eat make read

First of all, thank you so, so much for reading my blog. I’ve had such an amazing year trying out new recipes and sharing them with you. I look forward to even more goodness in the new year.

This week’s happy hour comes a little early due to New Year’s. I know the traditional beverage of the new year is champagne and I’m sure you’ve already planned on toasting with it. But if you ask me, there’s no better way to end a year and begin a new one than with a good old margarita. Honestly, I’ll use any excuse I can to get my hands on one.

I made some candied citrus for the holidays and hand a bunch of lemons and limes on hand. I simply squeezed the juice from them and reserved it in the fridge. If you find yourself with extra citrus fruit, you can always juice them and put the liquid in ice cube trays. Anyhow, let’s move on the the good stuff. A little salt for the rim, tequila and Cointreau and you’ve got yourself a party in a glass.

Cheers to you!

Classic Margarita

1 1/2 oz tequila
1 oz lime juice (or lemon lime)
1/2 oz Cointreau
kosher salt
ice

1
Place a tablespoon or two of salt on a plate. Rub the lip of your glass with a lime and dip in the salt.
2
Add ice to glass and set aside.
3
Combine tequila, lime juice and Cointreau in a separate glass and stir. Pour over ice and say cheers!

This isn’t your typical happy hour beverage, but it certainly makes me happy. I’m a big coffee fan but I don’t have a traditional coffee maker at home. I do, however, have a few french presses that up until a few weeks ago I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t know how to properly use. The problem was I didn’t know the right ration of coffee to water, so I was always getting wonky coffee.

Oh how things changed once I received a new french press with measurements printed right on the press. Two scoops of coffee, two cups of water and a five minutes later I have one hell of a coffee. If you’ve never had coffee made in a french press, you’re really missing out. It’s one of the best ways to get the full flavor out of your coffee beans.

Have a great weekend!

How to use a french press
for a single serve press

2 heaping tablespoons coffee beans, coarsely ground
water

1
Boil 2 cups of water.
2
Put coffee beans in french press and pour boiling water over top.
3
Put the cap on the press, but don’t press the screen down. Let it sit for five minutes.
4
Press the screen down and pour your coffee.

It’s been a while since I’ve had a proper happy hour, but I think it was worth the wait. After we got our first snow here in Brooklyn, I thought it was the perfect time to heat up some cider. Pear cider just happened to be in the fridge so decided to spice it up with a little cinnamon and cloves… and rum of course. It was perfectly delicious and really hit the spot on a cold winter evening.

Have a great weekend!

Spiced Pear Cider
serves 2

2 cups pear cider
1 Tablespoon whole cloves
3 cinnamon sticks
rum

1
Break one cinnamon stick in half and place it, along with the cloves, in a tea diffuser.
2
Put the diffuser and cider in a tea pot and heat over medium heat for about five minutes.
3
When the cider is nice and warm, pour it in two glasses. Add a shot of rum to each and garnish with a cinnamon stick.
4
Put on a nice movie (may I suggest Love Actually) and sit back and sip your cider.

Friday came around quicker than ever this week! I think I’ve finally chosen all my recipes, which means my shopping list has been written. I think it’s going to be a long walk home carrying all those groceries.. yikes! I didn’t prepare a happy hour, but I have been thinking about it.

I always like to make mulled cider when it get so cold out. I usually have a little rum on hand to make it extra warm, but a friend recently mentioned St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram and I immediately thought of cider. Mmmm, I can almost taste it now! If I had been even more prepared I could have made my own… maybe next time.

Have a great weekend! If you’re going out shopping, remember to take deep breaths and enjoy it! Cheers!

Wow! This week marked one of the most amazing events in my life. It’s hard to put into words the emotion and pure excitement I felt when Barack Obama was elected President. I can only say, unbelievably awesome.

In celebration, I’ve concocted my new favorite cocktail, the old fashioned. I studied the bartender at one of my favorite bars, Weatherup, and I think I have it down pat. I’ve of course added my own fancy touch by using my popsicle molds to make bigger ice cubes that melt slower. Not only do they melt slower, but they add a little patriotism.

Cheers! To a new president and a new outlook. I couldn’t be more proud.

Old Fashioned

2 ounces Bourbon
1 sugar cube
a few splashes of Angostura bitters
a few more splashes of soda water
1 large ice cube, such as a popsicle mold
2 inch piece of orange rind

1
Carefully cut a 2 inch piece of orange rind, being careful to not cut into white part.
2
Place a sugar cube, bitters and soda water in a short glass. Muddle until sugar is dissolved.
3
Add ice cube, then the bourbon.
4
Fold piece of orange rind and squeeze together over drink, letting the essence fall into the drink. (You may not be able to see the essence, but it’s there, I promise) Drop the rind in the beverage.
5
Give it a swirl or two and say Cheers! It’s the dawn of a new era!

Sweet goodness I’m so happy it’s Friday! Today’s happy hour focuses on a producer of delicious brews, Sixpoint Brewery based in Red Hook Brooklyn. We took a tour of their brewery last weekend (during the Added Value event) and it was really great to see where the magic happens. I think the last brewery tour I took was the Miller Brewery in Milwaukee back when I was about 14. The differences couldn’t be greater, thank goodness. Sixpoint is a tiny operation, based in a small brick building about the size of our apartment and started by a couple of guys from Wisconsin. But what they lack in size, they more than make up for in spirit and good tastes. The brewers taught us about different types of hops, even letting us taste different types, some that were fresh and others that were cooked for longer and had a deeper flavor. It was interesting to understand how much the flavor of beer is influenced by those little seeds.

Perhaps the best part of the tour came after it was over and the beer started pouring. We tried four of their best brews, brownstone, a nice slighty darker and nuttier beer, bengali tiger IPA, a super hoppy beer, Righteous Ale, a wheat beer and sweet reaction, a special edition of sweet action, a slightly more citrusy beer. Unfortunately Sixpoint doesn’t bottle their beer yet, but if your in the New York area, look for sixpoint at your local bar, it’s good stuff.

Cheers! Have a fablulous weekend!

When we went to Thailand last year, one of my favorite treats was a watermelon slushie. They were so simple and refreshing and just sweet enough. Well now that watermelons are in season, I thought I’d try to make one.

All I did was cut a small watermelon into little cubes, toss those in a blender, add a few cubes of ice and a little lime. I gave it all a whirl in the blender and tada, I had myself a whole lot of watermelon slushie. The result was pretty tasty and just perfect for a warm day, although not quite the same as the ones we had in Thailand. I had lots of extra, so I just poured it in and ice tray for later.

Have a great weekend! Cheers!

watermelon slush

1 small watermelon, cut into 1 inch cubes
4-5 ice cubes
1 Tablespoon lime juice

1
Toss the cut up watermelon, ice cubes and lime juice into a blender.
2
Blend until smooth.
3
Drink up!

I finally found a way that I can drink whisky without wincing, mix it with a little iced tea. I’ve been really into iced tea this summer, in fact I’ve had way more in this one summer than I have in my whole life. I’d dabbled in Thai iced tea, but I’d never been really interested in it otherwise. Then I tried this minted iced tea at the greenmarket that was sweetened with maple syrup. That’s how I got hooked.

This was my first attempt at making iced tea at home, and I have to say it turned really well, although I didn’t try the maple syrup version. Once I’d taken the tea bags out, I poured my tea in a little tea pot that has a built in infuser and stuck some fresh mint leaves in it, then let it sit in the fridge for a bit. When I was ready for a cool beverage I poured myself a glass added a shot of whisky. The sweetness of the whisky really lends itself to the minted tea.

Cheers to it already being Friday! I have a fun event lined up this weekend that I can’t wait to share with you.

whisky iced tea

4 cups water
6 tea bags of black tea
1/2 cup sugar
4-5 fresh mint leaves
whisky

1
Bring water to a boil in small saucepan.
2
Add tea bags and sugar. Let simmer for 5 minutes.
3
Remove tea bags and pour into pitcher or tea pot.
4
If your tea pot has an infuser, stuff the mint leaves in it. Otherwise use a loose tea infuser and let it hang out in the pitcher. Let it cool in the refrigerator for a few hours.
5
Pour yourself a glass, add a shot of whisky and relax.

Whew, that’s a mouthful, but this beer is amazing. It’s another from Bell’s Brewery in Michigan and unfortunately for us it’s the last one in the fridge. The best way to describe it is rich. Rich with cherry and hints of bourbon, but not overwhelming. It’s unlike any other dark beer I’ve had.

We’re off on an impromtu visit to Boston this weekend. I hope you have something fun lined up to celebrate the end of the summer.

Cheers!

This week’s happy hour is an excellent recommendation from my friend erik. After seeing my post on vanilla sugar earlier this week, he clued me in on a recipe for pomegranate mojitos that’s pretty dang tasty. And I have to say, sometimes I get really frustrated with mixing drinks that seem fancy, but this one was easy and came out tasting delightful. Maybe that’s because I made Aaron use his muscles and muddle the mint, but whatever the case, this is definitely worth trying out.

Cheers! To good friends and and a great weekend!

erik’s fancy pomegranate mojito

2 oz pomegranate juice
2 oz white rum
1 tbsp vanilla sugar
4 oz club soda
6 mint sprigs
cracked ice

1
In a cocktail shaker, combine all ingredients except the mint and shake well.
2
Mull the mint in the bottom of a cocktail glass.
3
Strain the pomegranate mixture into the glass with the muddled mint, and serve.