Zabaglione and a Book Review

This custard, made with only 3 ingredients, is comfort food at its finest.  A couple of raspberries and a ladyfinger top off this quick and easy dessert that can easily take the place of your after-dinner cocktail.  It is definitely not a dessert for children.

I was inspired to make this dish after listening to The Eyes of Darkness by Dean Koontz.

Green Appletini #AppleWeek

This post is sponsored in conjunction with #AppleWeek . I received complimentary product from sponsor companies to aid in the creation of the #AppleWeek recipes. All opinions are mine alone.

This recipe is intended for those readers of legal drinking age for alcohol consumption.  Please drink responsibly.

Sweet, tart and refreshing this cocktail is like taking a bite of a crisp green apple.

Today is the 5th day of our Apple Week event.  We have been sharing amazing apple recipes all week long and since it is Friday, what better to share than a cocktail to start your weekend off.........

Perfect Harmony Cocktail #CocktailParty

We hosted our Choir Christmas Party last Thursday.  We have our final practice before Christmas at one of the members homes.  Everyone brings a dish, we eat, drink, socialize and practice the songs we will be singing before Mass when we have the carol sing along and during Mass when we celebrate the birth of our Savior.

It is always a good time and we love hosting.  Frank always tends bar.  His Milky Way Martinis are always the most requested at this party.  I think folks wait all year long to enjoy these dessert like drinks.

This year our friend, John, had Frank make him a drink that he had enjoyed at a party over the weekend.  This party had hired a bartender and he had prepared a drink using vodka, orange juice, cranberry juice and grenadine.  The bartender said he didn't know what the name of the drink was but John really enjoyed it.

Friday, we spent the day cleaning up after the party, finishing our Christmas shopping and running errands.  That evening, after dinner, Frank made up the cocktail he had been serving John and told me the story behind it.

The cocktail was delicious and I was thrilled because as I was sipping away I remembered that my friend Ellen, of Family Around the Table, was hosting a Cocktail Party today!!

I love when life works out like that.  I hadn't originally planned on attending this party.  I had the special edition of Muffin Monday posting going live today and it is Day 3 of Countdown to 2018.

I thought that was plenty enough on my plate, or in my glass as the case might be.  However, I am not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.  I enjoyed the cocktail with Frank and then put him to work making us another so that I could get photos.....well, actually, he took the photos too.  He is wonderful like that!

While we enjoyed our second cocktail we started trying to think of a name.  Frank thought of Harmony since it was discovered during the choir party....I added the Perfect and when you try  this cocktail you will see why.

Perfect Harmony Cocktail

1 jigger vodka
3 oz. orange juice
3 oz. cranberry juice
splash of grenadine
orange slice and maraschino cherry for garnish, if desired

Fill a shaker full of ice.  Add the vodka and both juices.  Shake to combine and strain into an ice cube filled glass.  Drizzle in the grenadine, it will sink to the bottom giving you the red layer.  Garnish and serve. Print Recipe

More Cocktails and Mocktails

   

• Cranberry Apple Cider Sparkler by The Redhead Baker
    
• Cranberry Key Lime Mimosa by Family Around the Table
   
• Mincemeat Manhattan by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
   
• Sparkling Cranberry Sangria by Bear and Bug Eats
   
• Strawberry Ginger Champagne Cocktail by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
   

You Make Me Blush Champagne Cocktail #CranberryWeek #MadeinFrance

I thought I would serve a cocktail on this Friday, the last day of  Cranberry Week.  I don't know how your week has been but I can really use a cocktail to kick off what I hope will be a relaxing weekend.

The cocktail starts out with this gorgeous, ruby red simple syrup made from fresh cranberries and cranberry juice cocktail.  Not only is it perfect for this drink but it would be absolutely beautiful drizzled on a dessert plate or over ice cream.

You can use any sparkling wine that you like with this cocktail.  I had a bottle of French Champagne from Jacques Bardelot that I received during our #MadeinFrance event.  That event was a wine and cheese party and this cocktail was also served up with a cheese platter as guests arrived for dinner one evening.

I would like to make a toast right now to Caroline of Caroline's Cooking who hosted this week long event.  It is a lot of work making an event successful and she pulled it off without a hitch.  Cheers Caroline!

You Make Me Blush Cocktail

adapted from Cuisine at Home, issue #60

1 1/2 c. fresh cranberries

1 c. cranberry juice cocktail

1 c. sugar

1 orange, zested and juiced

1 bottle Champagne or Sparkling Wine

Dip the rim of 6 champagne flutes into the orange juice and then into sugar, set aside.  

Place the remaining orange juice and the cranberries into a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped.  Transfer to a sauce pan with the sugar and orange zest.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat and let cook for 10-15 minutes, until syrupy.  Strain and allow to cool to room temperature.

When ready to serve pour 1-2 T. of syrup into the prepared champagne flutes.  Top with Champagne and serve.  Print Recipe

See all the other recipes being shared for today's final Cranberry Week post - we hope you've enjoyed following along and will try some of the many cranberry creations!

• Cranberry Bliss Bars (Starbucks Copycat) from Family Around The Table
• Cranberry Clementine Gin from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Cranberry Clusters by The Freshman Cook
• Cranberry Cream Cheese Bars from Sew You Think You Can Cook
• Cranberry-Pistachio Dark Chocolate Bark from Books n' Cooks
• Panettone from Caroline's Cooking
• You Make Me Blush Cocktail by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Warm Cranberry Punch from Everyday Eileen

Mango Peach Margarita #MexicanRecipes

Welcome to Day 2 of our Cinco de Mayo Fiesta.  Senorita Sue de Palatable Pastimes has asked us all to share our favorite Mexican Recipes as this holiday approaches.   I, for one, am very excited because there is no such thing as too many Mexican Recipes.  We love Mexican food and eat it quite often, both at home and out to restaurants.

Of course, no fiesta is complete without a Margarita.  We love our margaritas around here and have shared several with you. My personal favorite is Frank's Fantastic Margarita but I certainly wouldn't turn down a Blueberry Margarita or this Mango Madness Margarita.  Nor would I turn down this Mango Peach Margarita that I am sharing with you today.

I cannot wait for Peach season to strike in Michigan this year so that I can use our local, fresh, juicy peaches in this drink.  It will be perfect, poolside on a hot summer day.  I am getting giddy just thinking about it.  

The secret to a good margarita is to use the best quality ingredients you can find.  In this household that means Cuervo Gold Tequila, Grand Marnier, and in this case, fresh frozen fruit as it is not stone fruit season locally.  Of course, if you can find some nice, ripe, juicy mangoes in the market you can use half fresh and half frozen until the peaches are ripe.

Mango Peach Margaritas

2 medium mangos or 4 c. frozen mango slices

3 peaches or 1 1/2 c. frozen peach slices

1/2 c. tequila

1/4 c. orange liqueur

1/4 c. freshly squeezed lime juice

10 c. ice if using fresh fruit, 3-4  c. water if using frozen fruit

sugar for rimming glasses, if desired

lime wedges or mango slices for garnish, if desired

Place the mangoes and peaches in the bottom of a heavy duty blender or into a food processor.  Add the tequila, orange liqueur, lime juice and ice or water.  Puree until smooth adding additional water if too thick.  

Rub a lime wedge around the edge of four margarita glasses and dip into sugar that has been placed in a shallow dish.  Divide the margarita mixture between the glasses and garnish with a slice of lime or mango, if desired.  Print Recipe

More Marvelous Mexican Recipes

• Mango and Peach Margarita from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Cheese Enchiladas Rojas from Palatable Pastime
• Zippy Tortilla Chips from Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas from Frugal Pantry
• Quinoa and Black Bean Stuffed Peppers from The Chef Next Door

Check back each and every day for new recipes by following along with the hashtag #MexicanRecipes on social media. Are you a food blogger interested in posting within our blogging community? Find out more by joining us online: Holiday Fun with Our Blog Friends.

Cinnamon Cranberry Cup of Comfort for the Cape Cod Select Holiday Blogger Challenge.

I was approached by Cape Cod Select and asked if I would be interested in entering their Holiday Blogging Challenge.  Categories for this challenge are beverage, entrees and baking.  Bloggers are allowed to participate in all 3 categories if they wish.  One winner is chosen from each category and will receive a prize of $500 and there will be one overall winning recipe for a grand prize of $1000.

I was sent two bags of fresh frozen cranberries for use in this challenge.  I have not/nor will I receive any monetary compensation unless I am deemed a winner of this challenge in one of the aforementioned categories.  To participate in this challenge I have agreed to refer to the cranberries by name brand in the recipe, include a picture of the cranberries that I received to use in this challenge and include links to the company's social media as well as a download to stores where my readers will be able to find Cape Cod Select Cranberries.

I decided to enter into two of the categories offered.  I entered the baked challenge with this Caramelized Cranberry Cake.  Now I would like to share an entry for the drinks category.  I created this drink on a snowy and cold December evening.  We had been out running errands all day and it was chilly willy with high winds.  I wanted something that would warm my bones and comfort my soul.  I found it!!

I started out by making a juice from the Cape Cod Select Frozen Cranberries.  I cooked them up with some orange and lemon juice, sugar, honey and cloves until the cranberries popped and released all of their tart goodness.

I strained out all the solids and was left with 2 cups of this beautiful hot juice.  I divided the juice between two cups and added some hot cinnamon schnapps to the mix.  Garnished with an orange slice and a cinnamon stick.  Sat down on the couch, curled my feet up under me and sipped myself right into relaxation.

This will be the perfect cocktail to serve after a day of cross country skiing or sledding.  It will soothe the soul on those cold wintery nights when you are feeling bleak and missing your loved ones.  It will warm your cockles when you are feeling under the weather. It will warm your next gathering with dear friends.  I think I have discovered the perfect Winter Cup of Comfort.

You can find Cape Cod Select Cranberries at nearly 5000 stores nationwide.  Check their store locator to find them near you.  Cape Cod Select is also on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

All opinions are 100% my own and are not affected by the product received or contest entered.

Cinnamon Cranberry Cup of Comfort

created by A Day in the Life on the Farm

2 c. Cape Cod Premium Select Frozen Cranberries

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. honey

Juice from 2 oranges

Juice from 1/4 lemon

6 whole cloves

1 c. water

4 oz. Hot Cinnamon Schnapps, divided

orange slices for garnish

cinnamon sticks for garnish

Place cranberries, sugar, honey orange juice, lemon juice, water and cloves into a medium saucepan set over med high heat.  Bring to a boil and let cook until sugar is dissolved and cranberries have popped open and are very soft.  Strain into a measuring cup through a fine mesh strainer.  Discard solids.  You should have 2 cups of juice.  Divide the juice between 2 mugs and add 2 shots of Schnapps to each drink.  Stir and garnish with an orange slice and cinnamon stick.  Print Recipe

Mango Madness Margarita and The Weekly Menu

The other day we were having our friends, John and Kirsten, over for dinner.  Kirsten's mom, Caroline, and Kirsten's twin, Katrina were in town.  We are family so we couldn't let them be in town and not spend time with them.

John and Kirsten love going to a local restaurant, Catch 22, as do we and we often go together after Mass or during the week when they get home from a long day at work.  The food at Catch is wonderful but John and Kirs love, love, love the Mango Margaritas that they serve.

Frank, bartender extraordinaire, decided that he was going to make some for the gang when they came for dinner.  Frank had just bought me a vitamix for my birthday so making frozen drinks has just become very easy around here.  Our old blender did not have the strength to puree the ice and ingredients together so nicely.

He prepped everything ahead of time.  He borrowed a tip from Ree of The Pioneer Woman and rimmed the glasses with a mixture of sugar and lime zest. He also used her tip about using canned mangoes....I never even knew there was such a thing!!

When our guests arrived all Frank needed to do was fill the blender to the top with ice and let it puree away.  Kirsten took a drink and said "Oh, mango", she took another sip and proclaimed "These are better than Catch 22 and they had the best".  Oh yeah.......Frank rocked the house.  He ended up making a second pitcher full and it disappeared as quickly as the first.

Mango Madness Margaritas

created by Frank with some help from The Pioneer Woman

zest and juice of 1 lime

1/4 c. sugar 

3 (15 oz) cans mango, drained

1 c. sugar

1 1/2 c. tequila

1 1/2 c. triple sec

Ice

Combine the lime zest and 1/4 c. sugar and place on a plate.  Rub a slice of the lime around the rim of 8 glasses and then dip the rim into the sugar mixture to coat.  Set aside.

Place the mangoes, sugar, tequila, triple sec and juice from the remaining lime in the pitcher of a blender.  Fill the blender to the top with ice.  Seal and puree until thick and smooth.  Pour into the glasses and serve.

We did a lot of entertaining last week and choir started up again.  Those hazy, crazy, lazy days of summer are at an end. Life will be busy now until after the Holidays so I better get my self geared up.

This afternoon we are heading over to take care of Angel Face while Tingting works after which we are invited to Frank's cousin's house for a Wine Tasting.

Tomorrow we will be going over to celebrate Frank's brother's birthday.

Sunday we are hosting a Soup Swap.  I will be telling you more about that during the week.

Monday, I have to call and see if I have to serve on jury duty.  I am hoping not, mostly because we are closing on the sale of this house and on the purchase of the new house this week and don't want to be tied up during the day.

Thursday is choir practice and then Friday we are leaving for the weekend to go to an air show on the west side of the State. We will leave in the morning unless I am stuck in jury duty, in which case we will leave as soon as we are able.

So here is the Weekly Menu....Don't forget to stop back by to hear all about our soup swap and find out if I had to fulfill my civic duty.

Saturday
Dinner at Dan's party

Sunday
Soup Swap

Meatless Monday
Mujaddara

Tuesday
Stuffed Sole
Steamed Asparagus
Acorn Squash

Wednesday
Beef Roast
Roasted Root Vegetables

Thursday
Meatloaf
Green Beans
Carrots

Friday 
Out of town for the Weekend