Sparkling Lavender Lemonade Recipe

Lavender and Lemons are two of my favorites so when I came across this recipe i had to share!  I love to make a lavender-lemon soap and now here's a unique twist to classic lemonade.  This recipe and photo is from Kori who blogs at Mountain Rose herbs' blog.  She has other lemonade recipes besides this one.

Lavender Lemonade

Make the lavender syrup…

4 cups water

2 cups sugar

3 Tablespoons organic lavender flowers (I used dried, but you could use fresh lavender)

Bring to a boil over medium high heat until sugar is dissolved.  The consistency will be like a lightly thickened syrup.  Cool. At this point, you can cover and refrigerate and use as needed or for the rest of this recipe.

Make the lemonade base…

Juice 6-8 organic lemons to make 1 ½ cups of juice

Grate 2-3 Tablespoons of lemon zest/rind

1 ½ cup water

1 ½ cup of organic sugar

Heat water and sugar to boil and boil for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and add lemon juice and rind.  Cool. At this point, you can cover and refrigerate and use as needed for individual glasses of lemonade (add more water, ice, etc.)

NOW…mix the lavender syrup and lemonade base in a large punch bowl or beverage dispenser.  Add 1 gallon of cold water and 1 bottle of champagne (or you could add club soda or non-alcoholic sparkling cider, or even a little vodka if you’d like).  Stir and add about 4 cups of ice.

Recipe: Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Walnuts

Brussel sprouts are great for fall/winter gardens.  I am considering a vegetable garden this year so I thought a few recipes involving the veggies would be a good motivator.  Brussel sprouts are a delicious way to get more fiber and vitamins in your diet.

Recipe: Roasted Brussels sprouts with walnuts
Ingredients

• 2 lbs brussel sprouts
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Process

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Wash sprouts and rip outer leaves
• cut sprouts into a uniform size, leaving small ones whole
• boil sprouts for 5 minutes and pat dry
• place sprouts in roasting pan; coat with olive oil and vinegar.  Add salt and pepper to taste
• Roast for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure even browning
• add chopped walnuts, roast for 5 minutes and serve.

Lavender Rose lemonade - yum yum!

    My ingredients - lemons, lavender, rose petals and a teapot
(honey not pictured)

Lemonade is a perenial summer time favorite.  I decided to add a different twist by adding lavender buds and rose petals.  I made this up on the fly but here's what I did.  My friend Virna gave me a lavender and rose tea.  I made a cup and really liked it - it was great as is without any sweetener.  I didn't want to be wasteful so i steeped it twice, and the 2nd steep, i used the lavender rose tea in my lemonade.
So here are my steps:
1. Boil water and add to lavender buds and rose petals to make a lavender-rose infusion/tea.
2. Squeeze the juice of 2 lemons.  Mine were from my friend Glo, actually the lemons were from her brother's tree).  You can use more depending on how much lemonade you want to make.  Mine was for 1 pitcher.
3. Add water to the tea, and then add your lemon juice.  I tasted it as I went along to figure out the right amount of water. 
4. Add sweetener such as honey or agave nectar.  i used honey.  Add it to taste.
Voila!  Pretty simple and fun to drink.  There's a faint lavender smell, and you can taste the rose and lavender in the lemonade.

Drink Up!  It's a litle pink from the lavender and rose petals

Recipe: Salted Caramel Cupcakes

I recently had a Sprinkles Salty Caramel cupcake, and it was bliss!  They are only available until July 31 so I will have to make another trip and buy some to freeze.  In the meantime, i decided to search for a caramel cupcake recipe and stumbled across this recipe from a Sweet Spoonful.  While I haven't tried this one yet, it looks really good and I will add it to my list.

This particular caramel cake recipe is from The Southern Foodways Alliance Community Cookbook. Now a word on these cupcakes: the recipe, as printed, is for a cake. But I’ve promised coworkers and friends I’d bring them treats this week so I wanted something more portable. The thing to know about this frosting: a) you can do it (go, go, go), b) the caramel is mind-blowing and c) as printed, it is so not acceptable for a cupcake. For a cake, it’s the kind of frosting that you pour over the top and spread around a bit and let it harden; for a cupcake, it’s just a flat, sticky mess. So I whipped up an American buttercream and simply added the majority of the caramel to it. The frosting is on the sweeter side, so if you’d prefer to make a simple cream cheese frosting and add the caramel to that, I think that would be fabulous. The good news is that the cupcake is not at all overly sweet, so it all works.

The cake itself is light, and subtly sweet with a healthy dose of vanilla. It reminds me of being a kid. I plan on making it many, many more times. It’d be the perfect birthday cake with a good chocolate frosting or a fabulous summer cake with berries and lemon curd in between the layers. You’re going to fall hard for this cake. And the salt on top? It just seemed right. It helps to balance out the sweetness of the frosting and what’s better than caramel and salt together?

Salted Caramel CupcakesAdapted from: The Southern Foodways Alliance Community Cookbook
While it’s sometimes tempting to use all-purpose flour for everything, do follow the directions and use cake flour here. You’ll notice a difference in the lightness of the crumb–one of the most likeable features of this cake recipe. Because you won’t add all of the caramel into the icing, you’ll have some leftover. Good news! It’s perfect over ice cream or drizzled atop whiskey coffees in the evening.

Ingredients:
Cake:1 cup whole milk
4 large egg whites, at room temperature
2 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 cups sifted cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, softened
3/4 cup heavy cream

Icing:
(For the Caramel:)3 cups sugar
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup heavy cream

(For the Buttercream:)1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 – 1  1/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
good sea salt, to top

Directions:Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray 2 cupcake trays with cooking oil and line with cupcake papers.

In a bowl, mix 1/4 cup of the milk with the egg whites and vanilla extract. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, quickly mix the flour with the sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the butter and the remaining 3/4 cup of milk. Beat at a low speed until blended, then beat at medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the egg white mixture in 3 additions, beating the batter on medium-speed for 20 seconds after each addition. 

In another bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the cream until soft peaks form. Stir 1/3 of the whipped cream into the batter, then fold in the rest with a spatula. Using an ice-cream scoop, spoon out the batter evenly amongst the cupcake tins. Do note that the batter does rise a little, so don’t overfill. Bake for 20-24 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centers come s out clean. Let cupcakes cool on a wire rack completely.

Make the Caramel:
In a saucepan, stir 2 1/4 cups of the sugar with the corn syrup and milk. Cook over moderate heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Keep warm.

Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar in a deep, heavy saucepan. Cook the sugar over moderate heat, swirling occasionally, until an amber caramel forms. Carefully pour the warm milk mixture over the caramel. It will bubble something fierce. Keep stirring–this is normal. Cook over moderately high heat, stirring until the caramel dissolves.

Stop sitrring and cook until the caramel registers 235 F on a candy thermometer–this will take 5-8 minutes. Be patient. Remove from the heat. Stir in the butter, vanilla, and 1/2 cup of the heavy cream. Strain the caramel into the bowl of a standing mixer. Let cool for 15 minutes.

Beat the caramel at medium speed in the standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, gradually adding the remaining 1/4 cup of cream, until creamy, about 15 minutes.

Make the Icing:Using the stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or hand-held electric beaters, beat the butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Reduce speed to low, add the powdered sugar and beat to combine. Slowly add 1/2 cup of the  cooled caramel at a time until you reach the consistency and flavor you like, not exceeding 1 1/2 cups caramel. Beat on medium-high until airy and fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Store remaining caramel in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

Assemble:Using a pastry bag with a wide circular tip (or just a trusty spoon and an off-set spatula), pipe out the frosting for each cupcake in a circular motion until the top is just covered. A little goes a long way. Top with a pinch of good sea salt.

Makes: 20-24 cupcakes

Store: in an air-tight container; they will keep for 3 days.

Recipe: Soothing and healing shea butter balm

Calendula, Lavender, & Shea Butter Balm

A soothing and healing balm. Rub into sore muscles or apply to minor cuts, scrapes, insect bites, rashes, chapped skin, and other skin irritations.
3 oz Calendula flower infused herbal oil*
1 oz Shea Butter
1/2 oz Beeswax
20 drops organic Lavender essential oil
Melt beeswax, Shea butter, and Calendula oil over a double boiler until melted, then remove from burner and mix in the Lavender oil. Quickly pour into tins or glass jars and allow to cool thoroughly before using or capping jar.

*Making Herbal Infused Oils:

Place herbs in a clean, dry glass jar. If using fresh herbs, then wilt them first for 12 hours to remove most of the moisture (too much moisture will cause the oil to go rancid), cut into small pieces, and crush with a mortar and pestle before adding to the jar. You can skip these extra steps if your herbs are dried. Pour olive oil into the jar, making sure to cover herbs by at least 1 inch of oil so they will have space to expand. Stir well and cap the jar tightly. Place the jar in a warm, sunny windowsill and shake once or more per day. After 4-6 weeks, strain the herbs out of the oil using cheesecloth. Make sure to squeeze out every precious drop of oil! Pour into glass bottles and store in a cool dark place.
from: http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/newsletter/10/july/summerremedies.php

Make Your Own Yogurt!

I've been eating more yogurt lately to help increase my calcium intake.  I thought it might be interesting to make my own and came across this great yogurt tutorial site.

Ingredients you will need:

1 Half gallon of milk (whole, low fat or nonfat)
2-3 Tbs of plain yogurt (as a starter) - you only need this the first time; going forward you will pull the starter from your batches.
1 8-10 Qt stock pot
1 4-5 Qt pot with lid
1 Metal or plastic spoon
1 Dial thermometer with clip
1 Heating pad
Click here for a step by step tutorial. 

heavenly clouds of sugar...the marshmallow (recipe)

Once you've had homemade marshmallows, you won't want to eat storebought ones again.  In my winter swap, I received a bag of these heavenly puffs and this rekindled my interest in marshmallows (which have 0 grams of fat!).  The ingredient list is below.  Click here for the full recipe.  Once you have a couple of batches under your belt, you can use different extracts like almond, orange, lemon, etc and even use a few drops of food coloring for added appeal.  (orange food coloring for orange, yellow for lemon, pink for strawberry, green for pistachio or lime, etc).

Ingredients

• 3 packages unflavored gelatin
• 1 cup ice cold water, divided
• 12 ounces granulated sugar, approximately 1 1/2 cups
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract (the original recipe calls for 1 teaspoon but others who made it recommended 3)
• 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• Nonstick spray

Tips and Tricks

• It is VERY sticky, and you won't be able to scrape the bowl completely clean, but just soak it in water and it comes off very easy. I spread out a piece of newspaper over the counter where I coated my pan in powder to catch the excess that falls out and make cleanup easier.
• The biggest trick to these seemed to be greasing the spatula, coating the pan VERY well with powder, and using a oiled and powdered pizza cutter to cut them (this was much easier than a regular knife. If you get the pan well covered with powder, the giant marshmallow flopped right out and excess powder just fell off the marshmallow.
• Also, I used crushed up graham crackers instead of powdered sugar/cornstarch and they were AWESOME! Dipped it in some chocolate and it was like a s'more! I love that there are so many ways to experiment with this simple recipe.
• These will last 3 weeks in an airtight container - chances are they will be gone before then!!

For comparison, I also found this recipe from the FRENCH LAUNDRY!  They are pretty similar except the recipe above has cornstarch. 

Make your own marshmallows with this recipe from gourmet restaurant, The French Laundry. Keep an eye on the mixer while beating because the marshmallow mixture tends to "walk" up the beaters to the motor. Scrape down frequently.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 envelopes of unflavored Knox gelatin
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2/3 cups corn syrup
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• Confectioners' sugar for dredging

Preparation:

In the bowl of an electric mixer, sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water. Soak for 10 minutes.

Combine sugar, corn syrup, and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and boil hard for 1 minute. Pour boiling syrup into gelatin and mix at high speed. Add the salt and beat for 12 minutes. Add vanilla and incorporate into mixture. Scrape into a 9 x 9-inch pan lined with oiled plastic wrap and spread evenly. (Note: Lightly oil hands and spatula or bowl scraper). After pouring marshmallow mixture into the pan, take another piece of plastic wrap and press mixture into the pan.

Let mixture sit for a few hours. Remove from pan, dredge the marshmallow slab with confectioners' sugar and cut into 12 equal pieces with scissors (the best tool for the job) or a chef's knife. Dredge each piece of marshmallow in confectioners' sugar.

Yield: 12 large marshmallows

Recipe Source: French Laundry Cookbook by Thomas Keller (Artisan)
Reprinted with permission.

Making solid shampoo bars

Solid shampoo bars are quite popular for traveling and are a mainstay at Lush products.  You can make your own for a fraction of the cost of a lush bar and without all the icky parabens and SLS.  I found a website that not only provides the ingredients but also a nice tutorial.  It's very similar to making cold process soap, but the base oils are a little different - more castor, jojoba, avocado and wheat germ oils for their conditioning  properties.  Panthenol is another good addition.  The recipe and insructions from soap kitchen don't have all those oils but it sounds like a good starter recipe. 

INGREDIENTS12 oz (340g) of cold, clean water
125g of sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) beads or pearls
8oz (227g) olive oil (preferably pomace grade but virgin or extra virgin will do)
8oz (227g) coconut oil (hard variety)
6oz (170g) palm oil (hard variety)
6oz (170g) castor oil (B.P. grade)
3oz (85g) sweet almond oil
1oz (28g) jojoba oil




Emmy Gabriel notes: "One drawback to shampoo bars is that they will leave residue on your hair after several uses.  This problem is easily remedied by using a Rinse after every few washes.  A simple rinse can be made as simply as combining 1 part Apple Cider Vinegar with one part Water.  However, you can create more elaborate Rinses by incorporating teas, Infusions, Hydrsosols, Extracts, or other specialty ingredients.  If you aren't crazy about the aroma of Apple Cider Vinegar, try adding a few drops of Lavender Essential Oil to your rinse.  Also, check out our Herbal Hair Rinse Recipe or Ayurvedic Hair Rinse Recipe for something extra special."

Make your own gummy bear candy at home!

This is my next craft project with niece and nephew. I need to get gummy bear molds.   If you try this out, let me know how it goes for you.

 image from popfi.com by Stephanie Sturgis. 

Gummies are one of my favorite candies - they are fat free!  I love sour patch kids so I will look into how to make them salty and sweet.  For the time being, lets stick to gummies.   In this tutorial, we are using gummy bear candy molds, but you can feel free to substitute with other molds (little cola bottles, stars, hearts, flowers, etc).  The candy making section of Michael's has a nice mold selection, or you can go online for even more choices.  The recipe below has no preservatives so eat them fast! I'm not sure what the shelf life is but if you happen to have any leftover, you can store them in the fridge.



Ingredients

• 1 small box jello (with sugar)
• 7 envelopes unflavored gelatin
• 1/2 cup of water

Procedure
Mix in a saucepan until the mixture resembles playdough. Place pan over low heat and stir until melted. Once completely melted, pour into plastic candy molds, and place in the freezer for 5 minutes.

Gummy bear molds are available here.

The recipe above is from Carroll's Desserts/Baking Blog. 

Chinese New Year - coming soon!

February 3 is Chinese New Year! 2011 is the year of the rabbit.  I ventured into China town yesterday to buy some baked breads and red envelopes.  Baked bread was for my dinner, and the red envelope is for Chinese New year!!  Who doesn't love red envelopes?  My little nephew has already planned what he wants to get with his Chinese New year loot!

Okay, back to the educational part of our post...

Chinese New Year is the celebration of a new lunar year. It is a fifteen day holiday that starts on the evening of the second new moon after the winter solstice. This is sometime in January or February each year. This holiday ends with the Lantern Festival on the 15th day.

In China, this holiday is also called Spring Festival 春节 Chun Jie since it marks the change in the weather from bitter cold to the coming of warmer weather.

Moon Cakes are eaten during Chinese New Year because the Chinese New Year is based on the lunar calendar (and the little treats look like the moon).  They are also eaten as part of an autumn, harvest type celebration which falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month (typically in September).

There are many variations of Chinese Moon cake - some have red bean paste, or lotus seed paste, eggs, a mixture of fruits and nuts...lots of options and room for creativity.  This one is simple for the kids to help with and is more dessert-like. 

thanks to Shirley for sharing the recipe and photos. 
Here's what  chinese moon cakes look like:

Here's what yours will look like:

and here's the recipe (makes 24).  Hope you make it and enjoy! 

Easy Chinese Moon Cake
Ingredients:

1/4 cup sugar

2 egg yolks
1/2 cup salted butter

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup strawberry (or your favorite) jam (traditionally red bean paste is used so if you want a more authentic version, you can use a can of red bean paste instead of the jam).

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Combine the butter, sugar and 1 egg yolk and stir.

Mix in the flour.
Form the dough into one large ball and wrap it in plastic wrap. 
Refrigerate dough for half an hour.

Unwrap the chilled dough and form small balls in the palms of your hand.

Make a hole with your thumb  in the center of each mooncake and fill with about half a teaspoon of jam.

Brush each cake with the other beaten egg yolk and place on a cookie sheet.  (We didn't have a brush to do this, so skipped the brushing step)

Bake for about 20 minutes or just until the outside edges are slightly brown.

A Colorful Twist to Marshmallow treats

Homemade rice krispy treats are one of my all-time favorite snacks.  i recently came across this colorful twist using fruity or cocoa pebbles.  I haven't made this yet but will add it to my list.  It was originally called Wilma's Holiday Tree but I think it would also make a great birthday cake alternative as it looks like a stack of colorful presents!  Just make the squares a little larger and substitute the star on top with a candle.  This is a great craft to make with the kids.
Enjoy!

Photo from Post Foods, LLC.  THE FINSTONES TM & (C) Hanna-Barbera

Ingredients:

1/4 cup (½ stick) butter or margarine
1 package (10 ½ ounce) mini-marshmallows
1 package (11 ounce) Post Fruity Pebbles or Cocoa Pebbles Cereal
1 container (16 ounce) ready to spread vanilla frosting
Set of star cookie cutters OR if making the multi-layered birthday package alternative, you can just cut squares out of different sizes and then stack them on top of each other. 

Directions:

1. Spray 13x9 inch pan with cooking spray.
2. Melt butter over low heat in large saucepan. Add marshmallows, stirring until completely melted. Add cereal and mix to coat well. 
3. Press mixture firmly and evenly into prepared pan. Cool 1 hour in cool dry space.
4. Using cookie cutters (star cutouts), carefully cut 2 of each size for a total of 10.
   Spread ½ of frosting on tray to resemble snow. Use remaining frosting to attach stars, stacking largest to smallest and rotating the points to make a tree. Decorate as desired.

Serves: 1-4. 

For more cereal-y recipes, visit www.postcereals.com/recipes.  Note that they need to beef up their photos to make the finished food items more appealing - in most cases they just show a bunch of kids around a kitchen table.