the nitty gritty

lucky leprechaun lime twist

This drink is an improvisation on a recipe I saw for an orange creamsicle drink in the isi recipe booklet.  Think juice, some carbonation, and a topping of some kind of frozen cream and you can come up with a million combinations.  Maybe more.

You can use a lemon-lime soda, I'm sure, but the key lime juice was the real star of the show in this drink.  Also, if you don't have a carbonator, like the isi wand that is one of my favorite one-trick-pony-kitchen-gadgets, you can use carbonated water or tonic water.  But you can find isi carbonating systems at Target easily and they're so fun and versatile.  If you're into carbonation.

Lucky Leprechaun Lime Twist

makes up to 4 full, 8 oz drinks

• 1 c sugar
• 1 c water
• 1 c key lime juice (I bought mine at Whole Foods)
• carbonated water
• lime sherbet

1. To make the simple syrup, combine sugar with water in a saucepan and bring to a boil while stirring.  When sugar dissolves into water completely, remove from heat and allow to cool.  You can also chill it completely in the refrigerator.
2. Combine the cooled or chilled simple syrup with lime juice and stir.
3. In a cup, combine 1 part lime syrup to 1 part carbonated water or 1 part lime syrup to 2 parts carbonated water, according to your preference.  (The 1:1 combination is pretty tart but we prefer it to go with the uber-sweet sherbet.)  Top with a scoop of lime sherbet.  Stick in a fun straw and give it a swirl!

hot chocolate swirlers

Hot Chocolate Swirlers

from King Arthur Flour

• ½ cup heavy cream
• 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk (1 1/4 cups)
• 3 cups semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (chopped chocolate bars or chips) (I used 1 1/2 c. bittersweet chocolate chips and 1 1/2 c. semi-sweet.  It was definitely not too sweet)
• 3/4 cup unsweetened baking chocolate
• wooden sticks

1) Line an 8" x 8" pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil.

2) Heat the cream and condensed milk over low heat until steaming. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate; allow it to gently melt.

3) After about 10 minutes, return the chocolate mixture to low heat to completely melt the chocolate. Whisk vigorously until the mixture is thick and shiny. Add a few drops of flavoring oil if you like; hazelnut, coffee, or vanilla are popular flavors.  (I added vanilla extract.)

4) Pour the chocolate mixture into the pan; shake the pan gently to level. Sprinkle with cocoa, if desired. Set aside overnight to slowly set up.  (I sprinkled with crushed candy canes.  After the fudge set for a couple of hourse but was still soft, I cut squares and shaped them into round balls or flat circles for a more appealing shape.)

5) Run a knife around the edge of the pan and turn out onto a clean cutting surface.

6) Slice into 1 ¼" cubes. Heat a knife in hot water and wipe dry before each cut, for smoothest cuts.

7) Stick a wooden stick into the center of each block.

8) Roll in cocoa or crushed peppermint candy, if desired.

9) Wrap in waxed paper, parchment, or plastic wrap to store.

mulled apple cider

This is very simple and very delicious.  Sadly, nobody but me in my family and close friends likes mulled spiced cider.

Mulled Cider

(from Williams-Sonoma Mulling Spices Tin)

Gently simmer 1 qt. of apple cider with 2 Tbs. mulling spices in a tea ball or tied up in cheesecloth for up to 20 minutes.  

Remove spices and serve hot in mugs with cinnamon sticks or chill and serve.

Alternatively, make your own mulling spices with cinnamon sticks, orange rind, whole allspice, and whole cloves.  Try this recipe: 

• 3 ounces whole cinnamon sticks
• 6 whole nutmegs (1 ounce)
• 1/3 cup chopped dried orange peel
• 1/3 cup chopped dried lemon peel
• 1/4 cup allspice berries
• 1/4 cup whole cloves

chai tea latte

Start by picking a good chai tea.  Since I don't drink tea from tea leaves, I use herbal and rooibos teas.  I really, really love Teavana's Tulsi Dosha Chai Rooibos tea blend.  It's so fabulous. (Photo from their website.)

A chai tea is a tea that is blended with cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, black pepper, and any combination of the above or other ingredients.  It's warming and just a little spicey.  You can make your own chai by starting with rooibos and adding the above warm spices.

Normally, you brew 1 1/2 tsp of rooibos for every 8oz cup of water.  When you make a chai tea latte, you want to double the concentration because you will later double the volume with milk.  I usually drink 16 oz at a time, so I would need 8 oz of brewed tea.  That means I would brew 3 tsp of my tulsi dosha chai rooibos tea with 8 oz of boiling water.  I add sugar during the breweing stage and I will use the same amount of sugar as I used tea, so 3 tsp of sugar in this case.

By the way, I love, love to use the Teavana Perfect TeaMaker even though I have a lovelier, prettier Bodum glass tea pot.  To use the teamaker, add the loose tea, sugar, and then add the boiling water.  Half of the pitcher is 8 oz.  Fill to 1 cm of the top for 16oz.  Let the tea steep according to the directions for your particular tea.  When the tea is ready to pour, all you do is place the teamaker on top of your cup and a pressure mechanism opens to let the tea pour out the bottom of the teamaker, perfectly straining even the tiniest of rooibos leaves out of your tea.  As soon as you lift the teamaker, the mechanism closes and the tea is contained within the teamaker.  Easy peasy and no pouring or dripping, etc.  For company, I use my teapot.  For tea just for myself, I use the teamaker.

Here it is sitting over my teacup.

That little tea cup is an 8 oz cup.  I prefer to drink tea out of my large, glass 13oz cup.

Continuing on, pour your steeped tea into your mug or glass.  It should be only half full at this point.  Next, take some milk and froth it with your preferred frother.  I love this little $10 milk frother and I have to admit that I find it fascinating.  Why haven't I known about frothed milk before?!!

To use this milk frother, pour milk in up to the fill line, which I think is only 2/3 cup, and pump up and down for about 20 seconds.  Your milk will double, possibly triple, in volume and will be light and fluffy and so much fun!  You can heat your milk before you froth it or you can froth it and then stick the (lidless) frother in the microwave for 20 seconds.  Once you have warm milk froth, pour/spoon the froth into your mug until your desired volume is achieved.  (I was going for 16 oz in this case.)

Seriously, look at the beautiful froth!

I love that it stays on top of the latte and can be scooped and swirled around without dissolving out.

So, to recap, for a 16 oz chai tea latte,

steep the following ingredients together:

• 3 tsp rooibos or herbal chai
• 3 tsp sweetener
• 8 oz boiling water

Once tea is steeped, pour into a mug.  Froth warm or cold milk.  If milk was cold, warm the froth in the microwave.  Add 8 oz of milk/froth to the chai tea.  You know have a delicious chai tea latte to enjoy!

On really hot days, you can make iced chai tea lattes.  How exciting!  Those are slightly more complicated as you have to make the tea even more concentrated since you will be diluting the tea with ice before you dilute with milk.  I'm sure there will be a separate post on that in due time!