A beginner in that I learned how to put up jam only last year. More so, a beginner in that I don’t quite have a handle on realizing I have to eat what I’ve preserved.

The jars of green beans and peaches were a delightful surprise. However, the many many jars of pantry jam have me realizing I don’t eat that much toast, or jammy cookies.

My jam guilt turned my mind to resourcefulness, and I now have a quart of apricot vanilla soda in my refrigerator, by the graces of my beginning jam excursions. Oh yes. I don’t even have to suggest what a bounty this could be… bourbon mixers, sodas, Italian cream sodas in any flavor of jam you have?

A little warm water, a soda siphon, and your tasty summer efforts are all you need to create an amazing array of flavored sodas.

Jam soda

makes one quart

materials:

• 1 quart pyrex measuring cup, or similar sized mixing vessel with a pouring lip
• whisk
• 1 quart lidded jar
• strainer
• funnel
• soda siphon
• CO2 cartridge

ingredients:

• 1 cup of jam (or a half pint jar)
• hot (almost boiling) water
• lemon juice

instructions:

• Measure into the 1 quart pyrex measuring cup the half a pint of jam.
• Slowly whisk in the hot water, 1/2 a cup at a time till you have one quart of jammy liquid.
• Pour the hot jammy liquid into the 1 quart size storage jar and refrigerate until cold.
• When cold, strain the jammy liquid of any fruit solids into the quart sized pyrex.
• Add 1 Tbs of lemon juice to the strained jammy liquid.
• With the funnel in place, fill the soda siphon with the strained jammy liquid.
• Lid and charge with one CO2 (soda) charger and shake vigorously.
• Pour into an iced cup and enjoy straight up or with a drizzle of half and half.

More lovely things to do with jam

• Orangette, Brown Butter Spoon Cookies with Jam: “they turn out smooth and curvy, the approximate size and shape of a flattened egg. They’re pale gold and flecked with toasted bits of butter, and you sandwich them with a festive sash of jam across the waistline. They’re sophisticated but still approachable, eminently edible. If they were human, you’d want to pinch their cheeks and buy them a drink.“
• 101 Cookbooks, Rombauer Jam Cake Recipe: “moist, with berry undertones, a sugary crispness from the brown sugar icing. Delicious. A perfect autumn and/or holiday cake –just be sure to use a good quality jam.”
• Chez Pim, Homemade Pop Tarts: “if you’re one of those who think a great pie is all about a good crust–I am of course one–these pop-tarts are perfect for you. They are filled with just enough delectable jam to punctuate the flavor without obscuring the buttery, flaky goodness of the crust.”
• the Kitchn, Easy Appetizer Template: Jam + Pork + Cheese: “The combination of sweet, salty, and creamy is sure-fire success, trust us, and you can mix up the components in dozens of different ways.”

Alcoholic snow cones? You bet. Can’t let kids have all the good things.

This golden treat is based off of Sub Rosa’s Golden Orb recipe concocted to show off their Saffron Vodka commingling with mango.

Saffron Vodka Mango Elixir for Snow Cones

makes over 10 servings

Combine:

• 1 cup saffron vodka
• 1/2 cup orange liqueur
• 1/4 cp lime juice
• 1 cup mango nectar
• 1/2 cup simple syrup

Pack clean fresh snow into a cup or paper cone. Drizzle the Elixir over the top and enjoy!

Some tips-

• Ice cream scoops work great for packing snow into cups.
• A clean liquid soap pump works perfectly at holding your snow cone Elixir. The pump tops lets you easily dispense the Elixir without splashing it about.
• If you are without saffron vodka- add saffron to your simple syrup instead.

I topped the truffle butter with a piece of wax paper and stuck this in the freezer.

To use, take a warm spoon and shave off curls of the fragrant butter.

And that great label? Bought from Etsy seller Remake. There are more colors available on the site!

Ok, that was suppose to be a rhetorical question.

I’m wise to the overtime horrors of ice cream indulgence on the average person. But I do love it so. This is all part of the inspiration for my latest ice cream trick: to smoothie-ize it by adding ice cubes to milk shakes. Not only does adding blended ice cubes to a milk shake add more texture to your slurp, it extends a smaller bit of ice cream into a larger volume.

I’ve already discovered some nice variations on this theme: cocoa powder sludge ice cubes, coffee ice cubes, and one of my favorites with mint ice cream: adding mint tea ice cubes.

So if you’re like me, and you’re tired of justifying your addiction to ice cream… lighten it up in the blender with some ice cubes!

From the archives: Heat Wave Maguro Poke

Ooo, another thing I could live on (well, it is practically sushi): poke! A nice variation is to toss some mango chunks in or use salmon instead.

I picked up sushi grade yellow fin tuna to be made into Poke. It’s light and refreshing and makes for surprisingly nice brunch fare. Even better- it doesn’t require the heat of your kitchen!

While I do admit that there is more to a drink than its name (still shuddering over Red Headed Sluts, Jäger- yuck!), these ones are pretty fun, with a dash of disgusting.

• Blueberry Pancake
• Flaming Dr. Pepper
• A Walk in the Woods
• Gummy Bear
• Vampire Margarita
• The Chocolate Elephant
• Blood and Urine
• Radiator Fluid
• Baptist Wedding Punch

It’s a fascinating ingredient list that reveals the alchemical origins of cola.

Ingredients- Flavoring

* 3.50 ml orange oil
* 1.00 ml lemon oil
* 1.00 ml nutmeg oil
* 1.25 ml cassia (cinnamon) oil
* 0.25 ml coriander oil
* 0.25 ml neroli oil (similar to bergamot, or bitter orange oil)
* 2.75 ml lime oil
* 0.25 ml lavender oil
* 10.0 g gum arabic (thickener)
* 3.00 ml water

Ingredients- Concentrate

* 2.00 tsp (10 ml) of the above flavoring
* 3.50 tsp (17.5 ml) 75% phosphoric acid or citric acid
* 2.28 l water
* 2.36 kg granulated white sugar
* 0.50 tsp (2.5 ml) caffeine (optional. use caution)
* 30.0 ml caramel color

I almost have all the necessary ingredients to try this concoction.

I love fresh fruit, don’t get me wrong, but succulent pineapples, soft papaya, and fragrant mangos give me an itchy blender finger!

I extinguished this desire with a pair of Tropilicious brand sorbets stashed in our vacation studio’s freezer: icy honey scented lychee and smooth glowing mango. Cradled with a sliver of vanilla ice cream, we found ourselves in a happy fruity taste bud dance.

When paired with champagne, like an ice cream float, these sorbets gave us a happy glow to match the island sunset.

Hawaiian Style Champagne Float

in a medium sized glass scoop:

• lychee sorbet
• vanilla ice cream
• mango sorbet

top with champagne

and enjoy!

little umbrella is extra credit…

A recent trip to our local Latino Market also added new inspiration in the way of cool frozen fruit pulp from Goya. We grabbed a bag of mango, cherimoya, and guava pulp, all destined to be blended up or stirred into salsa.

This fizzy recipe uses the newly discovered cherimoya pulp with lime flavored fizzy water. The resulting smoothie is light and fruity, with the feel of adding banana but without the flavor. The cherimoya lends a flavor like pineapple and apple whirled in. it’s quite refreshing and a nice change of pace.

Blueberry Smoothie Float

In a blender add:

• cherimoya pulp, frozen: 1/2 cup
• blueberries, frozen: 1 cup
• kiwi, scooped out insides: 1
• soy milk: 1 cup
• vanilla extract: 1 tsp
• kosher salt: small pinch

blend till smooth and add:

• lime flavored fizzy water: 1/2-3/4 cup

Pulse in the blender ever so briefly. Pour into two glasses for a small treat, or one glass for a healthy snack or breakfast.

One Year Ago

Food Memories- Prince Pücklers

I took a spoonful off of the top of the chunky container, a bright green sampling of Pistachio Almond. Before popping it in my mouth I noticed that there were dark green flecks in the mixture- that almost looked like threads of pineapple. Curious I slipped the spoon into my mouth and before I knew it, my mind was whisked off to a childhood summer afternoon, with a bowl of Mom’s pistachio marshmallow salad!

The front page sports a drink of the day, which also has an rss feed, of course.

Another cool feature of the site is My Bar, a set up in which users log in their bar inventory. The site contains an impressive ingredient list to choose from or you can type in your own items. A list of drink recipes is then given that matches your list of alcohol and mixers available.

In viewing the drink recipes, the option is available to view the recipe in 6oz, 8oz, 12oz, 32oz, and 128 oz quantities.

I’m also very impressed with the ease at which you may enter your own recipes onto the site. I submitted my Hot Apple Pie recipe to test it out. As you enter in an ingredient it is classified as booze, mixer, or garnish. You enter in the quantities as expressed in parts and directions are automatically written out for you.

Once you have several recipes earmarked in your profile you can have them zipped up as text files for your iPod!

Having recently fallen in love with horchata, I can’t wait to try out a Gringo, the drink of the day:

The Gringo

Extra Tasty Drink of the day for May 13th
Booze
2 parts Vodka
1 part Coffee liqueur

Mixers
2 parts Horchata
A splash of Cinnamon

Directions
This is basically a White Russian, but with using horchata instead of cream. It’s friggin’ yumtastic, so y’all better give it a go.

Find yourself a clean tumbler and drop a few ice cubes in. Add the vodka, then add the coffee liqueur. Fill to the top with horchata. Stir it up, and then sprinkle some cinnamon on the top.

Awwww, yeah.

I happen to be home sick and need something that can shoot through my stuffiness. I think my whipped cream dispenser and Sweet’s jug of apple cider can help me with that…

Hot Apple Pie Shots

In a pyrex measuring cup pour 3/4 cup of apple cider. Heat in the microwave till nice and steamy hot. Stir in 1/4 tsp of vanilla extract, one pinch of cinnamon, and 1/4 cup of rum.

Pour into a shot class 3/4 of the way full. Top with sweetened whipped cream and dust with cinnamon.

Serve immediately.

Makes 5-6 shots.

Tagged with: SHF +
alcoholic drinks