Let me start by saying I am NOT a whisky drinker, as a matter of fact, I don’t even like the stuff.  Somehow, I was talked into giving this drink a try, and to my surprise, it is actually pretty good.  You cannot keep me away from anything that contains ginger ale, which helps a great deal.

Of course, we will keep trying new recipes, just to see if we find something better, but we may have found a winner. (The original recipe calls for brandy, but because of the roommate’s preference, we substituted in whiskey.)

Horse’s Neck

Ingredients:

• spiral lemon peel
• 2 oz whiskey (or bourbon or brandy)
• 8 oz ginger ale
• 2-3 dashes bitters

Directions

Place the spiral lemon peel into a glass.  Add ice cubes to the glass.  Pour in the whiskey and ginger ale.  Add bitters. Mix well.

$35 for amazing food, and lots of it.  Who can resist?!

The first place I went to with the roommate for date night. We had eaten at Casa Oaxaca before, and found out exactly why they are known for their moles.  Our second trip was even more amazing.  With sweet potato tarts, pumpkin spiced enchiladas with mole negro, bread pudding, and a margarita happily resting in my stomach, the roommate pretty much had to roll me out of there, which was difficult, since he had his own wonderful menu to get through.

Then there was the mess at Hill Country Barbecue…The absolutely delicious mess, that is.  I went here with my 2 bosses from the bridal shop, who have quite the reputation for eating everything in sight, never gaining a pound, and then going back for more.  When we went up to order a restaurant week special for each of the three of us, we did get some strange looks, but we guaranteed the man taking our order that we would be fine.  Let’s just say, I ate barbecue for an entire week after that night.  It was a dream come true.

From here on out, at least one visit for restaurant week is going to be a must!

This just means that we have to keep experimenting with different cocktails, which isn’t such a bad thing.  This past weekend, we found two new recipes and decided to give them a try.  The first was a rosemary gin fizz.  It wasn’t too bad, but there wasn’t much rosemary flavor at all.  This could have a lot to do with the fact that we don’t have a proper tool to muddle ingredients with (We will have to remember this for the registry).  I don’t want to give up on this cocktail completely, because I think it has potential and deserves another chance, but I don’t think it is going to make it into the finalists for our wedding cocktail.

Rosemary Gin Fizz via Cookie and Kate

Ingredients:

• 3 one-inch sprigs of fresh rosemary
• 1 small lemon, juiced
• 1/2 teaspoon honey
• 1 1/2 ounces gin
• 3 ounces club soda

Directions:

In a glass, muddle the fresh rosemary, lemon juice and honey.  Fill the glass with ice, then pour in the gin and top with club soda. Give it a little mix.  Enjoy!

Good News!  My Christmas present to myself was to join the 21st century with an Iphone.  I can’t even begin to describe how much easier this little gadget is going to make the process of blog updates.  This is especially going to make the roommate happy because he gets a little antsy when I make him wait to eat until I get a few photos of whatever it  we have concocted in the kitchen.  I think now is a better time than ever to make my official New Year’s resolution of blogging more often.

On the topic of Christmas presents, I have to thank my sister for my recent lack of productivity and my new addiction…

Even though I have today off of work I am forcing myself to get through that to do list stuck to the top of what I really want to occupy my day with.  Yesterday I couldn’t tear myself away and spent about 7 hours buried in the pages of these books, so today must be filled with checking tasks off of my list.  The only problem with getting sucked in by the latest series meant for readers younger than myself is that I often notice I am reading the same books as my middle school students.  Though, even when I try and read something that I think would be more out of their realm, like Tina Fey’s Bossypants,  I still see a few students with a copy tucked in their trapperkeeper.  Oh well, maybe middle school is just the prime age to find great reading.

Apple Bread  via What’s Megan Making (minus the glaze)

Ingredients:

1 1/4 c. unsalted butter, softened
2 1/2 c. dark brown sugar, packed
4 large eggs
3 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp. salt
2 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/4 c. Greek yogurt
2  tbsp. cinnamon, ground
3/4 tsp nutmeg, ground
1 1/2 c. pecans, chopped (optional, I didn’t have any so I left them out)
2 large apples, peeled and diced

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease 2- 9″ x 5″ loaf pans and set aside.

In a medium bowl, sift the flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and baking soda together. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and continue beating. Slowly add the sifted dry ingredients, beating until just incorporated. Beat in the Greek yogurt. Fold in the apples and pecans. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and lightly smooth the top of each unbaked loaf. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until golden brown on the top and a toothpick inserted in the center has only a few moist crumbs when removed. Cool for 10 minutes in pan, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

About a month ago, we had a random cold weekend here in DC, and while most of the normal people chose to hunker down and wait it out, I decided it was a perfect weekend to visit the orchard.  Not only did the roommate and I find the most amazing orchard with extra delicious apple cider (http://pickyourown.com/), but we found out that we have been doing this orchard thing wrong the whole time!  Each year we usually wait until middle to late October to pick our apples, which leads us to spend about 3 hours looking for just enough apples to make the trip seem worth it.  Of course this has other consequences, like the roommate hating this whole apple picking process.  The cold weekend that we chose to embark in our orchard adventure occurred in early October this year and we were just amazed when we were able to fill our bag with a variety of apples in less than 45 minutes.  We both walked into the first row of trees, stopped, and stared at each other in amazement that there were actually apples on the trees!  I think I have changed the roommate’s attitude toward apple picking now that we know when and where to go…we will found out in early October next year.

While I did not match the 20 lbs of apples that we came home with last year, I did have plenty of apples to make delicious goodies with.  Let’s start with this delicious dutch apple pie (and I didn’t even have to mess with pesky pie dough).

Dutch Apple Pie via Cutting Edge of Ordinary

Key Lime Pie Ice Cream via Hungry Housewife

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 3/4 cup key lime juice, fresh or bottled
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 14 oz can of Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk
• Pinch of salt
• Zest of 2 limes
• 3 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped (not too finely)
• 3 sheet plain or honey graham crackers, crushed (not to finely)

Directions:

In a large bowl, stir together the milk, key lime juice, heavy cream, condensed milk and salt.  Cover and place in the fridge for 2 hours or until the mixture is cold.  Pour into your ice cream maker and make according to your ice cream makers directions.  Just a few minutes before the ice cream is done add the lime zest, chocolate and graham crackers.  If your chocolate and graham cracker pieces are too small, they get lost in the ice cream, so chop them up, but keep some larger chunks.  Remove from your ice cream makers bowl and place in a freezer safe container. Place in the freezer until firm.

**If you are smart, like me, you will find this delicious gelato that comes in these cute reusable containers.  I have saved up about 3 of them by this point and use them to store all of my homemade ice cream in now.  They work wonderfully and I love emptying them every time.  I just have to remember to not be fooled by the flavor marked on the front of the jar.

Make a successfully delectable batch of macarons.

I have never tried to make macarons, but I hear they are not the easiest thing to make successfully.  There are more stories out there about macaron failures than successes.  Not to mention that my forte lies with messing up baking projects, and I plan on living for quite a while longer, so I have time.

The roommate wants to run a marathon…I just want homemade macarons.  They will have to be above average to satisfy my requirements

Cupcakes are tasty, trust me, I agree with you there, but the roommate and I are only 2 people.  So, not only do I make myself happy with a batch of cupcakes, but I get to share the wealth with everyone at work.  I can eat a whole batch of cupcakes on my own, but sometimes I cannot eat them fast enough, and those lovely carbohydrate gems go to waste.   In addition, not only do you get my biased stamp of approval, but everyone that tasted a cupcake was even more approving of the recipe than I was.  Maybe sharing is best for everyone.

Cinnabon Cupcakes via Frosting for the Cause with Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

Cake:

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
• 1 cup butter (room temperature)
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs (room temperature)
• 1 cup milk (room temperature)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Frosting:

• ½ cup (1 stick/8 Tablespoons) butter, at room temperature
• 8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups powdered confectioners sugar
• 1 to 4 Tablespoons milk

Directions:

Cake:     Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a cupcake tray with liners. In a bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon powder. Using the paddle attachment on a stand mixer, beat the butter until creamy.
Add the sugar and cream with the butter for 7 minutes, scraping the bowl when needed (batter should be nearly white and fluffy). Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Turn the speed to low and alternatively, add the flour mixture and milk, starting and ending with flour until just mixed. Add vanilla until just mixed. Divide the batter into the cupcake liners until 2/3 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out just clean 10-20 minutes. Cool for 5-10 minutes on a rack. Remove each cupcake from the tray and wrap in cling film individually to seal in moisture. Cool on wire racks and frost when cold.

Frosting:    Place butter in a large mixing bowl and blend slightly. Add cream cheese and blend until combined, about 30 seconds.  Add vanilla extract and powdered sugar and blend on low speed until combined. Increase to medium speed and beat until it begins to get fluffy.  Slowly add the heavy cream, a little bit at a time until desired consistency is met. (Don’t add too much if you want the frosting to stay in place when piped on cupcakes.)  Beat until fluffy, about 1 minute.  Use at once or keep refrigerated. (This frosting will keep well in the refrigerator for several days, but you may need to re-beat it for the best texture.)

With an ice cream maker begging to to be taken out of the cupboard and a couple of grills just waiting to be used on the roof, I am hoping for some yummy new recipes to come along.

In order for deliciousness to occur, we find that teamwork is best;  I am in charge of making the dough and the roommate is in charge of grilling it.  For our first grilled pizza, we stuck with the tried and true, my absolute favorite: Grilled pizza on my usual pizza dough with pesto, asparagus, tomato, and goat cheese. It turned out delicious, not necessarily beautiful, but delicious nonetheless.

If in doubt, Alton Brown is a great teacher when it comes to grilling pizza.