Boozy Cherries for your Old Fashioned and Manhattans

These are terrifically easy and delicious, and besides topping drinks, they make a great snack before board meetings...just kidding! Use any cheap brown liquor you have laying around...dark rum, bourbon, brandy...and get to work!  (I would avoid particularly smoky whiskeys or scotches as the flavor will be weird, but you probably want to keep that stuff for sipping anyway.)

Boozy Cherries

1 1/5 cups dark rum, bourbon, etc.
1/3 cup white sugar (maybe a little less if you're using a sweet liquor like brandy)
2 cups pitted dark cherries

Bring the rum and sugar to boil in a small saucepan, whisking to completely dissolve the sugar.  Turn off heat and leave it for about 15 minutes while you pit this cherries.  I don't have a fool proof method for this, but I tend to favor a chopstick.  The guy in this tutorial is also adorbs. Stuff your cherries into a jar, pour the liquid over the top  to cover, and twist the lid on tight. Will keep in the fridge for about a month, if they last that long. If you have any leftover rum syrup, use it to make last week's banana daiquiris!

Now, what are you going to do with them?  May I suggest two classics?

(I'll Take) Manhattan

makes 1 drink

2 oz. rye whiskey
3/4 oz. sweet vermouth
dash Angostura bitters

Put 2-3 cubes of ice into a cocktail shaker. Add bitters, vermouth, and bourbon and shake. Strain into a martini glass and sink a cherry or two in there.

Old Fashioned

Makes 1 drink

1 1/2 oz Bourbon or Rye whiskey

2 dashes Angostura bitters 1 

Sugar cube

Place sugar cube in old fashioned glass and saturate with bitters, add a dash of plain water. Muddle until dissolved. Fill the glass with ice cubes and add whiskey. Garnish with orange slice, and a cherry.

Banana Daiquiris are my summer spirit animal

Don't think a lot about it. This recipe is quintessential 1950s camp in a glass, and perfect for a casual gathering on your patio this weekend.

Frozen Banana Daiquiri of Your Dreams

Makes 1 drink

2 oz. rum of your choice
3/4 oz. lime juice
3/4 oz. sugar syrup (1:1 ratio of sugar to water)
1/2 frozen banana

Blend with 1/2 cup to 1 cup of cracked ice until smooth. (If you like a thinner consistency, use closer to 1 cup.) Pour into the corniest glass you can find, and top with Angostura bitters and a float of dark rum.

What's easier than pie? CRUMBLE.

Rhubarb pie is very nice, but a crumble is even easier, and this one also involves pretty simple clean-up (mix the filling right in the baking dish, dirty one other bowl for the crumble). I love the flavor of coconut oil in this topping, but you traditionalists out there could easily replace it with butter.

Rhubarb Crumble

Serves 8-10

Filling:
3 pounds rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces (about 6 cups)
¼ cup white sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon lemon zest
½ teaspoon ground cardamom

Topping:
6 tablespoons coconut oil
¾ cup brown sugar
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup rolled oats
½ cup pecans

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease an 8- or 9-inch square baking or gratin dish. Toss rhubarb with white sugar, almond extract, lemon zest, and cardamom and spread evenly in baking dish.

Combine all remaining ingredients (coconut oil through pecans) in a large bowl and mix with your hands. Crumble the topping over rhubarb and bake until golden and beginning to brown, 45 to 50 minutes.

Gardening links!

OK, it's not technically drink, food, or travel, but gardening is certainly related to two of the three (especially if you keep a mint patch in your yard for mojitos).  If you are lucky enough to have the yard space, you can grow enough to keep away from the grocery store all summer, but even a tiny patio or balcony yields enough space for some container gardening. Try it.  Everything really does taste better when you make it yourself.

These tips/links are based on zone 4 people obvs.

Veggies & fruits that taste the most amazing when grown in your yard, IMO:
tomatoes
sugar snap peas
spinach
asparagus
carrots
raspberries
strawberries

Veggies & fruits that are super easy/low maintenance in a larger space:
sugar snap peas
green beans
beets
various greens: Swiss chard, kale, spinach, lettuce (keep in partial shade to avoid bolting)
summer squash (beware: a little goes a long way)
strawberries
raspberries

Good for containers:
tomatoes (yes, really--get a very big pot and grow smaller varieties, like grapette, cherry, and roma)
lettuce
all peppers, hot and mild
strawberries (give them some height for trailing)
any herbs

Herbs that will over winter (in the Denver area and lower elevations):
Siberian tarragon
oregano
thyme
sage
mint
chives
parsley

Favorite blogs:

You Grown Girl
Kitchen Gardeners International
Chiot's Run
Mr. Brown Thumb Urban Gardening Blog
Tiny Farm Blog
my alma mater, University of Illinois, also has a great extentsion

Some old-school books:

Carrots Love Tomatoes (the classic bible of companion planting)
McGee & Stuckey's Bountiful Container (I used this back in the early 00s when I lived in an apartment in Indianapolis)

A strawberry pie you can make in the winter!

It's not exactly winter anymore, but it's also not strawberry season yet.  You can buy loads of flavorless "fresh" strawberries to make this pie, but frozen works perfectly, with a little cornstarch to sop up the juices.  It's one of my favorite ways to alleviate my spring fever.

Tart Strawberry Pie

Serves 8

6 cups frozen strawberries
¼ cup sugar
1 tsp powdered cardamom
6 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp lemon juice

Make the strawberry filling:
Let the strawberries thaw in a colander to the point where they are no longer icy but are still firm. Place in a bowl with all the other ingredients and stir thoroughly. Set aside for 15 minutes.

Put your pie together:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. 

Pre-bake the shell according to package directions (or, prick sides with a fork, line bottom with parchment paper and dried beans as weights, and bake about 10 minutes, or until sides start to get crusty). 

Pour the filling into the crust. Place the second (unbaked) on top of the pie dish and with your fingers or with a fork crimp the edges to seal them. Cut some slits at the top of the pie. Sprinkle 1 tbsp of sugar on the crust. 

Place the pie pan on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Then lower the heat to 400 degrees and bake another 30 minutes. Once more lower the heat to 350 degrees and cook 20 more minutes or until the juices have thickened and are bubbling.

Celebrating summer's simplicity

Fresh fruit and vegetables, cooking hunks of raw meat over an unpredictable open fire, and a cooler full of beer--I wonder why everyone loves summer?  Here are some of my favorite ways to be lazy in the backyard this weekend:

a simple watermelon salad: chunks of watermelon, fresh strawberries, and torn mint leaves.

Pimm's Cup: Muddle cucumber and lemon slices in a tall glass. Pour in 2 oz. Pimm’s and 3 oz. ginger ale, and stir to combine. Add ice to fill the glass and garnish with lemon and mint.

grilled salmon: marinate hunks of salmon in equal parts soy sauce and brown sugar for 30 minutes, then cook on a well-oiled grill until just done.

Apple-Rhubarb Crumble

This recipe came about over the weekend from the need (desire) for dessert and a little leftover rhubarb in the garden, not nearly enough for a pie.  I amended the skinny stalks with apples I had on the counter, but I think this simple crumble would work with just about any combination of fruit you like best.  Adjust sugar based on what fruit you use (you need a lot with rhubarb, but none with pineapple, for instance), and if you use stone fruits (cherries, peaches, apricots, mangoes would all be nice), don't bother with the flour in the filling, or cut the granola in half if you're using that instead. The granola is totally unnecessary, but I am greedy for more crunch, and it was another thing sitting on the counter.

Apple-Rhubarb Crumble

Serves 8

The filling: 
1 cup chopped rhubarb
2 cups chopped apple (2-3, depending on size)
½ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons rye flour or ½ cup prepared granola
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
Pinch ground cloves

Topping:
1/3 cup butter, melted
¼ cup rye flour
¼ cup brown sugar
1/8 cup coconut flakes
2 tablespoons slivered almonds
1 teaspoon poppy seeds
½ teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 375°F.  Place the fruit in a bowl with the sugar and stir well to coat.  Allow to sit at least five minutes, until it gets juicy.  Then add the rest of the filling ingredients, combining thoroughly.

In a mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the topping, stirring well to make sure that everything is coated in the butter.

Coat a 9-inch cake pan (or similar size) with a thin layer of butter or cooking spray.  Pour the fruit mixture into the pan and spread evenly.  Scatter handfuls of the topping all across the fruit, then smooth and pat down into place, so that all fruit is covered.  Bake in the oven 30-40 minutes, or until golden. Allow to cool about 15 minutes before serving.

Weekend favorites: garden tips for late summer

Oh, argh.  The school buses are going up and down the streets again, which always gives me that old start-of-school squirm in the pit of my stomach.  But you know what?  I'm an adult.  I don't have to ride a noxious fume-monster to and from a boring prison that doles out useless homework to waste my time.  I can enjoy what's left of summer and pig out on fresh vegetables and fruit from my garden (and the farmer's market).
You can, too, no matter where you live.

Look up local farmer's markets, CSAs, and ranches, and more from all over the country at Local Harvest.

I love this seasonality chart from CUESA to help me shop with the season all year long. There are some nice, simple recipes here, as well.

I don't think anyone is better at using every last scrap of produce from the garden than You Grown Girl, right down to the clever (and delicious) pickled radish pods.

My five favorite (other people's) recipes utilizing the stuff that's ripe right now:







CORN The Lady Behind the Curtain's Chimichurri Quinoa and Corn Patties is so inventive, I might skip the corn salad this summer!






EGGPLANT  Reclaiming Yesterday's Lime and Sesame Grilled Eggplant is soooo good and easy.





PEACHES It's hard to imagine doing anything with peaches besides just eating them fresh in the morning as a reward for getting up in the morning. But Love and Lemons comes up with a very compelling Ginger Peach Sangria. It's so good I sacrificed my breakfast peaches for it!




TOMATOES  This Laotian Bean and Tomato Salad from Food & Wine has a mind-blowing dressing that doesn't sound like it should work.  So, of course I had to try it.  It does.

WATERMELON These mini watermelon cakes are just ridiculous.  I am totally making these.






This is not the watermelon recipe I crave, but I couldn't help sharing this hilarious concoction with you all...

Happy eating!

A Month of Smoothies: Week 4

This is the end of my month long experiment with smoothies.  It has been a fun adventure to start off the days, and as you can see from these recipes, you can basically toss in any combination of liquid, fruit, vegetables, and ice or yogurt to get your morning started.  Add some nuts, seeds, and/or oats and you've pumped up the calories a bit in a healthy way, which will keep you fuller for longer.  And if the green color freaks you out, just add more red berries.  Red berries are always the answer.

Coconut-Kale Smoothie

1 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup frozen pineapple
1 cup chopped kale (Steaming or blanching this and keeping it in the fridge works well if you don't love the raw kale taste)


Blueberry Pie Smoothie

1 can (14 oz) light coconut milk
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 bananas
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup pecans (chopped)
2 tbsps maple pure syrup
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tbsps shredded coconut

Pina Colada Smoothie

1 cup fresh pineapple chunks
1 cup light coconut milk
1 bananas
1/4 cup ice cubes
2 teaspoons honey

Oatmeal Pumpkin Smoothie

1/4 cup pumpkin (canned, not pie filling)
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp maple syrup
2 teaspoons honey
1/2 cup greek yogurt (plain)
3/4 cup coconut milk

A Month of Smoothies: Week 3

This week's smoothies are brought to you (partially) by the power of coconut milk, which I sometimes have leftover after making a small batch of curry.  Actually, these drinks are turning out to be a great way to use up produce and other odds and ends in the kitchen.

If you find yourself using a lot of bananas in your smoothies, as I have been trying to do, you can slice and freeze the ripe ones and store them in sandwich baggies in the freezer until you're ready to use them.  If you do this and there is also ice in the recipe, you can leave out the ice.  And of course, add water whenever they turn out thicker than you want.

  

Pink Power Smoothie

1/2 cup chopped kale

1/2 cup raspberries 

1/2 cup strawberries 

1/2 cup chopped pineapple 

1 small banana 

1/4 cup almond milk 

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

Banana-Kale Smoothie

1 banana

1/2 cup chopped kale 

1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt 

1/4 cup skim milk 

2 tablespoons unsweetened apple sauce 

1 1/2 tablespoons chia seeds 

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup crushed ice

Green Tropical Smoothie 

3/4 cup light coconut milk
6 oz fat free Greek yogurt
3/4 cup fresh pineapple, cubed
1 ripe medium banana
1 cup spinach
2 tbsp sweetened shredded coconut
1 1/4 cups ice


Coconut-Mango-Carrot Smoothie

1 cup sliced carrots
1 mango, sliced
1 (6 ounce) tub Vanilla Greek yogurt
1 cup coconut drink
2 Tablespoons honey
2 cups ice cubes

A Month of Smoothies: Week 2

Did you like any of last week's smoothie recipes?  I've got some kale and an overripe avocado sitting around, so here's hoping some of these will work...

Raspberry-Avocado Smoothie

1 avocado, peeled and pitted
3/4 cup orange juice
3/4 cup raspberry juice
1/2 cup frozen raspberries (not thawed)


Green Smoothie

2 ripe medium bananas
1 ripe pear or apple, peeled if desired, chopped
2 cups chopped kale leaves, tough stems removed
1/2 cup cold orange juice
1/2 cup cold water
1/4 cup ice cubes
1 tablespoon ground flaxseed


Banana Spice Smoothie

2 ripe bananas
2 cups vanilla kefir
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 cup ice cubes

Cucumber-Kale Smoothie

2 cups spinach and kale

1 frozen banana 

1 frozen cucumber 

3 tablespoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons honey

1 tablespoon almond butter

1 tablespoon chia seeds

A Month of Smoothies: Week 1

I just turned 40 last week, and I don't feel so good.  I think it's probably just all the beer and cocktails I've been drinking for the past two weeks; nevertheless, now seems like a good time to try to pack more fruits and veggies into the old, crumbling shell that carries my organs.  So, I know all those smoothie pinners on Pinterest get really annoying with their otherworldly fitness glow, but I promise that when I take you on this month long journey to find palatable smoothies with me, I will not be a douchebag about it.  I'll post four recipes that seem non-disgusting every Monday morning this month. And I'm pretty sure you can put booze in these, if you need to.

Green Tea, Blueberry, and Banana

3 Tbsp water
1 green tea bag
2 tsp honey
1½ c frozen blueberries
½ med banana
¾ c calcium fortified light vanilla soy milk


1. Microwave water on high until steaming hot in a small bowl. Add tea bag and allow to brew 3 minutes. Remove tea bag. Stir honey into tea until it dissolves.

2. Combine berries, banana, and milk in a blender with ice crushing ability.

3. Add tea to blender. Blend ingredients on ice crush or highest setting until smooth.

For remaining smoothie recipes, simply combine ingredients in the order listed in a high-speed blender. I'm using a Vitamix.

Fruit and Oat Smoothie 

1 cup quartered strawberries
1 sliced banana
1/4 cup raw almonds
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt
1 teaspoon maple syrup


Ginger Peach Smoothie

2 handfuls baby spinach
1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger
2 cups frozen sliced peaches
2 teaspoons honey
1 1/4 cups water




Avocado Pear Smoothie

1 ripe Hass avocado
1/2 cup silken tofu drained
1 cup pear or apple juice
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups ice

This is not me. She seems like a douchebag. 

Gluten-Free Blueberry Lemon Squares, fresh and non-smelly

I taught at a music camp for a few summers in grad school, and aside from the 1890s style uniforms and cabins so rustic you could see through the walls to the outside, the lemon squares were perhaps the most memorable recurring event in my life there.  The cafeteria staff did not exactly excel at cooking, but the baked goods were generally pretty edible.  The lemon squares were delicious--dense, chewy, and cloyingly sweet, just like the ones I ate in childhood.  But for some disturbing reason, they smelled like wet dog.  If you held your breath while taking a bite, the experience was heavenly, but that was the only way to avoid the unmistakable smell of a freshly dunked poodle who might have just emerged form the nearby lake.  It was weird and creepy, and as you might imagine, there were two distinct camps of eaters: those of us who didn't want to turn down free food held our noses, and those who spent most of their salaries off-campus eating fancy things like identifiable cuts of meat thought we were pretty pathetic for putting something that smelled like dog in our mouths.  

Lemon squares are ubiquitous in the Midwest, making most of their appearances at potlucks in church basements and lakeside picnics, where diners can be serenaded by the gentle hum of water skis being dragged by a 1983 fishing boat with an unreliable motor attached.  I missed those little guys from my days at music camp and before, but wanted to find a way to feel just a little less guilty about eating them.  Using wheat alternatives seemed like a good place to start.  The dog smell has never been a problem, and I think it's probably best if I don't explore what caused it in the first place. 

Gluten-Free Blueberry Lemon Squares

Makes 16 squares

Dough/Crumble
1 1/2 cups rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg
3/4 cup organic sugar
3/4 softened butter
1 Tbsp of lemon zest

In a large bowl, mix together flour, oats, baking powder, sugar, lemon zest. Cut in butter and egg. Mix until dough is crumbly and all flour is well blended. Use about half of the dough to form the bottom crust of the squares. Line an 8x8 inch (20x20 cm) pan with parchment paper. Pat the dough down to form the crust.
Bake at 350F for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

Filling
1 can of sweetened condensed milk (14oz)
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup of lemon juice
zest of one lemon
1 1/2 cups of fresh blueberries

In a medium bowl, mix condensed milk, egg yolks, and lemon juice well. Add in the lemon zest and blueberries. Stir gently. Pour the filling over the cooled crust. Spread evenly. With the left-over dough, crumble over the blueberry-lemon filling. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.
Refrigerate for an hour before cutting.

Drinks for hot days...

After a brief respite, it's back up to the triple digits here in Northern Colorado every day.  There's really nothing reasonable to do with that besides drink.  Perhaps you are in the same boat. If you time it correctly, you can make both of these and just go back and forth all day between depressant (Blueberry-gin cooler) and stimulant (Cold-brewed coffee), maintaining a delicate balance that feels somewhat like sobriety.  Good luck.


Blueberry-gin cooler

Makes 4 drinks

1 cup blueberries
1 cup gin
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup water
½ tablespoon cardamom pods
4 teaspoons lemon juice
Club soda

Cook blueberries (fresh or thawed from frozen) in a saucepan over medium heat until bubbly, mashing with a wooden spoon as you stir.  Remove from heat and add the gin.  Cool, strain, and chill.  Over medium heat, bring the sugar, water, and cardamom pods to boil (watch the pot carefully!).  Remove from heat and stir well to dissolve.  Cool strain, and chill.

To make drinks, shake together blueberry gin, spiced syrup, and lemon juice.  Pour equal amounts into four glasses and top with desired amount of club soda.  Garnish with lemon wedges if desired.





Cold-brewed coffee, “Mexican” style

Serves 2 or more

5 oz. ground dark roast coffee
2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon sugar
5 cups water

Place all ingredients in a French press or pitcher and steep in the refrigerator 12-24 hours. When ready to drink, separate the grounds and dilute with an equal part of water or milk.  Pour over ice and serve.

Fun with watermelon

When I was a kid, I loved watermelon.  We never did anything exciting with it--just cut it up and ate it on the back porch, sticky juice dripping everywhere (come to think of it, my mom was pretty smart for not letting us in the house until we were finished).  As a single adult, I never bought it, because the thought of going through a whole watermelon was daunting.  And they never seemed all that cheap in my urban-ish grocery stores, anyway.  As a married lady, I can always hand remaining watermelon to my husband, who serves so many functions in the household, but human garbage disposal is definitely at the top of the list when leftovers are getting old (thanks, honey).  But somehow I had gotten over watermelon from my years off the stuff, and I sort of assumed it was just a childish treat without much nutritional importance, anyway.  I was dead wrong about that: the stuff is loaded with vitamins A & C, potassium, and lycopene.  It's also loaded with sugar, but it's still better for you than beer.

In dry, dusty Colorado, watermelon is thirst-quenching, cold, and refreshing, and it's also cheap out here in the sticks, living near so many farms that grow the stuff.  So, I'm bringing watermelon back to the table this summer.  This may not be revolutionary to those of you who have been loyal to this old friend all along, but perhaps my little experiments will find their way to your tables, too.



Cucumber and Watermelon Salad

I know, why didn't I think of it sooner?

Serves 4

1 pound cucumbers, cut in half lengthwise and then sliced into thin half-circles
3 cups chunked watermelon
1/4 of a red onion, diced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon rice vinegar

Combine all ingredients and serve immediately.

Watermelon and Apple Cider Vinegar Tonic

Loosely adapted from Louisa Shafia's New Persian Kitchen, this is a clever way to incorporate that daily dose of apple cider vinegar we're all supposed to be drinking every day.

Serves 2

1 cup water
2 tablespoons honey
2 cups chopped watermelon
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

Combine all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.  Drink immediately.

Watermelon and Tomato Salad

Wonderfully weird, and totally perfect.

Serves 4

2 cups fresh tomato, chopped
2 cups fresh watermelon, chopped
6 large basil leaves, chiffonaded
tablespoon lime juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and serve immediately.

Pineapple-Sake Refresher

As I review previous summertime posts, I see that the ratio of fruity cocktails to food is tipped heavily in fruity cocktails' favor as the temperature rises.  It's simplistic, I know, but here's another one.  You can make a whole pitcher of these, or you can use the leftover basil simple syrup in place of simple syrup just about everywhere.

Pineapple-Sake Refresher

Serves 1

1 oz. sake
1 oz. gin
¼ oz. lemon juice
¼ oz. basil simple syrup*
2 chunks pineapple

Muddle the pineapple in a cocktail shaker.  Add all remaining ingredients and shake with plenty of ice.  Strain into a cocktail glass.  Garnish with pineapple and/ or a sprig of basil if desired.

* To make basil-flavored simple syrup, combine ½ cup white sugar, ½ cup water, and a generous handful of fresh basil leaves in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly to keep it from boiling over.  Remove from heat and let stand until cool.  Will keep in the refrigerator for several months.