ingredients:
2 shots Ginger Ale
Pour tequila and ginger ale in a glass.
pesto cheese filled tomatoes
- 3 cups fresh basil leaves, washed and dried
- 2 medium garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 package (8 ounces) reduced-fat cream cheese (or Neufchatel), cut into chunks
- 2 pints (4 cups) cherry tomatoes, washed and dried
Toast pine nuts in a small dry skillet over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until light golden and fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl and let cool.
Combine the basil, garlic, salt and pepper in a food processor. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the pine nuts and add the rest to the basil. Process until the pine nuts are ground. With the motor running, drizzle in the olive oil. Add the soft cheese and pulse until smooth and creamy.
Shortly before serving, make an X on the bottom side (opposite the stalk) of each cherry tomato with a serrated or sharp paring knife. Scoop out the seeds with a grapefruit spoon or your fingertips, taking care to keep the tomatoes intact.
white bean dip
1 (15-oz) can Cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 cloves garlic
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup fresh parsley
1/4 cup Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
2 cloves garlic
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup fresh parsley
1/4 cup Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
Puree all ingredients in a food processor. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy with pita chips, as a sandwich spread, or with raw veggies.
white wine spritzer
- 1/2 cup seltzer
- 1 cup white wine
feta endive boats
1 small sweet green or red pepper, cored, seeded, and finely chopped
3 large radishes, finely chopped
1 small carrot, peeled and grated
1 large shallot, finely chopped (2 tablespoons)
2 ounces feta cheese, finely crumbled
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons snipped fresh dill
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium-size heads endive, trimmed, rinsed, and separated into 20 leaves
Sprigs fresh dill (garnish)
1. In a medium-size bowl, combine the sweet pepper, radishes, carrot, shallot, cheese, black pepper, salt, and snipped dill.
In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice and oil and pour it over the mixture; stir to combine.
2. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the filling into the bottom 2/3 of each endive leaf.
Garnish each leaf with a small sprig of dill.
3 large radishes, finely chopped
1 small carrot, peeled and grated
1 large shallot, finely chopped (2 tablespoons)
2 ounces feta cheese, finely crumbled
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons snipped fresh dill
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium-size heads endive, trimmed, rinsed, and separated into 20 leaves
Sprigs fresh dill (garnish)
1. In a medium-size bowl, combine the sweet pepper, radishes, carrot, shallot, cheese, black pepper, salt, and snipped dill.
In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice and oil and pour it over the mixture; stir to combine.
2. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the filling into the bottom 2/3 of each endive leaf.
Garnish each leaf with a small sprig of dill.
cheese fig spread
6 whole Figs, Halved
¼ cups Good Aged Balsamic Vinegar
8 ounces, weight Neufchatel Cheese, At Room Temperature
1. Heat figs and balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook until the figs have plumped up and the balsamic vinegar becomes syrupy, approximately 5-8 minutes. Set aside to cool.
2. In a food processor, blitz the fig/balsamic mixture with the Neufchatel cheese until well combined. Spread on toast, crackers or whatever else you want. Store in the fridge in an airtight container.
¼ cups Good Aged Balsamic Vinegar
8 ounces, weight Neufchatel Cheese, At Room Temperature
1. Heat figs and balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook until the figs have plumped up and the balsamic vinegar becomes syrupy, approximately 5-8 minutes. Set aside to cool.
2. In a food processor, blitz the fig/balsamic mixture with the Neufchatel cheese until well combined. Spread on toast, crackers or whatever else you want. Store in the fridge in an airtight container.
gin
Gin is a juniper berry-flavored grain spirit . The word is an English shortening of Genever, the Dutch word for juniper. The origins of Gin are rather murky. In the late 1580s a juniper-flavored spirit of some sort was found in Holland by British troops who were fighting against the Spanish in the Dutch War of Independence. They gratefully drank it to give them what they soon came to call "Dutch courage" in battle. The Dutch themselves were encouraged by their government to favor such grain spirits over imported wine and brandy by lack of excise taxes on such local drinks.
A clearer beginning was a few decades later in the 1600s when a Dr. Franciscus de la Boë in the town of Leiden created a juniper and spice-flavored medicinal spirit that he promoted as a diuretic. Genever soon found favor across the English Channel; first as a medicine (Samuel Pepys wrote in 1660 of curing a case of "colic" with a dose of "strong water made with juniper") and then as a beverage.
When the Dutch Protestant William of Orange and his English wife Mary became co-rulers of England after the "Glorious Revolution" drove James II from the throne, he moved to discourage the importation of brandy from the Catholic wine-making countries by setting high tariffs. As a replacement he promoted the production of grain spirits by abolishing taxes and licensing fees for the manufacture of such local products as Gin. By the 1720s it was estimated that a quarter of the households in London were used for the production or sale of Gin. Mass drunkenness became a serious problem. The cartoonist Hogarth’s famous depiction of such behavior in "Gin Lane" shows a sign above a Gin shop that states, "Drunk for a penny/Dead drunk for two pence/Clean straw for Nothing." Panicky attempts by the government to prohibit Gin production, such as the Gin Act of 1736, resulted in massive illicit distilling and the cynical marketing of "medicinal" spirits with such fanciful names as Cuckold’s Comfort and My Lady’s Eye Water.
A combination of reimposed government controls, the growth of high-quality commercial Gin distillers, the increasing popularity of imported rum, and a general feeling of public exhaustion gradually brought this mass hysteria under control, although the problems caused by the combination of cheap Gin and extreme poverty extended well into the 19th century.
Starting in the 18th century the British Empire began its worldwide growth; and wherever the Union Jack went, English-style gins followed. In British North American colonies such celebrated Americans as Paul Revere and George Washington were notably fond of Gin, and the Quakers were well-known for their habit of drinking Gin toddies after funerals.
The arrival of the Victorian era in England in the mid-19th century ushered in a low-key rehabilitation of Gin’s reputation. The harsh, sweetened "Old Tom" styles of Gin of the early 1700s slowly gave way to a new cleaner style called Dry Gin. This style of Gin became identified with the city of London to the extent that the term "London Dry" Gin became a generic term for the style, regardless of where it was actually produced.
Middle-class ladies sipped their sloe Gin (Gin flavored with sloe berries). The British military, particularly the officer corps, became a hotbed of Gin consumption. Hundreds of Gin-based mixed drinks were invented and the mastery of their making was considered part of a young officer’s training. The best known of these cocktails, the Gin and Tonic, was created as a way for Englishmen in tropical colonies to take their daily dose of quinine, a very bitter medicine used to ward off malaria. Modern tonic water still contains quinine, though as a flavoring rather than a medicine.
In Holland the production of Genever was quickly integrated into the vast Dutch trading system. The port of Rotterdam became the center of Genever distilling, as distilleries opened there to take advantage of the abundance of needed spices that were arriving from the Dutch colonies in the East Indies. Many of today’s leading Dutch Genever distillers can trace their origins back to the 16th and 17th centuries.
Belgium developed its own juniper-flavored spirit, called Jenever (with a "j"), in a manner similar to that in Holland. The two German invasions of Belgium in World Wars I and II had a particularly hard effect on Jenever producers, as the occupying Germans stripped the distilleries of their copper stills and piping for use in the production of shell casings. The remaining handful of present-day Belgian Jenever distillers produce Jenever primarily for the local domestic market.
Gin may have originated in Holland and developed into its most popular style in England, but its most enthusiastic modern-day consumers are to be found in Spain, which has the highest per capita consumption in the world. Production of London Dry-style Gin began in the 1930s, but serious consumption did not begin until the mix of Gin and Cola became inexplicably popular in the 1960s.
Gin production in the United States dates back to colonial times, but the great boost to Gin production was the advent of National Prohibition in 1920. Moonshining quickly moved in to fill the gap left by the shutdown of commercial distilleries, but the furtive nature of illicit distilling worked against the production of the then-dominant whiskies, all of which required some aging in oak casks. Bootleggers were not in a position to store and age illegal whisky, and the caramel-colored, prune-juice-dosed grain alcohol substitutes were generally considered to be vile.
Gin, on the other hand, did not require any aging, and was relatively easy to make by mixing raw alcohol with juniper berry extract and other flavorings and spices in a large container such as a bathtub. These gins were generally of poor quality and taste, a fact that gave rise to the popularity of cocktails in which the mixers served to disguise the taste of the base Gin. Repeal of Prohibition at the end of 1933 ended the production of bootleg Gin, but Gin remained a part of the American beverage scene. It was the dominant white spirit in the United States until the rise of Vodka in the 1960s. It still remains popular, helped along recently by the revived popularity of the Martini.
A clearer beginning was a few decades later in the 1600s when a Dr. Franciscus de la Boë in the town of Leiden created a juniper and spice-flavored medicinal spirit that he promoted as a diuretic. Genever soon found favor across the English Channel; first as a medicine (Samuel Pepys wrote in 1660 of curing a case of "colic" with a dose of "strong water made with juniper") and then as a beverage.
When the Dutch Protestant William of Orange and his English wife Mary became co-rulers of England after the "Glorious Revolution" drove James II from the throne, he moved to discourage the importation of brandy from the Catholic wine-making countries by setting high tariffs. As a replacement he promoted the production of grain spirits by abolishing taxes and licensing fees for the manufacture of such local products as Gin. By the 1720s it was estimated that a quarter of the households in London were used for the production or sale of Gin. Mass drunkenness became a serious problem. The cartoonist Hogarth’s famous depiction of such behavior in "Gin Lane" shows a sign above a Gin shop that states, "Drunk for a penny/Dead drunk for two pence/Clean straw for Nothing." Panicky attempts by the government to prohibit Gin production, such as the Gin Act of 1736, resulted in massive illicit distilling and the cynical marketing of "medicinal" spirits with such fanciful names as Cuckold’s Comfort and My Lady’s Eye Water.
A combination of reimposed government controls, the growth of high-quality commercial Gin distillers, the increasing popularity of imported rum, and a general feeling of public exhaustion gradually brought this mass hysteria under control, although the problems caused by the combination of cheap Gin and extreme poverty extended well into the 19th century.
Starting in the 18th century the British Empire began its worldwide growth; and wherever the Union Jack went, English-style gins followed. In British North American colonies such celebrated Americans as Paul Revere and George Washington were notably fond of Gin, and the Quakers were well-known for their habit of drinking Gin toddies after funerals.
The arrival of the Victorian era in England in the mid-19th century ushered in a low-key rehabilitation of Gin’s reputation. The harsh, sweetened "Old Tom" styles of Gin of the early 1700s slowly gave way to a new cleaner style called Dry Gin. This style of Gin became identified with the city of London to the extent that the term "London Dry" Gin became a generic term for the style, regardless of where it was actually produced.
Middle-class ladies sipped their sloe Gin (Gin flavored with sloe berries). The British military, particularly the officer corps, became a hotbed of Gin consumption. Hundreds of Gin-based mixed drinks were invented and the mastery of their making was considered part of a young officer’s training. The best known of these cocktails, the Gin and Tonic, was created as a way for Englishmen in tropical colonies to take their daily dose of quinine, a very bitter medicine used to ward off malaria. Modern tonic water still contains quinine, though as a flavoring rather than a medicine.
In Holland the production of Genever was quickly integrated into the vast Dutch trading system. The port of Rotterdam became the center of Genever distilling, as distilleries opened there to take advantage of the abundance of needed spices that were arriving from the Dutch colonies in the East Indies. Many of today’s leading Dutch Genever distillers can trace their origins back to the 16th and 17th centuries.
Belgium developed its own juniper-flavored spirit, called Jenever (with a "j"), in a manner similar to that in Holland. The two German invasions of Belgium in World Wars I and II had a particularly hard effect on Jenever producers, as the occupying Germans stripped the distilleries of their copper stills and piping for use in the production of shell casings. The remaining handful of present-day Belgian Jenever distillers produce Jenever primarily for the local domestic market.
Gin may have originated in Holland and developed into its most popular style in England, but its most enthusiastic modern-day consumers are to be found in Spain, which has the highest per capita consumption in the world. Production of London Dry-style Gin began in the 1930s, but serious consumption did not begin until the mix of Gin and Cola became inexplicably popular in the 1960s.
Gin production in the United States dates back to colonial times, but the great boost to Gin production was the advent of National Prohibition in 1920. Moonshining quickly moved in to fill the gap left by the shutdown of commercial distilleries, but the furtive nature of illicit distilling worked against the production of the then-dominant whiskies, all of which required some aging in oak casks. Bootleggers were not in a position to store and age illegal whisky, and the caramel-colored, prune-juice-dosed grain alcohol substitutes were generally considered to be vile.
Gin, on the other hand, did not require any aging, and was relatively easy to make by mixing raw alcohol with juniper berry extract and other flavorings and spices in a large container such as a bathtub. These gins were generally of poor quality and taste, a fact that gave rise to the popularity of cocktails in which the mixers served to disguise the taste of the base Gin. Repeal of Prohibition at the end of 1933 ended the production of bootleg Gin, but Gin remained a part of the American beverage scene. It was the dominant white spirit in the United States until the rise of Vodka in the 1960s. It still remains popular, helped along recently by the revived popularity of the Martini.
velvet elvis
1 oz. Chambord Raspberry Liqueur
1 oz. Jack Daniel's Whiskey
Sweet and Sour Mix
1 dash Sprite
1 oz. Jack Daniel's Whiskey
Sweet and Sour Mix
1 dash Sprite
Instructions
Shake well and pour into a tall glass. Garnish with a cherry or an orange slice.
jack and ginger
- 2 oz Jack Daniels
- 10 oz ginger ale
- ice
Mixing instructions:
Fill glass with ice. Pour Jack Daniels then add ginger ale. Stir.blood orange campari cocktail
2-3 large blood oranges, juiced, about 1/3 cup juice
1/2 oz campari
Chilled sparkling wine – choose from champagne, cava, brut, etc
Optional garnish – blood orange peel or blood orange slice
- Pour 1 ½ oz of blood orange juice in each champagne flute.
- Add ½ oz of campari to each drink.
- Top off each drink with sparkling wine, garnish with a slice of blood orange.
greek salad towers
feta cheese, olives, cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes strung on a toothpick. Simple and seemingly delicious.
adult root beer
1 ounce root beer vodka
1 ounce vanilla vodka
4 ounces ginger ale or seltzer
Mix in a glass filled with ice and garnish with a cherry.
purple dinosaur cocktail
1 1/4 oz. Captain Morgan Lime Bite
1/2 oz. blue Curacao
1 splash cranberry juice
1 splash lemon lime soda
1 splash pineapple juice
Lemon - garnish
Lime - garnish
berry cocktail
1 oz Absolut Berri Açaí Vodka
5 Blueberries
1 oz fresh lime juice
1 oz simple syrup
champagne
blueberries and fresh mint - optional
Muddle the blueberries in a shaker. Add Absolut Berri Açai Vodka, fresh lime juice, simple syrup and ice cubes. Shake and strain into a beautiful champagne flute or a glass with or without ice. Top it off with chilled champagne and garnish with blueberries and mint.
stuffed cherry tomatoes
1 pint ripe cherry tomatoes
1/3 cup sunflower seeds, soaked for at least 3 hours
3/4 cup walnuts, soaked for at least 3 hours
1 tbs minced shallot
1 fat garlic clove
1 1/2 tsp dried tarragon
2 tsp curry powder (or yellow curry)
1 tsp sea salt
pinch of ground nutmeg
pinch of cayenne pepper
a few turns freshly ground pepper
2 tbs flax seed oil or other
1/8 cup cold water
Optional garnishes: extra curry powder, chopped fresh tarragon leaves or thyme leaves, black lava sea salt.
Slice off the tops of the cherry tomatoes. With a melon baller, carefully scoop out the seeds and inner membrane. Slice a thin sliver off the bottoms so that they will become stable and not roll around. Be careful not to cut off too much or you’ll have a hollow tomato. Set them aside while preparing the pâte.
Add all other ingredients, except for the water, to a food processor and blitz until you get a hummus-like texture and not too smooth. Taste to adjust seasonings if necessary. Blitz again while drizzling in only enough cold water to smooth out the mixture until creamy.
When you stuff the tomatoes, it’s best to use a rounded 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon, or a melon baller, along with something to help scrape it off. If you’re using the lettuce garnish, line the inside of each tomato with a small piece of lettuce leaf. Scoop in 1 to 2 rounded teaspoons of pâte depending on the size of the tomato.
Arrange on a serving platter and finish with an additional sprinkling of curry powder, some chopped fresh tarragon or thyme, and/or a sprinkling of black lava sea salt.
1/3 cup sunflower seeds, soaked for at least 3 hours
3/4 cup walnuts, soaked for at least 3 hours
1 tbs minced shallot
1 fat garlic clove
1 1/2 tsp dried tarragon
2 tsp curry powder (or yellow curry)
1 tsp sea salt
pinch of ground nutmeg
pinch of cayenne pepper
a few turns freshly ground pepper
2 tbs flax seed oil or other
1/8 cup cold water
Optional garnishes: extra curry powder, chopped fresh tarragon leaves or thyme leaves, black lava sea salt.
Slice off the tops of the cherry tomatoes. With a melon baller, carefully scoop out the seeds and inner membrane. Slice a thin sliver off the bottoms so that they will become stable and not roll around. Be careful not to cut off too much or you’ll have a hollow tomato. Set them aside while preparing the pâte.
Add all other ingredients, except for the water, to a food processor and blitz until you get a hummus-like texture and not too smooth. Taste to adjust seasonings if necessary. Blitz again while drizzling in only enough cold water to smooth out the mixture until creamy.
When you stuff the tomatoes, it’s best to use a rounded 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon, or a melon baller, along with something to help scrape it off. If you’re using the lettuce garnish, line the inside of each tomato with a small piece of lettuce leaf. Scoop in 1 to 2 rounded teaspoons of pâte depending on the size of the tomato.
Arrange on a serving platter and finish with an additional sprinkling of curry powder, some chopped fresh tarragon or thyme, and/or a sprinkling of black lava sea salt.
chocolate warmer
4 oz. milk
Several pieces of dark, white or milk chocolate
1 oz. rum
1/4 oz. creme de cacao
Garnish:
Whipped cream
Chocolate shavings
Steam milk while adding chocolate pieces until everything's thoroughly blended. Add liquor, garnish and serve.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)