Lobster Love

Ever find yourself craving some nice, buttery lobster but you don't want to break the bank? I have seen lobster tails for as much as $30 a piece at grocery stores, which is expensive especially when feeding a group or family. Well, go without no longer, I have found your solution: Sam's Club! I have found that the store at Park and Central always has frozen lobster tails for a great price. Just the other day I picked up two 1/2 lb lobster tails for a grand total of $22!! This was such a great buy and they tasted soo delicious. Also, tails are great to work with because they make for a very easy clean-up.

You can prepare lobster tails several different ways, but I either like to boil or grill them. See below for my favorite easy recipes for preparing delicious lobster tails.

Boiled Lobster Tails
2 frozen lobster tails
4 qts boiling water
1/4 cup salt
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp lemon pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp dried parsley

Add water, spices, oil and lemon juice and bring to a boil. Drop frozen lobster tails in boiling water. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Drain. With a sharp knife or kitchen scissors, remove the soft shell-like covering on the underside of the tail. Drizzle melted butter over lobster meat.

Serve in shell with melted butter.

Grilled Lobster Tails
2 frozen lobster tails
5 tbsp butter
2 medium lemons
2 wooden or metal skewers

In advance: thaw frozen lobster tails by placing them in a ziploc bag in the fridge over night. If necessary, soak them in cold water to thaw before starting the recipe below.

Bring grill to medium-high heat. Run skewer through the tails for support to prevent them from curling up. Place butter in and squeeze lemon juice directly onto the shells. Place tails on the grill, top of the shell down. Grill covered for 7 minutes or until meat is opaque.

Serve with lemon wedges and melted butter.

Firefly Summer

Well, folks, the school buses are running, the temps are slowly falling off their '09 peaks and the pools will be closing so very soon. This all means one thing: sweet, sweet summer is slipping away once again.

To cling to summer for a few more precious weeks, I have been enjoying a delicious summertime cocktail: Sweet Tea Vodka. Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka is "distilled four times, infused with tea from a plantation 5 miles from the distillery and blended with real Louisiana sugar cane", according to their website. There are a number of brands claiming to make sweet tea vodka, but most of them use artificial flavoring and miss the mark.

If you're a fan of sweet tea, you will love this drink!! Be careful though, they are so delicious they can really sneak up on you! Check them out: www.fireflyvodka.com

The recipe:
1. Mix equal parts water and Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka in your favorite glass over ice
2. Add fresh lemon to taste and as garnish

A Contemporary Venue Idea

Looking for a Hot and Trendy venue? Look no further. The Fashion Industry Gallery, or F.I.G. is located downtown in the Dallas Arts District on Ross Avenue and is easily accessible from Central Expressway or I35.

The Special Venue within the F.I.G. is approximately 25,000 square feet of fashionable, contemporary space. Defining features include the exposed brick walls, concrete floors and miles of customizable track lighting. To further personalize the space, there is a large, blank slate wall that can be splashed with any color to give a more dramatic look. Also available to rent are several contemporary fixtures, such as small, white leather stools and bright orange square couches. This space dresses up perfectly for themes ranging from warehouse industrial to vintage modern with a chic, cozy feeling. It is perfectly suited for casual or formal affairs and can accommodate up to 1,200 guests.

My favorite aspect of this venue is setup. The spacious, open floor plan and attached parlor rooms allow your guests to mingle together in one space while also accommodating guests seeking some refuge from the noise. During shows these parlor rooms are used to showcase an artist's or designer's work. This venue is large enough to hold any size crowd and it is flexible enough to accommodate any type of event.



For celeb fans: the F.I.G. is where Nicole Richie hosted her book-signing party for "The Truth about Diamonds" and where Valentino hosted his famous cocktail party.

I would recommend the F.I.G. to anyone wanting to host the "perfect event". Check them out: www.fasionindustrygallery.com

Big Taste, Bite-Sized

As individuals are becoming more health conscious, a bite-sized trend is emerging. Many restaurants are beginning to serve 'tapas' style food. This is a traditional Spanish way of serving food in small portions, but I have a different take on Bite-sized foods.

To give my family and friends a guilt-free way to exercise their taste buds during a meal, I began taking everyone's favorite foods and shrinking them. From mini chicken fried steaks, topped with a dollop of mashed potatoes and gravy, to smoked salmon phyllo cups, I have miniaturized many of our all time favorites. This helps to control portion and calories, not to mention miniatures always look so cute!

I really hope this trend can become a staple in our diets. I love the freedom of trying an assortment of my favorite dishes without all the guilt.

Snickerdoodles

I would like to share with you today one of my favorite recipes: my aunt's famous Snickerdoodles. If you precisely follow the recipe, you will be rewarded with some amazing cookies!!

Doody's Snickerdoodles
1 cup Canola Oil
1½ cups sugar
2 large eggs
2¾ cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. cream of tarter
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt

Roll in:
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon

Mix oil, sugar and eggs with wooden spoon. Add cream of tarter, soda and salt to flour and stir. Add flour mixture to egg mixture. Chill dough. Roll into balls and roll in sugar cinnamon mixture twice. Bake at 375° for 7 or 8 minutes or in convection oven at 350° for 7 or 8 minutes.
Eat about 4 or 5 yourself when they come out hot!


E Claire served these Snickerdoodles with some other treats at the Park Cities 4th of July Parade. Give them a try and let us know what you think!

Park Cities 4th of July Parade

Last Saturday, July 4, E Claire was a sponsor for the annual Park Cities 4th of July Parade put on by the Rotary Club. This was an excellent opportunity for us to give back to our community as well as a chance to do some excellent marketing.

Our tent was near the parade let-off point, so we got tons of traffic!! We went through 15-20 gallons of cranberry spritzer, we gave away 400 snicker doodles with cinnamon cream icing, and we treated the kids with 1,000 flavored popsicles. We also received tons of compliments on our large, contemporary flower arrangement.

All and all it was the perfect day. We enjoyed one of the only shaded tent locations, we received a ton of wonderful feedback, we shared our creations with tons of people and we celebrated our nation's independence!! We hope you also had a safe and glorious Independence Day!

Hole in the Wall Greatness

This year for my birthday I decided to give myself a break from the kitchen. Instead of working my own birthday I decided to invite about a dozen of my close friends to meet my husband and I at our favorite hole-in-the-wall Mexican Restaurant, Avila's. I designed some invitations and sent them out with precise directions, since Avila's is tucked away in a little old house on Maple Ave in Dallas, TX. Many guests admitted that they had passed by dozens of times without taking a second look.

Avila's has been around for nearly 30 years, but has only recently enjoyed popularity with the advent of internet search engines and easily accessible restaurant reviews. One bite of one of their famous Brisket Tacos and you will understand why the popularity of this place is spreading like wild fire. With a combination of Tex-Mex and more traditional Mexican menu items, this place is bound to satisfy any tastes. All items fresh and delicious, the salsa is fiery and the queso is creamy. The margaritas are pretty darn good too. If you are craving homemade quality mexican food, check out Avila's... you will not be disappointed.

We enjoyed a wonderful evening full of great friends, great drinks and great food. For dessert, my friend and pastry chef, Vince, whipped up a beautiful chocolate cake decorated in my favorite colors: pink and green!