THING: Since I am only posting a ‘Schwally in the Kitchen’ post once a month (for now), what I will do is post recipes for a full 3-course meal (appetizer, main dish, dessert) plus a cocktail (and mocktail version). I think the way that these “Recipe” posts will go is pretty simple. I will give you what I’m making at the beginning, a little introduction, then I’ll just go through the process of cooking everything, with some *hopefully* funny jokes or puns (oooooh I love a good pun) as we go. Also, there is a shopping/ingredient list for everything you need for all the recipes down at the very bottom. Enjoy cooking!🙂

As the title of the post says, I’m making some recipes that are perfect for a group gathering on Valentine’s Day (since that day is this week)! If you’re like me and will be spending the evening with some friends, here are some things to make that will impress them all!

Appetizer/Hors d’oeuvre: Bruschetta

Main Dish: Stuffed Red Peppers

Dessert: Lemon Bars

Cocktail and Mocktail: Blue Lagoon

Appetizer: Bruschetta

Alright, I love bruschetta. I used to hate it (because I’ve never been the biggest fan or raw tomatoes… you can yell at me for that in the comments, sure), but over the past few years, it’s grown on me. There’s this place I like called Postino’s (https://www.postinowinecafe.com) that has some pretty amazing boards that I’ve recreated for a bruschetta party I hosted a while ago, and it was delicious! Their main menu is right below, and maybe I’ll post the exact recipes I used to recreate some of these dishes another time.

Today, however, I’m keeping it simple and we will do a simple bruschetta that can be easily made and put together. For this, you’ll need some bread (obviously), tomatoes, basil, garlic, mozzarella (balls or slices), olive oil, salt and pepper, and balsamic vinegar (or the glaze version, also really good).

First things first, you’ll want to dice up your tomatoes and put them into a bowl along with your chopped basil and minced garlic. Give that a stir and set aside for a few minutes (I like doing this first so that I can let everything sit together so it can soak up the flavors).

Now, you’ll spread the olive oil on the bread and throw it in a toaster (or the oven) and you’ll just let them toast until the bread comes out a nice golden color. I don’t have an exact oven temperature and time to give you, just estimate it until the desired color (however, please don’t do what I did last time I made bruschetta and set the oven to high broil, and put the bread pan on the top rack of the oven… the fire alarm in my apartment may or may not have been set off by burning bread…).

Ingredients,(*pause for dramatic effect*) ASSEMBLE!! With your bread toasted and your tomatoes full of flavor, it is time to start assembling your bruschetta! Bread goes down first. If you are using mozzarella slices (like I am), this goes next (if using mozzarella balls, mix them into the tomatoes now). Now, spoon a little bit of the tomatoes onto the bread or cheese. Once you have a desired amount of tomatoes on, finally drizzle on the balsamic vinegar (glaze).

And, well… that’s pretty much it. If you are still reading this, then you’re the tomato to my basil bruschetta. Haha… yeah… anyway, feast your eyes on the final product of the bruschetta. Say it with me “oooooooooh, ahhhhhhhh.”

Main Dish: Stuffed Red Peppers (inspired by https://www.wellplated.com/italian-stuffed-peppers/)

Stuffed bell peppers are delicious! I first had them a few years ago when my dad made them during the pandemic lockdown, and I’ve loved having them and making them ever since. These stuffings are so versatile and can be made to anyone’s liking. Today’s stuffed pepper recipe comes inspired by Erin Clarke’s Italian Stuffed Peppers (linked above).

To begin, we are setting our oven to 375 ℉ and preparing our 9×13 baking sheet with some non-stick spray.

Below you will find a picture of the ingredients. For this recipe, you’ll need some stuffed peppers, diced tomatoes (I bought them from the store as ‘Italian style’), olive oil, shredded mozzarella cheese, brown rice (or farro), ground meat (I used chicken), and spices (I used italian seasoning, salt, pepper, onion powder, crushed red pepper, garlic, and basil). Feel free to adjust quantities and seasonings to your likings. In cooking, I never really worry about specific quantities and just kind of eyeball things and use my nose to tell me when things are seasoned enough. My cooking style is similar to one you’ll find in the New York Times’s “No-Recipe Recipes” cookbook. I have some ingredients and some directions, but things are just guess-timations.

Cut the peppers in half, wash, and de-seed them. Lay them face up in the pan. 

In a large pan, cook up your meat with your seasonings (and I added a bit of chopped up onions as well for fun). Once that’s cooked, add in a 15 oz can of diced tomatoes. Once that is cooked together, add about 1.5 cups of rice and ½ cup of shredded mozzarella cheese.

Once that is all cooked well, fill up the stuffed peppers, top with some more cheese, and bake in the oven for about half an hour (~30 minutes). The cheese on top of the peppers should start to brown. Before you put the pan in the oven, you may want to put about ⅓ cup of water at the bottom of the pan. 

Serve on a dish (or out of the pan), and enjoy! Hey hey, what’s a pepper’s favorite dance? The salsa!

Dessert: Lemon Bars

Dessert time! “When life gives you lemons, make lemon bars and share the zest!” This is a pretty simple recipe and shouldn’t take more than an hour!

Ingredients: flour, sugar, salt, lemon, butter, lemon juice, and eggs.

First, set that oven to 350 ℉ and prepare your 9×13 baking sheet with some non-stick spray, vegetable oil, and/or some parchment paper.

For the crust, combine 2 sticks of butter (1 cup) with ½ cup of sugar. Once fully mixed, add in 2 cups of flour and a pinch of salt. It’ll get pretty crumbly, that’s okay! Start mixing with your hands, and then you’ll press this ‘dough’ into your pan. Bake this for about 20-25 minutes.

While the crust is in the oven, whisk together 4 eggs, 1.5 cups of granulated sugar, ¼ cup of flour, ½ cup of fresh lemon juice, and the zest of 2 lemons.

Once the crust is baked, pour the filling on top, and put back in the oven for another 30-35 minutes.

Short and sweet, right? During this baking time, go clean up that kitchen so your roommates don’t get mad at you for leaving a mess… yes, even if it is 1 am… please clean up…

It’s done! Here is the final product! Make sure to cut these up into squares! (this isn’t shown because I didn’t prepare my pan well enough, so it looks pretty bad. We ran out of parchment paper, but definitely use that if you have it!)

Cocktail/Mocktail: Blue Lagoon

So there’s this local bar my friends and I love to go to for trivia every week, Sky Bar. And they have this drink called the Lunar Lemonade (space themed), which is the base for this drink – which I believe is traditionally called a Blue Lagoon. It’s a relatively simple drink, but I am also going to give you a delicious mocktail alternative if you don’t want to use alcohol or if you are under 21! Please drink responsibly.

All ingredients: vodka (or some vanilla flavored vodka), blue curacao, blueberry syrup, simple syrup, lemon juice, some lemon-lime soda, and some cherries (maraschino).

I’ll be honest, there’s a way to make these recipes even closer together. There is this thing called blue curacao syrup, which is essentially a non-alcoholic version of blue curacao. HOWEVER, I was doing this shopping at like 9 pm last night, and didn’t want to drive to the one store like 15 minutes away that only had a possibility of having the syrup, so we’re changing up the mocktail flavor and going with a blueberry syrup (which you can easily find). Yeah, I know the color isn’t the same, but at 10 or 11 at night when you need to finish the drinks so you can make a blog post, the color doesn’t really matter.

To make the rest of the cocktail, you’ll just put in equal parts vodka, simple syrup, lemon juice, and a bit of extra soda. For the mocktail, you’ll do the same thing minus the vodka. Stir both in glasses of ice, and top with some cherries! Enjoy!

Sip Happens, Especially with a Blue Lagoon!

Thanks for reading this second post of mine! Come back next week for a Schwally Special Feature (honestly, still trying to figure out what that even means)! But the next kitchen post (in a month) will include one of my favorite recipes – a kimchi stir-fry!

…I am still thinking of a better outro…

Schwally Out!

“That’s how it goes, kids. The friends, neighbors, drinking buddies, and partners in crime you love so much when you’re young, as the years go by, you just lose touch. You will be shocked when you discover how easy it is in life to part ways with people forever. That’s why, when you find someone you want to keep around, you do something about it.” – Ted Mosby

“Friendship is an involuntary reflex, it just happens, you can’t help it.” – Ted Mosby

Shopping/Ingredient List:

Bruschetta:

• Bread/Baguette/Bruschetta Bread
• 4-5 ripe tomatoes, diced/small box of cherry/grape tomatoes
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Mozzarella slices

Stuffed Red Peppers:

• 4 Red Peppers
• 1 lb ground chicken or turkey
• 15 oz can of diced tomatoes
• Brown Rice
• Diced Onions (optional)
• Seasonings: garlic (minced), italian seasoning, onion powder, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese
• Fresh basil

Dessert: Lemon Bars

Crust:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Filling:

• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3-4 lemons)
• Zest of 2 lemons
• Powdered sugar for dusting (optional)

Blue Lagoon and Mocktail:

• Sprite
• Vodka
• Blue Curacao
• Simple syrup
• Maraschino cherries
• Lemon juice
• Blueberry syrup