Lime in the Coconut Martini I'm thinking it might be time for some kind of intervention. Brian has apparently developed a condition whereby it is impossible for him to walk into any kind of liquor store without "discovering" some new Pinnacle flavored vodka for us to try. He also insists that all vodka be stored in the freezer and we are WAY over capacity in there. I'm not too keen on frozen food but there are a few things that do belong in there other than bottles of vodka, ice cube trays and cocktail glasses. I nearly created an avalanche the other day trying to retrieve a package of frozen spinach! But, you didn't come here to listen to my domestic problems. Per Serving: 1 1/2 oz. Combine all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Strawberry Margarita Jell-O Shots When thinking of Super Bowl foods strawberries don't usually make the cut. However... mix the strawberries with a little tequila and turn them into a margarita and you are getting closer! With our sunny Citrus Blush already mixed and in the pitcher we weren't really in need of another cocktail, but when I came across these cute little shots I couldn't resist putting them on my Super Bowl Extravaganza Table. Hollowed out strawberries work as a vehicle for a Jell-0 concoction of strawberry gelatin, tequila and a touch of Grand Marnier. Strawberry season here in San Diego is a tad behind schedule and I had a bit of trouble finding those beautiful, plump and bright red berries, but we made do with the Farmer's Market offerings and found some that were good enough. The gelatin is mixed with water, 4 oz of tequila and 2 oz of Grand Marnier. Edited 2/10/11: Tamera, in the comment section below, suggests using all liquor in the gelatin mix, no water.
Avena - Healthy Oatmeal Shake Breakfast on the go? This quick shake is healthy and delicious! My daughter loves Avena and requests it for breakfast at least 3 times a week. It's nutritious, high in fiber, lowers cholesterol and tastes delicious! Avena is a very popular cold beverage in many Latin countries, here's my healthy skinny version. Avena - Healthy Oatmeal ShakeGina's Weight Watcher RecipesServings: 4 • Size: 1 cup • Old Points: 2 pts • Points+: 3 pts Calories: 123.9 • Fat: 1.8 g • Protein: 6.8 g • Carb: 21.3 g • Fiber: 3.2 g Ingredients: 1/2 cup quick oats*2 cups water1 cup fat free milk1 cup ice3 tbsp sugar (or honey)2 tsp ground cinnamon Directions: Cook oats and water in a small pot for about a minute or two, stirring often until it becomes thick and bubbly. In a blender add milk, sugar, cinnamon. *Use gf oats to make this gluten-free.
Cherry Limeade the Radioactive Way Want that dazzling super glowy look? Try this radioactive cherry limeade. It’s the secret skin enhancer of the stars. Your new glow in the dark skin will cause car accidents from the glare, and all your friends will be envious. Call now, for only $19.95 plus $1,245,967 shipping and handling, you can turn your whole life around. Warning: Side effects may include hyperactivity, addiction, and radioactive iodine poisoning. Ingredients1 ½ cups granulated sugar1 ½ cups waterSmall pinch of salt1 ½ cups fresh squeezed lime juice1/3 cup maraschino cherries, not the juice2 TBS grenadine3 to 5 cups cold water (Depending on how strong you like your limeade)Maraschino cherries & lime slices for garnish In a sauce pan bring sugar, 1 ½ cups of water, and a pinch of salt to a boil. Place all the ingredients together in a half gallon pitcher and stir to combine. Don’t forget to read the very small fine print!
Life Blog | Personal Finance News & Advice Make coffee at home instead of buying fancy lattes at the local cafe (or, OK, Starbucks outpost), and you’ll save boatloads of cash each year. Shocking, right? If only it were that simple. Although financial gurus repeatedly trot out the so-called latte factor as a prime example of how we’re all busting our budgets, the tired tip fails to account for one major hurdle: taste. If we all boasted barista skills and our home kitchens had $1,000-plus espresso machines, the venti whatevers wouldn’t stand a chance. The good news is, even cooks with little skill and a basic drip coffeemaker can improve the flavor of their home brew. Use these tricks and recipes to make your homemade coffee more palatable straight up, or mixed into a fancier drink. 1. It extracts more flavor and releases the essential oils, says Jill Houk, a chef with Centered Chef Food Studios in Chicago. 2. Don’t keep beans or grounds in the refrigerator, advises former Starbucks barista Will Kruisbrink. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
The Ultimate Strawberry Lemonade One of the first times I ever realized that – HEY! I can cook for myself! – was when I first learned to make lemonade. I magically found the refrigerated lemon juice at our house and followed the directions to make my own lemonade. Sorry for the detour. Anyway, there was a summer there where I made my own lemonade every single day, making sure to rub it in my sister’s face that I knew how to and she didn’t. The key to this being the ultimate lemonade is that you blend it up with the lemon rind in there. And any time of day for that matter. (makes 2 pint-glass servings with ice) 3/4 cup sugar2 large lemons, microwaved for 30 seconds2 cups water1 cup of frozen strawberries, microwaved for 1 minute (you could use fresh, but I think the frozen works better here) In a blender squeeze the lemons and add the rest of the lemon, rind and all. **Note: I like to microwave the lemons to release more of the juices, and microwaving the strawberries does the same sort of thing.
The 10 manliest cocktails (and how to make them) Life Blog | Personal Finance News & Advice Mint is, in all honesty, one of the best spring investments you can make. No, not Mint.com — that’s a given. Mint as in, the herb. For as little as $2.50 per pot at a farmer’s market, you’ll have years of bounty. The perennial is hardy: Frugal Foodie has had the same pot on her balcony going on five years now. Growing your own is a much better bet than buying fresh from the supermarket, where a tiny clam shell costs $2 and loses its pep within days. There are also numerous mint varieties beyond a basic mint, if you feel like getting adventurous. Frugal Foodie likes chocolate and ginger mints, and there are also pineapple, orange and apple, among others. Even if you’re not much of a chef, mint is a great investment for bar purposes alone. We asked cocktail aficionados for their best options. Strawberry Mint Champagne Cocktail Mint-infused syrup provides a little zing in this recipe from Michelle Maskaly of “The Adirondack Chick.” Want a mintier flavor? Minty Cucumber Gin & Tonic Berry Mint Crush
Better than the Best Stuff on Earth: Lemon Iced Tea Needless to say, this is the most vital step. But for the ones out there that didn't catch on, this is the most vital step. Again. It is still important. Pour 1 quart of water into the saucepan.Put the lid on the saucepan and put it on the stove to boil.Boil it.Once the water has been boiled, pour it into the jar. Set the kitchen timer for 20 minutes.Put both the green and black tea bags in the water.Start the timer and let the tea steep for 20 minutes. When the timer goes off, pull the tea bags out of the tea.Apply 15-17 squirts of lemon juice (more for more lemony flavor, less for less lemony flavor). *You don't have to use sugar, but it makes the final product of lesser quality.
Boozy Salted Caramel Mocha Happy Holidays! Now that Thanksgiving is past I’m already thinking about all of the entertaining we’ll be doing from now thru New Year’s Eve. Yes I get a little giddy about things like that. I’m a complete party nerd. There I said it. We like to keep things simple and easy whether we’re entertaining 2 close friends or a group of 20. This year I’m going the Silkology route. Want to try out Silkology on your own? Baci! This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Silk. Recipe adapted from Silkology. Boozy Salted Caramel Mocha What You Will Need: 1/2 cup Silk Chocolate soymilk 1 shot espresso Pinch of salt 2 tablespoons caramel flavored syrup, divided 1 shot Bailey's Irish Creme whipped cream 1/8 tsp sea salt for garnish What To Do: Combine Silk, espresso, pinch of salt, 1 tablespoon caramel syrup and Bailey's in a saucepan and heat just until warm.
Aam Ka Panna Recipe | Raw Green Mango Drink Aam Ka Panna,a refreshing summer juice made with raw green mangoes.This scorching summer makes me crave for juices often, I loved this idea of storing the preserve and making the juice as and when we want sure better than the store bought juice mixes / squashes with loads of preservatives. A reader requested to post aam ka panna so that urged me to try it quickly and here you go with the post :) I loved the drink for the bunch of flavours - sweet,spicy and tangy...yumm!! Raw Green Mango - 1 big Roasted cumin powder - 1/2 tsp Black Pepper - 1/2 tsp Fresh Mint Leaves - 10 Chilled Water - as required Lemon Juice - as required(optional) Ice cubes - few Salt - to taste Method: 1.Dry roast cumin seeds for few mins until nice aroma rises, then powder it, I used my hand mortar and pestle. In a mixer add sugar,salt,mint leaves,half of jeera and pepper and grind it to a fine powder. 2.Pressure cook raw mango with enough water (just immersing level will do) until mushy, giving it 3-4 whistles.
Minted Cucumber Cooler Posted by Cara on Wednesday Aug 28th, 2013 | Print Mad Men’s Betty Draper downed gimlets to hide her troubles. Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe sipped gimlets as he complained about their slipping quality. When I went to name this latest Cocktail Hour cocktail a gimlet, I found out about the drink’s controversial past. The scurvy prevention. The corn syrup addition. My cooler’s not so far from the modern-day gimlet, though, which contains a lot of lime juice and a little sugar or simple syrup, and vodka or gin. But the original gimlet, invented by Sir. So there’s the controversy: does a gimlet have to contain homemade lime cordial à la Sir. Wanting to respect history, I discarded the name gimlet and the modern fresh lime juice variation, dismissed as too simple by all these characters. I’m telling cocktail stories and sharing fun vodka recipes in partnership with Stoli Vodka and their ORGNL.TV site (especially the awesome Taste vertical!). Savor Stoli Responsibly. **Recipe**
Horchata Horchata is a Mexican specialty drink. It is often referred to as an “agua fresca” or a “fresh water.” These are drinks like tamarindos and the cucumber lime agua fresca that I posted last fall. They are essentially water flavored with fruit or other fresh flavors. It has also become common to make horchata using sweetened condensed milk, and though there are certainly applications where I will use sweetened condensed milk, here, I think it adds too distinctive of a flavor. I’m so happy to have a recipe for horchata that has met with Pitts’ approval. This is a natural recipe to use homemade vanilla extract . Recipe: (serves 6) 1 cup water 1 cup sugar 3 cups milk ⅔ cup rice flour ½ teaspoon cinnamon 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 cups ice cubes water, as needed 1. 2. Note: The sweetness of this mix accounts for the fact that is served over ice and therefore watered down a bit. It is summer. See, I wasn’t kidding.
Let's Make: Soda Syrups! Soda syrup! Have you ever worked at a restaurant where you had to change out the bags of syrup for the soda fountain? And you got it all over yourself the first two times because you didn't know how to open them? And then the third time you thought you did it right but it leaked all over the place? Me too! As revenge, let's learn how to make that at home. Soda syrup's main purpose in life is to be mixed with seltzer water. Today we're going to make a cola. Cola might seem mysterious to you (who the hell knows what that flavor really is?) I'll probably give a larger run-down later on in life about the Story Of Cola but for now we'll just treat it as the product we're aiming for. When you get down to it, soda syrup is just a syrup (water + sugar) that has some extra flavors in it. Ingredients Directions Put it into a pot, simmer it for 10 minutes, then let it cool down for about 45 minutes. Store it in the fridge, and when you're ready for soda, just mix it with some seltzer!