Good Morning MIAMI! I bet you are starting to wonder each week just “where in the world is Robin?” I wonder that myself sometimes. 🙂
This week…I am in Miami for both work & pleasure. I figured if I was making the trip South, it was worth adding on a day or two to soak up some sun. With that in mind, I called up my sister and sister-in-law and suggested they meet me here. No coercing necessary and their flights were booked. Isn’t it amazing what a little sun can do? 🙂
With sun-kissed cheeks and a GB trip to the SuperBowl just weeks away, there is a lot to be celebrated. (It’s the little things in life. Remember that.) I promised you I would share our celebratory dinner last Sunday night after the GB win over the Bears. You were probaby expecting something fancy…like steak….or lobster…but NO…this dinner included a childhood favorite of mine: Sloppy Joes & Chocolate Malts. I can’t tell you the last time I had sloppy joes. I am pretty sure I was under the age of 18 and living in my parents house. A chocolate malt…even that was probably ages ago. So with this win, I decided it was time to pull out a couple of old favorites.
I will never forget the nights my mom would come home from work and say we were having sloppy joes for dinner. Music to my ears! I am not sure if it was the sloppy joe I was all that excited about…looking back, I think it had a whole heck of a lot more to do with the chocolate malt that would accompany it. 🙂 It wasn’t too often we were allowed treats. No Happy Meals (ok, rarely). No fruit snacks. No twinkies. But every now and then…there were malts! Thank Heaven.
To start this old-school dinner, I whipped up a couple of our everyday salads…what we call the “Boudreau Balsamic Salad” at our house. I don’t remember having a salad with this meal growing up….but we are pretty serious about our veggies these days!
Next up…making the sloppy joes. After reading several recipes on the Food Network, I opted to go with Rachael Ray. With 467 reviews and 5 stars…I thought it was safe. One minor adjustment…the addition of a chopped jalapeno. You just gotta have some KICK!
SUPER SLOPPY JOES
Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
- 1 1/4 pounds ground beef sirloin (or chuck)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon steak seasoning blend, such as McCormick brand Montreal Seasoning
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 small red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 small jalapeno, chopped (Robin’s addition)
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Worchestire Sauce
- 2 cups tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 4 crusty rolls, split, toasted, and lightly buttered
Last, but CERTAINLY not least….we whipped up batch of Chocolate Malts! Ryan was new to this process but he caught on quick. Last year for our 13 year anniversary (really, what!?), I bought him a “real” malt maker so we could make malts the way my mom and grandma always made them. I still remember my grandma’s malt maker. Sweet memories. 🙂
Apparently a year later, we still hadn’t used the one I bought. But with a quick tutorial, he was on his malt-makin’ way! A couple scoops of vanilla ice cream. A couple tbsps of chocolate malt mix. A swirl of hershey’s syrup and a quick pour of milk and blend away! Finish with whipped topping and a cherry.
They were as good as I remembered…
Heavenly really.
Can you tell by the look on his face?
Truth be told…my malt was GONE in a flash. And being the thoughtful husband he is, he let me finish the last sip of his too. 🙂 YUM!
Treat yourself to a childhood favorite this weekend. You would be amazed at what a little bit of sunshine can do…And you would be amazed at what reliving a childhood memory can do! This tradition shall live on in our house!
Indulge. In Life. In Love. In Food.
INDULGE 