Our Private Oscar Party

I am not typically one to sit down and watch the Oscars, but this year I decided to use it as an excuse to make some yummy food.  Mark is a bit of a movie buff, and the girly girl in me loves seeing all the gorgeous dresses.  The inspiration for tonight's kitchen adventure came from a recipe I stumbled across for the craziest cupcakes I've ever heard of... Buttered Popcorn Cupcakes!  I mean, how much more Oscar-esque can you get?  This is how my dinner menus typically start... dessert first and entree later.  Desserts are just so much more fun, don't you agree?  So, with the cupcake recipe secured, I allowed my fiance to guide me through the rest of the meal.  We are both Texans, so Tex-Mex was a natural choice.  


Let's kick off this blog with a little Tex-Mex & some appropriately festive cupcakes!

Meet Izzy

On the agenda for today:
- Poma-Ritas     
- Armadillo Eggs 
- Brisket tacos
- Refried black beans
- Mexican Rice


...and finished off with...  


- Buttered popcorn cupcakes






Oh my goodness was this good!!!  
Restaurant quality, according to my future hubby!  




Poma-Ritas  ---  an original recipe concocted by my future hubby himself
Recipe yields 2 cocktails
2 shots of Tequila
1 shot of Orange Juice
3 shots of Pomegranate Juice (we used Pom-Blueberry)
Garnish with a lime wedge

Armadillo Eggs were adapted from The Homesick Texan

The only addition I made was about 1/4 cup of chopped yellow onion.  I used turkey sausage & they were a HUGE hit!

Puppies waiting anxiously

Armadillo Eggs

Mr. Jasper

 Brisket Tacos were also adapted from The Homesick Texan
I used a 1/4 cup of Pinot Noir instead of the red wine vinegar because that is what we had on hand & it was wonderful!  The brisket takes a LONG time to cook, but it was well worth the wait.  We will definitely be making these again!










So I cheated a bit when it came to the side dishes tonight... I used canned refried black beans & Spanish rice from a box.  However, to jazz up the beans a bit, I added some chopped onion and fresh jalapeno to give them a bit of zing.  I also topped the beans with a pinch of shredded cheese, because that's how we do things down here...

The final meal - delish

Buttered Popcorn Cupcakes recipe was found on Little Ivy Cakes blog 
They were by far the most interesting cupcakes I have ever attempted!  So fun & festive!

The BIG finale

And that's all for now folks!  I will probably be turning our left-over brisket into yummy enchiladas, so that may be the next addition to this blog... 

Oliver