cherry and cinnamon vodka

by Eva on July 17, 2012

“You are like your mother!” Depending on your mum this could be a compliment or someone is asking for trouble. I like to say this to Mr. F then he shows his ‘gem sensitive’ side. I grew up eating sand in the sandbox as a baby and climbing on trees as soon I could reach the lower branch. Well that’s what he claims about himself, BUT sometimes he needs everything extra clean and that’s what he got from his mum. Though I get him when it comes to hotel bathrooms, you never know…

My mum on the other hand turns every fruit she gets into schnapps. She is well-known for her fruit infused vodkas and I have to admit it’s a family thing. I still remember one of my aunts birthday party, she served me a homemade liqueur for dessert and without knowing that, my uncle used to take a bedtime shot, for medical reasons of cause, and to cover his tracks he filled the bottle with something similar to Everclear (190 proof / 95%). I still don’t know what he was thinking but I was happy as I could be after one of these. So if you would tell me: you are like your mother, I would thank you and share a fruity schnapps with you.

Are you like your mother? Do you share bad or good habits, personality traits or nothing at all with your mum or family? Maybe you are just not aware about it. Are your kids trying to copy your spleens?

When it comes to fruit infused vodka I learned from a pro. I like to have some around in case of need, it makes a great gift and gets better with age. This is the time to stock up for the colder months, many fruits are in season and a huge selection is available at the farmers market.

cherry and cinnamon vodka

Make sure your fruits are not blemished, they can get bad during the infusion and ruin your liqueur.

Choose a vodka you would drink straight, not the cheapest one that burns your throat but don’t spoil on the expensive one, there is no need for that.

Don’t waste the cherries, they are great for boozy cakes or on ice cream.

ingredients:

300 g / 10 1/2 oz. cherries

200 g / 7 oz. amber rock sugar

1 cinnamon stick

700 ml / 3 cups vodka

instructions:

Wash the cherries thoroughly, cut in half and remove the stone. Add everything to a bottle with a big mouth or a mason jar that holds one liter/ quart with a lid, shake well. Infuse for one to two weeks, then remove cherries and cinnamon stick. Keep in your refrigerator or at room temperature. You can let the vodka age for 2 or 3 months for a smoother flavor.

notes from my mum:

Add some cherry stones to the vodka infusion for more flavor. Do that if you skip the cinnamon stick.

The infusion time can be much longer, even a couple of more weeks.

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not the classic sgroppino

by Eva on June 28, 2012

Some of my favorite treats evolved from traditional recipes, they are twisted and tweaked until they fit my taste buds. But most likely I simply have to change some ingredients, it’s necessary if you are for example out of caviar (happens to me all the time). And not to forget, being creative while cooking is also a lot of fun. The downside of converting my kitchen into a cooking laboratory, sometimes it happens and I have to clean a load of dirty dishes without a satisfying outcome, scary things can happen in my kitchen.

And here comes another classic with a twist, a perfect summer drink, this is not the ordinary sgroppino but what is ordinary when you talk about sgroppino? The main and as far I know, only ingredients are lemon sorbet, vodka and prosecco. Oh and one mint leave for decoration would be nice. Let’s start with vodka, it makes my head spin in this hot weather, honestly these temperatures make me skip the hard stuff, so I didn’t even thought about putting it in my recipe. Lemon sorbet wasn’t available in my freezer but orange sorbet did such a great job, I didn’t miss the lemons at all. Prosecco? The label on my bottle said: made in California, so not a natural born prosecco I guess. Any bubbly, dry or very dry white wine will do the job. And the strawberries? Well they shouldn’t be in a sgroppino but I invited them to this party and they are going to stay.

I know you are an attentive reader and might remember as I talked about my lacking computer skills several times before?! What is the thing about java at all? However I managed the “subscribe via email” widget and I am so happy and proud about myself. Actually it was not that difficult at the end…. So please sign up: look to the right, write your email and hit the “join” button. Make us both happy! And then celebrate with a sgroppino, you’ve really earned it!

sgroppino

2 servings

Champagne glass (flute) would be great but any other with a similar size would do the job.

I use a cookie scoop because these glasses tend to be too narrow for a regular ice scoop.

ingredients:

5 strawberries (about a good handful)

4 small scoops orange sorbet

nicely chilled prosecco or other dry sparkling wine

instructions:

Wash, remove stalks and puree the strawberries. Put in the freezer for 5 minutes. Then distribute it evenly in two glasses.

Top with two scoops of orange sorbet for each glass and fill-up with prosecco, it will foam very much, pour slowly. Serve immediately with straws or long spoons or both.

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flipper: orange juice and ice cream float

by Eva on May 31, 2012

Is it wasting your youth when you spend a big part of it, sitting in an Italian cafe preferable at a table outside, watching people and at the same time hoping not to be seen by a certain group of them like mums and teachers. If you are having a flipper in front of you, I would say: NO not at all. That was my preferred treat for one whole summer, which had been spaghetti ice cream before, after that I had chocolate ice cream alternate with hazelnut milk shake, followed by fresh orange juice and then cappuccino, no one was drinking latte at this point in recent history. I bet this Italian cafe made a fortune with all the young people hanging around and spending their pocket money on ice cream but at the same time I am feeling sorry for the staff, it wasn’t always easy with us and this place was packed all the time.

One of my friends mum tend to say: you can make this on your own. She did it all the time (I bet she still does) and my friend did it too, mother like daughter I guess…. It kind of drives you nuts, if you are planning to buy a nice cardigan and you hear, that you shouldn’t spent your money on it and rather make it by yourself. At the time I would have been ready with knitting it would have been summer, not even mentioning the quality of my creation. But she was absolutely right with making things on your own, that would be more appreciated and talking about goodies from the kitchen, homemade tastes better. That’s the thing about flipper. It so easy to make, that I stopped spending my pocket money on it and make it on my own. Sometime life is fair, good things can be so easy.

Flipper! Is this not a weird name for an ice cream float? I got dolphins on my mind… But that’s what the menu said. I started to cool the fresh pressed juice but went back to room temperature oranges and juice, because I think the best about it, is the melting vanilla ice cream, that cools and blends into the orange juice and a cloud of soft ice cream is floating on the top of the glass. I constantly alternating between slurping the orange milk shake through the straw and spooning out the soft vanilla ice cream. If you want to make it as a “real” dessert or for special effects, you can add some grenadine syrup at the bottom (think about tequila sunrise), top with whipped cream and a cherry.

flipper: orange juice and ice cream float

1 serving, you can double, triple, quadruple or quintuple as much as you like

ingredients:

2-3 oranges per serving, depending on the size of your oranges and your glass

vanilla ice cream

whipped cream (I don’t like it, that’s why it’s not in the pictures)

instructions:

You can chill your glass in your freezer, a few minutes will be enough.

Press oranges, remove the seeds. Add ice cream scoops piled high until you reach the rim of your glass. Pour over orange juice and top with whipped cream if you like. Serve immediately with a straw and a spoon.

{ 8 comments }

Brazilian coffee cocktail

by Eva on February 10, 2012

Lately I am a magnet for minor and intermediate disasters, actually I always had been but things are escalating. Sometimes I believe bad things just happen to me but at the end it is how it is, this is me and I should come with a warning. Just a list of last days debacles: I broke three glasses, of cause the expensive ones and every day one because it’s so much fun to clean the floor. If I look on my left hand, I can see two cuts slowly healing, still love sharp knifes. I bought bad milk and realized it too late. Disgusting! My left knee is full off bruises and I don’t even know why. My new pass pics? I am so sorry for everyone who has to see them, seriously I can’t explain how this happened (again). I am going to blush every time I have to fetch it.

These pee-wee accidents are bad, but after all I wish they would triple if it would make the next catastrophe never happen. One of my most enjoyed habits is surfing through the internet, reading blogs, writing emails while sipping hot coffee. Until I missed the coaster and my cup tipped over and suddenly there was coffee all over. The damage was ugly, a pile of unsorted papers (recipes and notes) drenched and forever unreadable, my clothes, pencils and pens etc. Until then my desk had always been a mess, ultimate destination for surprisingly a lot of stuff. The smell of coffee stuck in my nose like the overdose of someone’s intense scent. The odor of fresh made coffee in the morning? Yes me love that. But at this point in time it made me sick, not appealing at all.

And now the worst thing, you might already guessed… A wave of coffee made it into my notebook through the usb ports and the screen went black immediately. Red alert and a panic attack later I got everything under control, after all I am used to deal with situations like this. I like to see things positive, important documents are covered in plastic folders (I know me), my camera had been save and the carpet didn’t get one drop. After a few times waxing my desk it looks like new again, at least how new an old table can look.
Do you know this smart IT guys? Bad haircut and strange glasses? One of them looked at me and said: “You spilled coffee on your notebook? Happens all the time… No you are not a case for the emergency room, you killed this patient anyway, you’ll need an appointment.” They smile and think they are funny. I said something like thank you with a clenched fist in my pocket, the rest of my thoughts never left my brain. Without really knowing I made a comprehensive backup and just lost the lasts days data. And it took just one day to recover my coffee addiction.

Brazilian coffee cocktail
serves 2-3

120 ml / 1/2 cup chilled espresso
60 ml / 1/4 cup rum or cachaca
60 ml / 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
ice cubes
Combine everything in a shaker or ball jar, add ice cubes and shake well. Arrange in glasses and add more ice cubes if desired.
some notes:
More ice cubes means the cocktail becomes more watery. Chill all ingredients and make ahead some coffee ice cubes. Use good quality espresso, just strong coffee isn’t doing the same job.

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hot chocolate

by Eva on December 8, 2011

There are some quite busy days behind me! We moved from Illinois to Tennessee and although I unpacked boxes from morning to night there is still some unsorted stuff around that needs to find a new space. So far I like it here although I am a little surprised about the weather, we heard about snow in Memphis right before our move, arrived in sunshine, spend a wonderful day with nearly 18 C / 65 F, after that had two days of constant rain and then snow again. One lady at the grocery store told be there is rather no snow at all or tops two days every winter. So that’s it for this time, no more snow until next November… right?
But I am prepared (me saying that is unusual or abnormal) for these days. If you life out of boxes like me, the christmas time is in full swing but passing me by and I am feeling like I am missing out on coziness and you need something that makes you feel like home. Hot chocolate helps in every life situation and makes you equipped to deal with anything life can throw on you. It’s just the truth!
I love to make hot chocolate like Mr F and myself used to enjoy it in Barcelona. The Spanish just got it right. Not too sweet, a good load of real chocolate, creamy and a little thick but not like pudding.

hot chocolate

Use the best chocolate you can afford, it really makes a difference.
Makes 2 to 3 servings if you use small cups.

500 ml / 2 1/8 cups milk, 2 % or whole
at least 50 g / 2 ounce chocolate (70% is the best) in pieces
1 teaspoon corn starch
1-2 teaspoon sugar (optional depends on the chocolate)

Pour the milk but some teaspoons into your sauce pan, add the chocolate, sugar and if you like some spices and stir until the chocolate is completely melted.
In a small bowl add the remaining cold milk and the corn starch and stir until dissolved, pour mixture into the hot chocolate and bring to boil for a few seconds while gently stirring.
Serve in coffee cups.

Life offers you a lot of reason for hot chocolate and here are some variations of flavor:

★ make it spicy with a pinch of cayenne pepper, chile pepper…
★ use flavored chocolate like mint or marzipan but leave out the one with nuts, you don’t want to chew while drinking chocolate.
★ try different combination of spices, cinnamon and coriander are one of my favorites together
★ add some booze like rum or amaretto liquor
★ orange flavored chocolate with Cointreau or Grand Marnier
★ dip in some churros
★ add a cinnamon stick to the milk (1 stick is enough for 2 servings, remove before serving)
★ cut a vanilla bean in half and with the tip of a knife scrape out the seeds, add the bean and the seeds to the milk (remove the bean before serving)

some notes: If you don’t care for calories, replace a 1/4 of the milk with heavy whipping cream, you don’t need to add corn starch anymore.
In summer: cold chocolate with some ice cream and whipped cream.
Short cut: heat the milk and stir in some teaspoons of nutella.

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