Category Archives: recipes

Simple (syrup) Twist on the Classic Mint Mojito

by Sarah | 2 Comments

Hey Seasoned sippers!  With mint as our ingredient of the season, you’re likely to see a lot of mojito recipes on the blog this summer.  Today I’m going to put a simple twist on the classic mint mojito recipe.  A mint simple syrup twist to be exact.

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Mint Simple Syrup Ingredients:

  • 1 cup roughly chopped mint (give or take)
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup sugar

Mint Simple Syrup Instructions:

  • Place the roughly chopped mint leaves in a heat-safe bowl or jar.
  • Combine the water and sugar in a small sauce pot over medium-high heat.
  • Stir to dissolve the sugar and bring to a boil.
  • Once the mixture is boiling and all the sugar has dissolved, remove from heat.
  • Pour the sugar mixture over the mint leaves and cover the bowl with a plate or lid of some kind to allow the mixture to steep.
  • Uncover the simple syrup after a thirty minutes and strain out the mint leaves with a mesh strainer or cheese cloth.

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Mojito Ingredients:

  •  10 mint leaves
  • 1/2 lime
  • 2 tbsp mint simple syrup
  • 1-1.5 oz white rum
  • 1 cup ice (crushed if possible)
  • 1/2 cup club soda

 Mojito Instructions:

  • Roughly chop eight mint leaves and add them to the cocktail shaker along with half of the ice.
  • Cut the lime in half.  Cut one slice and then cut the remaining half into 4 wedges.  Squeeze the juice from the wedges into the cocktail shaker.  Drop the juiced wedges in as well.
  • Add two tablespoons of mint simple syrup to the shaker (add more if desired) along with 1-1.5 ounces of white rum.
  • Put the lid on tight and shake, shake, shake.
  • Empty the contents of the shaker into your tumbler, add more ice if desired and top it off with club soda. Garnish with a slice of lime and a few mint leaves.
  • Sit back, relax and sip.

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As you can see, I like to drink my cocktails while browsing through a book or two.  First I pulled out this classic Old Mr Boston Bartender Guide to compare mojito recipes, but alas there was no mojito recipe to be found.  I quickly became bored of browsing cocktail recipes (shame on me, I know) so I decided to flip through Two Eagles.  It’s a large photo book that looks at the natural history of the United States and Mexico borderlands.  It is over 200 pages filled with fantastic photos and interesting text so you may want to mix up another mojito!

Creamy Avocado Lime Popsicles {Vegan & Gluten Free}

by Sarah | Leave a comment

Summer is for swimming and reading and napping and popsicles, at least that’s what I always say.  Sometimes I find it hard to stay focused on my screen when the sun is shining outside.  I usually reward myself for working with little popsicle breaks.  Who needs a lunch break anyway? I’d rather have three popsicle and iced coffee breaks instead.

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A couple weeks ago, we shared some popsicle inspiration.  I mentioned that Paletas by Fany Gerson of La Newyorkina is an amazing recipe resource for popsicles and shaved ice.  Today’s recipe is straight from Paletas.  While we love sharing original recipes, sometimes the best ones are already out there and that’s totally the case with these creamy avocado lime popsicles.  The key is to use ripe avocados.  Remember we taught you how to pick and de-pit them?  Time to put those skills to use!

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Rhubarb Mojito!

by Katie | 3 Comments

In the spring rosemary was our ingredient of this season, this summer it’s mint. Today we’re kicking things off with a drink that is perfect for the spring to summer transition.

Let’s just get this out of the way. I love (lovity love love) mojitos, but I’m a purest and only ever order or make the traditional mojito. I envisioned kicking off our summer of mint with a basic mojito, but then I saw some fresh rhubarb at the farmer’s market. Knowing that rhubarb season ends soon,  what could we do but start the season with a deliciously pink Rhubarb Mojito?

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Rosemary Roasted Vegtables

by Katie | 3 Comments

Rosemary is our ingredient of the season. You can see all of our rosemary posts here. Today we’re ending the series with our easiest recipe and the absolute most popular rosemary dish in our house.

 

As you’ll see, this is a dish where any vegetable goes; the only constants are my roasting and seasoning methods. For those reasons this post reads more like an instruction manual and less like a recipe. If you’re making these for dinner, be sure to begin prepping them about two hours before you want to eat. I know that sounds crazy, but I like to do a lower roasting temperature that leaves the vegetables moist and concentrates their delicious flavors. After you’ve had them once you’ll see that the prep is so easy and they taste amazing, so it’s totally worth the cooking time. Throughout this post we’ve included photos of our past roasted veg experiments, all at different stages of preparation.

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Simple Strawberry & Greek Yogurt Popsicles

by Sarah | Leave a comment

The temps were high in North Carolina this weekend.  It felt a lot like the middle of July around here.  I was busy entertaining a few friends and we all decided to check out a local bikram yoga studio.  Yep, we thought the smartest way to beat the heat was to enter a 115° room for ninety minutes.  Our moment of salvation came at the end when the instructor gave us each a cold scented towel and a freeze pop.  Those little frozen treats left us wanting more.  We took our time thinking about it by the pool and then came up with this simple strawberry and greek yogurt popsicle recipe.  With only four ingredients, there is really no excuse not to try this naturally sweet fruit pop.

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It is best to use fresh and juicy strawberries for these pops.  Now is the perfect time to find a strawberry field near you!  There are dozens of you-pick-it strawberry fields near Chapel Hill and I think we found the prettiest one.  I enjoyed picking berries so much that I plan on picking some more this week!  You can’t beat paying $2.50 a pound for the ripest strawberries around.  If you’re looking for a fun activity this month, find a field near you!
Katie here with a few berry-washing tips:
  • It’s better to do a quick dunk in water or just run them through the faucet stream rather than to let your berries soak. If they’re in the water too long, they can absorb some of that H2O and their sweet flavor will get diluted.
  • Do you notice how your berries seem to mold much faster than other produce? Washing them is a great first attack to stop the mold, but even better is adding just a little bit of vinegar to your washing water. The vinegar will kill the model spores and, believe us, it will evaporate and won’t leave a funny taste on your berries. 
  • Finally, no matter your washing method, be sure to thoroughly dry your berries so that they don’t turn to mush in the fridge. Calder likes to put a folded paper towel in the bottom of a berry colander and just store the berries in there. The towel absorbs excess water and it evaporates fairly quickly in cold & dry fridge.

Ok, back to Sarah and the lovely pop ladies ~

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Equipment:

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Ingredients:

  • 2 cups fresh strawberries
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 cup greek yogurt
  • Juice of one lime

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Instructions:

  • Cut the tops off of two cups of strawberries.
  • Mash the berries for about a minute.
  • Add the sugar and stir.
  • Let the mixture sit for about twenty minutes.
  • Add the strawberries, greek yogurt, and lime juice to the blender.
  • Blend for thirty seconds to a minute.
  • Pour into the popsicle molds and freeze. Easy peasy, lime squeezey.

These pops are perfectly creamy and sweet.  They are sure to please a crowd of kids or for that matter, a group of gal friends.

From Crust to Crouton

by Sarah | Leave a comment

Yesterday we taught you how to infuse olive oil with rosemary and today we will teach you how to put it to good use.  There are a hundred and one ways to use rosemary infused olive oil, but which is the easiest one?  Adding flavor to homemade croutons!

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“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without.”  I try as best as I can to live by this mantra, which is how I first came to make my own croutons.  I bought two baguettes (something you should avoid) thinking I would eat them both immediately, but a few days later the remaining baguette was hard as a rock.  I could have killed someone with this baguette.  Birds would have ate the murder weapon. How’s that for the perfect crime?  I decided to forgo the murder and figure out what to do with my baguette bat.

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Rosemary Infused Olive Oil

by Sarah | 2 Comments

Rosemary is our ingredient of the season. A few weeks ago we infused vodka with rosemary and made bloody marys; today we’re infusing olive oil.  Find other rosemary concoctions here. 

Oil infusion may be my new favorite hobby.  I’m a first timer, but I’m here to rave about it.  Make this rosemary infused olive oil and thank yourself while cooking all your future meals.  I felt like a little chemist with the measuring, pouring, heating and transferring (sorry to all the chemists I’ve just insulted).  Oil infusion may not be the most exciting or glamorous activity for a Friday night, but it’s so stinkin’ easy and it’s plain stinkin’ too.  It makes your entire home smell super fresh.  The green herbs combined with warm olive oil ease your senses into an aromatic daydream.  Personally I was skipping along green hillsides in Italy.  I’m excited to try other herbs and even fruits like lemons and oranges.  A little basket of different oils and yummy breads would make a great gift for a chef or a snacker or an anyone.

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Roasted Rosemary Tomato Skewers

by Sarah | 6 Comments

Rosemary is our ingredient of the season.  Sometimes we drink it, sometimes we spray it and other times we bake with it. Oh, and sometimes we water it too.

Roasted Rosemary Tomatoes are a great addition to any meal! Seriously, they’re the best.  The rosemary skewers also make presentation a breeze, which is why I used mine as a cheese plate accompaniment.

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Packed full of flavor, but not overpowering, roasted rosemary tomatoes are delicious in couscous, quinoa and lettuce salads.  They also make a yummy topping for crackers and melba toast paired with some crumbles of cheese.  Roasted rosemary tomatoes are especially delicious in fettuccine alfredo, pasta primavera and margarita pizza or as a dinner side. Enough about how they taste, let’s talk about how roasted rosemary tomatoes are prepared.

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Rosemary *Sage* Fizz

by Katie | 1 Comment

Rosemary is our ingredient of the season (season of the season?). This is our second rosemary drink. We’ve already discussed infusing vodka with the herb, and today we’re using it to infuse simple syrup for a gin-based drink.

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You may recognize the photo above from Alex’s striped birthday recap. As I mentioned before, we were catering to the adults this year. Being the proud Pennsylvanians that we are, family gatherings always involve a case of Yuengling, but we often like to include a fun* alternative or two. With the little guy underfoot, I’m trying to be more smart in my planning. An alternate drink is awesome, but one that doesn’t have to be made glass-by-glass is even better. So, when I saw this recipe on A Cup of Jo, I couldn’t wait to try my first group-sized cocktail!

The original recipe called for gin, but I used my favorite substitute ~ Art in the Age’s Sage, which they describe as being a “garden gin” made from plants collected, grown, and chronicled from the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Ingredients & Such

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • fresh rosemary
  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice & lemon slices
  • 1 cup Art in the Age Sage
  • 1 bottle of Prosecco
  • Make the simple syrup. Mix together the sugar, water, and a few sprigs of rosemary. Bring to a boil until the sugar dissolves, then remove from the heat and let cool.
  • Mix the cool simple syrup together with the remaining ingredients.
  • Serve with a garnish of rosemary and/or lemon slices!

I loved this drink! It was delicious, and the combination of lemon and rosemary gave it a fresh and somewhat light flavor that I think would make this perfect for any sort of spring or summer event, particularly one outside on the green, green grass.  That said, I loved it so much that I’ll probably find an excuse to make it year round. Come back in December and I’ll be telling you that with its rosemary garnish, it’s the perfect drink for your Christmas party (especially if you add some frozen cranberries to the punch bowl!). 

The drink was strong, but as Joanna recommends, you can add a second bottle of Prosecco to lighten it a touch.  I kept it to one bottle, because our gathering was small, and as it was we still had some left over, and I would say that that is the only downside of the big-batch cocktail. On the other hand, I put the extra in the fridge, and happily sipped on it for the rest of the week. The Prosecco’s bubbles faded, but it still tasted delicious. 

*While the party was in full swing, I referred to this drink as being fun. Our sister, Kristin, then told me that she’s noticed (and it drives her crazy), that as women age they start to use fun as an adjective more often than they should (Isn’t that shirt fun? Look at this fun rabbit hole we’re going down. Should I go on?). Does this drive you crazy too? Or did you see this post and think, “my word, what a fun drink!”? Apparently we aren’t the only ones caught up in this debatable use of the word!

Fresh Guacamole

by Sarah | 4 Comments

Happy Cinco De Mayo friends!  In the celebration of Mexican heritage and pride we wanted to pass along our guacamole recipe.  Guacamole is simple to whip up, which is why everyone should know how to make it by heart!  I also learned how to store guac without it turning brown, like not even a tinge brown so read on muchachos.  Arriba arriba!

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