Brazilian Lemondade

Haven't made this yet but sounds great! I found the recipe here at Our Best Bites blog.

Brazilian Lemonade

4 juicy limes (try and find ones with thin, smooth skins; they're the juiciest and the thin skin cuts down on the chance of your drink being bitter)
1 c. sugar
6 c. cold water
6 Tbsp. sweetened condensed milk


Mix cold water and sugar very well and chill until ready to use. This step can be done ahead of time.

Wash limes thoroughly with soap (I just use hand-dishwashing soap or regular hand soap); you need the soap to get the wax and pesticides off of the limes because you're using the WHOLE lime, baby. Cut the ends off the limes and then cut each lime into 8ths.

Place 1/2 of the limes in your blender.

Add 1/2 of the sugar water, place the lid on your blender, and pulse 5 times. Place a fine-mesh strainer over a pitcher (the one you'll serve the lemonade in) and pour the blended mixture through the strainer and into the pitcher. Use a spoon to press the rest of the liquid into the pitcher. Dump the pulp and stuff in the strainer into the trash. Repeat with remaining limes and sugar water. Add sweetened condensed milk; DO NOT leave this step out unless you will die of a horrible sweetened condensed milk allergy because this is the secret ingredient! You may want to taste test it at this point; I used giant, thick-skinned limes tonight and didn't test it and it came out a little bitter. If it's bitter, just add some more sugar and maybe a little more milk.
Serve immediately over lots of ice. This does not keep well, so don't make this in advance (although you can cut the limes, mix the sugar water, and measure the sweetened condensed milk in advance). Serves 4, although I can pretty much guarantee you that people will want more; I usually plan on 1 1/2 servings at LEAST per person.

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Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate - a copycat recipe

Here's a "gourmet" drink recipe. Just like they serve at those expensive coffee shops. I found this copycat recipe for Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate at Blisstree.com.

I made the hot chocolate following the recipe and it was very rich and yummy too! It is not necessary to use as much chocolate and you can always use skim or 2% milk and still get a good cup of hot chocolate. Also, I made my own caramel syrup using a recipe found in Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine, October 2009 issue.

Starbucks Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate Copycat Recipe

• 2/3 cup whole milk
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 3 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt (the best you can afford)
• 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar crystals
• 1/4 cup whipped cream
• 2 tablespoons caramel syrup, divided (recipe at the bottom of that page)

Bring the milk, sugar, and cream to a simmer. Keep it just under a boil and stir in the chocolate until melted completely.

Add one tablespoon of the caramel syrup to a warm mug and swish it to coat the inside of the mug.

Carefully pour in the chocolate. Top with whipped cream, add a drizzle of caramel, a sprinkle of the salt and a dusting of the turbinado crystals.

Enjoy the fact that while Starbucks *may* stop making this delicacy you never have to!

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Homemade Ginger Ale

Oooh, I wanna try this. . . sounds great!

Homemade Ginger Ale, recipe found at Simply Recipes.

Ingredients

Ginger water
1 cup peeled, finely chopped ginger
2 cups water

Simple Syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup water

Club soda
Lime juice
Lime wedges

Method

1 Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan. Add ginger. Reduce heat to medium low and let ginger sit in the simmering water for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit for 20 minutes. Strain liquid through a fine mesh strainer. Discard ginger pieces.

2 In a separate saucepan, make the Simple Syrup by dissolving 1 cup granulated sugar into 1 cup of boiling water. Set aside.

3 Make individual (tall) glasses of ginger ale by mixing 1/2 cup of ginger water with 1/3 cup of Simple Syrup and 1/2 cup of club soda. Add a few drops of fresh lime juice and a lime wedge to each glass.

Makes four servings.

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COFFEE: How to use a press pot

I pulled out our French Coffee Press but couldn't remember how to use it. I found the following helpful instructions.

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"Gourmet" Hot Chocolate Recipes

I like to drink beverages that are tasty, of course, seasonal and unique! Since we ran out of coffee at our house this week and since I had experienced a tasty hot chocolate at the major chain coffee shop this week too, I decided I would find a recipe or two for "gourmet" hot chocolate.

I found this website and was intrigued by the "Mayan Hot Chocolate". I made it (without vanilla bean or almonds/hazelnuts because I had none) and I must say the chili kick makes it a winner. It doesn't taste much different than Mexican hot chocolate but the spice is nice.

Mayan Hot Chocolate
(from recipe gold mine)


1 chile pepper, cut in half, seeds removed
5 cups light cream, or whole milk or nonfat milk
1 vanilla bean

, split lengthwise
1 to 2 cinnamon sticks
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate OR 3 tablets
Mexican chocolate, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

or honey or to taste
1 tablespoon almonds

or hazelnuts, ground extra fine

Add chile pepper to 2 cups boiling water. Cook until liquid is reduced to 1 cup. Remove chile pepper; strain for stray seeds, and set aside.


In a medium-size saucepan

, combine cream or milk, vanilla bean and cinnamon stick. Heat over medium flame until bubbles appear around the edge. Reduce heat to low; add chocolate and sugar or honey; whisk

occasionally until chocolate is melted and sugar dissolves.


Turn off heat; remove vanilla bean and cinnamon stick, stir in ground almonds or hazelnuts. Add chile pepper infusion, a little at a time, making sure the flavor isn't too strong. If chocolate is too thick, thin with a little more milk.

Serves 6.

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Iced Coffee Recipe

I like iced coffee but since I don't really know how to make it I've turned to iced chai instead. I just buy the pre-made stuff in a box and serve it over ice with milk. It's tasty and a great drink on a hot day but I'm starting to get tired of this iced drink.

Today I came across a recipe for a cold-brewed iced coffee recipe and it's worth trying because it's so simple. You can find the recipe here.

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Caramel Apple Cider, hot

(You'd think that I'm on a sweet binge. I'm not, really! I just like these recipes for sweet things because they are fast and easy. Really!)

I like coffee, decaf please, but lately have been enjoying hot apple cider flavored with cinnamon and caramel so that it tastes just like a candy apple! Here's a link for a recipe similar to the caramel apple cider served at that big and popular coffee shop chain or you can read it below.

Caramel apple cider

If you prefer something a little more like a candied treat, why not try caramel apple cider? A recipe has been floating around the Internet for years, since its initial appearance on Usenet's rec.food.recipes newsgroup. It has been reproduced on many, many blogs and recipe sites.

This recipe is meant to imitate the caramel apple drink concoction sold by popular coffee chains like Starbucks and Caribou. If you visit one of their shops, you will notice that neither calls the drink "Caramel Apple Cider": it contains no cider, just apple juice, and both eventually complied when they were asked to stop representing it as a cider drink. Regardless, it's yummy! The recipe calls for apple juice, but you can still make it with cider.

• Treetop premium apple juice
• Cinnamon syrup: a couple of squirts (I can't find an official measurement for a squirt, so I would try adding this a tablespoon at a time, to taste)
• Whipped cream
• Pyrex measuring cup or microwave-safe vessel
• Caramel sauce (or the syrup meant as a garnish) drizzled on top

Heat the apple juice in the measuring cup for about two minutes or until it's the temperature that you like. Blend cinnamon syrup with apple juice and pour into mug. Top with whipped cream and caramel syrup. Enjoy!

Starbucks now uses their Cinnamon Dolce syrup, which can be purchased in the store. The caramel syrup drizzle can be done with any plain caramel syrup (i.e., not "Magic Shell") made for ice cream: some come in bottles that are perfect for drizzling. In a coffee shop, the apple juice would be steam-heated; if you have an espresso machine at home with an attached steamer/frother for milk, you should be able to use that to heat your cider, if you choose.

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