Category Archives: Sips and Slurps

Spring Cleaning Shamrock Shake

Red alert to early adopters: for some reason the first version of this listed milk twice in the ingredients. It’s fixed now, but I apologize for any sad thin shakes the mistake may have caused. May all your clovers be four-leafed.

If you’ve been on my train for any length of time, you know I have a thing about Shamrock Shakes. They are part of our family lore, from when I was a kid through when my now-grown kids were kids, to right now when we all are just looking for excuses to be kids. The truly devoted can read an excellent brief history of the Shamrock Shake right here. For obvious reasons—like seasonality and general health—Shamrock Shakes are more therapeutic tool than dietary staple.

That is, until now!

Yes folks, I have discovered how to drink Shamrock Shakes whenever the heck I want and feel good about it. It’s the perfect thing for spring when a lot of us are trying to clean up our acts after a winter of aprés ski. This DIY version is cool, creamy, refreshing and just sweet enough to feel fun, yet responsible. It’s also substantial enough to fill the cracks without being a calorie bomb that makes you feel sad in 20 minutes.

This version passed the husband test, the kid test, the friend test, the easy test and the healthy test. You can take it in whatever direction you choose: make it healthier by adding hempy, flaxy, seedy things; make it treatier by subbing frozen yogurt for the yogurt.   

Huge shout out and thanks to Andy’s East Coast Kitchen for this one. The only things I tweaked were trying with almond milk (yes!), and backing off on the mint extract because the pure stuff is high test (batch 1, of many, was a little harsh). But as ever, you do you.

I am now semi addicted to this version of Shamrock Shakes, and looking forward to the mint that takes over my garden every year.

Cheers to you, and to a happy, tasty spring!

Spring Cleaning Shamrock Shake

Lightly adapted from Andy’s East Coast Kitchen

Makes 1 very generous serving, or two for skeptics

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup milk of choice
  • 1/2 cup plain greek lowfat yogurt (or thick yogurt of choice)
  • 1 cup spinach
  • 1 Tbsp honey
  • 1/2 cup frozen banana (½ large banana)
  • ~15 mint leaves
  • ¼ tsp mint extract
  • 1/2 cup ice
  • shaved/grated chocolate for garnish (optional—never gone there but why not?)

Method:

Whir it all up in a blender until creamy and uniformly green. Pour into a glass/glasses and grate a little chocolate on top for the pro version.

Notes:

For max creaminess make sure the banana pieces are fully frozen. I keep a stash of cut up bananas in the freezer so they break up easily in the blender (and to remove the baking pressure of over-ripe bananas on the counter)

Don’t leave it blending forever or it’ll heat up and be more like shamrock milk. Not so lucky.

If you are light on bananas, or want an extra boost of creamy nutrition sub in or add some avocado. You may want to add more sweetener if you are replacing the banana.

Thanks to sister B, who pointed me to a super cool and easy-to-use recipe analyzer, this shake comes with nutritional stats. Sadly, I have not cracked the code (literally) to getting it to display on the site, but I’m working on it. In the meantime, some deets:

Spring Cleaning Shamrock Shake: 233 calories (211 with almond milk); 2.7 grams fat; 27 grams sugar.
VS
Mickey D’s small Shamrock Shake: 460 calories; 13 grams fat; 63 g sugar

Weekday Smoothie

I was going to post this on the weekend, but I’m your friend and friends don’t do that. Weekends are about pancakes and muffins and doughnuts and bacon and omelets and cinnamon rolls and maple syrup. Always maple syrup. So, posting a smoothie with vegetables and beans on a weekend just feels wrong. But on a Monday? The gloves are off baby—this is what you get.

I have a friend who is gorgeous (I have quite a few of those) and she once explained to me her diet philosophy of being “all about oatmeal” during the week, and then loosening up on the weekends. Clearly it works for her, and it leaves ample room for both discipline and fun.

On to this smoothie, which firmly belongs in the weekday repertoire. I’ll never lie to you. I’ll never tell you “this tastes just like a milkshake” or “you’d never know this was healthy” or that your loved ones will beg you to make this or that you will not be mocked when you open a can of beans for breakfast. But I will tell you I am mildly addicted to this because sometimes the cold goodness of a very healthy smoothie that is packed with nutrition from real ingredients is really comforting. And sometimes, well, I just need to get beyond the oatmeal.

If this intrigues you, I hope you try it and enjoy it. If the concept of this grosses you out, I hope you have a nice week and I will see you with something more fun very soon. Happy Monday!

A Breakfast Double Date…. get it?

Weekday Smoothie

Makes 1 huge or 2 small smoothies (as pictured above)

From Hey Nutrition Lady

Ingredients

  • 1 frozen banana
  • 1 cup frozen cauliflower (the riced stuff in the freezer section is best)
  • ½ cup black beans
  • 1-2 medjool dates pitted (2! or more if they are deglet)
  • 1 cup oat milk or milk of choice (use what you’ve got)
  • 1 tablespoon hemp seeds
  • 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Method

  • Place all ingredients into a blender. Blend until smooth. (really smooth!)
  • Pour into a glass and sprinkle hemp seeds over the top if desired. Serve immediately.

NOTES: You need an aggressive blender — or a lot of blending in an ok one — to really get this smooth, which is key. Gooey Medjool dates are ideal here, and I say live a little and add another if you need to ease into this. If you only have deglet, or if your medjools are a little dry, cut them up and rehydrate them with some boiling water (or a bit of your morning coffee supply) for a few minutes. You can also use an unfrozen banana and add some ice cubes, which also helps with the crappy blender situation.

When Life Gives You Lemons, Say Thank You!

It’s a dreary Sunday here in the east, with the promise of rain to take what’s left of our precious snow. As if in anticipation of this day, a heavy Priority Mail box from California recently arrived. Cousin D, in a race to save her California hillside of citrus from a cold snap, did a mass harvest and shared some of it with me. As a former Vermonter, D knows the mixed blessing of March in New England–winter’s easing its grip, but…the mud!–and the curative power of Meyer lemons. On top of that, she’s just darned thoughtful!

Rather than reinvent the citrus wheel, I’m going to revisit some favorites from Lemonpalooza 1, (Lemon simple syrup, and roasted lemon shallot vinaigrette for an off the hook chicken bread salad) and from the sequel, Lemonpalooza 2 (lemon pudding cake, preserved lemons and the lemon blueberry sunshine loaf that I discovered the last time Cousin D bestowed her citrus bounty on me.)

For breakie, squeeze some on top of the classic Dutch Bunny to put a big smiley face on your day, orrrr nothing says “I love you” and also “Don’t mess with me” like Sassy Sansa Lemon Ginger scones. If you really want to jumpstart summer, make up a Lemon Beach Pie.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with plowing through your lemons as straight up lemon juice in and on everything. Tea? Smoothies? Sprtizers? Cocktails? Yes please!

If you’ve already embarked on spring training, squeeze them up for some minty snap pea salad, lemony shrimp and bulgur salad, lemon cauliflower couscous or pretty much anything that could use some fresh zip.

Wherever you are on this spring day I hope you find some brightness and warmth.

PS. We’re taking votes for your favorite lemon recipes. First vote is by Aunt D for lemon posset, in Lemonpalooza 1. Solid choice!

 

 

The Aperol Spritz: Ciao Bella!

In case we missed the memo last week, summer has arrived, in all its sweaty glory. This does not bring out my A-Game, because I’m more St. Bernard than Whippet, more Clydesdale than Thoroughbred, more Thelma than Daphne. 

I also tend to gain weight in the summer, which—with all that necessarily exposed flesh—is just…plain…awesome. I’m ok with it, really, but that doesn’t make it any easier to bear the peak heat and humidity of an eastern summer.

So what do we do? We get out of the kitchen and onto the patio. And we help each other by sharing our favorite patio fare. Stay tuned this week for some simple easy classics to have on hand that will help you stay cool in every way.   

Today’s feature: The Aperol Spritz. These first caught my eye on a recent trip to Europe, where every sidewalk café featured what appeared to be glasses of orange wine, complete with little floating orange slices. For a moment, I thought Europe was a few years late on the orange wine trend 2015, the one that never breached the NH border.  But then I remembered where I was: European sidewalk cafes don’t do trends. They do classics.

Rigorous research enlightened me to the Aperol Spritz. Aperol is an Italian aperitif (that’s fancy talk for dry not sweet) made of oranges, roots, herbs and—let’s be honest here—some serious food coloring.

All you need for a classic, refreshing, “I’m- for-sure-as-cool-as-any-of-you” summer drink is to fill a glass with ice and layer in three parts prosecco, two parts Aperol and one part seltzer…in that order.  Toss in your little slice of orange and…Salute! Cin cin! Oooh baby!

For a no heat dinner, enjoy your spritz California style like Sister A and Cousin D did with this fine feast. Fully- loaded watermelon poke bowls? Alfresco dining? Avocados, pickled ginger, chopped peanuts? Check, check, check, check, check!

Bring It Summer All Stars

Summer is here my friends. Just in time, the good people of the webhosting universe have fixed my site so subscribers will actually get posts. What a great idea? Thank you Bring It loyals for your patience. And now, on to the weekend!

Before you head out for the Memorial Day shop with the rest of humanity, I picked out some all star classics that will help you slay this weekend. With a little prep you can head into summer looking like the master entertainer you are at heart.

First and foremost…

Bring on The Slaw:
If you have never made Hero Slaw, just trust me on this. It will make you famous. Go ahead and claim it as your own if it helps. Prep it, bag it, put it in the fridge and you can take on any invite that comes your way. Or just enjoy it yourself for a few days. If nothing else, make up the dressing to have on hand and turn kale into something the family might actually eat.

Have Some Balls:
Buffalo chicken meatballs are back on my regular rotation (thank you Neely for reminding me!) until I master the perfect veggie balls. Stay tuned for that. Until then, make up a lot of these (ahead if needed) and know they will disappear fast.

Brush up on Your Bruschetta Fixin’s:
You will never be sorry to have a Funitella bruschetta stashed in the fridge. With the miracle that is petite diced canned tomatoes it take all of about 5 minutes. If you want to get more ideas, take a gander at bruschetta deconstructed, and the consider toppings like pickled fig, creamy cheese and crunchy nut crostini, strawberries and goat cheese, and Sicilian caponata.

Get Your Guac On:
You’ve got to have it, and it hardly requires a recipe. BUT if you want to go the extra distance this crazy one with apples and tequila is my new fave. Mango jicama guacamole is another solid contender. Both add crunch and assert that this is not your first guac fiesta.

Think (of drinking) Ahead:
You know you’re a pro when…You’ve got your Frosé and Sandy’s daquiris in the freezer, and fixins for some fancy lemonades. You bridge into genius status when you also have watermelon juice at the ready to whip up watermelonade, spicy watermelon margaritas and watermelon sangria.

Watermelon Sangria. Summer in a glass.

Watermelon Up:
While we’re on the topic of watermelon, cut up some watermelon and prep it for watermelon poke bowls and you are set for fresh weekend lunches for Vegans and non Vegans alike. If you double up on the feta you get for Funitella Bruschetta, and make summer perfection watermelon feta salad, I promise you won’t be sorry.

Sweet Endings:
Oh where do we begin on these? Well, summery Lemon Beach Pie, a whole mess of Rubble or Loosey Brucey Rhubarb crisp are a good place to start. As Bruce would say, nobody ever complained about to many good recipe ideas.

New recipes next time, but of now let’s go with what we know and get this summer party started.

Must…eat…more…pie. Sweet, salty, sweet, salty, and oh yeah—creamy, crunchy, cool and tart.

Slippery Slope Ginger Beer Margaritas

Watch your step. Holiday season snuck right up on us again. Just as we stood up from prying the squirrel-nibbled pumpkins off the patio, the holidays were staring us straight in the face. From here on it’s a slippery slope of parties, visitors, events and hastily concocted reasons to gather right through January 2. Are you ready? Do you need a drink? This could help.

Let’s ease into this transition by taking a summer standby and winterizing it. Meet the ginger beer margarita. I stumbled across this while going down the Internet rabbit hole in pursuit of butternut squash tacos. Did I mention the slippery slope? After some exhaustive testing of ginger beers, following the comments on Minimalist Baker, I can definitely recommend the lighter ones like Fever Tree. It IS a margarita after all.

These are the easiest drinks in the world to make. You can get fancy and line the rim with lime juice and salt, or you can a just make the darned drinks. You can stir the ingredients together in a cocktail shaker with ice and strain, as directed, or you can just stir them up up in a pitcher, and pour over ice in each glass giving each drink another good stir. Just save yourself the anxiety and the outfit change and DO NOT shake them in a cocktail shaker. Remember the volcano experiment in 2nd grade? Yep.

A quick brush up on simple syrup: Combine equal parts sugar and water. Stir to dissolve sugar, heat to boiling, and let cool. Keep some stored in your fridge at all times, in case of emergency.

The best part about this drink, from a social perspective, is that you can easily bring the parts and assemble on site, AND the ginger beer makes a festive non-alcoholic drink as well (see top picture). For more ideas you can always revisit these fine drinks from last year.

The contenders. It wasn’t really exhaustive, but it was a Wednesday

Ginger Beer Margaritas

From Minimalist Baker, and adapted for high volume

Ingredients

Single serving version

  • 1.5 ounces (3 Tablespoons) 100% agave tequila
  • 1 ounce (2 Tbsp) fresh lime juice
  • 3 ounces (6 Tbsp) ginger beer (Fever Tree regular or light are awesome)
  • .5 ounce (1 Tbsp) simple syrup
  • Coarse salt for lining rim (also optional and fancy)

Team player version, for four

  • ¾ cup tequila
  • ½ cup fresh lime juice
  • 1 ½ cups ginger beer
  • 4 Tbsp simple syrup
  • coarse salt

Method

  1. If you’re feeling fancy, Line a small serving glass with fresh lime juice and dip in coarse salt
  2. Add tequila, simple syrup, ginger beer and lime juice to a large glass (single serve) or cocktail shaker (let’s not drink alone) with lots of ice and stir vigorously. Don’t shake with a lid on!
  3. Pour liquid (reserving ice) into serving glass with a few ice cubes Garnish with a lime wedge and serve immediately. Repeat for more drinks, or double/triple the amounts for more people.

What to do with your leftover ginger beer, once you have settled in on “the one.” Here’s an idea. Pour it over these cranberry rosemary ice cubes that you made for Cran-rosemary prosecco punch, which is basically equal parts prosecco and white cranberry juice, a splash of bitters and these fancy ice cubes.  The fancy ice cubes also winterize the flavored seltzer you can’t help from buying on every trip to the store. Did I mention it’s a slippery slope?

Frosé and Frosecco: Summer’s Coolest Celebs

 

You say frosé, I say "Be right over!"

You say frosé, I say “Be right over!”

It’s been called the summer of Frosé, the “it” drink of summer, even the “God of summer.” Suffice to say, Frosé is a thing. At first I resisted jumping on the Frosé bicyclette. We are, after all, no stranger to the slushy drink rodeo. Plus, I learned the hard way that there is significant recovery involved after an entire summer quenching one’s thirst with things like watermelon sangria. All that said, I also have obligations to the Bring It devoted, so at my cousin D’s urging I took the plunge into trying, tweaking and bringing Frosé. While I was at it, I decided to try the same method with the beverage mascot of brunch, Prosecco, subbing peaches for strawberries to get the Bellini effect.

I’m happy to say the experiment was a grand success and I can bring you not one but two fun, fabulous, delicious summer drinks that can be made and transported in large quantities with little effort. Cue the late summer victory dance here.

The premise is simple: frozen rosé or prosecco, emboldened with fresh fruit-infused syrup then sweetness-balanced with fresh lemon juice. Some versions add more complicated mixers or liqueurs and even fresh herbs. I’m all for experimentation, but there’s not a thing wrong (and a whole lot right) with the basic version.

I started with this one in Bon Appetit, added a splash of vodka to keep it loose, and then slackerized it by eliminating pretty much every step beyond dumping it in the container. This is because summer entertaining at the beach, the lake or even the patio is ideally a “no host” experience. As in no host needed to get yourself a damn drink.

This is very easily scaled up, based on the size of your container. My two vintage yard sale gallon-plus Tupperware beverage containers hold 5 bottles of wine so I used 4 bottles in each to make room for the other ingredients and freezing expansion. When finished they pop right into a cooler, doing double duty as ice packs, and are ready for action at your destination.

Use the leftover fruit in smoothies, over yogurt and ice cream, or stirred with cubed watermelon and fresh mint into a batch of limeade for the world’s easiest aqua fresca. Kids and your wiser, sober friends, will worship you for this.

Here, my pretties, is your date for hot the summer nights ahead:

Frosé and Frosecco

Servings: Makes 4–6

Ingredients:

  • 1 750 ml bottle hearty, bold rosé (such as a Pinot Noir or Merlot rosé) or Prosecco
  • ¼ cup vodka (optional but helps keep it a little looser and sassier)
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 8 ounces strawberries, hulled, quartered (or peaches, raspberries, based on flavor and color preference)
  • 2½ ounces fresh lemon juice

Note: Here are at Bring It central, we’re pretty much done after Step 2. There is no blender involved. The cooled syrup goes right into the semi frozen Rosé or Prosecco and into the freezer. Extra points if you stir it and scrape it with a big spoon every few hours while it is freezing.

Preparation

  • Pour rosé into a 13×9″ pan (or, a transportable Tupperware/beverage container of choice) and freeze until almost solid (it won’t completely solidify due to the alcohol), at least 6 hours. Allow longer if working with multiple bottles.
  • Meanwhile, bring sugar and ½ cup water to a boil in a medium saucepan; cook, stirring constantly, until sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes. Add strawberries, remove from heat, and let sit 30 minutes to infuse syrup with strawberry flavor. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl (do not press on solids); cover and chill until cold, about 30 minutes. (Reserve still-delicious berries for another use.)
  • Scrape rosé into a blender. Add lemon juice, 3½ ounces strawberry syrup, and 1 cup crushed ice and purée until smooth. Transfer blender jar to freezer and freeze until frosé is thickened (aim for milkshake consistency), 25–35 minutes.
  • Blend again until frosé is slushy. Divide among glasses.

Bringing It:

Transport the entire container in a cooler, using it to cool your other offerings.  At your destination, pull out the container, stir or scrape frosé/frosecco to a uniform consistency and pour into glasses. You might need a spoon at first, but a hot summer day will soon take care of that!

 

Lemonpalooza

On-pillows-light

California Dreamin’ on Such a Winter’s Day

Lemonpalooza: n. a celebration of all that is warm, bright and tangy; hope in the home stretch of winter; antidote to a common addiction amongst native Californians and Floridians; yum.

As I was packing a shoe box of Meyer lemons in to my checked baggage, my sister suggested: “You need lemon rehab.” A day earlier I had packed a flat rate priority mail box with lemons and had just returned from the home tree with another batch. Earlier she had bottled a batch of lemon syrup for me, and the lemon possets for dessert were cooling in the fridge. Gnawing on the peel of a juiced half lemon (dentists everywhere are recoiling) I nodded. “You might be right.”

But there is no kicking this addiction. As I boarded my plane back to NH I could not help but have a pang for every Meyer lemon left unpicked in the family tree and in the entire Bay Area megalopolis. I take solace in knowing I did my best.

Here’s a small sampling of how those lemons will be worshiped this week:

The first recipe comes from “The Lemon Cookbook” (of lemon cauliflower couscous fame) which I gave to my sister. The book’s chicken and toasted bread salad has been among their family’s Bring-It staples ever since. It’s sturdy, hearty, delicately and boldly flavored (can that be? Yes, oh yes!) with co-roasted lemons and shallots. And here’s the real kicker—it’s even better the next day.

The ease of rotisserie chicken notwithstanding, reading and re reading all the steps makes the entire recipe a pain in the butt to make the first time. That said, virtually all the labor (and flavor) is in the dressing. So we’re going to take just that element on now, and it will make for many happy salads with or without chicken and toasted bread. 

The other recipes are ridiculously easy: Meyer lemon simple syrup is a juice-intensive staple to brighten tea, seltzer, pancakes, vodka, etc; and lemon posset is a sweet, tart, creamy, perfectly textured pudding/custard with no eggs or special techniques involved.

As good as these recipes are, they are merely a gateway to all the transformational possibilities of Meyer lemons in winter. Roast them, juice them, preserve them (Pickled lemon chutney? I’m looking at you next!), and let them bring a little sunshine in to your life.

Roasted Lemon-Shallot VinaigretteLemon-salad

Ingredients:

  • 1 lemon, halved and seeded with the tip of a sharp knife
  • 8 oz shallots peeled and halved if large
  • 3 large cloves garlic unpeeled
  • ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
  • 4 sprigs fresh thyme, divided
  • 2 ½ tsp kosher salt, divided
  • juice of one lemon

Method:

Preheat oven to 400. Toss lemon, shallots, garlic and 2 sprigs thyme in 1/4 cup oil and 1 tsp salt. Spread in baking dish in one layer, with cut sides of lemon down. Cover with foil and bake 45-55 minutes or so, until shallots are caramelized and lemons are totally soft. Remove from oven and let cool.

When cool, remove lemon pulp from peel and put it (minus peel and any remaining seeds) into the blender. Add shallots, garlic insides (squeezed from skin), lemon juice, and any accumulated liquid to the blender. Process until smooth. Add remaining oil in a stream. Stir in thyme leaves from remaining sprigs and salt to taste.

Say tuned for a pro version of the chicken and toasted bread salad, pictured above, which is leftover roasted chicken tossed with arugula, plumped currants, rustic bread—torn, tossed with oil and oven-toasted— and this dressing.

This next recipe comes from Cooks Illustrated, so even though it is super simple of course it has some crazy essential step. In this case it is measuring the hot liquid until it is the proper volume. They have a workaround which is even more complicated, so let’s just stick to Plan A. It’s no big.

Lemon Possetposset

  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1 Tbsp lemon zest
  • 6 Tbsp Meyer lemon juice
  • Fresh blueberries or raspberries

Combine cream, sugar and zest in a medium saucepan over medium heat and stir to combine. Heat, stirring as mixture boils. Boil, stirring frequently, for 8-12 minutes, until reduced to 2 cups (pour it off into pyrex measuring cup to check when it’s there). Remove from heat, stir in juice and let cool 20 minutes. Strain into bowl or directly into six individual ramekins/posset containers (see at right. who knew?). Discard strained zest, or eat it when nobody is looking. Chill possets uncovered until set, at least 3 hours. Wrap and store in refrigerator for up to two days. To serve, unwrap and let sit at room temperature 10 minutes. Garnish with berries.

 

Meyer Lemon Simple SyrupSyrup-tree

2 cups strained fresh Meyer lemon juice
2 cups granulated sugar
zest of 3 Meyer lemons

Wash and gently scrub lemons. Using a zester or vegetable peeler, remove strips of zest from fruit, being careful to remove only the yellow zest, none of the bitter white pith.

Combine sugar, zest and lemon juice in medium saucepan. Heat until simmering over medium heat, stirring to completely dissolve sugar. Increase heat and bring to a gentle boil. Remove saucepan from heat. Cover and set aside to steep 10 minutes. Strain into glass containers. Discard zest, or, you know what I’d do.

Makes 3 cups. The syrup will keep 1 week in the refrigerator, 6 months in the freezer.

granite-lemons

Southern Comfort in the Granite State

 

 

 

 

Watermelon 911

We’ve all been there. It’s the height of summer and you get a watermelon every time you go by the big bin of them in the store because it just seems like the right thing to do. You can get ambitious and whirl it into watermelon gazpacho or mix up some watermelon sangria or just cut it in cubes for snacks. Inevitably you reach the point where a watermelon hangs around a tad too long so you give it precious fridge space. And then by some crazy plot twist you end up with another watermelon. You’ve got yourself a watermelon emergency. What do you do?

Well you start drinking of course. And you drink watermelon juice. In the name of research I watched nearly all of a six minute video on making watermelon juice until I realized it was just an excuse for people to watch a hot yoga instructor with expressive hands talk breathily about her “watermelon secret.” I felt so violated. There is no secret here—just throw watermelon chunks in a blender and press the button. I should have used my time to watch this video, inspired by a facebook find from Sister B:

 

 

In honor of Sister A, I wanted to put my watermelon juice to good use by making a big batch of cocktails, but the week was young. Soooo, with inspiration from Sandy’s freezer dacquiris I froze the whole batch in my brilliant rectangular Tupperware pitcher. Now, my fridge has been freed, I’m still stone sober, and I’m ready for a weekend expedition without needing to find ice packs for the cooler. Boom!

A few details, as ever. This drink, inspired by Food52’s  Boozy Watermelon Lemonade, relies on rosemary simple syrup for sweetness. It’s well worth your time to make up batches of simple syrup, with various flavorings (mint, rosemary, citrus, peppercorns, etc, etc) and have them on hand to fancy up everything from iced tea and plain old seltzer to your firewater of choice. Inspired by my favorite Aveda shampoo, I added some mint to my rosemary syrup as it steeped because, why not?

This is an excellent non-alcoholic drink as well, but don’t freeze it without the booze or you’ll have one huge ice cube. I made this drink with gin because it has that little edge to it. But feel free to use vodka or whatever feels right to you. And finally, this recipe is easily scaled up or down, so if you’re on a date just change cups to ounces.

Now let’s get mixing. The weekend’s a comin’ and you need to free up that fridge for bacon and burrata!

Watermelon Rosemary Lemonade

Serves lots

Ingredients:

  • 5 cups watermelon juice *
  • I ½ cups rosemary simple syrup **
  • 1 ½ cup lemon juice, lime juice or any combo of the two, fresh squeezed (or use that frozen minute maid juice I won’t tell!)
  • 1 ½ cups seltzer
  • 3 cups gin

 Method:

Combine first four ingredients and stir well. Pour the mixture into a large pitcher. Add gin if using. Stir to combine. Serve over ice in jars garnished with a rosemary sprig or fresh mint or both. If freezing this for later, do not add seltzer and allow to freeze at least 8 hours and up to a day. Remove from freezer and stir/scrape it into Slurpee form. As it thaws it will get easier to pour. If there are leftovers just refreeze them. 

*To make Watermelon Juice (no thanks to Yoga woman)

Chunk up a watermelon and puree it in a blender in batches. Pour juice through strainer (if desired, and definitely if freezing) and into a wide bowl. Save yourself sticky anguish and do this over the sink. Transfer to a pourable container if not using it right away.

** To make Rosemary Simple Syrup (thanks to the Kitch’n)

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 4 fresh rosemary sprigs

Method:

Stir together first 3 ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, and boil 1 minute or until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, and let stand 30 minutes. Pour liquid through a wire-mesh strainer into a cruet or airtight container, discarding rosemary sprigs. Cover and chill 4 hours. Garnish, if desired. Syrup may be stored in refrigerator up to 1 month.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

A Hopeful Toast to the Triple Crown

 

Get ready to giddyup! Silky trousers will help.

Get ready to giddyup! Silky trousers will help.

Tonight may be the night that we have a Triple Crown winner for the first time since 1978. (To put that in context, we took a break from Happy Days, the $6 Million Man and a whole lot of Bee Gees music to watch that particular Derby). We came agonizingly close last year with California Chrome, and got a fine drink out of the deal, but no real satisfaction. This could be it people—don’t be caught without a proper cocktail, mocktail or working television for the occasion.

Shockingly (to some of us) the Belmont does not have an official cocktail. The Kentucky Derby of course has the Mint Julep, the Preakness the Black-eyed Susan, a recipe that has been altered but whose name has remained the same. The current version (now that Finlandia is a sponsor) involves vodka, St. Germain liqueur, pineapple juice, orange juice and a squeeze of fresh lime.

Why no Belmont drink? It’s not for lack of trying. In 1975 race the marketing crew made a run at an official drink with the Big Apple—some combo of fruit juice, an apple liqueur and rum. That was supplanted by the overly fussy White Carnation—a combination of vodka, peach schnapps, orange juice, soda water and cream, named after the blanket of carnations in which the winning Belmont Stakes horse is draped.

In 1997 the Belmont Breeze made the scene, but one look at the ingredient list bangs the gong: bourbon or rye whiskey, sherry, lemon juice, orange juice, pimento bitters, fresh mint and orange zest. Really? Pimento bitters? Sherry? Headache anyone?

In 2011 the breeze was replaced with the Belmont Jewel a “more fan friendly ” combination of bourbon, lemonade and pomegranate juice over ice. Sounds easy enough. I’m game for that.

Here’s the recipe for the Jewel. I have to say I appreciate its simplicity:

Belmont Jewel

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 ounces of bourbon (the race track recommends Knob Creek, but use what you like)
  • 2 ounces of lemonade
  • 1 ounce of pomegranate juice

Method:

Combine ingredients and shake that all together with ice. Pour into a rocks glass and garnish with a cherry or lemon.

Pictured above is another fine drink, which is fully appropriate for this occasion. The Whiskey Peach Smash has elements of drinks associated with all three races: Mint in honor of the Derby; yellowness to honor Preakness’s Black-eyed Susan; peach to acknowledge the Belmont’s White Carnation; lemon for a taste of both the Belmont Breeze and the Belmont Jewel; and of course Bourbon to honor the fact that it’s a horse race after all.

Whiskey Peach Smash

Note: a barspoon is an inexact measurement, often equated to a teaspoon.

Serves 1 (as if you are alone tonight!)

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 ounces Bourbon
  • 1 heaping barspoon peach jam
  • 1 barspoon honey
  • 1 fat lemon wedge
  • 4 to 6 mint leaves

Method:

Muddle the herbs and lemon wedge, then add the jam, honey, and spirit and stir.

Add ice and shake hard for 5 to 10 seconds, depending on the size of your ice. Strain into a rocks glass over crushed ice. Garnish with more mint.

With booze or without, put on a fancy hat and mix yourself a fun fruity drink to cheer on American Pharoah.

 

 

Marcharitas

I held this post until after St Patty’s Day out of respect for beer and cabbage, of which I have none to offer. OK. That is a bold face lie. I held it because I am quite far behind on life at the moment. That, for me, is March. And that is why margaritas come in to play right about now. They’re green. They’re full of the promise of spring. I am including three different recipes, from three friends in the ski world who fully appreciate the filthy car, fast food, too-many-hotel-room frenzy that is March.

A brief history on each:

Speedy is the mayor of Mt Hood in the summer, and a Lake Placid transplant in the winter. He is a constant in the ski world, the ultimate connector and a friend to every struggling ski racer who “will work for training space.” His rocks marg is a western classic—tart with a touch of citrus and, of course, Patron.

Tania, my Rocky Mountain correspondent and fellow ski mom, is the master of turning a ski lodge into your favorite diner and saloon. A spicy westerner, she never met a jalapeno she did not like, and for this margarita she thinks ahead and infuses tequila with hot peppers of happiness. It is seriously worth the extra step and time!

PK has the only pool in the neighborhood, so he is always prepared to entertain. Inside fridge, outside fridge, fridge entirely devoted to seltzer, stand alone ice machine…he does not mess around. He always has something on hand to please every age and taste, as well as lots of towels. His frozen margaritas are as easy as it gets, and always perfectly refreshing.

So here you go—trés margaritas to get your spring off to a good start and head scurvy off at the pass. Arriba, abajo, al centro, pa’ dentro!

Speedy’s Organic Margarita Mixer

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 squirt of agave
  • 1/8 cup organic orange mango juice
  • 1 shot Patron tequila
  • 1 squirt of orange liqueur

Method:

Stir up first 4 ingredients and shake.
Fill short cocktail glass with crushed ice.
Add Patron.
Add orange liqueur.
Stir well.
Toast Speedy and enjoy!

Tania’s Burning Hell Margarita

Takes a week, and worth every moment

Ingredients:

  • TequilaFill a big jar (like a mason jar) with good quality (but not fancy fancy) silver tequila.  Try Camarena Silver.
    Add 4 jalapeños, seeded and cut into strips.
    Add one Habenero also seeded (wear gloves!)
    Add strips of seeded red peppers for color if desired.
    Leave jar alone for a week.  After a few days (and well after breakfast), sample it to see if you have made it spicy enough. If it’s too spicy, add more tequila. If you’re feeling brave add jalapeños halfway through the hang-out stage. Strain to remove peppers.
  • Simple syrup:1 cup of sugar
    1 cup of water
    Boil until sugar dissolves.
    Cool
  • Lemon/Lime JuiceSqueeze all the fresh lemons and limes you have.  At least 6 of each (fight scurvy—use the real stuff). Mix the fresh juice with enough simple syrup to balance the sour. Add a little water to be humane.
  • Triple Sec

Method:

In a big glass filled with ice add two shots of tequila, one shot of triple sec and the juice/sugar mixture to taste. It’s good policy to warn your guests that this has the chance to be very spicy.  But it’s also pretty funny not to, especially if you doubled up on the habanero.

PK’s Frozen Margarita

We’re dealing with proportions here, not absolutes. Amounts are based on what size can of limeade you start with.

Ingredients:

  • 1 can limeade
  • 1 can tequila
  • 1 can Bud Light or other light beer
  • Ice

Method:

Combine first three ingredients in a blender, refilling limeade can with tequila then beer. Fill blender with ice. Process until slurpeelicious. Find a spot by the pool. Sip. Repeat.

The Parent Whisperer

If you have kids in a winter sport, this is the time of year when things can start getting a little squirrely. Not totally nutty (that comes in March) but just a little tense. The competition ramps up with qualifiers and championships on the horizon. Ski racers, hockey players, basketball players—you know what I’m talking about.

As parents this is when, against all impulses, it’s time to chill out. If we can’t keep our own blood pressure down how can we expect our kids to keep calm and carry on?

With this goal in mind I present to you, the Parent Whisperer, inspired by my article of the same name. It is an ideal slopeside, rinkside, bone-warming, parent-wrangling concoction. Call it glug or grog or gluhwein or whatever. We’re talking red wine with some hootch and some spices, all brewed together with very few instructions or limitations. This one comes from Julie G (I’m not going to out you, but you know who you are!), whose ample testing has proven that drinking it calms nerves, brightens moods, and elevates humor on cold winter days.

This particular recipe uses apple cider as the only sweetener, so it’s more business-like than dessert-like. If you want something that is more soothing than bracing, add some maple syrup or honey. Sliced oranges wouldn’t be a bad call either. Pomegranate seeds or apples? Ja Wohl! Above all, shhhhhhh and relaaaaax. Enjoy the fresh air, the company of hardy souls and the notion that every day is getting just a little longer.

The Parent Whisperer

Ingredients

1 cup red wine
1 cup apple cider
4 shots bourbon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
cloves, cinnamon, ginger and cardamon to taste (whole or powdered spices are both fine, but whole spices can be easily strained out for a clearer drink, if you care.)

Very Loose Method

Heat wine, cider and spices, letting them simmer and brew until you smell the spices (but fergawdssakes don’t boil away any of that power). Add bourbon and and let it all heat through a few minutes. Strain whole spices if using. Pour the whole shebang into a Thermos and enjoy on the hill before, during and after the race!

Note: There is no mention about how many this serves, which of course is because it depends on the situation. But let’s see…a cup of wine and 4 shots of bourbon…that calculates roughly to serve:

  • 1 parent who needs to be sedated.
  • 2 parents who really need to take it down a notch.
  • 3 parents who are hoping for a peaceful and pleasant ride home.
  • 4 parents who just need a little shot of warmth in their bellies.

 

Pomegranates Unplugged

pomegranate

“Tis the season to overdo everything. So let’s overdo pomegranates!

It’s almost Christmas, and whether you celebrate it or not, I’ m giving you a gift. Pomegranates. Well, I’m not actually buying them for you, but I am unlocking their potential. For a long time we have heard about the amazing health benefits of pomegranates. They are rich in vitamins and antioxidants, low in calories, high in fiber, high in heart healthy phytochemicals (say that three times quickly then google it). They strengthen the immune system, regulate blood pressure, improve oral hygiene, reduce wrinkles and even give PMS the boot. 

All this, and yet I have ignored pomegranates entirely, for the simple reason that they are a pain in the butt. They are messy, labor intensive, not roastable in any way and obscenely expensive in their juiced or seeded form. Until recently nothing moved me to entertain an interest in the pomegranate or its derivatives other than as a splash in a martini.

But then I found myself living with a young friend who has a pomegranate-a-day habit. Fortuitously this coincided with running across a pomegranate hack that made seeding a pomegranate so easy that I had to try it. Bells rang, stars aligned, produce departments rejoiced. Now, my record for getting all the seeds out of a pomegranate is 1 minute 11 seconds, and it is a rare day in my household that does not involve this “super fruit.”

Incidentally, my young friend rejected the hack, even after we staged timed contests to prove hack efficiency. A traditionalist, he adheres to his old ways, enjoying his ritual of settling down on the couch, focusing on his pomegranate, a bowl and the mission. I respect. But I also have yet to find a primary food provider who is in search of labor intensive food prep rituals. So for the rest of you, here is your key to pomegranate freedom.

Though I adore the Russian Food hacker, his version (by his own admission) is a bit too bare bones: “Ve really need a bowl, not zeez cheap plastic plates from single guy apartment.” This guy  is a bit dry (and he could crack you in half like a pomegranate), but he is a pro.

And now, what to do with the bonanza of pomegranate seeds you have just unlocked? I’ve got you covered, with four festive ideas to let those seed brighten up your holiday.

#1 Pomegranate Bubbly

Pour anything bubbly—Prosecco, champagne, sparkling cider, birch beer, ginger ale etc—over pomegranate seeds and they will float up, be festive and give you something to chew on. Yum!

#2 Pomegranate Cheese Log

Ingredients

8 oz cream cheese (or 4 oz goat cheese and 4 oz cream cheese mixed)
1 cup pomegranate seeds
1/2 cup chopped chives
2 Tbsp finely minced fresh basil
Crackers, toasts or dipping vehicles of choice.

Method

Place cream cheese (or goat/cream cheese mix) on waxed paper and form into a log. Mix pomegranate seeds, chives and basil on another sheet of waxed paper. Roll cream cheese in seed/herb mixture, pressing lightly to stick. Serve with crackers.

# 3 Pomegranate Guacamole

Oh my! This brings me back to my very first pomegranate cocktail ever, the pomegranate margarita at Rosa Mexicano. This use for pomegranate seeds pretty much assures the pomegranate market in New Hampshire. Lest we forget, guacamole is not an exact science by any means. Shallots or green onion instead of red onion? Awesome. No fresh cilantro? No problemo. Roll with it– its Happy Hour fergawdssakes. If all you can muster is avocado, a shake of Adobo seasoning, a squirt of lemon and pomegranate seeds you are good to go.

Ingredients

2 medium ripe avocados
1/3 cup diced red onion
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
Chips or assorted veggies for serving

Method

Halve and pit the avocados then scoop out the flesh into a large bowl.

Add the red onion, cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper to the bowl, mashing the mixture together with two forks until it reaches your desired consistency.

Stir in the pomegranate seeds then serve the guacamole with chips or assorted dippers.

#4 Pomegranate Desserts

Fly, be free. Let’s not overthink this. Sprinkle them on vanilla ice cream or yogurt. Put them in a trifle or slip them in fruit pies. Mix them with ripe sliced pears, a squeeze of lemon and a dash of cinnamon. Or just eat them with a spoon or funnel them from the bowl right into your mouth. Um. Of course, nobody would do something like that.

Bonus points: Just to let you know, in addition to the above we have also sprinkled them on raclette, put them into quesadillas and on salads, tossed them with sliced steak, put them in crepes and on cereal and thrown them in smoothies. And no, I have not yet roasted them, but the holiday season is young.

skihats

Are you still with me? Are you intrigued by the above? My sister turned me on to this video and my captive son and I got a little obsessed with yarn/toilet paper roll pom-pom hats. I figure there are worse obsessions, and who doesn’t need another decorative totally useless bottle topper? Right?

Merry Christmas all!

Let’s Drink to Turkeys!

Thanksgiving Cocktails

Nothing says “I’m ready for the holidays,” like an ice cold drink.

Hope for the holidays. Our local paper just came out with a feature on tequila infused roasted turkey. Now we’re talking. Let’s be honest here. Booze, for better or worse, has a role in every Thanksgiving. When bringing booze we most likely bring a bottle of something red or white or bubbly. Safe. Appreciated. All good.

But how about bringing something a little bolder, and a lot more festive? Something that says straight up, “I love you all…enough. So let the party begin!” With a simplified plan it’s an easy way to win praise and (temporary) approval.

We’re talking about big batch cocktails that can be amped up or down to serve a few or a crowd. Each of these three recipes feature one base liquor, some key fall flavoring and a sassy sparkly topper of ginger beer.

The key to success is not having to do anything besides basic mixing (and low functioning math) at serving time. Make your base, put it in a travel container, grab a four-pack of ginger beers and you’re set to go.

As a bonus, in keeping with my “Always wear the same color you are drinking” party doctrine, you can choose to drink light or dark. Now, get out to the store to get what you need to test out these drinks. While you’re there you might want to pick up some cranberries, a bunch of meyer lemons and some candied ginger. Trust me on this. Ready or not Thanksgiving’s coming atcha, like a tequila infused turkey flying across a country road.

Pear Haymaker

From Saveur Magazine. Makes 2 cocktails

ingredients:

FOR THE GINGER SYRUP:
¼ cup sliced, peeled ginger
1 cup sugar

4 oz. vodka
1 oz. fresh lemon juice (Meyer lemon if possible)
1 pear, chopped, peeled, and cored (Anjou, Moonglow, Bosc, or any finely textured and fragrant pears are best)
Ginger ale, to top

Method:

Make the ginger syrup: Combine sliced ginger, sugar, and 1 cup water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Strain out ginger solids and discard, reserving syrup in an airtight container.

Divide chopped pear between two 12 oz. tall glasses; muddle in each glass with a wooden muddler. Pour 2 oz. vodka over the pears in each glass, and fill with ice. Add ½ oz. ginger syrup and ½ oz. lemon juice to each glass, stir to combine, and finish with ginger ale to top.

A few notes. Always the notes: The Haymaker calls for a ginger syrup which is very easy to make. Plus, we already made it here last year. After you have used the syrup for the Haymaker, keep it handy in case anyone needs to sweeten up the Cranberry Crush, which is tart as a Pilgrim. To make this one party ready, I diced up three pears into a container, then quadrupled the vodka, lemon juice and syrup and poured it over the pears. At the party I divided the pears into glasses, added ice, then added liquid to about 2/3 full and stirred. Then I topped them off with ginger beer. This also works swimmingly with gin.

Cranberry Crush

From Saveur Magazine. Makes 1 cocktail 🙁

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 oz. 100% cranberry juice (not cranberry cocktail. Get the ridiculously expensive pure juice)
  • 2 oz. not-too-sweet spiced rum, like Cruzan 9 Spice (?)
  • 3 oz. spicy ginger beer, like Blenheim’s or Reed’s 

Method:

In a rocks glass filled with ice, combine cranberry juice and rum. Top with ginger beer.

Notes: This could be called the crazy easy cranberry crush. I am not sure what spiced rums are sweeter than others, so I used Kraken Spiced Rum, mostly because I liked saying the name with a Scottish accent. This makes one cocktail. One. Not to worry. Convert ounces to parts and you’re all set. Mix half cranberry juice and half rum in your travel container. At the party pour that mixture over ice and top with just less than that amount of ginger beer. You’re aiming for 4 parts mix (2 juice + 2 rum) to 3 parts ginger beer. If anyone wants this to be sweeter add a splash of ginger syrup to the glass and give it a stir before topping with the ginger beer.

Jacques the Elder

From Sunset Magazine. Makes 1 cocktail 🙁

Ingredients:

  • 2 ounces bourbon whiskey, such as Gentleman Jack
  • 1 ounce St-Germain elderflower liqueur
  • 1 ounce lemon juice (meyer, meyer, meyer…meyer)
  • 2 ounces chilled ginger beer
  • Lemon wedge
  • Piece of candied ginger

Method:

Pour bourbon, St-Germain, and lemon juice into an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake well. Strain into a rocks (lowball) glass, add 1 large ice cube, and top with ginger beer. Garnish with a skewer of lemon and candied ginger.

Notes: Full discosure—I have not tried this drink. BUT it involves ginger beer, lemon juice and yet another form of booze. AND it won Sunset’s reader cocktail contest which is huge. So a big shout out to Deb Kessler of El Granada, CA. She’s good people. Again, this makes one measly cocktail so let’s convert it to parts. Make your base: two parts bourbon, one part lemon juice and one part St-Germain (there’s your 4 parts). At the party, shake up your base and top with half that amount ginger beer (there’s your 2 parts.) I don’t want to insult your math skills, I just want to ease your pain if you’re making this after the first two.

Cheers, turkeys

Holiday-Rob-drinkholiday-neely-drinkholiday-Karen-drink

Watermelon Gazpacho

Swimsuit season calls for your inner cool. Hello watermelon gazpacho!

Swimsuit season calls for your inner cool. Hello watermelon gazpacho!

When summer really heats up there comes a day when we ask ourselves, “Can we just eat watermelon all day long?” Well of course we can! Watermelon can feature in everything from smoothies to salsa to salad to soup. Yes, soup. Gazpacho is typically a tomato affair, but it has many delicious riffs.

The official definition of Gazpacho calls it “a liquid salad from the southern Spanish region of Andalusia, made of ripe tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, garlic, and bread moistened with water that is blended with olive oil, vinegar, and ice water and served cold.” Blah, blah, blah. In my mind the main criteria of good gazpacho are that it is cold, fresh and refreshing. And it cannot involve heating you or your kitchen up in any way.

This gazpacho in particular, from a long ago Cooking Light recipe, is a favorite of mine. As far as gazpachos go it is pretty easy prep, with minimal chopping thanks to the food processor involvement. I am not the only one who thinks it might be really good with a shot of vodka swirled in. Sort of a sweet and crunchy Bloody Mary, yes? Alas, I haven’t tried that yet, but let me know if you do. If you’re really taking this watermelon thing seriously though, enjoy this just before dinner alfresco, after a good siesta and some lunchtime Watermelon Sangria.

Watermelon Gazpacho à la Cooking Light

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 3/4 cup)

Ingredients

6 cups cubed seeded watermelon
1 cup coarsely chopped peeled English cucumber
1/2 cup coarsely chopped yellow bell pepper
1/3 cup chopped green onions
3 Tbsp chopped fresh mint
3 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp hot sauce
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup cranberry-raspberry juice

Method

Combine first 10 ingredients. Place half of watermelon mixture in a food processor, and pulse 3 or 4 times or until finely chopped. Spoon into a large bowl. Repeat procedure with remaining watermelon mixture. Stir in cranberry-raspberry juice. Chill thoroughly.

Bring It!

Pour this into a Tupperware pitcher, put it in a cooler with some paper cups and you’re picnic ready!

Three Lemonades

Rhubarb Lemonade

Pucker up! Rhubarb and lemons pack a double tang in this pitcher of pinkness.

I’ve had a nagging guilt pang for weeks, because I found this great recipe for lemonade that I made with rhubarb from my garden but didn’t get to posting it before the end of rhubarb season. Just like I forgot to post (or even enjoy) a Firefly cocktail before the little lightening buggers disappeared.

Anyway, I was in the store yesterday and what did I see? Yep! Big stalks of fresh rhubarb. I don’t know where the rhubarb stands in your part of the country, but somebody somewhere is still harvesting it, so that’s reason enough to run with it.

And while we’re at it, let’s just make this a big lemonadey post. The great thing about lemonade—other than it being delish and refreshing—is that you can flavor it with any summer fruit or even herb to make a familiar drink into something transcendent. My sister makes a mean lavender lemonade that is wayyyy cheaper than a trip to Provence.

A word here on lemons. If there is any way you can get Meyer lemons—the thin-skinned beauties that are sweet enough to eat on their own—get them! They make all the difference.

Rhubarb Lemonade

Note: This is very, very tart. Kids (and many adults) will probably prefer it with lemon-lime soda vs. sparkling water. Pucker up buttercup!

Serves 6

Ingredients

3 ½ cups water
5 cups chopped rhubarb, fresh or frozen (20 ounces)
3/4 cups sugar
2  3-inch strips lemon zest
3 sprigs fresh mint
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 cups lemon-lime soda or sparkling water

Method

  1. In a saucepan, stir together the water, the rhubarb pieces, the sugar, the lemon zest and the mint. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
  2. Let the rhubarb mixture cool, the strain it through a wire-mesh strainer set over a large pitcher. Press on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard the solids
  3. Stir in the lemon juice and soda. Serve over ice, garnished with a sprig of mint

These next two recipes came from Joy the Baker who clearly has a thing about lemonade, which is a good thing now that she’s moved to New Orleans.

Beet Lemonade

adapted slightly from Saveur; makes about 8 cups

Edie’s note: With the unique undertone of beets, this is decidedly adult tasting. As in, the kids won’t wrestle you for the last drop AND I’m pretty sure a splash of vodka or gin would make it a swanky cocktail. At any rate it is very pretty and refreshing. You might want to put away the white dress or t shirt for this one, just in case of an errant splash. It happens.

Ingredients

3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup (about 1 small) finely grated raw beet*
6 cups filtered water, divided

*You can use the fine grating side of a box grater, or a food processor with the shredder attachment. I found the box grater to be much easier.

Method

In a blender or a food processor (fitted with the blade attachment), blend together lemon juice, sugar, shredded beet, and 1 cup of water.  Blend for 1 minute until the mixture is bright pink and well combined.  The beets will never be fully smooth,  that’s ok!

Strain mixture through a fine mesh strainer and into a medium bowl.  Use the back of a spoon to press any remaining juice out of the beets and into the lemonade.  Transfer strained mixture to a pitcher and discard the beets.  Add remaining 5 cups of water to the pitcher and stir.  Taste and add more lemon or sugar as necessary.  Store in the refrigerator and serve chilled.  

Fresh Blueberry and Mint Lemonade

makes about 2 quarts; adapted from The Lemonade Cookbook

Ingredients

2 cups fresh blueberries (frozen will also work)
1 cup (or one big handful) mint leaves (a few stems are fine too), coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups fresh lemon juice
1 cup granulated sugar (you can add more sugar if you have a sweet tooth)
4 to 5 cups filtered water

Method

In a blender add blueberries, mint, lemon juice, and granulated sugar.  Blend until smooth and deep purple.  The mixture will look a bit like a smoothie.

Pour mixture into a fine mesh strainer placed over a medium bowl.  Use a spatula to press the liquid through the strainer leaving the blueberry pulp and fresh mint in the strainer.  Discard the pulp.  Pour the blueberry, mint, lemon juice into a pitcher and add water.  Taste and add more water or sugar according to your taste.

Serve chilled.  

Bring It

Bringing a pitcher or pitchers of different lemonades to a summer party or gathering will make you an instant hero. If you want extra credit bring adult (high octane) pour-ins, fruit garnishes or ice cubes made with frozen fruit or juice.

Cheers! Californa Chrome and the Belmont Stakes

California Chrome cocktail

Let the sun shine on California Chrome

And you thought I’d leave you with potato salad for the weekend. I might have, were it not for the Belmont Stakes today, and the prospect of a low budget ($10,500 all in) Californian being the first horse in 36 years to win the Triple Crown. No my friends, this calls for more than potato salad. This calls for a signature cocktail.

The Kentucky Derby has the Mint Julep, the Preakness has the Black-Eyed Susan, but strangely the Belmont has struggled for its libation identity. First came the fuzzy navelish White Carnation, then the overwrought (8 ingredient) Belmont Breeze and now the official drink is the Belmont Jewel.

See below for all the recipes, but I ask you to consider ditching all tradition, and toasting the Belmont with a brand spanking new cocktail invented for the horse of honor. I did find a recipe for a California Chrome but it involves Meyer lemon liqueur, which I suspect you may not have on hand. Not to worry–a quick look at some parameters leads us to a tasty solution.

California means citrus, freshness and a little south of the border sweetness. Chrome begs for something silver. As we learned in our last cocktology class on Derby Day drinks with citrus need to be shaken, not stirred. And Californians do not stand on ceremony so your favorite glass (or plastic champagne flute) will do. With that guidance the California Chrome practically invented itself:

The Bring It California Chrome

Makes 2 drinks, because that’s more fun.

Ingredients

Juice of 1 lime
Juice of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 orange
1 Tbsp (or more to taste) agave nectar
3 oz silver tequila

Method

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker (or a well sealed and washed salsa jar, as circumstances dictate). Add ice and shake like the the starting gun just went off in your ear. Strain into whatever glasses you like and enjoy the race!

Belmont Jewel

Ingredients

1 1/2 oz. Knob Creek bourbon
2 oz. lemonade
1 oz. pomegranate juice

Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain over ice into a rocks glass. Garnish with a lemon wedge or cherry.

Belmont Breeze

Ingredients

1 1/2 ounces of a good American blended whiskey
3/4 ounces Harveys Bristol Cream Sherry
1/2 ounce of fresh lemon juice
1 ounce of simple syrup
(1 ounce of sweet and sour mix may be substituted for the lemon juice and simple syrup)
1 1/2 ounces fresh orange juice
1 1/2 ounces cranberry juice
1 ounce 7-Up
1 ounce Club Soda

Method

Shake first six ingredients with ice, then top with 7-Up and club soda. Garnish with mint sprig and lemon wedge.

White Carnation

Ingredients

2 oz. Vodka
½ oz. Peach Schnapps
2 oz. Orange Juice
Soda
Splash of Cream
Ice
Orange slice for garnish

Method

  1. Stir liquors and soda together and pour over ice in a highball glass.
  2. Splash cream over top then garnish with an orange slice.

Another California Chrome…

Take the basic recipe for a Chapel Hill, a simple drink made with bourbon, triple sec and lemon juice, then make it more California and less Carolina by swapping lemon juice for orange juice, and trading the orange liqueur for Napa Valley Distillery’s Meyer Lemon liqueur.

Ingredients

1 1/2 oz. bourbon
1/2 oz. Meyer Lemon liqueur
1/2 oz. orange juice twist of orange peel

Method

Shake liquid ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with orange peel.

And a bonus drink because Lucky Dog Vodka is just plain cool…

Blueberry Belmont

Ingredients

14 fresh blueberries, 2 sprigs thyme (one to muddle, one to garnish), 3 ounces Lucky Dog Vodka, one-and-one-quarter ounces simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water), three-quarters ounce fresh lemon juice, one-quarter ounce fresh lime juice, 1 dash peach bitters, ice.

Method

Muddle 12 blueberries, 1 sprig thyme and 1dash peach bitters in a pint glass. Add ice, vodka, simple syrup and citrus juices. Shake vigorously and strain over fresh ice in a double-size, Old Fashioned glass. Garnish with the remaining thyme sprig and blueberries. Serve immediately.

 

Hello Highball. It’s Derby Day!

 

Highballs and mint juleps

Hats off to highballs. And hats on for the Kentucky Derby.

There’s still time! Grab your fancy hat and buy a whole load of mint because it’s the first Saturday in May, which means it’s Derby Day. Fifteen years ago I had my first son on Derby Day, when the race was won by Charismatic. Ever since then I’ve had a thing about the derby. I even went once, and have the silver glass to prove it. Why does this matter to you? Because I’ve used the occasion to take a small google course on cocktology and share this knowledge with YOU!

It all started when I saw the Spring Highball spread in Bon Appetit’s April issue. After a winter that would bring out the seasonal affective disorder in Little Mary Sunshine, it made me so happy I wanted to cry. I LOVE spring. The sun is back, the grass is greening and it’s far enough from bathing suit season that there is no cause to panic. In other words, it’s time to party.

In my extensive research I got deterred, as often happens. Pretty soon I was reading not only about highballs but about their history when to shake vs stir a cocktail and the importance of really good tonic water. There went a precious spring morning.

Fortunately, I have distilled (get it?) much of this valuable information in to one reasonably short post that includes foolproof methods that will set you free followed by some delish recipes for those who must follow one.

In case you need more selling on highballs, they are Bring It all stars because they require minimal ingredients and simple preparation. Even the crushed ice can be prepared on site at any indoor, outdoor or on water location. Plus, if you choose to utilize homemade simple syrups like the mint one below, or our ginger simple syrup they make excellent, consumable host gifts AND fun non alcoholic drinks. As a bonus, use of the words “high” and “balls” together will be a huge hit with any middle school boys at your gathering

First, what is a highball? It is a single spirit and a non-alcoholic mixer, typically assembled in the very vessel in which you’ll drink it. Think, gin and tonic, jack and ginger, rum and coke, seven and seven, vodka and blue raspberry slurpee (did I say that?). You can even get a free downloadable cheat sheet on highballogy by signing up for the ManMade newsletter, which of course I did.

Highball 101

The magic formula: 1.5 parts booze: 4 parts mixer.

The Method: Pour 1.5 oz (a jigger, a shot) into an 8 oz rocks glass, or, if you have it, a 10-oz tall narrow highball glass, designed to retain the drink’s fizz.

Fill the glass with standard ice cubes

Fill the glass with your mixer of choice. You can measure four ounces (a half cup), but chances are that with the ice and spirits you’ll be right as rain (and look like a pro).

Shaken vs Stirred

Aspiring cocktologists will want to get friendly with Erik Lombardo who, among many other contributions to society, has an excellent tutorial on when to shake vs stir a cocktail. In it you will learn about the roles that ice size, relative liquid and liquor densities, ambient temperature, acidity, etc play in your pursuit of cocktail greatness.

To paraphrase Sir Lombardo:

Stir spirits. That is, if your cocktail is all liquor, stir it. This includes the martini, Manhattan, old fashioned, negroni, and all of their variations. The ice should be a combination of very dense, large pieces and smaller chips. See tutorial above if you care.

Shake citrus: The major difference between shaking and stirring is texture, because when you shake properly (that is, violently for 8-10 seconds) the ice cubes (five standard sizes ones ought to do it) are shattering into miniscule shards and adding tiny bubbles to your drink. When you’re using citrus as an ingredient, shaking makes it light and refreshing vs acidic and intense.

Stirring = icy, dense, and silky cocktail. Shaking = frothy, light, and crisp cocktail. Shake for citrus, stir for spirits. Ba da bing

Ice Ice Baby

You’re also going to need crushed ice at some point in your education, and you’ll find instructions and videos on the many methods here . The most reasonable is the whack method, #5, which can easily be facilitated at a picnic with a clean towel and a large rock, though I am intrigued by the simplicity and volume of the frozen soda bottle, #9.

 And now, finally,  here are the nuts and bolts of Bon Appetit’s five steps to…

Crafting the perfect Highball:

1. Get the right glass: A proper highball is tall and narrow, with a hefty bottom.

2. Stir, don’t shake: Add all liquids—except the bubbly one—to your glass and give them a quick stir.

3. Don’t have a meltdown:Fill the glass with ice. (Nobody likes a watery highball.)

4. Mind your own fizzness: Top off with the carbonated ingredient—use more or less, depending on desired strength.

5. Finish with a flourish: For a drink this simple, garnish matters.

The article includes a slideshow of six highballs for spring which all warrant extensive testing. However, I’m simplifying your cinco de mayo prep by offering easiest, most refreshing one that happens to be tequila based and is also known as the “working man’s margarita.” It just sounds right!

The Paloma

Ingredients

  • Kosher salt
  • Grapefruit slice
  • 2oz. tequila reposado (as ever, love the one you’ve got)
  • ½oz. fresh lime juice
  • Grapefruit soda (preferably San Pellegrino Pompelmo)

Method:

Pour some salt on a plate. Rub rim of a highball glass with grapefruit slice; dip rim of glass in salt. Combine tequila and lime juice in glass. Fill glass with ice, then top off with soda. Garnish with grapefruit slice.

And finally, its totally worth checking out Erik Lombardo’s most entertaining version of the drink of the day, the Mint Julep here that calls for an “irresponsible amount of mint tops” into which you bury your nose, and cautions you against hypothermia while drinking. It also calls for mint syrup which, while awesome, may not be a reality for you at this late date. Instead, I give you the following version of the mint julep utilizing Woodford Reserve, the official bourbon of the derby.

The Mint Julep

Ingredients:

2 oz Woodford Reserve Bourbon Whiskey
1 oz water
1 tspor cube white sugar
4 fresh mint sprig

Method:

Muddle 3 mint sprigs, sugar and water in bottom of Julep cup or highball glass and fill with crushed ice. Fill with bourbon, stir. Dust 4th mint sprig with powdered sugar for garnish. Serve with straw.

Bonus: If you thought ahead and went long on mint, here is the recipe for Erik Lombardo’s mint syrup. You’ll be wanting this for mojito season anyway.

Mint Syrup:

Heat 2 parts by volume sugar with 1 part by volume water until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is just simmering. Throw in as many mint leaves as will fit in the pan (it isn’t expensive, don’t be cheap) and turn off the heat. Stir to mix in the leaves, then allow to cool to room temp, a couple of hours. Strain the syrup off the leaves into a clean jar — it will keep in the fridge for a few weeks (if it lasts that long).

Mint Chocolate Milk

Mint chocolate milk

The first of many satisfied and non-paying customers for mint chocolate milk.

Oh to hell with it. I know Sue just posted the ridiculously decadent Peanut Butter Krispy Fudge Bars, and that we all need something super green and good for us right now. But it’s still snowing outside, and when I made this batch of chocolate milk syrup my son took one sip and said, “MOM! You should sell this!” to which I responded, “Ok, that’ll be one dollar please.” He slurped it down without a flinch.

The next day his friend came over and had at it with much approval. So, I made another batch and the rest of the family got wind of it so that, too, disappeared. By the time I was making my third batch I had the bright idea of doubling it. (Yeah, yeah…I’m not the quickest bunny). But the point is, this stuff is good! And it’s probably way better than a green smoothie for washing down a Peanut Butter Krispy Fudge Bar.

Strangely enough, this too (like the crazy-good bars) comes from Joy the Baker. I guess I am fixated on joy right now. All joys—the person, the state of being, the act of mixing chocolate in milk, which is always pure joy.

I promise—the smoothies will come in due time, as will spring. But for now and until then, let there be plenty of chocolate. Incidentally, I have not received one dime from my children, but I think they love me more than they did before this all started. 

Mint chocolate milk

A nice, cold, swirling glass of mint chocolate milk–the antidote for a late spring.

Mint Chocolate Milk

Makes about 1 1/2 cups chocolate sauce

Ingredients

3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I have used natural, Dutch process and a combo of both)Pinch of salt
1 cup water
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract (real,real,real!)
1/2 tsp pure peppermint extract (did I mention real?)
Whole or reduced fat cow’s milk, soy milk, or almond milk

Method

In a medium saucepan, whisk together sugars, cocoa powder, and salt.  Place saucepan over low heat and add water.  Whisk until thoroughly combined and no lumps remain.

Bring the chocolate mixture to a low boil, whisking frequently. Whisk for 8 to 10 minutes, until mixture is thickened.

Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla and peppermint extracts.  Allow to cool to room temperature.

Transfer to an airtight jar and refrigerate until ready to use.

To make chocolate milk, stir together 2 tablespoons of chocolate syrup per one cup of cold milk.  Stir and enjoy!

chocolate milk vs green smoothie

Chocolate milk vs green smoothie. Two yummy earth tones, two forms of therapy. Which would you choose?

Olympic Snow Drinking. Let the Games Begin!

Stronger, colder, yummier

Stronger, colder, yummier. The Olympic credo of cocktails.

From Russia with Love…and Vodka.

The following were created in honor of the 2014 Olympics and thirsty spectators everywhere. But they are really just launching pads for your own winter-coping creations. This winter thing is serious stuff. You can either complain about it or embrace it. Being outdoor people, we of course choose the latter, though often we embrace with one hand while holding a frosty cold drink in the other. Really, when you gather round a bonfire with friends and pour something sweet and boozy over snow what can possibly go wrong?

For all the following drinks the set-up is the same:

Fill and pack your desired vehicle with clean snow (or finely crushed/pulverized ice). Mix all liquid ingredients in a separate container (*or mix and store in a lidded container for transport. All these individual recipes can be made in higher volumes, something strongly encouraged on a cold winter night). Pour carefully and evenly over snow. Stir, enjoy, repeat as necessary.

The Snowchi

(A Moscow Mule on snow. The unofficial off-site drink of the 2014 Games)

The Vehicle: For individual drinks, a small soup Thermos (It stays cold and if they think it is borscht you may be able to sneak it through security.) For high volume a sap bucket with the super long straws used in scary communal Scorpion Bowls.

  • ¾ ounce ginger simple syrup (you know you are wondering how to use yours up)
  • ½ ounce lime juice
  • 2 ounce vodka

The twist: No ginger syrup? Make it with 2 parts ginger beer, one part vodka and a splash of lime juice. It will be more liquidy but will do the trick. Feel more aligned with Team Bermuda than Mother Russia? Sub dark rum for vodka. to make it a dark and stormy night.

Snowchis

Snowchis in formation, awarded to the worthy (or thirsty).

Booze-free snow drinks

Our 12-year-old server confirms these are quite versatile. Try straight OJ, or the Polar Vortex sans vodka.

The Polar Vortex

As comfort to all who are freezing their butts off this winter, this elixir is white as snow with a sweet whisper of the tropics.

The vehicle: something clear to show off the frigid Polar whiteness of it all.

  • ¼ cup light coconut milk
  • ½ ounce Maple syrup
  • 1½ ounce vodka

The twist: If you are trying to bulk up for your luge run use half and half or cream for the coconut milk. If you’re in training for your figure skating frock sub Coconut Dream or Almond milk for the coconut milk. It’ll be more slurpee-like than creamy but still effective. Aesthetics of clean white not an issue? Then give dark rum a shot, because we all know that dark rum goes with coconut like brooms go with curling, like Jamaicans go with bobsleds, like Russian judges go with cold hard cash.

*Coconut milk needs some serious shaking to mix evenly, so go with a lidded container and shake vigorously. Small caper bottles (see photo below) are perfect individual to-go containers.

The Alpen Pro

As a nod to après skiers everywhere, a classic rendezvous of bubbly Italian chic and sophisticated elderberry liqueur distilled in the heart of the French Alps.

The vehicle: A plastic champagne glass or something similarly shmancy. Individual servings only, unless you are drinking straight from the bottle.  Above all, keep it classy!

  • 4 ounce Prosecco
  • ½ ounce St. Germain

The twist: Champagne is of course an option here as well, and sabering the bottle will earn you extra points among your bonfire mates.

This whole enterprise might need some exhaustive research to fine tune, but come on— it’s Olympic season and we have nearly three weeks to peak. I know you can all rise to the challenge.

set up for polar vortex drinks

The Set-Up. Some of the fixings, plus a couple of race ready Polar Vortexes to-go.

 

Ginger Ade: Simple Syrup to the Rescue

ginger simple syrup

Ginger Syrup and a couple of tasty sipping options.

I need a drink. And I hate to drink alone, so you need a drink too. Oh I know—at this point in the holidays we’re all ready to detox, but hang with me. I’m going to give you a healthy, refreshing concoction that can be used in alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks. In fact, I first came upon this tasty elixir in Rebecca Katz’s awesome book the Cancer Fighting Kitchen. So I’m looking out for you here.

The concept is pretty simple. You just boil down a ton of ginger with sugar and water to make a simple syrup infused with the zesty goodness of ginger. Strain out the ginger and you can add the syrup with a squeeze of lemon to hot or cold herbal tea, to seltzer, or of course to your favorite cocktail fixin’s.

Being quite lazy, especially in the post holiday coma, I looked extensively for a recipe that featured unpeeled ginger. I was victorious with this one from David Lebovitz  that gets boiled a good long time for some serious ginger sass. The caveats are a darker syrup (which screams Dark and Stormy to me, so it’s all good), and the warning  that you can’t reuse the unpeeled ginger in things like gingersnaps, marmalade and ice cream. This triggered my age-old struggle between being lazy and being cheap.

In the end, I opted for lazy, and snacked on the sweet ginger afterwards anyway, proving that yes indeed you can be both lazy and cheap. Hooray! Ok, here’s the super simple recipe for super fresh ginger syrup.

Makes about 2 cups:

Ingredients

8 ounces  fresh ginger, unpeeled
4 cups water
2 cups sugar
pinch salt

Method

Slice the ginger thinly, then chop it into rough, smaller pieces.

Combine ginger water, sugar, and salt in a saucepan. Heat to a boil, then reduce the heat to a steady simmer. Cook for 45 minutes to one hour.

Cool, then strain the syrup through a fine-mesh strainer. Store the strained syrup in the refrigerator, covered, until ready to use. It should keep for at least two weeks refrigerated.

There are googles and googles of ginger cocktails out there, like these ones from Tablespoon  For a festive sparkler add a tablespoon of syrup and some candied ginger to a champagne glass and fill with your bubbly of choice. My quick fix is to fill a glass with ice, pour a tablespoon or so of syrup over the ice then add vodka according to your immediate need. Fill the glass almost to the top with seltzer then add a splash of cranberry juice for cha-cha and color.

For ginger soda start with 1/3 glass of syrup and a generous squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice. Fill the glass with ice then top with sparkling water or tonic and garnish with a round of citrus or fresh mint.

The sky is the limit here so spice things up, be creative and feel virtuous about bringing a whole lot of healthy ginger into your life.

The Champagne of Party Tricks

Sabering champagne

Nothing says party time like a bottle of champagne, a saber and yodeling marmots.

Everyone has one somewhere along the way— that aunt, uncle, godparent or family friend who inspires all the fun and naughty stuff we get to do as kids. The one who lets you drive when you’re 12, lets you stay up late watching inappropriate movies, brings you fireworks, etc. For my kids that’s their Auntie Anne. Not to be confused with the woman who sells pretzels in the airport, this Auntie Anne brings cutting edge entertainment, quite literally.

For the past few years she has always shown up with a bottle of champagne. The first time she did this I thought it was sweet that she was marking a casual family reunion as a special champagne-worthy occasion. I soon realized she had ulterior motives. As steward of my children’s vocational training she was going to be sure they knew how to saber a champagne bottle. Not surprisingly, she found two eager students, and we had the first of many fine celebrations.

Because you need to get out and practice this well before New Year’s Eve, I’m jumping right and giving you the instructions (as well as a most informative video link), knowing full well that Auntie Anne will chime in, correct what’s wrong and contribute more tips from her vast experience.

Watch this Champagne sabering video first and then:

1. Grab your saber if you are a pirate, or a solid butcher’s knife if not. (I am not mentioning a sabering pimp ring, because if you have one of those, clearly you will not be reading this tutorial.) Have some glasses at the ready, and a few towels if you are indoors.

2. Grab your bubbly. The experts claim you must super-chill the bottle of champagne (38-40°F, tops) to “calm” the bubbly and perhaps make the neck more brittle. No doubt the experts are right, but just pop it in the freezer for a bit and you’re good to go.  Remove the foil wrapper and little wire cage.

3. Grasp the bottle with authority, by the base (purists you go ahead and put your thumb in the punt, the dent in the bottom of the bottle). Point it away from any onlookers (this is key). Hold it at a 30 to 45-degree angle, as if you are holding a Roman candle (that your aunt also brought).

4. Locate one of the two vertical seams running up the side of the bottle to the lip (or, annulus if you must know). The bottle will break the most cleanly there, so that’s where you want to aim your saber stroke.

5. Making sure you have an audience, hold the knife flat against the bottle, blunt edge toward the top and sharp edge facing you. Run your saber or knife slowly back along the seam toward your body. (Take a few practice strokes to assure your motion keeps the blade flat against the bottle). Then, exuding rakish confidence, quickly and firmly thrust it back up the seam toward the bottle’s tip, striking the lip with no mercy while making sure the leading edge of the saber stays down and in toward the crook of the lip. As with every athletic/heroic maneuver, follow through is key.

6. Enjoy…both the adulation and the champagne. If you’ve succeeded, the cork (avec annulus) will fly off the end of the bottle. Any rogue shards will be long gone as well, unless you do this indoors, in which case you’ll want to break out the Swiffer.

Note that French bottles can be especially tough, and may take a try or two. So, as ever, be patient with the French and you will be amply rewarded.

Major note: Clearly there are all kinds of hazards involved with this pursuit, with reported consequences ranging from minor cuts to a shattered $3,000 bottle of cognac across the room. My best advice is to try this first outdoors, AWAY FROM PETS AND SMALL  CHILDREN. (Ahem all you aunties). Disclaimers aside, it’s darned fun and yes, Anne, you are our hero!

Hard Cider Sangria

The great outdoors. Sort of at its greatest this time of year.

The great outdoors. Sort of at its greatest this time of year.

 

This week we had a bring-it fest—a group hike/farewell celebration with a picnic at the end. I am humbled by the culinary mojo of the women in this community…by their ability to make kale decadent, to transform a meat and cheese plate into a work of art and to master complex desserts that ought to be illegal. More importantly I love that they can bring it all with deftness and grace.

My contribution, as often is the case, was in the cocktail family. Also not surprisingly, given the time of year, it involved apples. Say hello to hard cider sangria, the step-down program from all those yummy summer drinks. This came from Food and Wine last October.

The only change I made was to triple it, so I could store and transport it in the same big Tupperware I use for freezer daquiris. I liked it so much I made another batch for book group the very next night.

Make it with grocery store hard cider and it is pretty sweet. You might want to cut it with some seltzer. Make it with a really good local hard cider in the wine aisle and it’s a tad more sophisticated (like we care) and less sweet. This recipe has been in my life for four days. Shockingly I have already made it both ways and it’s all good.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup quartered and thinly sliced unpeeled green, yellow and red apples
  • 1 navel orange—quartered and thinly sliced crosswise
  • 1 cup apple juice, chilled
  • 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup apple brandy
  • One 22-ounce bottle hard apple cider, chilled
  • Ice

Method

In a pitcher, combine the apples with the orange, apple juice, lemon juice and brandy. Just before serving, add the hard cider. Serve in tall glasses over ice.

Same sangria, All dressed up for an indoor appearance.

Same sangria, All dressed up for an indoor appearance.

Picnic spread

A mere peek at a Bring It bonanza!

Watermelon Sangria

I don’t think it’s going to get any better than this. Summer that is. And whatever else I might find to put in this glass. This recipe comes straight from Joy the Baker, with gratitude and reverence. If you don’t follow Joy you should. She’s smart, funny, and wildly successful at creating ridiculously good food and drink.  And she does not fuss. When I saw this recipe I immediately thought, “Great! A way to use up those three half bottles of Limoncello in my freezer.” Flash forward a month later and there I am making up an excuse to go to the grocery store so I can really go next door and buy Limoncello.

Trust me though, this is worth a new bottle of Limoncello. So as I said this comes straight from Joy the Baker BUT I have notes for practicality. Joy lives in urban California where a “small” watermelon is the size of a small melon. I live in rural NH where a small watermelon is the size of a large baby. Plan accordingly. Joy muddles things artfully in stages and I slammed all the fruit together in a blender.

Also, if you’re wondering if you can store the leftovers a la freezer daquiris, wonder no more. Yes! In fact the entire first batch (which my impatient not-gonna-go-to-the-store-one-more-time self made with boxed pinot grigio and no strawberries) went straight to the freezer and was a darned good consolation prize between batches. It has no high fructose corn syrup laden limeade in it though, so the texture ends up more icy.

Enough said. Dig out that Limoncello and prepare to be refreshed!

Limoncello. Out with the old, in with the new.

Limoncello. Out with the old, in with the new.

The rose of choice. French, screw top, cheap. All good!

The rose of choice. French, screw top, cheap. All good!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Watermelon Strawberry Citrus Sangria 

makes a big bunch

Ingredients

4 cups watermelon juice, from one small watermelon (see note above)
1 pound fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
1 bottle Rosé wine, not too sweet is best
1 cup vodka
1 cup limoncello or Cointreau
juice of 2 oranges
juice of 1 lime
1 orange sliced
1 lime sliced

Method

Slice a watermelon into large chunks.  Reserve a few smaller chunks for the sangria jar and for garnish.  Blend watermelon chunks with a handful of sliced strawberries until smooth.  Depending on the size of your blender, you may need to blend the fruit in two batches. Strain fruit juice through a fine mesh strainer and into a large measuring cup. You’ll need about 4 cups of watermelon/strawberry juice.

In a large container stir together, watermelon/strawberry juice, wine, vodka, limoncello, orange juice, and lime juice. Stir in the remaining sliced strawberries, a few watermelon chunks, sliced oranges, and sliced lime. Chill thoroughly before serving.  Serve over ice.

Summahhhhhh! Brilliant Frozen Daquiris

Freezer-daquiri-cup

Sandy’s Daquiris

“With a batch of these, and a peanut butter pie in your freezer you’re ready for anything.” That’s Sandy wisdom, and around here we love Sandy. First we love her for bringing her daughter, the fabulous Suzi, into the world. Before Suzi this neighborhood was a lot more like the Wizard of Oz before the Yellow Brick Road scene. Now, it is full on Technicolor. Anyway, we also love Sandy for bringing freezer daquiris into our lives. It is not unusual in our hamlet to see frozen Tupperware vats getting walked from house to house in the summer, the surplus from one party inspiring the next. As Sandy’s (also fabulous) son-in-law says, “The great thing is that it’s always just ready in the freezer. So, you know, at 2 or so on a Sunday after you’ve cut the lawn…” You might want to nab him for any serious chores before he cuts the grass.

This is Sandy’s basic recipe, with some freelance suggestions.

Ingredients

2 cups white rum (or white firewater of choice)
24 oz. Squirt (Fresca for New Englanders)
1 12-oz can frozen pink lemonade or limeade (one of each if making a double batch)
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 cups pineapple juice (or any combo of juices…half ruby red grapefruit makes it darned pretty)

Method

Mix together and freeze in a big rectangular Tupperware stirring every 2 hours. (Count on at least 10 hours and up to a day, depending on the container.  I do not bother stirring it until just before serving.) Depending on the party you can use 3 cups rum*, and try adding stuff such as grapefruit juice.

*This is the only place I take issue with Sandy. I’d say the party may depend on the three cups of rum. Go with it!)

Bring It!

Now, here’s the brilliant part. Use this frozen block of daquiris as ice and internal structure when packing a cooler for the lake/cabin/weekend escape. At your destination chunk it up with a serving spoon or simply let it thaw into a pitcher of perfect drinkable slurpees. Lifechanging I tell you. And who do you think is always welcome back at that lakehouse? You got it.

Brilliant for cooler packing, but also as a great way to store leftover cocktails that you can then revisit/re-serve at will. (See fabulous son-in-law note above)

Freezer-daquiri-block

Freezer-daquiri-breakup

 

Summahhhhhhhhhh!

Summahhhhhhhhhh!