Surprise Kiss

Archive for the ‘Recipe’ Category

Did you know you can boost your romantic feelings with food? There has been some new research proving certain foods can send your desires surging. So why not boost that romantic feeling over dinner? Scientists are now recommending these foods for your enjoyment.

You can get that steamy feeling with asparagus because it has a plant chemical protodioscin. It is known to boost arousal. No wonder Larry and I like asparagus. I think I will serve it tonight for dinner!

Grilled Asparagus

Slice asparagus in half
Brush a little Olive Oil on the sliced asparagus
Sprinkle with lemon pepper
Grill to desired doneness.

You can bring on the excitement with pomegranate spritzers. UCLA scientists say the juice of this fruit is high in antioxidants which can increase blood flow throughout the veins…… the same way Viagra works when you take it. Oh my! Looks like we will be having pomegranate spritzers every night.

Pomegranate Spritzers

In one glass add:
Ice cubes
Fill the glass 2/3 full with Pomegranate juice
1/3 Club Soda
Splash of vodka
Stir & enjoy!

Did you know if you eat dark chocolate it activates attraction? If you consume at least one cube of dark chocolate daily you will experience more desire and you will enjoy lovemaking more than those who don’t eat dark chocolate? Another reason to keep Dove dark chocolate around the house. Yum!

Why not do your own research by cooking up a little romance with these foods one evening. Serve the pomegranate spritzers before dinner. Then have asparagus along with a piece of grilled chicken or fish. Remember when you are planning romance keep dinner lite. For dessert serve a piece of dark chocolate.

Who knows you may not be able to keep your hands off each other!

Keep those sparks flying!
JoJo

**My free eBook is coming soon! Be on the lookout for it and when it comes out you can be one of the first to get it. ***

“Your marriage is a gift from God; how you treat it is a gift to him.”

© 2013, Surprise Kiss. All rights reserved.

Did you know on Thursday, June 20, is Ice Cream Soda Day, so tomorrow make adult ice sodas for your sweetheart while listening to 50’s & 60’s music.

With summer officially starting on Friday this is the perfect tradition to start the day before.

Here is the simple recipe:

• 1 Tall Glass
• 1 Long Spoon
• 2 Straws
• Root Beer
• Vanilla Ice Cream
• 1/2 shot of Bourbon Cream Liquor (or more, depending on your taste)

Put one or two scoops of vanilla ice cream in a tall glass and pour 1/2 of shot of bourbon cream liquor and the root beer over the top. It gets all foamy and yummy…..put the spoon (you can feed each other) and 2 straws inside and enjoy together. Delicious!!!

Celebrating quirky holidays with your sweetheart makes your relationship funny and interesting. No dull moments together will be had.

So go ahead and enjoy Ice Cream Soda Day with your sweetie pie.

Keep those sparks flying!
JoJo

***My free eBook is coming soon! Be on the lookout for it and when it comes out you can be one of the first to get it. ***

“Your marriage is a gift from God; how you treat it is a gift to him.”

© 2013, Surprise Kiss. All rights reserved.

This week one of our local supermarkets had small frozen lobster on sale for $5 each. We bought 2 and for $10 we plan on making a Lobster Sandwich.

Our plan is to have a romantic picnic dinner overlooking the Avila Pier this weekend.

Here is our recipe:

Lobster Sandwich

Lobster Meat, cooked & chopped
Mayonnaise
Black Pepper
Salt
Lemon Juice (optional)
Romaine Lettuce
Green Onions (optional)
Hot Dog Buns – toasted

Combine chopped Lobster Meat, mayonnaise, pepper, salt & lemon juice. Place the romaine lettuce inside the toasted hot dog bun and add the lobster meat mixture and sprinkle with the chopped green onions.

There are no exact measurements because it really is to your taste buds. It all depends on how many you are making and how much mayo, salt and pepper you like.

Add coleslaw, bring your drink of choice and chocolate dipped strawberries for desert and take your picnic dinner to the beach, lake or overlooking the city lights. You will have the romantic quite time you both so desperately need.

There will be no one bothering you, just the two of you enjoying a romantic picnic together.

Keep those sparks flying!
JoJo

© 2013, Surprise Kiss. All rights reserved.

Looking for an inexpensive date this weekend? Then look no further. I have an idea that shouldn’t cost you a cent.

Go to www.Hulu.com and watch your favorite shows you and your sweetheart haven’t had a chance to watch because you have been too busy. Make a pizza with leftover chicken, pork or steak. Use Boboli Pizza Bread to make your pizza night quick & easy.

Barbequed Chicken Pizza

Barbeque Sauce (your favorite bottled barbeque sause)

Left over chicken, pork or steak cubed

Frozen Corn

Thinly sliced onion (preferably red onion)

Pepper Jack Cheese, Mozzarella, and Jack Cheese (Whatever you have on hand)

Pour a little barbeque sauce on the Boboli Bread, sprinkle the chicken, a little frozen corn and thinly sliced onions on top. Bake at 450° on oven rack for 10 minutes add cheese and put back in oven until melted. Yum!

Don’t like Barbequed Chicken Pizza then go to  www.boboli.com and you will not believe all the pizzas you can make in no time at all. From appetizers to desserts, let your imagination run.

Sit back with a beverage of your choice, your homemade pizza and catch up on the shows you have been missing on Hulu with your sweetheart. No driving around to find a parking place, no crowds, no waitress bothering you. It doesn’t get any better than this hugged up to your sweetie pie.

Keep those sparks flying!
JoJo

© 2012, Surprise Kiss. All rights reserved.

When was the last time you went apple picking? Never or has it been so long you don’t remember? September is a great time to drive out to your local orchard for a late afternoon date with your sweetheart to go apple picking.

We have several orchard farms nearby and even a wonderful barn that sells fresh picked vegetables, fruit and they have a gourmet gift shop with ice cream and bakery.  It is called Avila Valley Barn.

Pack a picnic dinner for two and head to your favorite spot, i.e. park, beach, lake or mountain top to have after you picked your apples.

Your picnic could consist of a small salad, sandwich and a fresh apple for dessert.

Here is a simple recipe for a great sandwich to make:

Chicken-Apple Sandwich for Two

• Brie – sliced

• Green Apple – thinly sliced

• Onion – thinly sliced

• Chicken Breast – thinly sliced

• Cranberries (optional)

• Jam – your choice

• 4 Slices of Bread – white, whole wheat, whole grain with nuts, or a soft roll

Spread the jam on your bread and layer the brie, green apple, onion, chicken breast and cranberries.

Yum!

For desert hand your freshly picked apple to your sweetheart with a post-it-note on the apple (which you wrote ahead of time): “You are the apple of my eye!”

What is your favorite date in September?

Keep those sparks flying!
JoJo

© 2011, Surprise Kiss. All rights reserved.

It is hot outside and you want to go on a date with your sweetheart. You want your date to be outdoors but you want to stay cool. Are you tired of being stuck inside your air-conditioned home? Then plan a “Down by the River Date”.

Pack a picnic lunch, grab a blanket and head toward the cool running water of a river near by. Find a special spot that is very quite, private and with lots of shade trees.

Romantic River Picnic for 2

• Ice Cold Lemonade or Wine – A bottle of iced Chardonnay would be nice
• Feta & Grilled Chicken Sandwich – See recipe below
• Pasta Salad – Your favorite
• Brownies – Homemade or purchased

Lay out your picnic under a tree near the river and sit back and enjoy your feast listening to the water rushing by. After lunch, kick off your sandals and play in the water until you are soaked. Better yet, if you are in a very private area, take off your clothes and enjoy the feeling of the cool water against your nude bodies and each other.

Feta & Grilled Chicken

• Grill a piece of Chicken
• Feta Cheese
• 2 Slice Tomato
• 2 Slices Red Onion
• Italian Dressing
• 2 Focaccia Bread Sliced in Half

Thinly slice the grilled chicken. Sprinkle Italian dressing on the bottom and top half of the Focaccia bread, layer the sliced chicken, sprinkle feta cheese, add the sliced tomato and sliced red onion all on the bottom of half of your bread and then cover with the top slice. YUM!

Enjoy your private time together, eating, drinking and playing in the river together. This should bring out the kid in each of you. Just one more romantic memory to add to your list….this is what a good marriage is made of.

Keep those sparks flying!
JoJo

© 2011, Surprise Kiss. All rights reserved.

What are you doing with your sweetheart this weekend? As for us it is suppose to rain on the Central Coast today and tomorrow. We might get snow as low as 500 ft, which doesn’t happen too often. It is so pretty to see our beautiful foothills blanketed in white.  So we Californians will batten down the hatch and probably say in. It won’t stop us from doing something together though. Remember we think and look at things a little different.

When people think of a date they think of going out but as you know I talk about having dates at home too. But have you ever thought of a date when there is a house project you need to get done? When we work together on something we will sometimes think of it as our project date. It makes it so much easier to get things done sometimes.

We are talking about putting up our new drapes we purchased for our formal living room and stay in for dinner. As for dinner I think we will have a roast chicken dinner. I always keep a whole chicken in the freezer and when I want to have a simple dinner with not a lot of fuss I will cook the chicken in the Crockpot. It is so easy to do.

Crockpot Chicken Dinner

Whole Chicken
Garlic Salt
Pepper

Baked Potato

2 Russet Potatoes
Olive or Vegetable Oil
Kosher Salt
Butter
Sour Cream
Chives thinly chopped
Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Salad of your choice

Chicken

Defrost the chicken, wash, pat dry and season with garlic salt inside and out. Put in a Crockpot and cook on low, for 10 to 12 hours. Your house will smell wonderful! Once cooked take the chicken out of Crockpot with a large spatula. FYI, it will fall apart but it comes out so moist and delicious.

When I tell friends how I like to cook my chicken they all say “That is all you do is sprinkle garlic salt and pepper on it?” After they have tried it they will call me and say it is delicious and it will be the only way they will cook their whole chickens from now on.  They can’t believe how easy it is.

Baked Potatoes

Meanwhile scrub potatoes and dry them. Poke holes all over them with a fork. (This allows steam to escape while cooking.) Lightly coat each potato with oil and sprinkle with salt. Put in a preheated 350° oven directly on rack and bake for 1 to 1 ½ hours depending on size. They should come out crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, just like you get at a restaurant.  Top baked potatoes with butter, sour cream and cheddar cheese. (A person has to splurge sometimes)

Serve chicken, potato and a small salad of your choice. Turn on the music and light the candles. Of course, wine, beer or sparkling cider goes well with this.

Not only are we completing a project we have wanted to do but we are enjoying our time together and a feeling of accomplishment. After we can sit down and enjoy our simple feast together. That is what simple dates are made of sometimes.

Keep those sparks flying!
JoJo

Need help with cooking for romance, relationship or travel ideas? Then go to my Surprise Kiss Store above and click on the tab to see the authors I like to read.

© 2011, Surprise Kiss. All rights reserved.

Are you looking for a way to warm up with your sweetheart because the weather is so cold outside? After the kids are asleep make a cup of hot chocolate for both of you. Turn off the TV and sit in front of the fireplace or a grouping of candles. Talk about how your day went while you are heating up your feet and your bodies sipping a cup of hot chocolate together.

Warm Your Bodies Hot Chocolate

6 tablespoons instant hot chocolate mix
2 Cups milk
2 teaspoons chocolate syrup
2 ounce peppermint schnapps (optional)
Whipped Cream
Mini Chocolate Chips

Slowly heat the milk in a saucepan.  Put 3 tablespoons of instant hot chocolate and 1 teaspoon chocolate syrup in each cup and pour warm milk over the top, then add 1 oz of peppermint schnapps and stir. Top with whipped cream and mini chocolate chips.

What better way to feel all warm and cozy with each other than sipping a good cup of hot chocolate while sitting in front of a fireplace or a grouping of candles.

Keep those sparks flying!
JoJo

© 2011, Surprise Kiss. All rights reserved.

Looking for something that is easy to serve on Christmas morning? And you want it to look like it took hours to make but it only took a few minutes to put together. Then you will want to make this coffee cake.

Bubble Coffee Cake

1 27 oz package frozen dough rolls

1 3.5 oz package butterscotch pudding (not instant)

¾  cup brown sugar

¼  cup sugar

½ cup chopped walnuts

½  cup melted butter

Spray 10” solid tube or Bundt pan with Pam. Place rolls in pan covering bottom.

Combine the next 4 ingredients and pour evenly over rolls and then pour melted butter over.

Cover with a tent of aluminum foil sprayed with Pam; let set overnight.

Preheat oven to 350°

Bake 30 minutes; turn onto a plate to serve. Serves 12

This recipe is so easy you can have the kids help you and your husband make this. It will become your family favorite. Enjoy!

If you missed the big reveal for a very funny and romantic Christmas evening with your sweetheart then you will want to read what I wrote yesterday, Dec 21st, Angel Baby.

Keep those sparks flying!
JoJo

© 2010, Surprise Kiss. All rights reserved.

A few weeks ago I wrote about a reader’s date night with her husband and how most Friday nights they enjoy watching sci-fi movies and having pizza deliver at home.  Another reader, Maria, wrote to me about how she and her husband on Saturday nights enjoy an evening at home watching movies also but her venue is a little different.

They enjoy renting through Netflix an Australian series about daughters and friends who manage a ranch in Southern Australia. It is called McLeod’s Daughters. The series ran for about 6 years and was a hit in Australia. They started with season 1 and are working through the rest of the series every Saturday evening.

Maria and Bruce get in the kitchen together and cooked a simple meal of salmon toped with a dill sauce and a salad. She was kind enough to share her recipe and said it is delicious! I plan on trying it this weekend.

Salmon with Dill Sauce

Wild Salmon (2 servings)

Season to your liking.  They like salt/pepper/ginger/lemon.

Place aluminum foil around the Salmon and seasoning and bake at 350 degrees until desired doneness about 8 to 10 minutes.

Dill Sauce Dip

1 cup plain Greek Yogurt (Maria recommends the full strength vs. low fat for this recipe)
1 handful of fresh dill, chopped
About 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (or your taste)
Salt to taste

Mix dill until it is all incorporated. It’s more of a creamy texture than a thin texture. Then top Dill Sauce on baked salmon.

Maria and Bruce have also concocted their own drink to enjoy while watching McLeod’s Daughters. This libation sounds very yummy.

Australian Tequila Sunset

1 part fresh lemon juice
1 part tequila (They use Gold Cuervo which has a light flavor vs. the oak barrel type)
4 parts soda water with ice (They use TJ’s Sparking Mineral Water)
Sugar to taste

Maria told me this has become their Saturday night tradition that they look forward to doing together. Cocktails, a gourmet dinner and a movie, a special night enjoyed together without spending a fortune. What a delight!

Keep those sparks flying!
JoJo

© 2010, Surprise Kiss. All rights reserved.