Tailgate Thursday: Auburn Edition!

So... was your first gameday of the season everything you imagined it would be?!

Ours was! {Except for, you know, our team looking sloppy. Ugh.}

We are back to our Fall Saturday morning routine: Wake up. Watch ESPN GameDay {listen to see if you catch Lee Corso spewing expletives}. Try to be productive. Give up on productivity. Don our Orange & Blue. Head over to our game watching spot. Spend the next 4 hours shouting and cheering at the screen and completely undoing the week's good eating habits. Go to bed angry/elated depending on team's performance. Wake up tired. {Thank goodness for the 3 day weekend!}

Lather, rinse, repeat.

You can't mess with tradition. :)

And speaking of tradition, this week's featured team for Tailgate Thursday, the Auburn Tigers, is steeped in southern, football-watching tradition. Like last week's featured school, Auburn University is located in Alabama {don't worry, I'll eventually cross the state's borders!}, and as I mentioned before, these Southerners sure do know how to throw a party!

Auburn's team colors are orange and blue {well, navy if you want to get technical}, so I thought I'd have a little fun with the team colors and incorporate them into the tailgate menu! {I kinda have a thing for orange and blue... ;) }

 

1. 'Eye of the Tiger' Cocktail, 2. Blueberry-Glazed Crockpot Ribs, 3. Auburn Orange Blondies,
4. Navy Prepster Dress from Twelve Saturdays

Let's start with cocktails! The Eye of the Tiger Cocktail Carla mixed up is a sipper that packs a punch {um, hello, three different rums!}, but the tartness of the citrus juices rounds it out for a pleasant and refreshing beverage.

And the Blueberry-Glazed Ribs? I've had a hard time keeping myself from sharing the recipe early since I tested it out a few weeks ago. The husband and I LOVED them.

I'm not much of a meat eater, but between the fact that they cook themselves in the crockpot while you get your gameday preparations underway, their fall-off-the-bone tenderness, and the amazingly sweet and tangy blueberry sauce... I guarantee they will quickly become a tailgate must! {I'd make a double batch, in fact!}

Chewy and decadent Auburn Orange Blondies are the perfect dessert to share with friends {especially because they're so rich you'll want to make sure you can still fit into the Navy Prepster Dress from Twelve Saturdays!} The only thing sweeter? Victory!

Any Auburn girls out there have tailgate favorites you can't live without? I'd love to hear about them!

Can't wait to bring you more tailgate goodies next week. Hope these give you some ideas for this weekend's football feasting! :)

'Eye of the Tiger' Cocktail
created by Carla from Haute Cocktail

1 oz. Rum
1 oz. Coconut Rum
1 oz. Lemon Juice
1 oz. Sugar Syrup*
1 oz. Orange Juice
1/2 oz. Dark Rum

Shake all ingredients in a shaker (except dark rum) and strain into a highball glass with ice.
Add dark rum on top and garnish with an orange slice, if desired. Serve with straws.

*You can make sugar syrup by combining 1/2 cup water with 1/2 cup sugar in a small saucepan, and bringing to a simmer over medium high heat until the sugar is completely dissolved. Boil for about 1 minute, then remove from heat and cool. Store in an air tight container and use to sweeten cocktails, iced tea, sorbets, etc.

Blueberry-Glazed Crockpot Ribs
adapted from Food & Wine, cooking method from My Life as a Mrs.

3 pounds baby back pork ribs
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground sage
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, minced
2 large garlic cloves, grated
1/2 teaspoon ground sage
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2 cups blueberry syrup {I halved this recipe & still had plenty left over}
1 teaspoon hot sauce

Combine spices in a zip-top bag or small cup and toss together to mix well. Sprinkle spice mix onto ribs and rub, coating well. Place in a crockpot set to low for 4-5 hours, depending on weight and thickness of ribs, until fully cooked through and tender.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, stirring occasionally until translucent and softened. Stir in garlic and cook for about 1 minute, then add 1/2 teaspoon ground sage and 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme. Cook for about a minute more.

Add red wine vinegar and bring to boil. Stir in blueberry syrup and hot sauce, and return to a simmer. Cook for 10-12 minutes until thickened and reduced by about half. Remove from heat.

Pour half of sauce into a small bowl for dipping, and set aside remainder for brushing onto ribs.

Set oven to broil {500 degrees}. When ribs are cooked, remove from slow cooker carefully {they will be fall-apart tender!}, and place on a sheet pan lined with foil. Brush each side of ribs liberally with sauce.

Broil on each side for 3-4 minutes until sauce is slightly browned and caramelized. {Careful not to burn, it can happen fast!}

{Alternatively, I'm sure you could throw the ribs on the grill over indirect heat to finish them off.}

Serve with extra dipping sauce.

Auburn Orange Blondies
adapted from Food Network

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened
4 eggs
1 teaspoon pure orange extract
1 teaspoon fresh orange zest

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13x9x2 inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine all dry ingredients.

Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer {or with a hand mixer}, beat butter, eggs, orange extract and zest until smooth. Add dry ingredients a bit at a time until well mixed and fully incorporated. 

Pour batter into greased pan and spread evenly. Bake for 28-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool completely. Frost with Orange-Cream Cheese Frosting when cool. Cut and serve.

{Keep refrigerated once frosted.}

Orange-Cream Cheese Frosting

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 package cream cheese {I used 1/3 less fat}
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh orange zest
2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons orange juice

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine butter, cream cheese, and orange zest and beat until smooth. Reduce mixer speed and add confectioners' sugar, one cup at a time, mixing until fully incorporated and smooth. Add orange juice, one tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached.

*I had frosting left over. Use to frost cookies, cupcakes, fill whoopie pies... the possibilities are endless! :)

White Chocolate & Fresh Cherry Blondies

We had an interesting weekend. In fact, if it weren't for the picture proof, I would probably deny that the weekend existed because it went by so quickly. {Or it could be the brain cells that were killed by the second hand smoke of the hippies sitting around us at the Dave Matthews concert we attended on Saturday? Gave me a new perspective on the word potpourri.}

Despite the jam packed schedule, I still mananged to do some cooking on Saturday to bring along to the tailgate we were having before the concert. I brought Mustard Marinated Pork Tenderloin, Honey-Coriander Oven Baked Chicken Wings, and made a big Dutch oven full of Bourbon Baked Beans that never actually made it out the door with us because they weren't done cooking by the time we had to leave.

My brother-in-law, who bought us the Dave tickets as an anniversary gift and stayed with us for the weekend, shook his head at me when I decided to whip up a quick dessert to bring along to the tailgate. "Who brings dessert to a tailgate??!"

This girl, that's who.

Most boys don't have that nagging desire for a little something sweet at the end of a meal. But that sure doesn't stop them from digging in when it's put in front of them.

Being short on time, I needed a recipe that was quick, easy, and used ingredients I had on hand. I found all three of those requirements in these White Chocolate & Fresh Cherry Blondies.

What I loved most about them was the fact that they're basically a one pot wonder. {Which obviously seems to be the theme of today's post. Love when it all ties in unexpectedly. Haha!} No muss, no fuss. {Except for all the cherry-pitting. But if you have a kitchen helper or have pitted cherries around, they do come together pretty fast.} They make a pretty yummy finished product, if I do say so myself.

If I made these again, I would try them out with a little less flour to try and create chewy texture I like in blondies. These were on the cakey side, which was still delicious, but made them seem more like a breakfast cake than a blondie. {Hmm... brunch item?!}

Awful pics, I know. :/

Now, to attempt getting back into the swing of things for the week. Let's see what these left over brain cells can do. ;)

White Chocolate & Fresh Cherry Blondies
Adapted from Lotta Madness via Tasty Kitchen


1 stick unsalted butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 cup white chocolate chips
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
pinch of salt
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
Approximately 1 cup fresh cherries, pitted and halved


For drizzle:

1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9x13 inch pan with foil {makes removal easier}. Spray lightly with non-stick spray. Set aside.

In a medium pot over medium-low heat, melt butter, sugar, and white chocolate chips stirring often until smooth. {Be careful not to scorch white chocolate.}

Once melted, remove from heat and stir in flour and salt. Mix to combine.

Add eggs, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Incorporate well into batter.

Pour batter into lined pan and smooth out evenly. Top with cherries.

Bake for 18-20 minutes until slightly golden and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool slightly.

In a small bowl, microwave 1/3 cup white chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, stopping and stirring at 30 second intervals, until smooth. Drizzle over cooled blondies. {Allow chocolate to set before cutting.}

Strawberry Blondies, Two Ways

I do not function well in gloomy weather. No, siree, I'm a solar powered Florida girl through and through.

Unfortunately, the "Sunshine State" has not held up to the promise of it's name for the past few days. Cloudy days = lazy me. And that's not good because I have far too much to do to sit around in my pj's and rearrange my Pinterest boards... not that that's what I did all weekend, or anything.

So, to distract myself from the blusteriness going on outside {and avoid doing all the other important stuff I actually need to get done}, I spent some time whipping up some strawberry treats. Because what could possibly brighten your days more than sweet, fresh strawberries??

You know when you find a recipe that excites you so much that you keep putting off making it because you want to save it for the perfect time? {Or is that just me?} That's how I felt when I found the recipe for Fresh Strawberry & Cream Blondies. It was sometime last year, past strawberry season and I remember thinking, "I'm going to make these next spring when the strawberries are beautiful {and cheap}."

With this past weekend's weather in a funk, I couldn't think of a better time to bring these little beauties into existence and add some strawberry sunshine to my day.

But here's the thing: They didn't exactly turn out how I imagined. All that time fantasizing about them, and - while they were quite delightful - I couldn't bring myself to really consider them true "blondies" with their super cakey texture. Because of the fresh strawberry pieces in the batter, they retained so much moisture {teetering on the edge of gooey, in fact} that it made them rather messy to eat with anything other than a fork.

To me, blondies mean chewy, handheld goodness.

Since it didn't seem that I'd be getting to play outside by the look of things outside my window, I stayed in the kitchen and worked on another batch that would suit my Strawberry Blondie fancy.

And guess what? This second batch did the trick.

Chewy, sweet, jammy... swirled with strawberry goodness... ok, maybe not "fresh" like the others, but still satisfying the strawberry quotient I desired.

Each recipe had it's own distinct charm... sort of like sunny days versus rainy days.

I'm posting both recipes so you can decide for yourself. Which makes the better Strawberry Blondie?

Strawberry & Cream Blondies
{Barely} Adapted from Taste of the South

1 (16-ounce) container fresh strawberries, cut into small pieces
1 cup sugar, divided

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract, divided

Strawberry Cream Frosting:

4 ounces 1/3 less-fat cream cheese, softened

1 teaspoon

1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

2 tbsp granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 350˚. Prepare an 8x8-inch square baking pan by lining with foil, and spraying with nonstick cooking spray.

Reserve approximately 1 cup of cut up strawberries for frosting. Add 1/4 cup sugar to remaining 1 1/4 cup strawberries in a medium bowl, and combine gently. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, add remaining 3/4 cup sugar, flour, and salt. Add eggs, oil, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and combine until smooth {try not to overmix}. Gently stir in strawberry & sugar mixture. Spoon batter into prepared, foil lined pan. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely.

Meanwhile, beat cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract with a mixer until smooth. In a separate bowl, whip heavy cream and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar together until stiff peaks form. Add whipped cream to cream cheese mixture, folding in gently until combined. Stir in remaining 1 cup strawberries.

Spread frosting over cooled blondies evenly. Refrigerate to store.

Chewy Strawberry Blondies
Adapted from Food Network

4 tablespoons unsalted butter {and about 1 tbsp extra for the pan}

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 large egg, lightly beaten

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

3 tablespoons strawberry jam {I used good old Smuckers, but you can get fancy if you want}

Preheat oven to 350˚. Prepare an 8x8-inch square baking pan by lining with foil. Butter foil with 1 tablespoon butter.

In a medium microwave safe bowl, place 4 tablespoons butter and the brown sugar. Microwave about 1 minute, until butter is melted. Add vanilla and stir all together. Cool slightly, then stir in the egg.

Whisk together flour, salt and baking powder in a small bowl. Add to the butter mixture, and stir together until just combined. Pour batter into prepared baking pan.

Drop jam by the tablespoon on top of batter and swirl using the tip of a knife. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until set and slightly golden brown. 

Allow to cool for about 15 minutes on a rack, then lift out foil and transfer the blondies to the rack to cool completely. Remove the foil and cut into bars.