Two Pina Coladas

I absolutely love the smell of coconut. I remember a friend of mine had the best smelling body spray. She bought it for a couple bucks at the drug store, but since she bought that one we have never been able to find it again. There is nothing that tops the smell of a really good pina colada, except the taste of a really good pina colada.

Bacardi sells these delicious blended drink mixes in the grocery store freezers. I remember loving them so much when my dad would make them for us kids. (Without the rum). When I was rooming with my second roommate, we would makes these (with rum) only our blender was so awful it had to be "drank" with a spoon because the ice chunks wouldn't make it through the straw. When this roommate of mine was visiting me recently we had a supper of pina coladas, lobster tails, risotto and roasted pineapple.

Rebekah's Baked Lobster Tails

1) if you bought frozen lobster tails, thaw them out by placing them in a sink filled with cold water. This will take some time.

2) once the tails are thawed cut the tails in half lengthwise

3) take a piece of foil and fold up all four sides so it's like a square bowl. Place the tail inside with the exposed meat facing up.

4) place tabs of butter on top of the meat and sprinkle some lemon pepper seasoning on top

5) close up the tin foil so it's a pouch and no lobster is exposed

6) place in an oven @ 350 F until the lobster meat is opaque, about 7-10 minutes


The lobster has been placed on a bed of risotto. Risotto is one of my favorite things. (I have a lot of favorite things). The problem with risotto is it can be so time consuming. And it's not like you can start making it and then go off and do something else, you have to be attentive. Risotto is high maintenance.

Microwave risotto is not high maintenance, and yet it yields great results.

Tante's Microwave Risotto:

Ingredients: 1 cup arborio rice

3 cups BOILING chicken stock

1/2 or 1/3 cup chopped white onion

2 tbs butter

2 tbs extra virgin olive oil

grated Parmesan cheese

(this will serve four small portions, so you can up the amount however you like the basic rule of thumb is 3 parts stock to 1 part rice)

1) in a large microwavable dish heat the butter and oil for 1 minute

2) stir in the onion and heat for another minute

3) stir in the rice and heat for a minute (keep the onion and rice glossy with the oil and butter, dry rice might burn, if you need to add more oil so all the grains are shiny)

4) add the boiling stock. If you do not heat up the stock first, it will not be absorbed. heat for 8 minutes

5) stir, and heat for another 8 minutes

6) add some grated Parmesan. 1/2 cup should work, but feel free to add more. Stir. Crack black pepper over it.

IMPORTANT NOTE: When I say add pepper to any recipe, I always mean fresh ground pepper. I NEVER mean "restaurant pepper".

This is so delicious. I could eat the whole thing for dinner. The risotto is creamy, and rich and so simple.

Roasted Pineapple

I took the whole pineapple and sliced of the top. Then I sliced the peel off in strips, using my knife. I cut the pineapple into slices and cut out the harder core in the center.

I topped it with some brown sugar and butter. I had some butter sitting on the cutting board from when I was making the lobster, and I couldn't let it go to waste.

Place the rings on a baking sheet and heat at 400 F to 425 F for 15 minutes or so. The pineapple should be soft, and the butter and sugar should be melted.

The pina coladas were easy. Take a can of Bacardi's frozen Pina Colada Mix and squeeze it into the blender. Add 2 cans of ice, and a half can of rum (if using, the drink is still very very good without any alcohol). Blend. Pour into a glass. Add a straw and some leftover sliced pineapple.

The Bacardi frozen mixers taste way better than the syrup that is sold in the grocery stores. It is worth the extra money. They also sell lime mix and strawberry mix for daiquiris and margaritas.