Fallen Souffle

We have been blessed with beautiful weather this week in NC, it is so nice to be able to sit outside and relax and not sweat to death! The humidity will be here before we know it! So I wanted to make a refreshing drink and I was dreaming of the Ina drink with tea and apple juice but we didn’t have any apple juice and somehow Juicy Juice just wasn’t doing it for me. So I went along those lines and used Crystal Light as the sweetener, which I thought was a pretty good idea. It was really refreshing, low in calories and easy to make. Evan said it needed a cool name, I couldn’t think of one so…

Berry Lemon Cooler

-8 Berry Zinger Tea bags (you can use other “zingers’ but I love this one right now)
-1 container of powdered Crystal Light lemonade (not the one that makes a ton of lemonade, I’m talking about the individual ones that make like 2 quarts)
- 8 cups water

Boil about 2 cups of water and pour over tea bags in a measuring cup, let steep 5 minutes or so. Meanwhile in a pitcher combine the powdered lemonade and 6 cups of water. Remove the tea bags and let tea cool, I usually add ice cubes to speed up the process. When cooled, add the tea to the lemonade, stir and enjoy over ice!

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Yeah, It’s been one of those weeks. To start I had to leave the beach after only a 3 day visit…it was so sad! Then I came home to an almost empty house (Evan was in Florida on business- it’s a tough job) and to top that off I was rejected from two job interviews I had. It’s a tough blow to the self esteem. But alas a new week is upon us and it’s time to take it head on. So why not start with a sweet and tart glass of homemade lemon-limeade. It’s cool, refreshing, and so much better than the powdered stuff!

I would highly recommend getting an electric juicer for this recipe…not the Jack Lelane kind, just something that juices citrus. I use mine all of the time and I can throw the parts in the dishwasher. I use it more than I thought I would and they aren’t that expensive.

Honey Lemon-Limeade
2 cups of lemon/lime juice (fresh squeezed oranges would make a kick ass orangeade!)
1/4 cup honey (I used orange blossom honey, hence the darker color)
1 cup sugar
4 cups water, divided
2 cups ice

1. Fill a 2 quart pitcher with the lemon/lime juice (I would recommend running it through a strainer to make sure all of the seeds are out).

2. In a medium saucepan, combine 2 cups of water, the honey and sugar over high heat and allow for the sugar and honey to dissolve. Allow to cool.

3. Add the 2 cups of ice, an additional 2 cups of water and the sugar water to the pitcher and mix well. Serve over ice and mint leaves.

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Sometimes we just need a little something to help us to escape from the stresses of life. Whether you use chocolate, pasta, or tea to help you relax I think everyone has some sort of food or drink they turn to. When the times get rough, mine just happens to be of the alcoholic nature. Now I do not drink on a regular basis, I will have a beer or glass of wine maybe once during the week, if that, and on the weekends I will casually drink with friends. Since I have been so busy I have had less because I just don’t have the taste for it. But this week has been a challenge to say the least so I felt I was due a nice cocktail.

Evan was at his softball game and I was catching up on my DVR-ed shows so I decided to try a new drink. I saw this drink on Oprah, I think she aired it Monday. I made a few adjustments for my taste and have found my new drink of choice. I know you are all probably sick of me posting about lemons but they are my new “it” ingredient and they make this drink fabulous!

It is refreshing and smooth and the lemon and sugar are just perfect. Try it the next time you need to get away for a bit…

Lemon Drop Martini
inspired by Oprah’s “Legend’s Martini”

juice of 2 lemons
2 teaspoons sugar
2 shots of good vodka
2 springs of mint
sparkling water (optional)

Combine all ingredients except sparkling water into a shaker with ice. Shake until well combine or until your frustrations have somewhat subsided. Strain into a beautiful glass and add sparkling water if desired.

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So I am on a major health kick right now which led me to buy the largest bag of baby spinach ever! I guess I thought I would be eating alot of salads but I can only takes those for about two days before I am bored, so I had to get creative with the spinach. I have sauteed it with olive oil and garlic, then squeezed a little lemon over it. I have put it on pizza, I have even thrown it in some pasta. Now that the spinach is looking less than desirable I needed a way to squeeze the last bit of life out of if.

So I turned to my girl Ali in one of the issues of Very Good Things and found her recipe for Fruits and Greens Smoothies. This was perfect! I just so happen to have a plethora of fruits hanging around in the fridge was well as about a gallon of vanilla yogurt (yeah I told you it was quite a kick!) So with a little tweaking I was on my way to a beautiful start to my day!

Never underestimate the power of spinach! It is so good for you and extremely versatile. I will be writing alot more about it in the coming days as I experiment more with it.

Jen’s take on Ali’s Fruits & Greens Smoothies
Makes 1 Giant Breakfast Smoothie

1 banana, cut in chunks
1 mango, diced
1 (6 ounce) tub vanilla yogurt
1 orange, peeled and de-seeded
1 1/2 cups fresh spinach leaves

1. Place the banana, peaches, yogurt, apple, juice and spinach into a blender. Cover and blend until smooth, stopping frequently to push down anything stuck to the sides. Pour into pretty glass and serve.

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I’m back! I slept for 10 hours last night and I am feeling rejuvenated! (Not to mention Evan comes back from his weekend with the boys in Atlantic City) My sister came to visit for the day with her ADD dog Lexi and she is just about to start her final exams and projects so I thought I would make her a treat when she came. I have had this recipe for about 2 years now and who knows why I have never made it. It’s a Paula Deen recipe so you know it must be good. It is so simple, cheap and I even made is fat free! Steph loved it and I have some leftover to enjoy this week. The recipe calls for vanilla but I substituted it for a bit of peppermint extract which was perfect! You must try this recipe for the holidays, it would be so good spiked with your favorite dessert liquor!

The cookie is one of the many I received from the fabulous Cookie Exchange I went to Friday night. I came back home with a cake box full of cookies! I had such a great time and it was just what I needed to get back into the holiday spirit! Thanks Tammy!

Paula’s Creamy Dreamy Hot Chocolate
1 can sweetened condensed milk (I used the fat free one)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons of extract of your choice (vanilla, peppermint, or even orange would be yummy)
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 cups hot water

1. In a large sauce pan combine milk, cocoa, salt and extract with a whisk. Slowly pour in hot water and continue to whisk until combined. Heat with medium heat until warmed through but do not boil.

2. Serve with a liquor or mini marshmallows.

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One of our fondest memories of Italy is a pizza shop in Milan called Da Willy’s. We frequented this shop about twice a week suring our three week visit but nothing will compare to the first night we were in Milan when we introduced to this quaint shop and an amazing liquor, limoncella. I sweet, syrupy lemony tear, usually sipped after dinner. Well there was no sipping for us, come on we were from ECU, we were taking shots like it was Tequila Night at PB’s. We paid the price the next day when we had to be up and dressed in business attire in 100 degree heat and 100% humidity with no A/C.

Ahh those were the days, we drank much more limoncello while in Italy but had not had since then until our honeymoon. One night on our cruise was Italian night and they sold shot glasses and unlimited limoncello for $3. That was a bargain, we could drink a gallon of it between the two of us, the the older people watched in amazement as we quickly sipped our favorite libation.

So I somehow was feeling nostagic and was staring at a bag of lemons about to turn on me when I felt motivated to make limoncello. As Evan put it, “you don’t have enough to work on, now your making your own booze!?”, well it’s no Moonshine. I had read the review of this recipe and alot of people companied that it was hard to do. Rubbish! As long s you have a good sharp vegetable peeler you are good to go. I would also recommend having a gallon size glass jar with a lid to keep it in. I keep the jar in the freezer and a smaller pretty bottle in the fridge.

Adapted from Everyday Italian’s Giada de Laurentis.
Limoncello
10 lemons
1 (750-ml) bottle vodka
3 1/2 cups water
2 1/2 cups sugar

Using a vegetable peeler, remove the peel from the lemons in long strips (reserve the lemons for another use). Place the lemon peels in a 2-quart pitcher. Pour the vodka over the peels and cover with plastic wrap. Steep the lemon peels in the vodka for 1 week at room temperature.

Stir the water and sugar in a large saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Cool completely. Pour the sugar syrup over the vodka mixture. Cover and let stand at room temperature overnight. Strain the limoncello through a mesh strainer. Discard the peels. Transfer the limoncello to bottles. Seal the bottles and refrigerate until cold, at least 4 hours, can be frozen.

This liquor should be sipped, not shot and is used after dinner.

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