Homemade Strawberry Lemonade Cocktails! (A Pin a Day #3)

Welcome to the third installment of my A Pin A Day project! Today's pin is actually a mash up of 3 different pins I've seen floating around, so I thought I'd test them out for you and see how well they actually work!

I bring to you...

Homemade Strawberry Lemonade (Cocktails)! Or for a kid friendly version, just omit the booze people. Family friendly recipes from me to you!

Strawberry Lemonade Caipirinha!

So here's a great thing to do with all those strawberries and lemons before they go bad. And on that note, here's the first tried and true pin of the day... How to keep Strawberries Fresh! and it really does work! It's just a simple rinse with 1 part white vinegar to 10 parts clean water, soak for a few minutes, drain and let dry! Simple and easy tip that I will actually use, and I did, and it worked like a charm. I bought these strawberries last week and here they are, still fresh and not even kinda moldy!

So! Back to the drink I know you're dying to try in this heat...

You will need;

• 2 lemons (plus one more for garnish)
• 10-15 strawberries (plus another handful for garnish)
• sweetener of your choice (I used agave nectar)
• water

That's it!

Quarter the lemons, and throw them into the blender, half the strawberries and put them in there too. Add your sweetener, and 2 cups water and blend until pretty smooth.

Next you need to strain out the pulp, trust me you're going to want to do this, unless you like drinking bitter bits of rind and zest. Every time I have to strain something I always curse myself for not having a fine mesh strainer. DAMN IT! SO I had to do it the old fashioned way and sit there with my wire skimmer and strain it slowly.

After you've removed the bulk of the pulp, you will want to add more water, taste and adjust the sweetness. We like things pretty sweet around here, so I added quite a bit more agave to it. Now comes the fancy part. If you plan on just sitting in your undies on the couch drinking this alone, I'm sure you could forgo the fancy part, unless you like feeling fancy, then by all means...

I wanted a bit of pulpiness to my lemonade, so I added some macerated strawberries to it. Easy peasy... check it out.

Take those extra strawberries you set aside for garnish, and roughly chop them. Add about a tablespoon of sugar - the granules help break down the fruit because of the abrasiveness of them - and mash with a fork until syrupy. Then add to the pitcher! And if you wanna get even MORE fancy...

You can make these adorable lemon slice flowers! Our next tried and true pin! Simply take the big part of your fruit zester, the scorer I think it's called, and peel away strips of the zest to create petals. I made 8 by first doing it into quarters, then eighths. Then simply thinly slice slices and you've got pretty little flowers to garnish your beverages!

Add ice, taste, adjust, stir, serve. We added cachaca, a Brazilian rum, but feel free to experiment with other boozes. I think this is a nice refreshing drink, with or without alcohol, Charlie was expecting a more "strawberry flavor" because I think he thinks artificial flavors are what fruit really taste like... I like it.

Fancy!

Boozey Rainbow Jello Cake (A Pin a Day #1)

 I went to lunch with my cousin the other day and she told me about a great idea she had using a blog, and Pinterest. She wants to try a pin a day and blog her successes and fails, and I thought that would be a great project for me too, except I'd mostly be doing food since this is a food blog (duh). So here is my first post in my week of blogging a pin a day! Enjoy!

So now that summer is here, and BBQ's are a-plenty, it's time to make some really show stopping stuff to bring to your potlucks! If you're like me, then it doesn't matter how much time you spend doing something if the end result produces a "WOW! Factor" of epic proportions. I had seen this recipe online and thought it was just too beautiful not to make, I just needed the right occasion, so for our last family BBQ, I made it. I bring to you, the Boozey Rainbow Jello Cake!

A few years ago, my sister worked at a bar at the beach and she was the Jello Shot girl. She got to be really good at making Jello Shots and would always being them over to family get togethers (we're quite the troop of lushes). Hers, although tasty, we're so plain and boring in their little monochrome single serving cups. I decided to step it up a notch after a trip to The Jelly Shot Test Kitchen and viewing some of the most beautiful creations you would swear they couldn't be made of Jello.

Rainbow Jello Cake from Jelly Shot Test Kitchen

I became such a fan of JSTK, that I started buying boxes of Jello every time I saw them on sale at my local grocery store, and eventually had a huge stash of them (check the local ads and coupon savers, you can find them as low as 33 cents a box!). These treats are cheap, pretty and a total showstopper. Warning though, this does take up a good chunk of your afternoon  (or evening) to assemble and then an additional 24 hours in the fridge to firm up, so don't think 2 hours from now you'll be feasting on this. If you opt for an alcohol free version of this "cake", just substitute your favorite juice for vodka. Every step is incredibly important so if you're not of the directions-reading-patient-and diligent variety, do not attempt or it will look something like this.

You will need;

• 4 1/2 cups water, divided
• 6 3oz packages gelatin dessert mix (colors and flavors of your liking - I used Cherry, Orange, Lemon, Lime, Blue Raspberry, and Grape for the rainbow effect)
• 3 envelopes plain Knox gelatin (6 teaspoons of gelatin powder total)
• 3 cups vodka(or your favorite alcohol, flavored or unflavored)
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk (yogurt or cool whip will also work, you'll need about 12 tbsp)
• a bundt pan
• cooking spray or oil to coat pan

Place your vodka in the freezer to keep it chilled. Prepare your pan by lightly spraying it with cooking spray or oil, and wiping out the excess.



Start with your first layer (I used grape first)

1. Heat 3/4 cup of water in a small sauce pan over low heat and sprinkle with 1 tsp (half a package) of unflavored gelatin. Stir to dissolve.
2. Wisk in package of flavored Jello, stir to dissolve, about 5 minutes.
3. Remove of heat and add 1/2 cup of alcohol.
4. Pour half of the mixture, about 3/4 cup into the mold and return to refrigerator to set up, about 20-30 minutes. Transfer remaining mixture to a separate cup and place in the fridge to cool about 5 minutes.
5. Add 2 tbsp sweetened condensed milk to mixture in separate cup and stir to combine. Let cool and thicken slightly, about 5-10 minutes.
6. Test the Jello in the mold. Place your finger on the top. If the mixture is sticky, but releases from your finger, it is ready for the next layer. Slowly pour the 2nd mixture on top of the Jello in the mold and return to the fridge to cool and set up. 
7. Wash your sauce pan, and get ready to repeat steps 1-7 with the next flavor.

*TIPS*
Make sure the layers are still sticky before pouring the next layer on top of the layers will not stick. Make sure when pouring the mixture into the mold that the Jello is not too hot, or it will melt the layer below and you will not get a defined line, which is the most striking element of this dessert.  If you plan on using yogurt or whipped cream instead of condensed milk, make sure the mixture is completely cooled, or you will get a lumpy curdled effect in your creamy layers. You should have 12 alternating creamy and clear layers at the end. As you work up to the top of the dessert the chilling time will shorten due to the dessert becoming more cold, so double check the stickiness frequently.

When you are finished, let the mold sit in the fridge for at least 24 hours. This allows the Jello to set and thicken so it's easier to remove from the mold, and cut into slices.

To remove the cake from the mold, dip into warm water for about 10 seconds. Make sure the water isn't too hot, or you leave it in the water too long as the Jello will melt and make an unsightly mess (Trust me haha). Place a plate on top of the mold, and flip over to release. There might be a bit of melty jello, so just clean it up with a paper towel and place back into the fridge until ready to serve so it can firm up one more time.

Your cake, if you followed all the directions above, should look like this.

Remove from fridge.

Revel in the awe.

Slice.

Enjoy!

Absinthe

This blog post is about 3 weeks late, and that is only because 3 weeks ago I did not have this blog. I reviewed and rated this restaurant on FoodBuzz, so if you want to check that out you can go here.

My best friend Michelle came home to visit from Ireland. She lives there now. So my other good friend Melissa and I decided it would be best to go visit her over the holidays seeing as San Ramon, is much closer to us than say, Ireland.







The day after Christmas, we drove up to the Bay Area to spend a few days with Michelle and her family, and since we were so close to the city, decided one night to take the BART into San Fransisco. I have family up there. My aunt lives in Berkley, one cousin goes to CAL, one cousin lives in San Jose, and another is a bartender at this swanky little place called, Absinthe. It's located in the Hayes Valley, and if you were to take BART, you would hop off at the Civic Center stop, and walk a few blocks and BAM! There you would be.

We showed up on a busy night, no reservation, and just a lowly text message to my cousin letting him know we were coming by. The place was packed, people were waiting outside, and we pretty much figured we were screwed. Erik, my cousin, handed us the bar menu and before we could even make a decision, was back with 3 concoctions for us to sample.







Michelle grabbed up the Ginger Rogers, which we both agreed would have been perfect for our friend Andrea back in Atlanta. It's got gin, fresh mint, ginger syrup, lemon juice and ginger ale and is served on the rocks with a squeeze of lime. Even though Michelle was fighting some sort of cold thing, we all stuck our straws into her drink and stole a sip or two. I hate gin, but for some reason this drink was delicious and didn't even slightly resemble a gin laden beverage.










I chose the Galapagos, which the website says is Pisco, Kaffir lime leaf muddled in pepper syrup, lemon-lime juice, and a splash of grapefruit juice. Served up with sunken brandied cherries, and let me tell you it was to die for. It's was sweet and spicy and those brandied cherries were AMAZING.











Melissa got the Citron Lemonade, in fact I had it first, but she wasn't digging the martini, so we switched drinks. This one has Ketel One Citron, ginger syrup, fresh lemon-lime juice, ginger ale and a topping of cranberry juice. It was pretty delicious and I guess is the alcoholic version of their "Absinthe Lemonade", so even if you don't drink you can enjoy the virgin version of it.









After she finished her drink, she got brave and ordered the Absinthe. It's actually pretty interesting how the drink is properly prepared. Basically you put a shot into the bottom of a fancy glass, and then place a sugar cube over a slotted absinthe spoon, and then slowly drip water over it with an absinthe fountain as it dissolves. It gets all creamy opaque and is then called "louche" which I believe roughly translates from french as "cloudy".



I tried it. It's pretty rough for anyone who doesn't like Licorice, which I don't, but I managed to enjoy the ritual of it, so no harm no foul. It's not as syrupy sweet as something like Jagermeister, and it's got a bit of a kick to it at the end, almost like a burning feeling which makes sense considering it rounds in at about 127 proof. It's distilled though wormwood, and was once believed to be hallucinogenic, but I never saw the green fairy. Melissa ended up sipping on that the whole night.



I opted for a bit lighter of a drink for my dinner cocktail and got a drink that I don't see on the websites menu, but basically it was a tequila martini, with pomegranate liqueur and a floating lemon rind of absinthe set ablaze, then dunked to add. It had that same licoricey bitter spicy burny aftertaste, but the tequila calmed it down.




We finally found some seats at the bar, and with a bit of help, we ordered some food. They got the Absinthe Burger, medium rare, which I stole a bite of, and it was to die for, and I got the Chicken Breast Sandwich. It had pretty much the best bacon I've ever tasted on it, with some garlic aioli (yes I know thats a fancy word for mayo, and I LOATHE mayo, but when in Rome...) greens, and avocado on this rusticy grilled toasty bread that made me wanna die right there. It was that perfect of a meal. We also got a side of fries which came adorably wrapped in a menu.



Absinthe also has like THE BEST French Onion Soup in the history of the world. Melissa pretty much devoured 2/3rds of it.



Then we got the beet salad, and Melissa pretty much finished that off too. Oh did I mention that Melissa said she wasn't hungry before we even got to Absinthe?




We finished off our night with a yummy flammable coffee drink with 151, cinnamon, hot coffee and fresh whipped cream. The presentation alone was worth the trip.



Caramelizing the sugared rim...



Adding the cinnamon...



Alcoholic Coffee Perfection. (Thank God for the BART)

We paid our bill as we sipped this last drink...



It's Absinthes versions of a Pimm's Cup, called the 21 Hayes. It's Damrak Gin muddled with cucumber, a healthy splash of Pimm's No.1, lemon-lime and simple syrup shaken and served up with a fresh cucumber slice plus those yummy housemade cocktail onions, that are brined in brandy and juniper berries.

Melissa ate all those too.