Thirsty Thursday: Gimlets!

I want to introduce a new topic for my blog: drinks! I had an epiphany a couple weeks back-my day job dream is to become a bartender and rake in the dough. Or is that a night job? Well, whatever. I've been a barista for 3 years now and honestly make too little for my hard work. SO-im going to be sharing some drink recipes with you all (shh don't tell my mother im underage!) and in return memorize and learn about alcohols and the art of bartending.

Up first is a classic, incredibly simple and delicious drink that was recently made popular again by the book and now movie Julie and Julia. Julie Powell, famous for her food blog about cooking her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, would spend her nights in the kitchen of her shabby Queens apartment sipping vodka gimlets with her husband as she cursed over the stove. I have become a fan of this drink-its sour and tangy and filled with alcohol-not too bad eh?

The original Gimlet is made with gin, and was said to be the drink of sailors as they tried to prevent scurvy while out on the sea. The recipe is simple:

Gimlet
3 oz. gin (or in my case vodka)
1 oz. Rose's brand Lime Juice

(you can fix this ratio to taste-some prefer it mostly alcohol with a touch of lime, but I like it on the lime-y side).

Stir or shake into a glass with ice and enjoy. See, wasn't that easy? Stay tuned for next week's Thirsty Thursday beverage!

photo via sippitysup

A Cool Drink of Limoncello!

Heres another great drink recipe I found whilst browsing Tastespotting-you can always find super gorgeous photos of delicious food and amazing recipes (which I write down of course!) This Limoncello and Mint Sorbet is the ultimate in summer refreshment-imagine this on hot summer day in a piazza in Italy. Okay, that may be going too far, but it'd be nice, no? Instead of going through the hassle of actually making sorbet, I'd rather just throw everything together in a big pitcher and start drinking!

Limoncello & Mint Sorbet
Adapted from Cooking Light
Makes 4 cups or 8 ½ cup servings

2 cups water
1 ⅓ cups sugar
½ cup limoncello
1 cup fresh lemon juice (4-6 large lemons)
½ cup chopped fresh mint
Lemon slices or zest strips, extra mint (for garnish, optional)

Combine the water, sugar and limoncello in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir until sugar dissolves and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in lemon juice and chopped mint.

Cover and chill for 4 hours, or up to 3 days in the refrigerator.

Strain mixture and discard mint pieces and lemon strips. Pour into a large pitcher and serve with a garnish of lemon or mint.

photo via Craving Chronicles (amazing food photography!)

Tastes like summer...

I was browsing Tastespotting when I came across this gorgeous photo of a Watermelon Margarita. Yes, you heard right. Fresh watermelon+alcohol=the ultimate summer refreshment. Heres the recipe courtesy of Food Network, pictures from Martha Stewart

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups seedless (or seeded) watermelon, cut into 1-inch cubes, rind discarded before measuring
• 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• 4 ounces tequila
• 2 ounces orange flavored liqueur
• 1 1/2 cups ice
• Lime wheel or watermelon wedge, for garnish

Directions

Put cut watermelon in a plastic bag and place in freezer for a minimum of 2 hours. (If time does not permit this step, add a few extra ice cubes when blending, the difference is not that significant.)

Stuff all ingredients into a blender and puree until smooth. Garnish rim of glass with a lime wheel or a watermelon wedge and serve immediately.

Snack Time

Ah...today is over, school-wise. I can now catch up on all my homework that I've slowly let pile up and can breathe easier knowing tomorrow is ANOTHER friday (these weeks are flying by!!). I just made a pitcher of iced tea and threw in some chopped strawberries, so refreshing. Heres a little something I made up for a nice, light and healthy snack.

Broke Girl's "Granola" (Cereal) Parfait

few scoops of plain yogurt (I buy Mountain High plain yogurt in huge tubs)
cereal of your choice (I love Special K Vanilla Almond)
Honey
fruit of your choice, chopped. Good standbys are bananas, strawberries or mixed berries.

Layer yogurt, fruit and cereal (crushed up in your hands) in a bowl or glass, drizzle with honey. Its so satisfying and you didn't spend $3.50 for it somewhere else!

Quiche!

This weekend was gorgeous! In the 70s and cool, clear sky..it was perfect. Saturday I decided to bake some quiche, because I haven't cooked in a while and I had the apartment to myself. So I created a turkey bacon (my bf is jewish...and its healthier!), potato, onion and cheddar quiche. They turned out perfectly and can be customized any way you like.

Quiche
2 unbaked 9" pie crusts
6 eggs
2 tbs flour
2 tbs milk
mix ins, which can include: bacon, onions, potato, broccoli, ham, spinach, whatever!
cheese! I reccomend cheddar. Something fancy could be used quite nicely.

Cook your mix ins, dump them in the pie tins, pour over the egg mixture and bake at 350 for around 40 mins. Voila-instant breakfast/lunch/dinner! Ah...quiche.

photo courtesy Joyce Loo

Valentine's Treats!

Today I made a batch of homemade RED VELVET CUPCAKES. Thats right, I caved in to the craze and made those suckers. They turned out quite delicious but my frosting went a bit awry (not enough sugar!), so I decided to use store-bought cream cheese frosting...which in my opinion is way better! Go figure. For Valentine's Day, all sorts of great desserts are rediscovered. Theres just so much chocolate and red floating around its hard not to get all caught up in it! Heres the recipe I used and a picture thats not mine (I'll take some tomorrow when they're properly frosted!). Perhaps you can bake your sweetie some of these? They'll LOVE you for it.

Red Velvet Cupcakes
recipe from Paula Deen

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 tablespoons red food coloring
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat to 350. In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. In a larger bowl, carefully whisk together oil, buttermilk, food coloring, eggs, vinegar, and vanilla. Add the dry to the wet and mix until smooth and combined using an electric hand mixer.
Divide batter between cupcake pans lined with papers (should make about 24). Bake 11 minutes- turn- bake 11 more. Test for doneness with a toothpick.

Frost with whipped cream cheese frosting:

1/2lb c. cheese
1 stick of butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 c. powdered sugar

YUM!

Guiltless Muffins

Every morning I try to take my own breakfast to work. It saves me money, and whatever cereal I've got is wayyyy better than the hidden calories packed into our food items. Well, its freezing in my apartment right now so I felt like baking something yummy so I can stand next to a hot oven and make myself a cup of tea. I grabbed a box of Krusteaz Fat-Free Apple Cinnamon Muffins, and started making them. I also made it a bit healthier by adding oats and flax seeds. Each muffin boasts 140 calories (in comparison to the blueberry muffins at work which have over 400 each!!). So keep warm and feel better with a lovely morning snack.



Guiltless Apple Cinnamon Flax Muffins

-1 box Krusteaz Apple Cinnamon muffins (they're SO cheap, I can make a dozen muffins for under $2)
-1 to 2 tablespoons golden flax seeds (I got mine at Whole Foods)
-1 handful oats

Directions

Prepare muffin mix according to box directions (its 1 1/4 c. water-how easy is that?!), stir in flax seeds and drop by the spoonful into muffin pan. Sprinkle oats on top and bake at 400 F for 18-20 mins.

These babies are a quick fix for mid-morning relaxing. I need to get myself more of these...

Broke Girl's Dinner

Recently I've been making some pretty delish meals for myself, using as much as I can directly from my pantry, fridge, etc without having to go out and get take-out. So far I've made a delicious meal of mini mozzarella balls, basil and roma tomatoes with potato gnocchi, avgolemono soup (greek soup using chicken broth, orzo, a dash of lemon juice and an egg, SO simple and delicious), and tonight I'm posting as a pot of "Poor Girl's Soup" is boiling away on the stove... let me give you this easy recipe (im making it up as i find some hidden vegetable thats been sitting around). During these hard times, you have to use what you have in all aspects...so here goes!

Poor Girl's Soup (aka what to cook when theres nothing left to cook and you ain't getting paid til next week!)

-beef broth/chicken broth/beer, WHATEVER you can find that could make a tasty broth. I used the last dregs of beef broth, a swig of dark beer (my boyfriend left his here, woops!), and some chicken broth. Trust me, it'll all taste yummy.
-beef, that last piece of frozen chicken, your pick. (I used frozen cubed beef I had from a previous week's stew making)
-1 chopped onion
-1 cubed potato
-roasted garlic
-assorted veggies of your choosing (root vegetables work marvelously)
-leftover dried pasta (I just poured in some elbow macaroni for substance)
-flour, milk, baking powder to make dumplings (used 1 1/4 c flour, 1/2 c milk, 1 tsp. baking powder)

Directions:
-sweat the onions in a big pot with oil, til clear. Add seasoned/floured beef, brown. Add broth, beer, liquid of some sort, and add potatoes. Bring to a boil. Add remaining veggies, dried pasta, let cook. Mix together your dumpling ingredients and add 10 minutes prior to eating. Enjoy knowing you just cleared out your pantry and didn't spend any money on take-out, plus you'll have leftovers for tomorrow!

There we have it. The first day of the New Year was spent cleaning my apartment, putting up artwork (I put up some great maps I found at a map sale at school and some lovely prints), and watching Sex and the City. Now I'm gonna enjoy my frugal soup and not be guilty. Have a lovely start to the new year!

Pumpkin Bread (recipe included!)

Yesterday I made my first ever pumpkin bread! It took a little checking up on since I made one loaf and pumpkin muffins, but it turned out really yummy and...dare I say it? Moist (cue cringing). I figured I wanted to try something involving pumpkin before I got sick of seeing it all over Tastespotting. The recipe I used was off of epicurious.com, and makes 2 loaves (I only had one loaf pan and a short attention span so I improvised with the muffins and baked them simultaneously). I just love the light sweetness of the bread. It goes great with walnuts sprinkled on top and some cream cheese spread over the top. Enjoy!



Spiced Pumpkin Bread
from epicurious.com

Ingredients

• 3 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs
• 1 16-ounce can solid pack pumpkin
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9x5x3-inch loaf pans. Beat sugar and oil in large bowl to blend. Mix in eggs and pumpkin. Sift flour, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, salt and baking powder into another large bowl. Stir into pumpkin mixture in 2 additions. Mix in walnuts, if desired.

Divide batter equally between prepared pans. Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Transfer to racks and cool 10 minutes. Using sharp knife, cut around edge of loaves. Turn loaves out onto racks and cool completely.

image courtesy blogchef.net

Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles!

So today at work I was invited to a "cookie exchange"-how friggin cute is that? For tonight's fun (believe me, these girls are HILARIOUS), I wanted to make something easy and yummy, seeing as im on a limited budget and have limited materials with which to cook/bake with. I had all these pumpkin spice Hershey Kisses lying around, so I wanted to see if something could be made with them. Then I thought, sugar cookies=plain dough=easy to manipulate. TRA-LAH! Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles! I hopped (more like trudged) over to the store and got all my ingredients (plus some frozen dinners, a college girl's gotta eat!) and started baking. I took some pictures along the way, twas so easy and the first batch came out a little burnt, but what they hey, theyre still cookies!

This is what the kisses look like melted...yum!

My little cookies

And the final product! Go make some cookies, enjoy :)

(and check out my photos!)