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About Me
......A brief look at everything I am doing or find interesting on the web. I do it for me, but if you find it interesting, that's cool too.
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Sodastream Recipe: Sprite (attempt 1)
Scored a SodaStream for Christmas, but wasn’t thrilled with the sample pack of flavors that came with it. Even after checking out SodaStream’s all natural line of syrups I still wasn’t thrilled. (they taste pretty good but are expensive) So I started poking around online looking for recipes. After all the real fun of having your own soda maker is making your own concoctions, right?
I stumbled across aver cool blog with several home made recipes specifically for the SodaStream, formerchef.com. She has several very cool looking gourmet soda recipes on her site, but my 8yo daughter wanted me to make Sprite. So…. Taking inspiration from formerchef’s recipes, this is our first attempt at a lemon lime soda syrup.
- 2c sugar
- 2c water
- 1 lemon & lime of about the same size.
Combine sugar and water in small/med pot and bring to a simmer over medium high heat, stiring until the sugar is dissolved (simple syrup)
Next add in the juice of the lemon and lime, along with the peel of half the lemon and half the lime with as much of the white pith removed as possible (this proved difficult, I think next time we will just zest half a lemon and lime)
Turn down heat to medium, and let simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.*
Turn off heat and let steep while the syrup cools. Strain into glass container for storage. We were shooting for 2tbs of syrup per 12oz of carbonated water. And if you follow the above instructions you will end up with a weak lemon lime soda even with 4tbs of syrup in a 12oz of carbonated water.
*So we returned the syrup to the stove for another 10 minutes of simmering to further reduce it. This yielded what I believe to be a pretty decent home made Sprite-ish soda although it still takes 4tbs of syrup per 12oz of SodaStream carbonated water to get there.
I was honestly surprised how much like Sprite this recipe turned out. It’s not as cloyingly sweet as Sprite but to me that’s a good thing. I think next time I may replace a portion of the water with the lemon/lime juice instead of adding the juice to it. Also removing the pith from the peel was a real pia. So I think zest is the way to go.
If you try this or have any experience making your own soda syrups please leave me a comment, or a suggestion.
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Fresh home made chips, in your microwave. Yep this is going on the must try list, especially since I never got the hang of potato chips in my frier.
Hat tip to Brian Neudorff on Google+
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I may have to make this one. Obscenely cute yet delicious sounding.Snowman Cheese Ball via Eclectic Recipes
C’mon now how could you not be the hit of the Xmas party if you contribute this (easy), cute and yummy dish?
Ingredients
3 – 8 oz packages cream cheese, at room temperature
4 cups Italian blend shredded cheese
3 teaspoons almond basil pesto, recipe follows
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
Almond Basil Pesto
A handful of fresh basil
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 clove garlic
2 – 3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper
Decoration
nose – carrot
eyes and buttons – raisins
crown – rosemary, or you could do a hat with stacked crackers
arms – asparagus, green onions or pretzels
on crown – cranberries
scarf – green onion (I used 2 pieces attached in the back with toothpicks and held on with a cocktail toothpick in the front), carrot or radish shaving
mouth – red pepper or currants
optional – add a corn pipe, a chunk of baby corn on the end of a toothpick
Method
1. Make pesto first in the food processor by adding basil, almonds, garlic, salt and pepper to processor. Pulse until chopped. Turn processor on and stream in olive oil until pesto is movable.
2. Add cream cheese and pesto to a large bowl. Use a hand mixer to blend the pesto through the cream cheese. Add shredded cheese and use hands to incorporate. Divide the cheese into 1/3 for the head and 2/3 for the body. Make into a ball in your hands. Roll in grated Parmesan and place on platter. Refrigerate until firm, at least 4 hours.
2. Decorate snowman with carrot, asparagus, raisins, cranberries, green onion, red pepper, and rosemary.Asparagus arms! For your holiday entertaining needs.
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This sounds awesome, oh and note to self, it’s the season to have some Captain Morgan in the house….Rum & Coke Wings
3 pounds chicken wing drummettes
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon chili-flavored olive oil
1 cup cola
1/4 cup rum
3 to 4 tablespoons hot sauce
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon butterPreheat oven to 450ºF. Line a 15x10x1-inch baking pan with foil. Add chile oil and chicken . Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Turn chicken in pan to coat with oil. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes or until chicken is deep golden brown and super crispy, carefully pourig off liquid at the halfway point. While chicken bakes, in a small saucepan, combine cola, rum, hot sauce, honey, and butter. Bring to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for about 30 minutes or until it reduces to a thickened glaze. Remove chicken from oven and brush generously with glaze; return to oven about 5 minutes more. Serve with remaining glaze and lots of napkins.
via A Life of Spice
(via silas216)
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An interesting recipe from a twitter friend. These have to be better than the terrible fruit and cereal bars from the grocery store.
Uploaded with Skitch!…
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htmh:
Click through for the full recipe
Team Mustache had everyone a gas over their irresistible mini-mustache mini-cupcake toppers. Matching this feast for the eyes was a party in the mouth–teeny Guinness Gasm cakes boasting a rich combo of Guinness, chocolate, and Bailey’s that will surely bring out the boozy Irishman in you when you whip these up yourself!
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Bacontinos (via Wolfman-K)
Inspired by this reblog of a post on the great tumblog thisiswhyyourrfat.
We decided to make these, and came up with a recipe for you. Thank you to my friend Eric for the components.
Ingredients:
Tostino’s Pizza Rolls 1lb of bacon
Take the slab of bacon and cut each slice in half.
Wrap each pizza roll in half of a bacon slice and place on a cookie sheet*
Bake in 400 degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes.
*on our second batch we placed the roles on cooling rack on the cookie sheet and got better results, this kept the pizza roll from frying in the bacon grease and over cooking.
Enjoy.
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Frozen Peanut Butter Pie with Candied Bacon: 2000s Recipes + Menus : gourmet.com
Frozen Peanut Butter Pie with Candied Bacon
Serves8- Active time:30 min
- Start to finish:6 1/2 hr (includes freezing)
- 7 bacon slices (about 6 ounces)
- 3/4 cup sugar, divided
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- About 35 chocolate wafers, finely ground in a blender or food processor (about 2 cups crumbs)
- 3/4 stick unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter (not natural)
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups chilled heavy cream
- 1/3 cup salted roasted peanuts, finely chopped
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Equipment:
a 10-inch pie plate (6-cup capacity)
- Cook bacon (in 2 batches if necessary) in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat, turning once, until lightly browned on edges but still flexible, 5 to 6 minutes total per batch. Transfer to paper towels to drain.
- Pour off fat from skillet and arrange bacon in skillet in 1 layer. Sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon over bacon and cook over low heat, turning occasionally with tongs, until sugar has dissolved and then caramelized (sugar melts very slowly and burns easily; reduce heat if necessary after sugar begins to caramelize) and coats bacon, 8 to 10 minutes. (Bacon will be dark and look lacquered.) Transfer bacon with tongs to a cutting board to cool. When bacon is cool, finely chop 5 slices, leaving remaining 2 slices whole.
- Stir together wafer crumbs and butter, then press onto bottom and up side of pie plate. Chill pie shell.
- Heat remaining 1/2 cup sugar and milk in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and whisk in peanut butter and vanilla until combined well, then transfer to a bowl and cool completely in an ice bath, stirring occasionally.
- Beat cream with an electric mixer until it just holds stiff peaks, then fold into peanut butter mixture with peanuts and chopped bacon gently but thoroughly. Transfer filling to pie shell, smoothing top.
- Cut remaining 2 bacon slices into 2-inch-long pieces and arrange in a decorative starburst shape in center of pie. Freeze pie, uncovered, until frozen hard, about 5 hours. Let pie soften slightly in refrigerator before serving, about 30 minutes.
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Pie can be frozen, covered after 5 hours with plastic wrap and foil, up to 2 days.
Recipe by Andrea Albin
Photograph by Stephanie Foley
