Happy Hour: Grapefruit-Aperol Margarita

Aida Mollenkamp Easy Recipe Grapefruit Aperol Margarita

I love guests. I love chatting with them, laughing, and cheers-ing, but the truth is I play favorites. My affections can be easily bought with a good food gift. No, I don’t mean something fancy — just something edible like, say, a trunkful of citrus. My mother lives out in the Palm Springs area where there’s a citrus tree every other foot. No, seriously. So, the other day, my mother, being the perfect guest she is, showed up with a literal trunkful of Meyer lemons, ruby red grapefruit, and Cara Cara oranges. She looked like she was holding her own farmer’s market out of her trunk but it was all for me and all for free.

So, I went a little nuts. As in, everything I’ve cooked this week has had some form or multiple forms of citrus. And I promise to share the results before all the amazing winter citrus call it quits. First up was a few rounds of citrus pickled shrimp, which have become my healthy snack of choice this Super Bowl weekend. After that were tins upon tins of Meyer Lemon Icebox Tartlets, which I will post later this month. Finally, I opened the liquor cabinet to drink up the last of them.
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Blue Cheese, Shallot, and Delicata Squash Pizza

Aida Mollenkamp Easy Dinner Recipe Blue Cheese and Delicata Squash Pizza Recipe

Among my friends, it’s understood that rain and wind means pizza is on the menu. It’s a habit that formed when I was living in Florence when a group of us would religiously meet up at the local pizzeria whenever it really began pouring out. A blustery rainstorm only happens a few times a year out here in California, but when it does, I immediately start making pizza. There’s something about sitting next to a wood-fired oven with a glass of hearty red wine that really ups the coziness factor of a wintry day, know what I mean? While I may not have a kick-butt Italian pizza oven, I do have a technique that does a good job mimicking the oven, minus the char. And the big glass of hearty red wine? Well, you could skip it though I’d highly recommend you don’t.


Continue Reading: Blue Cheese, Shallot, and Delicata Squash Pizza