Raspberry Lemonade

 Raspberry Lemonade - from the Food Network

Ingredients

4 cups fresh lemon juice

3 cups sugar (we usually start with less)

1 bag frozen raspberries

Ice cubes, for serving

Squeeze the lemons and pour the juice into a pitcher. Mix together the sugar with 3 cups water and stir to dissolve to make a syrup. Add the syrup to the lemon juice and top it up with 8 cups water. Taste to make sure it's sweet enough for you, and then add the raspberries. Mix the lemonade together and let chill in the fridge. (Keep in mind that the raspberries are tart, so be sure to sweeten enough!)

Fill mason jars with ice cubes and top them off with the lemonade.

Hale Koa Mai Tai

Hale Koa Mai Tai

Into a bucket glass filled with ice add:

juice of 1/2 fresh lime
1/2 oz. Orgeat syrup
1/2 oz. Curacao
1 oz. Bacardi Light Rum
1 oz. Meyer's Dark Rum
dash pineapple juice
dash sweet & sour mix

Stir & top with 151 proof Bacardi

Mai Tai

Chrissy’s Mai Tai

Ice
6 oz pineapple juice
6 oz orange juice
1 oz lime juice (fresh squeezed is best)
Splash of grenadine
1 oz Cointreau (you can experiment with this-I like a little more)
2 oz clear rum
2 oz dark rum

Mix all ingredients except dark rum in a shaker, and pour into 2 glasses (with ice, if desired). Add 1oz of rum as a float to each glass. Garnish with pineapple and a cherry.

Hot Chocolate Mix

Hot Chocolate Mix


Ingredients:
2 vanilla beans
4 cups granulated sugar
1½ lbs. good quality semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
9 oz. good quality bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 cups Dutch process cocoa powder*

Directions:
Split and scrape the vanilla beans and combine in a large bowl or jar with the sugar. Work the vanilla seeds into the sugar with your fingers. Bury the pods under the sugar, cover tightly and let stand overnight (or up to months) at room temperature. Remove the pods when ready to use.

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, combine the sugar, semisweet and bittersweet chocolate, and Dutch process cocoa powder. Process in 4-second pulses until the chocolate is very finely ground and the mixture is well combined. Store the mix in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Serving Instructions:
Combine 2 tablespoons cocoa mix with 8 oz. of very warm milk and stir to combine until well blended.

*I am unable to find Dutch process cocoa powder in area stores, so I use a blend of natural and Dutch process cocoa.

Source: Confections of a Foodie Bride, originally from Gourmet, 2005 - as seen on Annie's Eats

Green Monster Smoothie

Green Monster Smoothie - as seen on Laura's Recipe Collection

made one gigantic smoothie- the glass shown above is a pint sized glass and I still had about 1/2 C left in the blender

Ingredients:
2 C spinach
1 banana
1/2 C milk (or almond milk, or soy milk, or yogurt or whatever else you can come up with. make it your own)
1/2 tray of ice cubes
1/2 C raw rolled oats

Directions:
Place the spinach in a blender- it’s important to put the spinach first so that it’s closest to the blades. The banana and ice will hold it down and make sure the spinach gets finely chopped so you’re not drinking leaves of spinach.

Pour in the milk and add banana to the blender and puree until smooth and leaf-chunk-free. Add the ice and any other add-ins you’d like. Puree again until the ice is crushed and everything is blended together. Enjoy!

Source: Seen all over the blog world, but the Original Green Monster is from Angela from Oh She Glows and the Green Monster Movement

Hot Chocolate Mix

Hot Chocolate Mix - as seen on Confections of a Foodie Bride

2 vanilla beans
4 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 pounds high-quality semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
9 oz dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 cups Dutch process cocoa

Split and scrape vanilla beans and place in a large bowl or jar with the sugar. Work seeds into the sugar with your fingers. Bury the pods under the sugar. Cover tightly and let stand overnight (or up to months–vanilla sugar keeps forever) at room temperature.

In a food processor fitted with metal blade, process semisweet chocolate and dark chocolate until finely ground, using 4-second pulses. Process in batches, if necessary (I started out with large bars so I first processed the chocolate using the grater attachment and then switched to the blade.)

Remove pod from sugar. Add ground chocolate and cocoa powder to sugar and whisk to blend, making sure to combine well. Store mix airtight at room temperature for up to six months.

Yields: 76 2-Tbsp servings, or 12 3/4-cup servings (pictured)
Adapted from: Gourmet, 2005

Recipes for Great Hot Chocolate

Recipes for Great Hot Chocolate -
from The Washington Post special sections in conjunction with Apartments.com
Published November 22, 2009

Although most hot chocolate recipes indicate that hot water should be used, milk (skim, 2%, whole, etc.) will make your hot chocolate richer, creamier, and downright more delicious.

A good basic recipe to start with:

• 25 oz non-fat milk powder
• 16 oz non-dairy creamer powder
• 10 oz presweetened cocoa mix
• 13 oz chocolate malted milk powder
• 1 cup powdered sugar

As you can see, this is a huge amount to prepare. Either store it in an airtight container or feel free to half or third the recipe.

If you are planning to add flavorings to the finished hot chocolate, cut down on some of the powdered sugar in order to not make it sickly sweet.

When you mix the above powder with your warmed milk, use no less than two teaspoons. Depending on your taste preference, you can add more for a richer, creamier taste.


An even simpler basic recipe:

• 2 cups milk
• 4 squares bakers chocolate

Melt the chocolate into the milk in a large saucepan.

You can also mix up the kind of bakers chocolate that you use. Try semi-sweet if you're going to be adding a lot of flavored syrups or milk if you're going the pure route. Try a white chocolate hot chocolate for something completely different.

One thing to note, when you are warming your milk, do NOT let it boil. When milk boils, it will start to separate, if it gets too warm a yucky film will form on the top, if it gets too hot, it will burn.

The syrup ingredients below can usually be found in coffee specialty stores and in some liquor stores. They are also sold online through a number of coffee wholesalers and directly from the manufacturer. Try www.moninsyrups.com or www.davincigourmet.com.

The best topping for hot chocolate? Whipped cream or homemade marshmallows!

And onto the recipes!!!

The Funky Monkey

• 1 tablespoon banana syrup
• 1 tablespoon white chocolate syrup
• cinnamon

Spice Cake

• Add cinnamon, nutmeg, and three drops of vanilla extract to your hot chocolate.

Pumpkin Pie

• Add cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, three drops of vanilla extract and one tablespoon pumpkin pie syrup

Peppermint Patty

• 2 tablespoons peppermint flavored syrup
• Add whipped cream and chop up some Andes chocolate mint candy to top

Egg Nog

• Instead of using milk as the base, use egg nog. Be careful not to get it too hot because the egg nog will solidify and burn much easier than milk.
• Add whipped cream and sprinkle with nutmeg.

Cafe Borgia

• 1 tablespoon orange or Valencia flavored syrup.
• Nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon

Be creative, experiment with flavorings, and mix it up. Put together some signature combinations of your own!

Apple-Pie Cider

Apple-Pie Cider from Martha Stewart

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 1 1/4 quarts apple cider
• 3 tablespoons firmly packed light-brown sugar
• 7 whole cinnamon sticks, (6 sticks for garnish)
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• Ground cloves
• Freshly grated nutmeg
• Salt
• 1/2 cup Calvados, or other brandy (optional)

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, whisk together cider, sugar, spices, and salt. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Remove from heat; pour in brandy, if desired. Strain into a pitcher; discard solids. Serve in mugs, garnished with cinnamon sticks.

From Martha Stewart Living, November 2003

Aunt Ardith's Punch

Aunt Ardith's Punch

1 large can (46 oz?) pineapple juice
3 c. apricot juice
~1 liter 7up
1 quart pineapple sherbet

Mix first 3 ingredients together and add sherbet.

Sparkling Grape Juice-Lemonade

Sparkling Grape Juice-Lemonade - from Jayne Harrington as seen in April 2009 Southern Living Magazine


Prep: 10 min., Freeze: 4 hr.

Freeze grapes in clusters as purchased.
This is not a girl's-only punch; it's a hit with men too.


Yield

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

* 1 bunch seedless grapes (about 1/3 lb.)
* 1 (750-milliliter) bottle sparkling white grape juice, chilled
* 1/4 cup thawed frozen lemonade concentrate

Preparation

1. Place grapes in a zip-top plastic freezer bag; seal bag. (Do not remove grapes from stems.) Freeze completely (about 4 hours).

2. Gently stir together grape juice and lemonade concentrate in a large pitcher. Add frozen grapes to pitcher. Serve immediately.

Note: Grapes may be stored in freezer up to 1 week. For photography we doubled the recipe.

Strawberry Lemonade

Strawberry Lemonade - Parade Magazine June 28, 2009

from 1-2-3 Eats by Dorie Greenspan

About 3 1/2 cups water
1 3/4 cups sugar
Strips of zest from 2 lemons
1 pint strawberries, hulled
1 1/2 cups fresh lemon juice (from 6 to 9 lemons)
Ice cubes, for serving
10 whole strawberries, for decoration

1. Put 1 1/2 cups of the water and 1 1/2 cups of the sugar in a saucepan with the strips of zest. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let syrup steep 10 minutes.

2. Puree the hulled berries and remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a blender or food processor. Strain into a large pitcher and stir in the syrup (without the zest), lemon juice, and water to taste (up to 2 more cups). Chill well.

3. Stir before serving. Pour over lots of ice and finish with a berry on the rim.

Champagne and Banana Punch

Champagne and Banana Punch - from "Notably Nashville" by the Junior League of Nashville

• 3 bananas
• juice of 2 lemons
• 6 cups water
• 4 cups sugar
• sections of 2 oranges, chopped
• 1 (12 oz) can frozen orange juice concentrate
• 1 (48 oz) can unsweetened pineapple juice
• 1/2 bottle Champagne

Mash the bananas with the lemon juice in a heatproof bowl. Bring the water to a boil in a saucepan and add the sugar, stirring until completely dissolved. Add to the bananas and stir in the oranges, orange juice concentrate and pineapple juice. Let stand until cool.

Spoon into an airtight container and freeze until firm. Let stand at room temperature for 45 minutes. Combine with the champagne in a punch bowl and mix gently.

Serves 20 to 24.

Ginger Tea

Ginger Tea - April Watson

3 heaping T plain instant tea (plain, no sugar, no lemon)
1 1/2 c. sugar
2-3 hot water
6 oz. can frozen limeade
2 liters Ginger Ale (or enough to make 1 gallon)
2 c. orange juice

Combine the instant tea, sugar, and water. Stir well to make sure the sugar dissolves. Add the orange juice and limeade. refrigerate until ready to serve.

Just before serving, add enough Ginger Ale to make 1 gallon of liquid. If you prefer sweeter tea, omit 1 to 2 c. of the Ginger Ale.

Mexican Hot Chocolate

Mexican Hot Chocolate - marthastewart.com

1 quart milk
2 three-inch cinnamon sticks
10 oz. ibarra, or other Mexican chocolate, finely chopped
whipped cream, for serving
pinch of ground cinnamon, for serving

Place milk and cinnamon sticks in a heavy medium saucepan. Bring just to a boil, reduce heat, and add chocolate. Let the mixture stand until chocolate melts, about 3 minutes. Whisk until combined. Serve Mexican hot chocolate immediately, topped with a dollop of whipped cream and a pinch of ground cinnamon.

Orange Julius

Orange Julius

6 oz. can frozen orange juice
6 oz. water
6 oz. milk
1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
10 - 12 ice cubes

Combine all ingredients in blender, blend until frothy.

Lava Flow

Lava Flow

1 1/2 oz. Light Rum
2 oz. pineapple juice
1 oz. cream of coconut
1/2 banana
1/4 c. strawberry puree
1/2 c. crushed ice

Combine all ingredients in a blender except strawberry puree. Blend 20-30 seconds. Pour strawberry puree into a hurricane or collins glass. Follow with the blended mixture. This creates the flow.

Garnish with a pineapple wedge and paper umbrella.