Tag Archives: food

Peach Mint Juleps for the Kentucky Derby

Peach Mint JulepThe Kentucky Derby is pretty big deal in my family. In fact, my mom used to serve juleps at the derby! Most of my extended family still lives in Louisville, so horse racing is right up there with basketball on the important sports scale. There isn’t really an important sports scale, I was just being facetious.

Peach Mint Julep Close-upAnyway, the derby is a great excuse to bring out your inner Gatsby– wear a large hat, make bets, and drink the classic derby drink, a mint julep.

But I have to tell ya’ll a secret. I am a proper southern lady, but I’m not the biggest mint julep fan. The drink always seems too sweet or too boozy. So, I put a little spin on the classic with the addition of peaches. I adapted the recipe from the following two recipes: Stonefruit and Mint Julep and Frozen Mint Julep.

This recipe will make four small drinks or two large drinks. I don’t judge.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of water
1 cup of sugar
2 cups of mint leaves
1 cup of Kentucky Bourbon
2 cups of frozen peaches
1 handful of ice

Step 1: Make a mint-flavored simple syrup by boiling the sugar, water and torn mint leaves together. Use a whisk to help the sugar dissolve in the water.

Step 2: After sugar has dissolved, take the syrup off the heat and let it cool. As the syrup is cooling, blend the whiskey, peaches and ice in a blender until it is the consistency of a smoothie.

Step 3: Once syrup has cooled to the touch, strain the mint out of syrup.

Step 3: Add the syrup to the blender and give it one last whir to ensure the mixture is completely blended.

Step 4: Wet the rim of your glass with water or fruit and dip the glass rim in sugar. Pour in your drink and garnish with a sprig of mint.

Step 5: Bet on the prettiest horse (which is usually my strategy) and enjoy your julep!

Note: Traditionally a mint julep is served in a silver goblet! Crazy, huh? Since I didn’t have any silver goblets lying around, I served the drinks in plain ‘ol chilled mason jars.

love,
melanie

Gluten-free, No Bake, Chocolate Cake Bites

cake bite

My oven has been broken for over a month. I live in a gorgeous building, but when something breaks, there is no hurry to fix it.

Which means my cake cravings are out of control. You know what I mean. You always want something more when it is practically impossible to acquire. So, I searched around the Internet, did what a good librarian does, and found THE BEST, gluten-free, no bake chocolate cake. EVER. I mean it.

You can find the original recipe at 101 Cookbooks. I’ve adapted it just a tad to make cake bites since the cake is so rich.

Supplies

  • cupcake pan
  • cupcake liners
  • plastic wrap
  • whisk
  • double boiler or the bowl- over-pan method described below
  • medium pan

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces of 70% dark chocolate, well chopped
  • 8 ounces of heavy cream
  • 1/2 teaspoon allspice
  • 2 teaspoons finely ground espresso
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine grain salt
  • cinnamon, to serve
  • whipped creme, to serve

Step 1. Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners. You may want to try spraying the liners with a little nonstick spray. I didn’t try it, but I wish I did since the bites were a bit ugly.

 

improvised double boiler

improvised double boiler

Step 2: Melt the chocolate in a double boiler over gentle heat. If you don’t have double boiler, don’t worry. I don’t have one either. Just put a larger bowl on top of a smaller saucepan and fill with about an inch of water and heat the water to simmering.

Step 3: As the chocolate is melting, in a separate pan, heat the cream over gentle heat. Stir in the allspice and the espresso.

Step 4: When the cream is hot to the touch, remove from heat and stir in the salt.

Step 5: After the chocolate has melted, pour it into the cream slowly and whisk slowly. At this point, you are probably going to think, this isn’t working! But I promise, if you are patient and keep whisking, it will come together.

Step 6: Pour mixture into the cupcake pan.

Step 7:  Cover with plastic wrap.

Step 8: Refrigerate until solid. I let mine refrigerate overnight.

Step 9:  Let the cake bites come up to room temperature.

cake bites

Step 10: Peel off the wrapper and finish them off with a little whipped creme and a dusting of cinnamon.

Hope your day is scrumptious!

love,
melanie

Strawberry Grapefruit Mimosas

Strawberry Grapefruit Mimosas

I love a classic mimosa, but for brunch on Sunday I wanted to try something a bit different. So, somehow I got the zany idea to substitute grapefruit juice for orange juice. Here’s what you’ll need to recreate this bright, delicious drink.

strawberry grapefruit mimosas

Ingredients:

  • 1 bottle of (cheap) champagne
  • 1 bottle of grapefruit juice
  • 1/2 cup of sugar (You could use less sugar if you like a tart drink)
  • approximately 1 dozen strawberries
  1. Cut up the strawberries.
  2. Add the sugar to the strawberries and mix.
  3. Transfer strawberries to a pitcher or a glass and meddle with a spoon.
  4. Fill the pitcher 1/2 way full of grapefruit juice.
  5. Top the pitcher off with champagne. Stir. Enjoy. It’s too easy!

Mondays call for a cocktail, don’t you agree?
love,
melanie