Iced Coffee

I am not a big coffee drinker.  I very seldom make myself a pot of coffee.  I will drink a cup or two if I'm out visiting or in a restaurant.  I do like the iced coffees and cappuccinos that are offered especially during the summer months.  And I especially like the ones with whipped cream, ice cream, caramel, etc. - they are heavenly but must be about a million calories each.

So one day I decided to make my own lo-cal easy-peasy version.  Start by brewing a large pot of coffee.  I used 3 heaping scoops for 12 cups of water (which is stronger than we usually make it).

I also used decaf so I can drink it any time of the day.

Pour the coffee into a container to cool the cover and refrigerate.

When coffee is cold, several hours or the next day (if you are planning ahead and in no hurry), fill a large glass with ice cubes.

Fill the glass to a couple of inches from the top with cold coffee.

Fill the glass with soy milk - I drink vanilla soy so used it.  Now I usually take lots of cream and sugar with my coffee for it to be drinkable but I find that I don't need to add sugar to my iced coffee. 

Stir and enjoy.  I find it very refreshing and tasty.  And my hips and thighs thank me for not using whipping cream, ice cream, or caramel or chocolate syrup (although all of those would give a very decadent treat).

I've been thinking of trying chocolate soy milk next time.  It would give it a mocha taste and still be lo-cal compared to chocolate syrup.  Enjoy!  ;)



Smoothies

Lately I have been making smoothies for my family to drink.  I have been using frozen and canned fruit from our orchard.  I don't use a recipe as such but here are some of the results.

In the blender toss in fruit of your choice - here I am using unsweetened frozen raspberries.



Next add fruit flavoured yogurt that goes with your choice of fruit.  I used raspberry this time.



Add some ice cubes.  I add a glass or two depending if the fruit is frozen, cold or warm.



Add some liquid.  (I use vanilla soy milk but you could use milk or juice as well)  If you use fruit in juice or syrup you may not need any other liquid.



Blend until ingredients are mixed and smooth.



Enjoy!  :)



I use different fruit that I have on hand.  I add bananas if I have them. 
I've used home-canned peaches (I use a lighter sugar-syrup) with peach yogurt.





Apricot puree goes great with mango yogurt.  The puree was frozen when I made apricot juice and I froze some puree to use in baked goods.  I haven't used any in baking because it is so good in smoothies.





Canned plums (pits removed but skins on) with fieldberry.



Leftover canned pineapple with strawberry yogurt.



Frozen pitted cherries with black cherry yogurt.



The list goes on and on and you can change your yogurt flavours as well.

Once the fruit is ripe, I will be using fresh fruit again.

Bottoms up and enjoy!  :)

Homemade Eggnog

One of the popular Christmas drinks is rum and eggnog.  I've not been a big fan of it because I think store-bought eggnog tastes artificial.  There is something about it that leaves an aftertaste in my mouth.

When I was young and taking home-ec (before the days of not eating raw eggs), we learned how to make eggnog.  It was simple - beat one egg with a spoon of sugar and a bit of vanilla, add milk and drink.  Sometimes I would add cinnamon or nutmeg or both.  I would sometimes add ice cream so it was thicker.  As I grew older, I quit making the eggnog because it didn't have enough taste.

I belong to the Backyard Chickens Forum and Miss Prissy shared her eggnog recipes.  I adapted mine from hers.  http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=202168#p202168

Ingredients
12 eggs, separated
1 1/2 c granulated sugar
4 c (1 liter) half and half
4 c (1 liter) 2 % milk
1 Tbsp vanilla
1/4 tsp nutmeg
nutmeg for sprinkling if desired
**optional - spiced rum if desired for extra zing for the adults

I used my Cuisinart and several large bowls to mix the eggnog.  Separate the eggs and dump egg whites in mixer bowl.

Beat the egg whites until stiff and slowly pour in 3/4 cup of the sugar while beating.  Gently move the egg whites to another bowl so you can reuse the mixer.

Notice how lovely the egg yolks from my girls are - none of those pale store bought yolks for us.  ;) 

Beat yolks until creamy and slowly pour in the other 3/4 cup of sugar.  The egg yolks will be thick and light yellow in color.  Mix in vanilla. 

Pour egg yolks into a large bowl. 

Add egg whites to bowl.

Fold egg whites into beaten yolks.

Sprinkle on nutmeg.

Pour in milk and cream and stir carefully.

Look at those lovely frothy clouds of goodness.

Pour into glasses.  Sprinkle with nutmeg if desired.  Add spiced rum if desired.  Enjoy!

Miss Prissy used whole milk and heavy cream in her recipe but I think mine was rich enough.  Next time I would make a half recipe since it is so rich and creamy.  We each had 2 glasses of the eggnog because it was so good but now no one wants supper.  It was too filling.  I still have 2 1/2 containers in the fridge for later.  We'll see how it fares staying in the fridge to use another day.

PS:  The eggnog does lose its fluffiness sitting in the fridge but is still very tasty.  It also doesn't seem as filling.  When it is so foamy, the air that was beaten into the eggs had a filling effect on us all for a number of hours.  So I retract what I said about halving the recipe - its not needed.

To all my readers and friends - have a very Merry Christmas.