Two Penny Parfaits!

What's a great food that's elegant, flavorful, easy to make, and fit for a crowd? Fruit and yogurt parfaits of course!

Ever since I learned how to make my own yogurt, I've been obsessed with recipes that use it. Marinades, salad dressings, smoothies - you name it, I've attempted it. Homemade yogurt is astonishingly simple to make and frankly, is much better for you. One glance at a store-bought label will confirm it. And that fancy Greek style yogurt you see on the shelves? It's easily achieved by simply draining the water out of regular yogurt. How to make it you ask? Here's the recipe:

Yogurt

• 3 cups of milk (any kind will do. I use skim or 1%, but you can go hog wild with whole if you'd like)
• 1-2 teaspoons of regular yogurt (this acts as the starter for your batch, and going forward you can just use your own as the starter)
• A microwave safe container

1) Microwave the milk until it is just below boiling, about 4-6 minutes.
2) Remove from the microwave and let it cool on the counter, about 30 minutes.
3) Add the yogurt and stir gently (GENTLY!) to combine.
4) Cover the container and place in an oven with its light on overnight.
5) The next day you should have yogurt! I usually strain out any water that has come to the top before refrigerating it, but you don't have to.
Note: For Greek-style yogurt, strain the water out of the yogurt by placing it in a coffee filter lined colander.

Parfaits (makes 24 small cups)

• Your homemade yogurt
• 1 pint blueberries
• 1/2 pint strawberries, thinly sliced and the remaining sliced in half
• 3 bananas, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup granola (optional)
• -small parfait cups (I bought 5 oz. plastic wine glasses from the party supply store, but you can use whatever you have on hand)

From the bottom up, here are the parfait layers:

1. 1 banana slice
2. 2 blueberries
3. 1/2 teaspoon yogurt
4. 1-2 slices strawberries
5. 1 banana slice
6. 4 blueberries
7. 1 teaspoon yogurt
8. 1 sprinkle of granola (optional)
9. remaining blueberries 
10. remaining bananas
11. 1 teaspoon yogurt
12. 1/2 strawberry, placed cut side up

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Wine Pairing Made Easy!

My friend Victoria (*waves* hi, Vic!) sent me this wine paring chart which I find to be insanely helpful since I'm never sure what to serve with anything. Keep it on hand when planning your next Two Penny Party! (Click on the image below to enlarge it.)



Wine Pairing Chart infographic by madelinep.

Baked Garlic Parmesan Chicken Wings

I'm back with another chicken wing recipe! I know not everyone loves spicy food as much as I do, so here's a less-spicy, high-flavor alternative to last week's sriracha honey recipe. Try it, I'm sure you'll love it!

Ingredients

• 5 lbs chicken wings
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon dried cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (the higher the quality, the better!)
• 3 tablespoons finely minced italian parsley (optional)
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan 
• cooking spray

1. In an empty frying pan, add oregano, rosemary, cumin, and salt and heat on medium-low. Warm the spices through until they are fragrant. Stir the spices constantly to ensure they do not burn. Trust me, you'll be able to smell them right away. Remove from heat and allow them to cool for 10 minutes.
2. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with 2 layers of aluminum foil, and spray them lightly with cooking spray. 
3. Coat the chicken wings with the spice mixture, making sure you cover all of them thoroughly. Allow them to sit uncovered for 5-10 minutes in your fridge. 
4. Place the chicken wings on the baking sheet in a single layer and bake for 50 minutes, flipping them over halfway through cooking. The internal temperature of your wings should reach 180 degrees F.
5. In an oven safe pan, combine olive oil, parsley, minced garlic, and parmesan. Once this mixture comes together it should look like a crumbly paste. Add wings to the bowl, coat to combine well. Bake for 15 minutes (still at 400 degrees) or until parmesan is completely melted and wings are crisp.

Serve with a side of bleu cheese or ranch dressing. Or plain- they're good every way!

Recipe adapted from SteamyKitchen.com.

Baked Sriracha Honey Chicken Wings

It's hard to find a person who hates the flavor of Buffalo wing sauce. It tastes phenomenal on just about everything! For my recent Super Bowl party, using sriracha sauce, I made them with an Asian twist which I hope you will try in your home. Soon, ok?

The heat of the Sriracha sauce paired with the sweetness of honey is well... heavenly. I made over 5 pounds of these chicken wings and not an ounce was left over! They're also baked, so no one will have that greasy feeling after they devour them (which they will, I promise) and your house won't reek of oil for the next 5 days. The best part is this recipe takes less than an hour to make from start to finish. Perfect for your next get-together!

Ingredients

• 5 lbs chicken wings -I used individually frozen ones, but feel free to use whatever you prefer
• 3/4 cup Sriracha sauce - this can be found in the Asian isle of just about every major supermarket
• 1/2 cup honey 
• 3-4 teaspoons rice wine vinegar (if this isn't in your local market, use the juice of 1 lime instead)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro (optional)
• 1 teaspoon ketchup
• 1 stick of butter
• cooking spray

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with 2 layers of aluminum foil, and spray lightly with cooking spray.
2. Add the frozen (NOT thawed!) chicken wings to the baking sheet in a single layer. Bake in the oven for 50 minutes, turning the wings over once during cooking.
3. In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter on low. Add sriracha, honey, vinegar (or lime) and ketchup and heat through. 
4. Once the wings are cooked (their internal temperature should read 180 degrees F), transfer them to a large pan. I used one of those disposable aluminum pans to cut down on my dish washing time!  [Note: If you're making a smaller batch of wings, make the same amount of sauce and just use what you need for your wings and store the remaining amount!]
5. Add sauce and coat wings thoroughly. Top with cilantro (optional).

Serve with chilled bleu cheese or ranch dressing and lots of carrot and celery sticks!

Recipe adapted from SeriousEats.com

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