Check It Out: Helpful Hints from Freixenet for NYE

I'm in the middle of a house purge which means tackling the piles of accumulated wealth that have stacked themselves in every corner of my house. While engaging in a bout of "Dire, Must Keep This!" and "Where Did This Come From?" I rediscovered a little gem that seems holiday appropriate for this evening.

Apparently during the many years in which I made a bottle of Freixenet central to my New Year's celebrations, I acquired a copy of their The Freixenet Social Survival Guide. Great little book and a fun read. It covers all your Party Guest/Host Do's and Dont's plus so much more.

They also had a section which seemed perfect for this evening so I thought I would end this year by sharing some helpful passages brought to you by the makers of this fine bubbly beverage with many wishes from me for a Happy New Year and Bon Appetit for 2015!

THE FREIXENET SOCIAL SURVIVAL GUIDE

Selections from "Chapter 4 -- Cheers" (p. 39-48)

HOW TO HOLD A WINE GLASS

By the stem. Always by the stem. If you hold it by the bowl, cold white wines, champagnes, and martinis will lose their chill, while cellar-temperature reds will become too warm.

A NOTE TO THE SUAVE

Never drink to your own toast -- that is, when you're the one being toasted. It's equivalent to giving yourself a pat on the back.

GREAT OPENINGS

Whether it's a prestige selection from an ancient winery or a young, punky blend from a place you've never heard of, you should give every bottle of champagne...an opening that even a seasoned sommelier would approve of.

HOW TO OPEN A BOTTLE OF SPARKLING WINE

Make sure the champagne bottle has been stored on its side and hasn't been jostled recently. Check the temperature: it should feel like it just came out of the refrigerator (about 45° F.). If it's a bit tepid, put it on ice in a champagne bucket for 20 minutes.

1. Keep the bottle pointed away from every living creature, including yourself.

2. Prop the bottle on a table or counter top.

3. Remove the foil wrapper from the top part of the neck area.

4. Cover the top of the bottle with a cloth (a linen napkin or hand towel will do just fine).

5. While keeping the cork stabilized with one hand, loosen but don't remove the metal cage that holds the cork in place. This is done by untwisting the protruding wire loop. Never leave the cork unattended with the wire cage off.

6. Grasp the cork firmly. Hold the bottle from the base with your thumb inside the well and slowly twist it out from under the cork. Though you may hear a muffled pop, the bottle will likely let out a gentle sigh when the deed is done. 

7. Use a slow hand when decanting the bubbly into champagne flutes. Tilting the glass while pouring will help keep it from foaming up, but a slow, steady, trickle-like pour is the best strategy.

A NOTE TO THE SUAVE

Use narrow flutes or slightly flared tulip glasses when serving champagne. And don't chill the stemware. Sparkling wine is at its friskiest when served in cool, dry glasses.

NOTES

The Freixenet Social Survival Guide by Todd Lyon

Random House, Inc. (2000) / ISBN 0-609-50344-8

Freixenet comes from a Spanish winery who produces sparkling wine using the méthode champenoise (champagne method).  Because as you may know, only sparkling wines from the French province of Champagne can be called such.

My favorite is the Cordon Negro Brut (all black bottle), but Freixenet has a variety of cavas that you can try out, depending on what your taste runs to. 

Check It Out: Spiced Cranberry Prosecco Punch

With New Year's right around the corner, if you are looking for a festive beverage, you need to check this out. It's not a recipe of mine, but one I want to point you in the direction of. I've had this concoction a couple of times at holiday fiestas hosted by my friends Dana and Mike. It is ridiculously addictive and usually requires them re-batching several times during the evening.

When I finally got around to asking Dana for the recipe, it turns out that she got it online from "Heather Christo: Eat Well, Live Free. Deliciously Allergy Free Recipes," a great website you should check out. She has really sexy food photos. I've paraphrased the original recipe here for your convenience, but for how-to photos go check it out on her webpage.

Spiced Cranberry Prosecco Punch (paraphrased from Heather Christo)
makes 20 servings

cranberry ice cubes
2 ice cube trays
fresh or frozen cranberries

Place the cranberries in the ice cube trays, fill with water and freeze until hard, at least 4 hours to overnight.

spiced punch
bag of party ice
4 cinnamon sticks
zest of 2 oranges
5 cups cranberry juice
3 cups orange juice*
2 bottles Prosecco
2 oranges (regular or blood), sliced
1 cup dark rum or bourbon (optional)

Put bag ice and cranberry ice cubes in a large punch bowl or punch dispenser. See photo above.

Add in cinnamon sticks, orange zest and orange slices, then pour in the cranberry and orange juices.

Next stir in the prosecco and mix well.

Voila! Delicious, delicious, tantalizingly addictive punch.

NOTE

*You can do orange juice with no pulp or some pulp.  If you are using a regular open punch bowl, it doesn't really matter, if you are using a punch dispenser as shown above, you may have some spigot blockage if you get an orange juice with too much pulp in it so heads up on that.

Jack the Pirate's Mangria

 

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. Mine has been both ridiculously fun and blog inspirational.

Yesterday my friend Deborah drug me out (all but kicking and screaming) for a tubing adventure with her Meet Up group. This is because occasionally I suffer from InARut syndrome. The day ended up being perfect -- sunny but not too sunny, water was cool but not too cool, fellow floaters were friendly and fun, so just the right of everything for a relaxing afternoon.

Many of our co-adventurers brought along adult beverages to make their afternoon float more even relaxing which made us sincerely regret our lack thereof. Yeah, that one's on me...I had a wagon moment before the weekend that left us "unprepared" for our water adventure. 

Then Jack saved our day. We were very happy to make friends with Jack, the awesome guy who shared with us his OJ jug of "just thrown together this morning" homemade sangria. YAY! This was not your everyday sangria, it was not too sweet and packed a bit of a punch that earned it the nickname "mangria" by one of our fellow floaters. 

So now, for your future floating adventure enjoyment, may I present Jack the Pirate's Mangria.

MANGRIA

3 cups orange juice
1 bottle red wine
2 oz. tequila
1 medium apple, cored and sliced (peel optional)
1 cup fresh blueberries

Mix. Drink. Nosh. Enjoy.

RIVER NOTES

For easy mixing and sipping, I highly recommend the Jack the Pirate method of using an empty or near empty orange juice jug (as seen in photo above). Has an easy-to-hold handle and is plastic (read: floatable) in case of mangria overboard.

FYI, Jack isn't really a pirate, we started calling him that because he reminded me of a pirate drinking from his grog jug and it just made sense at the time.

Mangria is best when sipped and shared, but make sure lid is securely fastened before passing from tube to tube to avoid spillage because it is only fun and games until someone spills the mangria and then it's no fun for anyone.

Orange juice, red wine and tequila brands are left entirely up to you. Pick your faves and make it happen.

The apple and blueberries are best consumed after they have been soaking for a while. My blueberries were not handpicked from a bush by my mom like Jack's were, but I did handpick the container from the grocery store collection. Close enough, still delicious.

And always, please please please, Remember to Float Responsibly. Thank you.

Kale Smoothies

I know, sounds weird, right?  Kale in a smoothie?  That's just crazy talk, but here at TCC we are crazy talkers.  I was skeptical going into this but in the name of culinary science, I had to give it a whirl and you know what I discovered?  Crazy good!

When I went to buy my kale, I saw that they had both green AND purple which inspired my second smoothie.  Be brave and try these, I promise you won't be sorry.

Green Kale-Pear Smoothie

3/4 cup green kale, chopped
3/4 cup pear, peeled and chopped
1 (6 oz.) container lowfat French vanilla yogurt, cold
3/4 cup almond milk, cold

In a blender, puree the kale, pear and yogurt together until the kale is in even smaller bits and the mixture is semi-smooth.

Add in the almond milk and blend until well mixed.  Pour and enjoy.

Purple Kale-Blueberry Smoothie

1/2 cup purple kale, chopped
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1 (6 oz.) container lowfat French vanilla yogurt, cold
1 cup almond milk, cold

In a blender, puree the kale, blueberries, and yogurt together until the kale is in even smaller bits and the mixture is semi-smooth.

Add in the almond milk and blend until well mixed.  Pour and enjoy even more. This was my favorite of the two.

NOTES

I keep all my ingredients in the fridge to make sure my beverage is cold.  You could always add crushed ice to chill it down, or use some frozen yogurt to make it chilly too.

If you want to add some protein to the mix to make it more of a meal, you can add a dab of almond butter.

Chocolate Caliente, Mayan style

Now that the weather in NC has been snowy and chilly and very keep-indoorsy, I keep thinking back to my visit to Antigua where I was able to enjoy for the first time the wonderful treat of Guatemalan hot chocolate at the Choco Museo.

If you did not know, hot chocolate actually originated in Central America but which is not any hot chocolate you're familiar with, it was a whole different beast.

The concoction was made from the seeds of the fruit of Cacahuaquchtl, meaning not just the cocoa tree, but the Tree, the tree of the Mayan gods.  The seeds were roasted in earthenware pots and then crushed by rolling them between two stones to create a powder.  The powder was then whisked together with boiling water to make a beverage.  To this drink was added either chili, honey, musk, spices or ground maize (if you wanted a heartier beverage).  It was considered a sacred food and was used for royal or religious ceremonies.  It could be consumed hot or cold.

It was the Spanish conquistador, Don Hernan Cortes who, recognizing the commercial value of the product, brought the cocoa bean to Europe.  There's a whole long story to go with that as to how it evolved and changed over the centuries to become which is commonly recognized today as "hot chocolate" but that's a story for another day.

I haven't had a chance to get out and check myself yet, but rumor has it that you can buy the bars of drinking chocolate in the U.S., which are not like regular chocolate bars, but rather bars of pressed cocoa that is crumbly until mixed with boiling water.

The first time we were at the Choco Museo, I ordered a Chocolate Caliente, Mayan style with hot milk (though I had the choice of hot water), chili and honey.  It was rich and spicy (probably because I added three pinched of chili), but what I loved the most about it was the process.  As you see in the photo above, they brought each ingredient out in its own container.  You started by putting the chocolate paste in the earthenware mug, then added the honey, a pinch or two of chili and then stirred in the hot liquid.  SO GOOD!

My second visit, I tried the Chocolate Caliente, Conquistadore style with hot milk again, cinnamon stick pieces, and whole cloves.  Gotta admit, I liked kicking it Mayan style better, but the idea of being able to add other spices was intriguing and fun.

Since I've been home, I've tried a couple of K2 make-at-home adaptations. 

Faux Mayan:  since I had used cacao nibs before, I ground some up in a coffee grinder to make a base powder and then added hot water, pinch of chili powder, cinnamon stick, and honey.  Very savory, not very sweet, slightly grainy, but an interesting taste sensation. Very addictive.

So American:  the other one that you might want to try out is using Hershey's Special Dark syrup, pinch of chili powder, and honey with hot milk.  Closer to home, more on the sweet side but with a chili kick. Tasty.

If you're feeling adventurous some cold wintry night, try kicking it old-old school.  I think you'll have some fun.

NOTE

Want to send a shout out to my friend Nicole who made me the ceramic cup with the skulls that is now my official drinking chocolate cup.  Thank you!

Strawberry-Avocado Smoothie

 

Okay, since writing the post on Sunday, I have been intrigued by the notion of an avocado smoothie. So in the name of culinary science and kitchen experimentation (you know its all for you guys, right?), here is what I came up with.  And may I just say, good job me! :)

Strawberry-Avocado Smoothie

1 ripe avocado, skinned and de-pitted
1 cup fresh strawberries, decapitated (because I am forgetting the term for greens removal)
1 individual-size container (6-8 oz.) Greek yogurt, plain
1 tsp. honey
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
2 cups milk

Toss it all in a blender.

Blend.

Pour a nice tall glass and marvel at the superfood goodness of it.

NOTE

I keep all my ingredients cold so that I don't have to add ice, but you can add ice OR substitute 1/2-1 cup of milk for ice cream or frozen yogurt and turn it into a smoothie/shake.

I chose strawberries as my fruit of choice because I know they go well together from previous experience.  And I chose an avocado that was roughly the equivalent of a medium-size banana.

I added a 7 oz. container of Fage 2% plain Greek Yogurt.  I just put "individual-size" because the containers vary from brand to brand.

The best way to describe the taste is soft...I know that sounds funny, but its a good blend so depending on what you like, you may taste one thing more than another.  As always, feel free to adjust to your own taste.  The honey I used was the stuff I picked up from the Geechie Boy Market & Mill in Edisto, SC, which is really not that sweet.

Just in case you did not know, the easiest way to peel and pit an avocado is to cut it in half lengthwise and twist the sides apart.  Then (carefully) stick a knife blade into the pit and twist it out.  Scoop the flesh with a spoon and you are all set. FYI, this process works best if the avocado is RIPE! (meaning if it isn't I am not responsible for cuts and boo-boos, you were warned)

Check It Out: Almond (Sparkling Wine)

 

Anybody else wondering what the heck happened to November?  Can't believe we are already at the start of the December, let the festivities truly begin!

For the rest of the month, I plan to bring you some party treats and finger foods for all your festive occasions, but wanted to start us off on a "cheery" note.

I was perusing the shelves at Total Wine for something to take to the 'Rents for Thanksgiving dinner and came across this little gem (for under $12!).  Weibel Family Almond Sparkling Grape Wine -- SOOOOO good!

As you can tell by its name, if you're not a fan of almond flavor, you probably won't like this, but for those of you who do and for the taste adventurers out there, I think you will really appreciate the sweet (but not cloyingly sweet) and creamy taste of this beverage.  It's light and bubbly and makes the perfect dessert complement or flavorful toasting vehicle.  So if you're looking for something new and different for this holiday season, you should definitely check it out!

DIDYAKNOW

While people use the term "champagne" generically when referring to sparkling wines, in all but a few cases it's actually a misnomer.  True champagne is produced using only grapes grown in the Champagne region of France. 

Drink Up, It's Cucumber

 

Yes, they are not just for salads anymore.  Here are a couple of ideas for some refreshing cucumber beverages to cool down with on warm days.

Cucumber-Apple Smoothie
(on right in photo)

1/2 cucumber, peeled and chopped
2 granny smith apples, peeled and chopped
1 tsp water or crushed ice
sprig of mint, optional

In a blender or food processor, mix together the ingredients.  Pour into a pint glass (or two highball glasses).  Will be thick and frothy, but you can cut with a dash of sparkling water, or vodka.  Garnish with cucumber spears.

Pimms Spritzer
(on left in photo)

1 oz Pimm's No. 1 Cup
2-3 slices of cucumber
2-3 slices of apple
Ginge Ale or Sprite

Half fill a 16 oz glass with ice.  Pour in Pimms, add cucumber and apple, then top with soda.  Give a quick mix and enjoy.

NOTES

If you aren't familiar with Pimm's No. 1 Cup, it's a British liqueur based on gin that has a blend of spices and citrus in it.  It's thickish and red-brown in color.  It mixes well with lemonade or champagne, or in this case soda and fruit/veggie.

Minny Guinny

 

I can think of no better way to end this St. Patty's Day weekend than with a drink and a toast.

I'd like to dedicate this post is to my besties Juli & F who are hitting the road for new life adventures.

May the winds of fortune sail you
May you sail a gentle sea
May it always be the other guy
Who says "this drink's on me"!  

Beannachtam na Feile Padraig!
Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Minny Guinny

1-1/2 oz Kahlua (or other coffee liqueur)
1/2 oz Bailey's (or other Irish cream liqueur)

Pour the Kahlua in a tall thin shot glass. 

Hold a spoon upsidedown over the top of the shot glass at an angle and pour the Bailey's on it so that it flows down the spoon onto the top of the Kahlua.  Or you can try to pour it in directly, but do it slowly and carefully without the spoon.

Bottom's up!

Holiday Nogs

What is more Christmassy than enjoying a delicious cup of eggnog?  Nothing I can think of.  So for my fellow nog afficianados out there, here are a couple of new variations to sip on.  I found these in my Favorite Brand Names Appetizers cookbook and thought I would give them a try.  Not disappointed.

Raspberry Eggnog
Favorite Brand Names Appetizers, page 340, recipe paraphrased 

1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch
4 cups skim milk, divided
2 egg, beaten
1 (12 oz) pkg frozen raspberries, thawed
1 tsp vanilla
6-9 drops red food coloring (optional)
ground nutmeg for garnish

Combine sugar and cornstarch in a large saucepan.  Stir in 2 cups of milk and bring to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly.

Continue boiling 1 minute or until thickened, again stirring constantly.

Whisk small amount of hot milk mixture into eggs in a small bowl. 

Whisk egg mixture in saucepan and cook over low heat for 1 minute.  Strain and cool.

Place raspberries in a food processor or blender and process until smooth.

Strain and discard seeds.

Stir raspberry puree into the cooled milk mixture and add in remaining 2 cups of milk and vanilla.

 

 

Add food coloring (if wanted) one drop at a time until eggnog is the desired shade of pink.

Cover and refrigerate until cold or ready to serve.  Sprinkle with nutmeg.  Garnish with mint sprigs and raspberries, if desired.

Makes 12 (1/2 oz) cups.


Mocha Eggnog
Favorite Brand Names Appetizers, page 346, recipe paraphrased

1 qt eggnog
1 tbsp instant coffee
1/4 cup coffee-flavored liqueur
cinnamon for garnish

Heat eggnog and coffee granules in a large saucepanover medium heat until mixture is hot and coffee is dissolved. Do NOT boil.

Remove from heat and stir in coffee liqueur.

NOTES

I ended up not adding any red food coloring to the raspberry nog because I liked the light pink color it was without.

When it comes to straining the raspberry puree, after several messy attempts, I found the best thing to do was line a strainer with cheesecloth and squeeze it through.

NOTE

I used the instant expresso that I used for the cappuchino pie and Kahlua, because you can never go wrong with Kahlua.

Halloween Brews

With Halloween party season coming up, I whipped up a couple of fun new brews to try.   

Blackbeard's Treasure

1-1/2 oz Creme de Cassis
1 oz spiced rum (like Sailor Jerry or Captain Morgan)
gold sugar

Dip the rim of your glass in a tidge of water and upsidedown it in some gold sugar.

In a shaker with ice, blend together Creme de Cassis and rum.  Pour into your shiny glass and yarrrrrr ready to enjoy.

You can buy gold sugar anywhere they sell Wilton baking/cake decorating products.

My Lady's Spectre

1 oz orange vodka
1/2 oz black raspberry liqueur (like Chambord)
12 oz Fresca

Pre-chill the orange vodka and Fresca before mixing.  Blend and serve in a tall glass.  It will send a shiver down your timbers it's so boo-tastic.

White Peach Lassi

So when you start whipping up the seriously hot stuff, here's a nice cool beverage to help tone down the flames.

Now most Thai and Indian restaurants will have a mango lassi on the menu, but I wanted to try something different and since the Asian market near me had some nice white peaches for sale, I decided to give those a whirl (literally, because I put them in a blender). :)

White Peach Lassi

2 cups plain yogurt
2 cups milk
3 cups fresh peach, chopped (4 medium peaches)
1 tbsp honey

Put yogurt, milk, peaches, and honey in a blender or food processor.

Blend the ingredients until frothy, about 15-20 seconds.

Serve chilled or over ice.

NOTES

I don't like ice in my lassi so I whipped up a batch and then let it sit in the fridge for at least 1/2 hour before serving.  

You can use regular yellow peaches in this or go traditional and try mangoes instead. 

Buttermilk

For the past two weekends, I’ve featured recipes using buttermilk. In looking back through my posts, it seems that I use it quite often but it wasn’t until a recent conversation with a buttermilk aficionado that I realized I don’t really know that much about the substance other than it's good to cook with. So you know what that meant…research project!

BUTTERMILK

As it turns out, when talking about buttermilk there are two main types – traditional buttermilk and cultured buttermilk.

Traditional buttermilk refers to the liquid left behind after churning cream to make butter (so it doesn’t actually contain butter). The cream used has been cultured or fermented by allowing whole cow’s milk to sit out for a period of time. The cream separates from the milk and the naturally occurring lactic acid-producing bacteria present in the milk ferment it, making it easier to churn for butter. The acid is what gives buttermilk its tart taste.

Cultured buttermilk is contains cow’s milk that has been pasteurized and homogenized, then inoculated with the lactic acid-producing bacteria.

Then there's powdered buttermilk and condensed buttermilk which are used primarily in food industry for pancake mixes and ice cream making.

Buttermilk is actually very good for you. It’s traditionally low in fat, because the fat goes to make the butter, and doesn’t hang around in the buttermilk. The calorie content will depend on the type of milk it was made from. If 1% or 2% was used, it will have a lower fat content than that made from whole milk. Nutritionally, it is high in calcium, potassium, and riboflavin, and a source for protein.

Because buttermilk is a fermented milk product, it is considered a probiotic food (like yogurt). Adding probiotics to your diet will provide you with health-producing bacterial that hang out in your intestine to help improve immune function and also reduces diarrhea. I know, never a word you want to see related to food, but used in a good sense here.

You can drink buttermilk straight up, and I have talked with a couple of those folks this week, but most people use it for cooking. If you see a recipe that calls for sour milk, they mean buttermilk. Buttermilk is great in baking because it helps with the browning process and provides a nice flavor to baked goods.

And of course, the tangy flavor of buttermilk makes a nice complement with really sweet fruits like peaches (if only we had an ice cream recipe for that) or cherries. Pears too. Will have to try that out sometime.

Found a great suggestion for those watching their weight. When fixing up baked or mashed potatoes, substitute a couple of tablespoons of buttermilk for your butter and/or sour cream. You can still enjoy those tangy, buttery flavors without the added calories that come with them.

Because of the acidic properties of buttermilk, it makes a good marinade and works really well with poultry. It works especially well as a dip for dredging element in the pre-frying process.

So there you go…buttermilk. Does a body good.

Grapefruit Pear Cooler

After the first weekend of summer comes to a close, figured a nice fruity cooler would make an excellent way to help wind things down.  I got the recipe for this from First magazine (Dec 2011), but changed it up a bit.  They actually called it a zinger, but it wasn't so zingy to me.

Easy, yes, healthy, yes, fruitily delicious, absolutely.

Grapefruit Pear Cooler

2 pink grapefruits
1 can (11.5 oz) pear nectar
1/4 cup fresh lime juice (2 limes)
1/4 cup honey

Peel and section the grapefruits.  Remove and discard the pith.

In a blender, puree all the ingredients for 30-45 seconds until well blended.

Put in the fridge to chill for 1-2 hours, or you can serve immediately over ice.

Makes 3-4 wine glasses full, depending on the wine glass size.

NOTES

The lime is super subtle, so if you want more zing, add more lime juice.

The original recipe called for 1 cup of pear nectar, but instead of chucking out 3.5 oz of leftover nectar, I added it to the mix, gives the pear a little more presence.

If you want to make it an adult beverage, I would recommend vodka or gin.

If you want to make it a spritzery drink, I would recommend adding gingerale or champagne. 

What's Brewing? The Skinny on Tea

A couple of weekends ago I was in Charleston with my GNO* crew and we made a trek out to the Charleston Tea Plantation, the only working tea plantation in the U.S.  Wasn't quite sure what to expect, but was really excited to bring back some didyaknow trivia about tea! I SO love a good learning experience.

FYI, in the photo, that's Sebastian, my sock monkey. He travels with me.  Don't judge...I mean, who else was going to stand in the tea bushes while I took a photo?  Plus he's pretty darned cute and a great conversation starter.

So, did you know...

That black tea, green tea, and oolong tea are all made from the same tea plant?  It's actually the tea-making process that determines what type it is.  Camellia Sinensis is the plant species used to produce teas.

It takes about 5 years for a tea seedling to grown into a full tea bush and from those tea bushes, only the top 1-2" of the plant is harvested.  This is called the flushe.  Like any shrub that gets cut back, new flushes grow back in anywhere from 7-15 days.

Sebastian holding a flush.

At the Charleston Tea Plantation, they have between 18-20 tea fields that are harvested one at a time, so by the time they roll back around to their first field, the new flushes are ready again for harvesting.  They even have a special piece of machinery called the "Green Giant" which was custom-built for harvesting tea at the plantation.  It sits up high enough from the ground to trim off only the flushes from the bushes which leaves a nice flat even field of tea bushes.

There is a specialty tea known as First Flush.  The tea is made from the first harvest of flushes after a field has laid dormant through the winter.  It's special because it's only available once during a tea season.

It has a more natural, fresher taste than any other harvest and is well worth the extra cost if you are a tea connoisseur.  In the olden days, first flush tea was reserved for consumption by royalty (which is why I wear my tiara as I sip my first flush tea, it just seems appropriate).

Tea Determination

So...process. I'm only going to talk about the three steps that determine the type of tea you end up drinking.  There are a few more steps that follow the full tea process, but these are the ones that matter most.

WILTING -- when moisture is removed from the fresh leaves by putting them under the sun or leaving them in a cool breezy room

DISRUPTION -- leaves are either bruised around the edges by shaking or tossing them about, or crushed by mechanized means

OXIDIZATION -- by leaving them on their own in a climate controlled room where they can darken (due to the break down of chlorophyll and the release of tannins); heating the leaves will stop the oxidization process

Of the three most popularly consumed teas, here is how it happens.

BLACK -- leave are wilted, crushed and fully oxidized; they are stronger in flavor than the other teas and will retain their flavor for several years

GREEN -- leaves are neither wilted nor oxidized; the tea have a shorter flavor life than the other teas (usually just a year)

OOLONG -- (which is fun to say) leaves are wilted then bruised and partially oxidized; slightly less caffeinated than black tea

Decaffeination

According to the knowledgeable staff at the Charleston Tea Plantation, studies have shown that heat releases caffeine, so if you have regular tea and want to naturally reduce the amount of caffeine in it, here are their suggestions.

For ICED TEA -- pour cold water over your tea bags, NOT boiling water and let it sit at room temp overnight.  In the AM, you can remove the tea bags, sweeten it up and toss some ice in.

For HOT TEA -- pour boiling water over your tea bags, but just enough to cover the tea bags.  This first steeping will have contains most of the caffeine.  Let it sit for a minute, then discarded, leaving your tea bag in the cup.  Now pour more hot water over your used tea bag and voila!  Less caffeine!  Not promising it won't have a tidge left, but much much less than you would have otherwise.

So now you are in the tea know.  Will have to come up with something clever to cook/bake/use tea for.  Stay tuned!

*girls night out

The Colors Orange/Yellow: Mandarin Almond Smoothie

It’s a rainy day in NC so to bring a bit of sunshine, I’m going to focus on the sunny food colors of ORANGE and YELLOW. The orange/yellow fruits and veggies are colored by carotenoids, another natural plant pigment.

Foods that are rich in carotenoids can help improve the function of your immune system and help reduce heart disease and the risk of cancer.

The beta-carotene found in the orange fruits and veggies is converted to vitamin A when you eat it which is good for maintaining healthy mucous membranes and also good for your eyes.

Orange/Yellow fruits and veggies include apricots, bananas, butternut squash, cantaloupe, carrots, corn, grapefruit, lemons, mangoes, oranges, peaches, pears, persimmons, pineapple, pumpkin, rutabagas, sweet potatoes, tangerines, yellow apples, yellow peppers, yellow squash, and yellow tomatoes.

Though I’m not a huge fan of bananas I know they are good for you so I do eat them but only if (1) they are smothered in ice cream and sundae toppings or (2) smooshed up in a smoothie.

I know there are oodles of ways and means to make smoothies and everyone has their favorite, but this is my basic smoothie recipe. I always use the same base ingredients – banana, yogurt, and skim milk – but change up the add-ins depending on what other ingredients I have laying around when I make them.  This is one that has both an orange AND a yellow in it.

Mandarin Almond Smoothie

1 banana, sliced
2 cups Mandarin orange slices, drained
1 cup plain yogurt
2 tsp almond extract
skim milt to fill

Thick slice the bananas into a blender and add in Mandarin orange slices.

Scoop in your yogurt and add the almond extract.  Fill the blended with skim milk until you the level reaches 4 cups (32 oz).

Run on "Blend" until the bananas and Mardarin are blended in.

Serve up.  Makes two 16 oz servings.

NOTES

I keep all my ingredients in the fridge (including the banana) so that I don't have to add ice to the mixture.

I usually use plain yogurt, but for this taste experiment, me and the Parentals used Greek yogurt which added a slight tang to the overall taste which was pretty good.  You can also use vanilla yogurt too.

If you want a slightly thicker smoothie, use less skim milk and add in more yogurt.  I would not suggest adding more banana because it tends to take over the flavor of the smoothie if you use more than one.

If you want to try something different you can substitute frozen blueberries, fresh raspberries, strawberries or blackberries to the mix in any combination.

As an alternate flavor additive you can use honey or vanilla instead of almond extract.

Glögg

Here's a tasty brew to help warm you up on those cold winter nights, that are happening somewhere, just not here in North Carolina.  It's a traditional Swedish Christmas drink that I used to hear about all the time when I was in college.  The grandmother of my Swedish-descended roommates used to make it every year when they went home for the holidays.  This is not a recipe for the feint-of-heart or teetotalers in the crowd, but for the rest of us...sheer bliss.

Glögg

2-1/4 cups port
2-1/4 cups red wine
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 small piece of fresh ginger, peeled
1 cinnamon stick, broken into smaller pieces
6 whole cloves
1/2 orange peel
1 tsp ground cardamon (or 6 cardamon pods)
1/3 cup raisins (optional)
1/3 cup slivered almonds (optional)
1 cup brandy
cheesecloth

In a medium pot, combine port, red wine, water and sugar over low heat.

Cut a large double-thick square of cheesecloth.  Put the ginger, cinnamon, cloves, orange peel and cardamon in the center.

this is what I mean by "small" piece

Wrap into a ball (or tie with string).  Beat the ball with a mallet.  Bruising the spices help release their flavors as it steeps.

Put spice ball in the wine mix and add in raisins and almonds (if you'd like) and simmer just below boiling for 20-25 minutes.  I set my burner between 4-5 on the dial to get it just below boiling.

Once the mixture has simmered, remove the spice ball, add in the brandy, and strain out the raisins and almonds (if you put them in) and serve.  Toasty warm belly goodness on its way.

NOTES


Since you can't really get cardamon pods in your regular grocery store, I used ground cardamon.  To keep the spice from getting loose and scumming the surface of the mixture, I cut another small double-thick piece of cheesecloth. I put the spice in the middle and then cigarette-rolled it and put the rolled bundle in the middle of the spice pack.  That way the spice would still get steeped, but would be hard-pressed to escape.


I included the raisins and almonds because that's what the majority of the traditional recipes called for.  You won't compromise the flavor by omitting them.  I set mine aside to use as an adult garnish on my next bowl of Irish oatmeal...num.

I apologize for the miniscule font on the post (if it comes out looking miniscule on your screen too).  I cut and pasted something in a different font and it's screwed up something and I'm too tired and computer-illiterate to try and figure it out tonight.  Sunday's post should be back to font normal. :)

Eggnog

Like peppermint, eggnog is another seasonal favorite that conjures images of snowy days, roaring fires, and toasty warm belly happiness. These days you can find nogs to suit everyone’s taste – classic eggy non-boozed eggnog, pre-boozed eggy eggnog, soy eggnog, lowfat eggnog, and even egg-free eggnog (yeah, there are recipes out there, trust me). You can find vegan and dairy-free eggnogs in specialty stores.

Though there are many schools of thought on how eggnog got its name, the one thing all schools agree on is that the beverage seems to have originated in England. “Nog” was the nickname given to a small wooden mug in England that was used to serve alcohol in and since the drink was made with eggs, thus....

The drink was basically a creamy blend or “posset” of eggs, sugar, hot milk, and alcohol.  Possets had been used for centuries as a warming beverage and were made by mixing hot milk with hot beer or sherry and adding in a bit of sugar with some spices.  This made it a nice nightcap on cold evenings in the yore days of pre-centralized heating as well as a soothing beverage for sickies and invalids.

Due to a lack of refrigeration and their then-high cost, dairy products and eggs were primarily consumed by the upper classes because they were much less available to the lower classes. For those who could afford these luxury items, they mixed the drink using sherry, brandy or Madeira (also high-end luxury items) to create their tasty warming brew.

Eggnog made its way over to the Colonies during the 18th century and became very popular. In America, plentiful farms and general access to eggs and dairy products made it possible for all classes to enjoy the beverage. The biggest change to the mix was that instead of incorporating the high-end boozy mixers which were heavily taxed in those days, eggnog was blended with the more readily acquired and affordable rum c/o the Triangle Trade.  Domestic whiskey and bourbon eventually became popular alternatives for even the rum.

Beginning in the 1960s, eggnog began to be served cold and without alcohol (crazy talk!) which was the most defining change from its original eggnoggy form. These days, "traditional" eggnog is a concoction of eggs, cream and sugar with vanilla and spices added in. The use of cream in lieu of milk helps create a thicker, richer beverage (and yes, more fattening too, but oh so delicious).

In any case, with a dash of nutmeg on top (and a shot of goodness on the bottom), hot or cold, eggnog will warm both your body and soul on a blustery winter night.

Koolin' Off with Kahlua

And yet another couple blasts from the past (though this time not from the so-distant past).  Though I'd try out a few recipes from my "Kahlua®: Eat, Drink and Be Merry. A Guide to Food & Entertaining" (1997).

Summer is definitely the time to experiment with exotic beverages and here are a couple of Kahlua combos I'd never thought to put together before.  Please be assured that all of them have been taste-tested and k2-approved. (Please excuse any typos from this point forward.)


Kahlua Kookaracha
(in the tall thin shot glass)

3/4 oz. Kahlua
1/4 oz. Two Fingers Tequila

Fill shot glass with Kahlua and tequila. Garnish glass with gummy worms.  Bombs away! (Their words, not mine.)

I didn't have Two Fingers on hand so substituted Hornito Agave Tequila.  I don't think it matters what brand you use (this was a promo books so there was probably some inter-brand back-scratching going on).  Just pick your fave and run with it. Oh, and I forwent the worms (yes, Ducky, "forwent") because...well, ick.  It seemed to work just fine without them.

Kahlua Sunset
(in the black and gold shot glass)

1/2 oz. Kahlua
1 1/2 oz. run
6 oz. orange juice

Pour over crushed ice.

Okay you've probably realized that the glass in the photo is not 8 oz., but I wanted to use this glass for the photo, oh, and I didn't have ice because I don't keep ice in the freezer.  I don't like cubed ice, I like crushed ice and my fridge doesn't make it...but this would be great with crushed ice...if I had any (I really love crushed ice).  As always, I used Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum.  This was my favorite of the three.

Kahlua Colorado Bulldog
(in the long-stemmed cocktail glass)

1 1/2 oz. Kahlua
4 oz. cream
cola

Pour Kahlua and cream over ice. Add a splash of cola. Stir briefly. Wild!

Again, didn't use the right sized glass when photographing (had drank the other part to make it fit) or ice (see sad story above) and I don't know what this drink has to do with Colorado or Bulldogs, but it's really GOOD!  I used heavy cream and Coke for mixing it up and though I wasn't sure about the cream-cola combo, it ended up tasting like a fizzy White Russion (and I do love me some White Russians, almost as much as crushed ice).

Cordially Yours

Since we're smack dab in the middle of berry season...raspberry and blackberry that it...I though I'd share one of our favorite family recipes, Grandma J's Raspberry Cordial. It takes about 11 days to make, but you'll be able to enjoy many many more than 11 days of sipping goodness for this "small" time investment. Well, unless you'll like my family and then you'll want to make more than one batch.

For those who aren't familiar with what a cordial is, it's basically the same as a liqueur, but cordials were originally produced and used for medicinal purposes.  They were alcohol-based concoctions in which herbs, fruits and spices were steeped.  Taken in small doses they were considered to have revitalizing properties which were good for the heart, body and spirit.  Eventually they were enjoyed for their intoxicating effects and became a social drink (primarily good for the soul).

There's a lot of room for experimentation with this, but here is the basic recipe that got it all started.

Grandma J's Raspberry Cordial

1 quart fresh or frozen raspberries
1 quart brandy
1 quart sugar

Put berries into a glass container.  Add sugar and brandy.  Mix thoroughly.

For the first 5 days, mix or shake thoroughly each day.
For the next 5 days, let the mixture sit still.

On day 11, drain mixture through cheese cloth.

Store in glass bottles and refrigerate.

It's sip-tastic!

NOTES

You can use blackberries instead of raspberries or combine them together.  We use fresh frozen berries.  You wash the fresh berries, pat them dry and then spread them out on a cookie sheet and put it in the freezer.  Once frozen, you can put them in a bag or container together.  They tend to keep much better if given air and room to freeze individually before grouping.

You can substitute gin or vodka for the brandy.  I made a blackberry cordial using vanilla vodka and a raspberry using plain vodka that turned out just fine.

When I strain mine, I put the cheese cloth in a metal strainer which helps to catch any cheese cloth runover.

I haven't found a glass container large enough to hold 96 oz of anything, but because it's a one-to-one ratio for the ingredients, I just scale them down to fit into the jars I do have.

I found my 72 oz. and 84 oz. lidded glass jars at Home Goods for $7-9 each.  I like them because they have the screw on lids (less change of spillage) and are tall and thin so don't take up as much space on the counter.

The cordial will probably be a lot stronger than you expect it to be.  But considering you start out with alcohol, and then have both fruit and sugar basically fermenting in it for over a week, it'll sneak up on you.  For those you are Anne of Green Gables fans, now you know why Diana Barry got so snockered on just a few glasses.