Food goodness

She's right, it's perfect. This sort of makes an iced-coffee concentrate, which keeps in the fridge for a long time. I won't lie, it's messy and inconvenient (particularly if your dumb glass bowl decides to leak for no reason and you wind up with an inch of coffee all over your refrigerator shelf), but the results are worth it. I am an iced coffee fanatic in the summer, and cold-brew methods really do give you better, stronger coffee -- which has to be stronger since you need ice cubes, and unless you're super smart and make coffee ice cubes, the coffee gets diluted, and then even if you do have coffee ice cubes, it throws off your milk/coffee balance, which is problematic, and clearly I have thought about this an awful lot. PW recommends steeping this for at least 8 hours; I accidentally steeped mine for almost 24. It is strong, my friends. My current ratio is half coffee and half milk, plus a splash of delicious chemical-laden caramel macchiato fake cream . MMMM....

I love Rebecca Lando of Working Class Foodies. She's looking for recipe testers for the cookbook she's working on. Sign up for her email newsletter and help a girl out! A special occasion recipe in honor of HP IV.2 to toast the HP phenomenon that has been part of our lives since 1997. Really! Watch her do it; the video is short and helpful for the visual learners among us. Recipe, narrative-style In a saucepan: 3/4 cup brown sugar 2 T water Cook on med-high heat, stirring frequently to keep from burning. Dip spatula in cool water to keep sugar from sticking to it. When it comes to boil, stop stirring. Use a candy thermometer and watch it closely until it reaches 240 degrees. She says this happens quickly. In a bowl: 5 T slightly softened butter 1 T lemon juice 1/2 t salt 1 T vanilla extract Remove pot from heat & stir in contents of bowl. Slowly add: 1/4 C heavy cream Stir and let cool. In a your favorite large mug: 2 T of cc syrup selzter water to fill the glass (RL add...

My dad does it this way and always comes out a winner. Below is my dad's text messaged reply to me when I requested his in-it-to-win-it margarita recipe. I used it to complement Taco Night last Thursday night at the beach when it was our turn to cook for the whole assembled gang of more than 20 relatives. By the way...Taco Night also always comes out a winner. "Fill blender 3/4 full of ice cubes. Add: 1/2 container of frozen limeade (6 oz.) 6-12 oz of water 6 jiggers* of tequila 3 jiggers* of triple sec Blend on high speed. Salt rims of glass. Add fresh lime slice. Pour and enjoy. No driving if drinking." Gotta love dads. *a jigger is the precise 1.5 oz measure of a shot

How is it that we did not have a single recipe for sangria on here? Well, I am going to rectify that right now. Adapted from Sunset.com . 1 bottle (750 ml) Reisling (I recommend Fetzer--usually about $8) 2 firm white peaches or nectarines 1/2 C peach frozen juice concentrate (I used peach/orange/mango) 1 bottle (750 ml) chilled sparkling white wine, brut-style (I used Cook's--$5) handful of mint leaves Mix together reisling, juice concentrate, peaches and mint and chill in fridge for at least 2 hrs prior to serving. When guests arrive, add in bottle of sparkling wine, stir gently and serve immediately over ice. It's crisp and refreshing! Serves approx. 4-6 depending on how big your glasses are and how much ice you use. *Note: original recipe calls for peach schnapps but I don't keep that on hand and I think the drink was plenty alcoholic and fruity enough without it. If you prefer, add 1/2 C schnapps and omit juice concentrate.

My veg aren't even close to being ready to produce yet, but my herbs are going all kinds of crazy. I threw some thyme and rosemary in the short ribs I'm making for dinner tonight, and I made this iced tea to go with it. 3 green tea bags 1 quart boiling water 1/4 cup sugar 1/2 large lemon, sliced into 1/4-inch slices 1 bunch fresh mint, washed 2 cups cold water Brew tea in boiling water, letting steep for 10 minutes. Pour brewed tea into a serving pitcher. Add sugar and lemon, and swirl in the mint, holding it by the stems and using it to stir and dissolve the sugar. When sugar is dissolved, drop mint into pitcher and add 2 cups cold water. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. Strain mint out before serving and serve cold.

I haven't actually tried this recipe yet, but this homemade ginger ale sounds like the perfect way to use up a lot of extra ginger, which all of us may have from time to time. (And does it go bad incredibly fast for anyone else?)

Ernie and I were watching Food Network the other day and watched the chef make this drink and both looked at each other and said "oh, we need that tonight." It was pretty tasty. from Guy Fieri 2 ounces coffee liquor 2 ounces Irish cream 1-ounce vanilla vodka 8 ounces Chai-tea concentrate (recommended: Oregon Chai Brand) 6 ounces milk or half-and-half Shaved chocolate, for garnish Freshly grated nutmeg, for garnish Fresh mint sprig, for garnish Fill blender with ice, pour in all ingredients, and blend thoroughly. Pour into a tall iced tea glass. Garnish with shaved chocolate and fresh nutmeg and a mint sprig.

This isn't much of a recipe, but I've finally figured out a good combination of flavors, so I thought I'd share. I've been making smoothies with my immersion blender, trying different combinations of ingredients. I make them right in the container that came with my immersion blender. Start with vanilla soy milk (about a cup or so, depending on how much smoothie you want) Add a few chunks of frozen banana. Add a few chunks of frozen mango (Trader Joe's has bags of frozen mango chunks year-round) Add a few spoonfuls of vanilla yogurt. Blend. Add more soy milk if it's too thick. I like the vanilla soy milk for the smooth texture and the sweetness of the vanilla. I don't drink soy milk, but I like it for smoothies. I also found the the yogurt makes a big difference. The smoothies taste a little bland without it - it adds a nice tangy-ness. I've also tried frozen raspberries, blueberries, pineapple, etc, but the mango and banana is my favorite combinatio...

Geoff and I had a party over the weekend, and we made 4 batches worth for about 30 people. It was nearly gone by the end of the night, proving its popularity. Super easy, but be sure to allow time for it to "marinate." Candy Apple (Rum) Punch from Cooking Light 6 cups cranberry-apple drink 3 cups water 15 hard cinnamon candies 1 (6-ounce) can thawed limeade concentrate, undiluted Combine all ingredients in a large pitcher. Cover and chill 8 hours, or until candies are dissolved. Pour mixture into a large Dutch oven, cook over medium heat until thoroughly heated. Yield: 10 servings (1 cup) *If using rum, substitute one cup of rum for one cup of water.

One of the three new recipes I'll be trying this week. I've been looking for a frozen coffee drink for a while so I don't have to visit the evil coffee empire that sucks all your money. Now that I can make tasty scones and a frozen coffee drink, hopefully I can save some money. In the edition where this recipe is, they talked about how coffee is actually good for you -- caffeine can help improve memory, can increase alertness and improve performance, may lower type 2 diabetes, and has good antioxidants. from Cooking Light, January 2006 Any coffee will work for this beverage, but a darker French roast coffee has a rich, strong flavor that pairs nicely with chocolate. The recipe makes more double-strength coffee than you need; freeze leftover coffee in ice cube trays for iced coffee drinks. Once frozen, coffee cubes can be stored in zip-top plastic bags for up to three months. 3 cups water 1 cup freshly ground French roast coffee 1/4 cup fat-free milk 1/4 cup ice cubes 1 ...

If you're having a party, I recommend making Aunt Kinky's Salsa and Margaritas! Both are pretty simple, and you won't have any leftovers, I promise. =) By the way, Aunt Kinky's is Geoff's aunt, and her given name is Lynn. What happens when a small child can't say Lynn? His funny dad jokes, "Just call her Aunt Kinky!" and the name sticks.... AUNT KINKY'S SALSA 1 fresh jalapeno 1 can stewed tomatos 1 can Mexican stewed tomatos 6-10 cloves of fresh garlic, pressed* 1/2 medium or large onion, chopped small bunch of fresh cilantro, washed and chopped 1/2 fresh lime Boil pepper about 10 minutes, or until soft. In the meantime, pour tomatos in a blender, then add cilantro, onion, garlic. Finally, squirt in the juice from the lime. When the pepper is soft, cut in half lengthwise. Remove the seeds from half, then put both halves in the blender.** Add a little salt, to taste. Blend. * Obviously, it would be a good idea if everybody knows each other pretty ...

All measurements are approximate because after two batches of these, Sylvia and I quit measuring. 5-9 Tbsp. white rum 3 c. frozen watermelon (yellow or red) 4-5 ice cubes 3-5 frozen strawberries 2-4 Tbsp. lime juice 2 Tbsp. sugar Put all ingredients in blender. Blend.

(this sounds simple, but it was very good) 1 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice 1 cup sugar 1 cup water ice cubes and additional water, to taste Slices of lemon for garnish Heat water to boiling. Add sugar. Dissolve completely. Add lemon juice, stir to mix. (Here's where you have to guess a little, depending on preference): Fill pitcher about halfway with ice cubes and additional water, depending on taste. Pour lemonade mixture over ice. Garnish with sliced lemons.