Liquids Posts
The Tea Drinker’s Handbook, A Review
The Tea Drinker’s Handbook By François-Xavier Delmas, Mathias Minet, and Christine Barbaste Published by Abbeville Press The Tea Drinker’s Handbook: Think reading about tea sounds kind of, well, bland? Think again. The Tea Drinker’s Handbook is an insightful, educational, and thoroughly delightful read. I liked it so much, in fact, that it’s earned a place [...]
How to Make Your Own Hot Chocolate Mix
Did you know you can make your own hot chocolate mix? As in, grind cacao nibs to a fine powder, then mix them with milk and sugar for an out-of-this-world hot chocolate-y experience? You can. And surprisingly, it’s not that hard. I’m going to show you how. All you need is a bag of cacao [...]
Creamy Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
This soup takes a while to make, but very little of that time is actually spent standing over the stove. Chunks of butternut squash, sweet onion, and elephant garlic are slow roasted in the oven for an hour-and-a-half, then simmered quickly with chicken broth and pureed. A cup of heavy cream added at the very [...]
Rustic Cranberry Bacon Chutney with Rosemary and Port
This stuff is so good, it’s evil. It’s smokey and sweet. It’s dotted with bits of bacon and rosemary. It’s bursting with unexpected orange flavor that’s followed by a refreshing tartness from the cranberries. I could eat bowls of this. No lie. This is the kind of dish that folks either love or hate, depending [...]
Chocolate & Vanilla Guinness Floats with Creme Chantilly
Vanilla Guinness Float Guinness is the favored beer here at The Mouse House, hands down. While we usually enjoy it at home straight out of the can, we do occasionally cook with it, too. (Mmmm, Guinness Stew with Sage and Ginger.) One my all-time favorite things to do with this creamy, rich stout, however, is [...]
Don’t Dilute Your Drink! Use Whiskey Stones Instead!
Wow. OK. It’s late in the evening after a long day, so this may be me being impressed with something overly simplistic. But…this seems like a really neat idea—especially if you’re a cocktail connoisseur. Ladies and gentleman, I present to you: Whiskey Stones! I saw these on Daily Candy today, and thought they were too [...]
Hot Buttered Rum Pecan Sundae
The topping for this sundae has all the rich, buttery flavor of pecan pralines—without the time or trouble involved in candymaking. Basically, this recipe makes a mini-batch of pecan candy by superheating a small amount of butter and brown sugar in a large pan, cooking the nuts in it, then flavoring it with a little [...]
Split Pea Soup with Homemade Pork Stock
This soup was a happy accident. Normally, I make split pea soup the way a lot of folks do: I simmer split peas in water with garlic, a handful of diced carrots and onions, and, of course, a ham hock. The ham hock gives the soup its signature smokey saltiness and deep flavor. Now, when [...]
Happy Birthday, Angry Chef!
Happy Birthday to my dear husband, The Angry Chef, who turns 857 today! We celebrated this past weekend at our favorite Chinese restaurant—a place I fondly refer to as the Golden Dragon—with a small group of close friends. A huge thank you to all who came. Here are a few highlights from our evening. A [...]
Quick & Creamy Tomato Soup
I don’t know if this happens to anyone else, but when the weather turns colder, my inner eight-year-old starts to crave Campbell’s tomato soup and grilled cheese. Here’s my grown-up version. This frequently shows up on our table on weeknights when we don’t have a ton of time to cook. Because the recipe calls for [...]
