Hot Mulled Cider

Ring in your New Year with a steaming mug of cider! Adult and kid friendly versions available!

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

 

½ gallon freshly pressed apple cider

3 sticks cinnamon, plus more sticks for garnish

1 medium orange, unpeeled, sliced thinly

2 whole cloves

½ vanilla bean, seeds and pod: slice down the length of the pod, spread open, and scrape out the flesh by pressing with a butter knife

1 tablespoon honey, preferably orange blossom

⅓ cup brandy, optional

 

In a large saucepan or small pot over low heat, add all of the ingredients, and mix together. Stir occasionally until very warm. Serve in mugs with slices of orange.

Notes:

• If the mulled cider will be sitting for an exceptionally long time, remove the cloves when the flavor is to your liking.
• If you are a big fan of spice, combine 3 star anise and 1 inch of peeled, roughly chopped fresh ginger and put them into a tea strainer or mesh bag to steep along with the other ingredients. Much like steeping tea, remove the tea strainer or mesh bag of ginger and star anise when the desired flavor is achieved.

Yellow Peach and Basil Shrub

I declare this the summer of shrubs! Not the lawn “decoration.” No, the delicious, refreshing and fizzy fruit/vinegar drink that’s popping up at coffee shops and restaurants around the country – a call back to a common drink popular during America’s colonial era.

Simple to make and a perfect way to  store your summer fruit for months on end, here’s our recipe (yup – it’s another Drought Friendly Recipe from me and Super Sous) for a Yellow Peach and Basil Shrub.

 

Yellow Peach and Basil Shrub

Yield: 28-ounces shrub mix

 

1½ pounds ripe yellow peaches, pit discarded, diced large (3 large peaches)

1 cup organic granulated sugar

1 tablespoon orange zest

½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice

30 medium basil leaves, bruised with your fingers

½ cup white wine vinegar, plus more to taste

 

Add diced peaches and sugar to a large bowl. Mash the peaches with a potato masher until mostly pulverized and the sugar is fully dissolved. Stir in the orange zest, orange juice and bruised basil leaves.

Cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit at room temperature for 2 hours, stirring once, after 1 hour.

Place a fine mesh strainer over a large bowl and strain the mixture, pressing on the solids with a spatula to extract as much liquid as possible.

(Use the solids in your next smoothie!)

Stir in the vinegar. This beautiful liquid is your “shrub” mix.

Transfer shrub mix into a bottle or jar, close to seal, and store in the refrigerator until ready to enjoy.

Serve one part peach shrub mix for every four parts sparkling water.

Garnish with basil leaves and a few thin slices of peach.

Note: You can make it “adult” by adding a shot of alcohol, like whiskey or vodka.

Sparkling Rosé-White Sangría with Grand Marnier and Fresh Mint

Countdown to July 4th…

Why not make a dash to your local farmers market to grab some summer fruit and whip up this delicious beverage?

Yield: 8 to 10 servings

 

1 medium peach, pit removed and diced small

1 medium nectarine, pit removed and small diced small

1 pint strawberries, hulled and quartered

1 plum, pit removed and small diced small

1 pint red raspberries

Large fresh mint leaves, to taste

½ vanilla bean, seeds and pod: slice down the length of the pod, spread open, and scrape out the flesh by pressing with a butter knife

½ cup Grand Marnier

1 bottle Viognier white wine, chilled

1 bottle sparkling rosé wine, chilled

 

Combine the peach, nectarine, strawberries, plum, raspberries, mint, vanilla seeds and pod, Grand Mariner and Viognier in a large container.

If time permits, refrigerate for a few hours to allow the fruit to chill.

Pour into a pitcher or punch bowl, then just before serving, add the bottle of sparkling rosé.

TCHO Dirty Chocolate Chai

My recipe for Dirty Chocolate Chai (a chocolate chai tea with a shot of espresso!) using TCHO Chocolate is up and running on the TCHO website. It’s Winter – grab a mug!

Watermelon Ginger Juice

There are still delicious ripe watermelons on offer, so let’s juice them up with some mint and ginger. Mmmmm. A perfect end of summer refreshing drink.

 

Watermelon Ginger Juice

Yield: 2 cups

 

2 ½ cups watermelon flesh

20 mint leaves (stems on)

½-inch by ½-inch knob of fresh ginger

2 drops vanilla extract

 

Place mint leaves followed by the ginger and watermelon in a juicer and process. Stir in the two drops of vanilla extract. Drink up!

PB&C (Peanut Butter and Chocolate) Smoothie

Really can’t go wrong here. Cocoa powder, peanut butter, sweet, salty, spicy, protein, fiber, sweet-tooth killer. Blend on!

PB&C (peanut butter and chocolate) Smoothie

Yields: 2 cups

 

1 large banana, peeled

1 cup almond milk

½ cup nonfat Greek yogurt

2 tablespoons peanut butter

2 tablespoons unsweetened natural cocoa powder

7 small fresh deglet noor or medjool dates, pitted

1 tablespoon honey

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

1/16 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

 

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend on high until thoroughly combined.

Blueberry Ginger Smoothie

USA just advanced to the final 16 in the World Cup, so let’s celebrate with something BLUE from red, white and blue! This blueberry ginger smoothie is not only delicious, it’s super healthy as blueberries contain lots of antioxidants. Plus it has cinnamon which the City of Hope considers a superfood in addition to blueberries. So, drink up!

 

 

Blueberry Ginger Smoothie

Yields: 2 ½ cups

 

1 10-ounce bag frozen blueberries

1 large banana

1 cup almond milk

½ cup nonfat Greek yogurt

1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon freshly grated ginger

 

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend on high until thoroughly combined. If you prefer a thinner consistency, add additional almond milk to your liking.