Cocktails

Cranberry Mule

December 22, 2018

I can’t believe Christmas is THREE days away! I have to admit, having a gaggle of children or six means that December is a crazy amount of work and a crazy amount of fun. I finished everything except for a few Amazon boxes that are trickling in and yesterday I felt like my car full of food and some last big surprises was Santa’s sleigh. Now it’s time to just enjoy the kids and friends.

That means having the ingredients for this Cranberry Mule on hand. It is so light and refreshing, with lots of lime juice and instead of simple syrup, you make a mix with whole cranberries, lime zest, water and sugar that flavors the whole drink.

Like the classic Moscow Mule, this is a vodka based drink, but you could also use tequila if (like me) you aren’t a huge vodka drinker (I posted one with tequila a while back here.) I like this drink with either one though because it’s delicious. It’s so light and refreshing and I like to add a splash of seltzer to stay hydrated, and it feels so festive!

So if you are looking for a drink for this fun festive week, or even New Year’s Eve, this is an easy delicious one! If you want to make a large batch, definitely double the simple syrup.

Merry, merry Christmas friends! Hope your hearts are full to the brim of love and peace and cheer. xoxo Katie

Cranberry Mule (printer version here):

Serves 6

Ingredients:

For the Whole-Berry Cranberry Simple Syrup:

1/2 cup of sugar

8 oz. fresh or frozen cranberries (2 cups)

1 tablespoon finely grated lime zest

For the cocktail:

2 ounces vodka, chilled
1/2 ounce fresh lime juice, plus 3 thinly sliced lime rounds, for garnish
4 ounces ginger beer (1/2 cup), chilled
seltzer water, plain or cranberry lime (optional)

Directions:

1. Make the Whole-Berry Cranberry Simple Syrup: Stir together sugar, cranberries, lime zest, and 2 tablespoons water in a small saucepan. Cook over medium-high, stirring constantly, until cranberries just start to burst, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; let cool completely. Refrigerate, covered, until cold, at least 1 hour and up to 1 week.

2. Make the cocktail: Fill a 12-ounce glass with ice cubes. Stir in vodka, lime juice, ginger beer, and 3 tablespoons cranberries and syrup from Whole-Berry Cranberry Simple Syrup. Add seltzer water if desired. Garnish with lime rounds.

Adapted from marthastewart.com

20 Ideas for Cooking with Apples

October 16, 2016

Happy fall weekend everyone!

Can you even believe how gorgeous it is outside? I am pretty sure God decided to balance out our everlasting winters with just magical fall weather in New England. I feel like I am inside of a magazine (probably Martha Stewart’s? Maybe Real Simple?) every time I go outside.

Yesterday our good friends Matt & Heather and their sweet girls met us to go apple picking. We met at a farm just over the border of Massachusetts called Cider Hill Farm and I am so smitten I am getting their winter CSA.

They have lots of free range chickens and they have this little tunnel they run through from their coop to an open pasture that we dubbed the chicken superhighway. I will forever have the image of them running through the fields as my image of happy, free range chickens.

We picked so many apples and I am so excited to find ways to use them. Since it appears that everyone on the planet went apple picking this weekend too, it seems a little round up of apple recipes are in order.

1. If you follow me on IG you might have seen my story this morning where I made this for pancakes this morning. Pretty much my all time favorite go-to apple recipe. Just sauté 3 peeled & sliced apples over medium-high heat with 3 T. butter and 3 T. brown sugar, plus a pinch of salt and cinnamon.

2. My friend Kirsten wowed me with the very easy app/dessert at book club where she had a brick of cream cheese with two inches of Carmel on top served with sliced apples that you dip into both and I *might* just eat half the apples we pick tomorrow that way. I found this example of it if you need a visual. So good!

3. This Apple Rose Tart is just beautiful. I saw a new French version of The Chef’s Table on Netflix and in my very rough college French I would say I understood about 25% of it, but I understood that making roses out of apples is awesome. Can’t wait to try it. And it is gluten free!

4. This recipe for Chicken Breasts stuffed with Apples and Goat Cheese seems like a very easy weeknight dinner.

5. Fennel and Apple are such a great combo, and I am a sucker for an apple slaw of any kind. This one looks like it would be great paired with pulled pork or chicken.

6. I follow Wednesday Chef on Instagram and her German Sunken Apple Cake recipe looks heavenly.

7. Something about Jaques Pepin just inspires me over and over again. So naturally, his country apple galette with store pizza dough caught my attention.

8. When Smitten Kitchen declares that her mom makes the best apple cake, I’m going to take her word for it. This recipe is my #1 recipe I hope to try with our weekend haul.

9. I have seen a few versions of this apple fritter recipe around the web, some slice the apples into rings, others wedges. All I know is these look heavenly.

10. I vow that this is the year I will make my own chutney. Ina Garten’s apple chutney looks like a great one, but Food & Wine’s Apple, Bacon and Fennel Chutney is singing some kind of siren song to me as well.

11. These baked apples look amazing, and my kids would love them with big scoops of vanilla ice cream.

12. If you want to see how a real Mainer makes apple pie, check out this recipe.

13. When I was growing up we had a now-defunct chain restaurant that served these amazing German Pancakes with apples, and my parents actually let me order them for dinner. I promise to make these beauties for my kids and surprise them with a breakfast for dinner that they will remember.

14. Any version of grilled cheese with apple is drool-worthy, but this one looks amazing.

15. This Chicken Apple Burger is totally making it onto our dinner rotation.

16. Fall = Soup. So this Sweet Potato and Apple soup with a side of blue cheese & crackers or this Curried Sweet Potato Apple Soup needs to happen.

17. This Asian-inspired pulled pork sandwich with apple slaw has me drooling. It looks so different, with soy and mushrooms.

18. These Apple and Sage pork chops from William-Sonoma look like a dream dinner.

19. This Apple Cider cocktail looks like happiness in a glass. But if you are still curious there are 15 more apple cocktailhttp://www.seriouseats.com/2015/09/apple-cocktails-fall-entertaining.html ideas where that came from.

20. I think we should end with this little video from Julia Child with apple desserts who reminds us that apples are the temptation of Eve but we can still use them to make a love tart tatin.

Happy Fall! xoxo Katie

The Mexican Mule

May 5, 2016

Happy Cinco De Mayo! Or as we say in the US, Happy Reason to Eat Tacos and Drink Margaritas (as if we needed one).

I am super excited to share my new favorite cocktail. I haven’t done many cocktail posts, a travesty I hope to remedy, since I have recently gotten into a little mixologist love. My sister Aly is way more up on what all the cool kids are doing since she has worked at really upscale bars and restaurants, and creates things like lavender champagne spritzers and lemon-thyme simple syrups so I know there is a whole rainbow of things to do in the cocktail world and I am just dipping my baby toe into the fun.

Enter Mexican Mules – I ordered a Moscow Mule recently with an apricot twist, and it was so yummy and refreshing. When I looked up the recipe, I found a Mexican Mule, which replaces the vodka with tequila. This was compelling because tequila makes me laugh. (Skinny Girl Margarita forever.)

I was unprepared for how delicious the Mexican Mule would be. The spicy sweetness from the ginger beer mixed with the sourness of the lime just makes fireworks happen. It’s a Cinco De Mayo party in your mouth.

It is so refreshing that I have already served it twice to friends that came over, even though we have barely broken 60 degrees here in New England. I forsee a steady supply of ginger beer in my shopping cart in warmer days, friends.

So I had to share the love. And I also should tell you that the box of ginger beer (which I found at my liquor store) has these other brilliant suggestions:

Vanilla Mule with vanilla vodka
Raspberry Mule using raspberry vodka
The ‘Hot’ Mule using spicy vodka (which sounds so good I am on a spice kick in my drinks right now)
Blueberry Mule using – you guessed it blueberry vodka + fresh blueberries.

But if you are a tequila fan or just adventurous, I highly recommend this one. It’s a keeper. xoxo Katie

Mexican Mule:

1 1/2 oz Patron Tequila (or your favorite brand)

3 oz. Ginger Beer

Juice of Half a Lime + Lime wedges for serving

(I also like to water it down with some seltzer when I am hosting a party or otherwise am trying to be a responsible human being).