Best of the Month April 2014

A recap of my most popular recipes from last month (April 2014)

I've found out that any recipe containing chocolate will get almost three times the views of other posts.  April is my husbands birthday month so I made his usual chocolate cheese cake with some alterations.  As expected it received the most views and +1s this month.

Overall I think my blog is doing well.  I have some regular viewers and my google plus page is doing well with almost 1,000 followers.  My twitter, facebook, pinterest, and tumbler accounts are steadily gaining more followers (I'm starting to feel like a cult leader with all these followers ;-) ) too.

I installed rich pins for my blog so when my recipes are pinned you see my favicon and site name with each pin as well as the ingredients and web page.  I love the look of these pins and I'm slowly going through older posts and marking them up.  I'm also gradually updating some of my older posts.  I'm still co hosting Great Idea Thursdays every Wednesday to Sunday and we have more linkers than ever and that also contributes to my recipe views.  Still linking to other link parties weekly and trying to comment on other posts.  So things are looking good and I'm slowly but steadily being seen.  I don't expect fame but I love when my recipes inspire others.

My best of April:

Dark Mocha Cheese Cake

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A dark chocolate cheesecake with coffee flavor.  425 views and 100 +1s.

Garlic Shrimp Stir Fry

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A healthy stir fry made with shrimp, vegetables, and lots of garlic (update 4/7/14 from original 1/21/13).  182 views and 33 +1s.

Mushroom Spinach Tomato Pasta

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Linguine noodles in a light white wine and garlic sauce tossed with mushrooms, spinach and grape tomatoes.  151 views and 18 +1s.

Clam Linguine

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Clams cooked in white wine sauce then tossed with linguine.  A delicious dinner that may look fancy but is really quite simple.  140 views and 113 +1s.

Veal Scalopini

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Thin veal cutlets served with tomatoes, mushrooms, and spinach in a white wine sauce.  139 views and 16 +1s.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

Enjoy.

Linked to:  See Ya in the Gumbo, Much Ado, Merry Monday, Two Cup, Teach Me, LouLou Girls, Tasty Tuesday, Brag About it, Whimsy Wednesday, Wednesday Roundup, Eat Create Party, Freedom Friday, Pretty Pintastic, Best of the Weekend, Saturday Night Fever, Share it Sunday

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Garlic Shrimp Stir Fry

A healthy stir fry made with shrimp, vegetables, and lots of garlic.

I have been waiting to post this recipe.  It is one of my quick standby recipes that I have made many times and know it is delicious.  Once every thing is ready it cooks up in minutes and the only time consuming part is peeling the shrimp.  This can be made easier if you buy pre-shelled shrimp or shell the shrimp the night before and let them sit in the marinade overnight.

I have found it is easier to shell and de-vein shrimp using kitchen shears.  I take the headless shrimp and stick my shears into the center of the head side and cut a line down the middle of the back (where the vein is), then I can pull the vein out and peel the shrimp easily.  This is also a great method if you want to leave the shell on but remove the vein.

One thing I will add to my marinade in the future is about 1 tablespoon of oil.  I watched an episode of America's Test Kitchen and learned that garlic flavors are oil soluble so to bring out more flavor from the garlic in a marinade add some oil. (I tried this and it works-4/7/14)

(Updated with new pictures 4/7/14)

Garlic Shrimp Stir Fry

Ingredients:
recipe from about.com Thai food

1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 head broccoli, cut into bite sized pieces
1 red onion, chopped
1 carrot, julliened
1/4 lb shredded bamboo shoots (about 1/2 cup


Marinade:

2 Tbsp fish sauce
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2-4 Tbsp oyster sauce
4 Tbsp fresh lime juice (about 2 lime)
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 red chillies, minced (more or less depending on your tastes)
1 head of garlic, minced
1 Tbsp dried shrimp, optional (I just added them because I have them and I could)
1 Tbsp canola oil and I added a splash of hot chili oil

Mix the marinade ingredients and pour over the shrimp in a resealable bag. Mix the shrimp and marinade well, then, refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Meanwhile, prepare the other ingredients (the vegetables I used are just what I like and can get easily feel free to use anything you like or have on hand).

When ready, heat a large fry pan or wok over medium heat. When pan is hot, add vegetable oil (about 1 Tbsp) then the broccoli, onions, and carrot. Stirfry until vegetables are slightly tender (if the pan is hot enough this should only take a few minutes or less).  Next, mix in the bamboo shoots and finally the shrimp and their marinade sauce. Mix around until shrimp are pink and cooked. You may want to add up to 1/2 cup of water depending on how dry it looks and how much sauce you like. Once shrimp are cooked (should be very quick, just a few minutes), remove from heat. Serve over rice and garnish with cilantro or green onions. You may also serve with lime wedges, fresh jalapeno, and some Thai basil if you like.

Serves 4.

Enjoy.

Linked to:  Much Ado About Monday. Two Cup Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, Brag About It, Whimsy Wednesday, Lou Lou Girls, Eat Create Party, Freedom Friday, Best of the Weekend, Show Stopper, Saturday Night Fever, See Ya in the Gumbo, Food on Fri


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