I thought it was hot in Austin. It was–but now that I’m back in Florida I’m sweating daily. Not the same kind of “hot” like Austin, but the humid-hot. So what better way to cool off than this Pineapple-Tequila Cooler. Don’t fret, if drinking alcohol isn’t your thing you can easily omit the tequila and make this a non-alcoholic pineapple-lime cooler. Both ways it is equally good!
I recently received a box of new fruit tools from OXO. One of the first tools we tried out was the Ratcheting Pineapple Slicer. I hate cutting pineapple and always task my husband with the job of doing it. Now that I have the pineapple slicer, I can cut pineapple with ease! I made a fun animated gif to show just how easy it is to use/cut pineapple! And we learned after the first sliced pineapple that you want to put a bowl underneath because the slicer extracts a lot of juice! So far we’ve found that we get about 1 cup of juice from every pineapple. So I just strain the juice before sealing it in a jar and then I either add it to this drink or save it to be used within a day or two.
Whether or not you have this tool you need to make this drink. Perfect for hot summer days!
Using a blender, puree pineapple (in chunks) until its fine like juice (you may need to do 2-3 batches depending on the size of your blender). Mix in lime juice, 1 cup water, and agave. Pour into pitcher. Stir in tequila, if using.
Pour over ice and garnish with pineapple chunks and lime wedges.
This recipe is brought to you by Katie Jasiewicz of Katies Cucina
Disclaimer:I received a box of fruit tools from OXO. I was not compensated to create this recipe nor required to blog about the tools. I genuinely love OXO and just want to share what I’m using in my kitchen. There are affiliate links in this post.
With St. Patrick’s Day right around the corner I’m going to share with you a few of my favorite Irish recipes this week. While reading the current issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray I saw she made Guinness Milkshakes, and that’s when a light bulb popped on! Why don’t I make Guinness Floats? Similar concept just in float form.
Yesterday, when I shared my Slow Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage recipe I shared that my husband home-brews. This past Sunday he had his “brew crew” over to brew for the day. Which gave me a great excuse to try out these Guinness Floats on the guys. It also gave me a great excuse to cook like a mad woman. I made them breakfast, lunch, and a few snacks plus dessert.
This my friends was dessert (and an easy adult dessert at that)! Simply layer a few scoops of homemade french vanilla ice cream in tall sundae/float glasses.
Slowly pour the Guinness into the glass. I started off with about a half bottle of beer per glass; however, the guys add more beer as they drank it! I told you this was a simple adult beverage/dessert in a glass. If you are entertaining this Sunday you could serve these Guinness Floats in tiny shot glasses with a tiny scoop of ice cream and a shot of Guinness!
I even served the Guinness Floats with the striped straws thinking the guys would be annoyed by them, but they all used them… slurping up each and every sip of Guinness and vanilla ice cream concoction. I would imagine these would taste just as good with chocolate ice cream too!
Add three scoops of vanilla ice cream to a tall (ice cream float) glass. Then slowly pour Guinness beer over top. You will only use 1 bottle of beer during the official pouring of the two floats. As your guest begin to drink the floats continue to add more Guinness beer to the glass.
Since, last week I bombarded you with fondue I’m hear to share Sparkling Vietnamese Limeade to wash down all that ooey-gooeyness from last week! This recipe is compliments of Steamy Kitchen! Yep, that’s right, its from Jaden Hair’s latest cookbook: Steamy Kitchen’s Healthy Asian Favorites.
Last month, I received a copy of Jaden Hair’s latest cookbook: Steamy Kitchen’s Healthy Asian Favorites. From the minute I got it I couldn’t put this book down. The beautiful forward written by Ree Drummond aka The Pioneer Woman and then Jaden’s personal touches. Giving you a glimpse into her family. Then of course there are the recipes. Yes, the glorious healthy Asian recipes! I will definitely admit that there are quite a few recipes I would have never tackled on my own until reading this book and learning how easy they really are to make. Steamy Kitchen’s Healthy Asian Favorites is now a new cookbook favorite of mine! And I’m not just saying that because I received a copy. I love to cook Asian food and am always trying to broaden my cooking skills and knowledge. This book is a great resource for Asian cooking.
Last week I cooked the Kung Pao Chicken, and it was awesome. I love making “home takeout” and this is exactly what this book will teach you to do! Since I’m wrapping up the party I wanted to end it on a sweet note. And make a “toast“… a toast to Jaden for yet another amazing cookbook! For being such an amazing role model–for teaching fellow bloggers more about blogging each and every year through Food Blog Forum.
I figured a party is not complete without a beverage. Granted this is a “mocktail” meaning that there is no alcohol in it–it doesn’t mean you can’t add it. I added a little tequila for good measure and my husband added rum to his glass. Per the book, Jaden suggests gin! So whatever tickles your fancy–thats what you add. Or keep it as is and enjoy this light and refreshing Sparkling Vietnamese Limeade.
You might be wondering why I chose to put paper straws in a drink that has salt on the rim. Well, I will be the first to admit that I’ve fallen victim to the cliche paper straw frenzy. But to be honest. I prefer to drink just about everything through a straw. Even when I have salt on the rim–I’d much rather drink it through the straw and then lick a little salt off the glass every now and then. It’s just how I am. I’m also a slight germaphobe so drinking from a straw feels cleaner to me (although that contradicts the whole lick salt off the rim of the glass theory–but when I’ve had a little liquid courage I don’t freak out as much).
So on that note… if you missed out on the Virtual Book Launch Party over the past week make sure you check out all the other wonderful bloggers who participated in the party!
Monday, February 4: Jaden kicked off the party over at Steamy Kitchen
Tuesday, February 5: Jeanette’s Healthy Living - Dan Dan Mien
This Sparkling Vietnamese Limeade is a light-citrus bubbly beverage perfect for sipping on a warm summers day. If you want to kick it up notch add tequila or rum to taste or drink as Jaden suggests with a little gin!
Ingredients
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup very hot water
1 handful of fresh mint
8 limes
Sea salt or kosher salt
Sparkling water
Directions
In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar and the hot water until the sugar dissolves. Place a few mint leaves at the bottom of a pitcher and crush with a muddler or large wooden spoon. Juice the limes into the pitcher, add the sugarwater. Fill 4 glasses with ice and rim with salt. Pour in the limeade and top with sparkling water.
This recipe is brought to you by Katie Jasiewicz of Katies Cucina
Disclosure: I received a copy of Steamy Kitchen’s Healthy Asian Favorites from Ten Speed Press. There are affiliates links in this post.As always all opinions are my own.
This pitcher is perfect for brewing and infusing hot or cold beverages like tea! My husband is a big tea drinker and being that we live in the South tea is kind of a staple. But don’t worry–if you aren’t into drinking tea… you can infuse fresh fruit flavors into water, infuse mint or lavender into lemonade, or chilling mojitos for entertaining. I can’t wait to make a batch of my Peach Mojitos during the hot summer months and use the Primula® Flavor It™ Beverage System! I also see quite a few other mojitos in my future… and sangria. Well, you can tell. The sky is the limit!
Look how slim this pitcher is… it fits into my refrigerator door freeing up precious refrigerator space!
A few features and benefits about the lovely Primula® Flavor It™ Beverage System:
BPA-free Tritan material
2.9 quart pitcher
dishwasher safe
scratch resistant
shatter proof
stain resistant
fits into a standard refrigerator door
no-spill locking lid
The beverage system includes:
Flavor Infuser - can be filled with fresh fruit, herbs, or spices to lend intriguing flavor notes to water, tea, punch, and more. Creating a multitude of beverage options from cucumber lime drinks to blueberry iced tea, to sangria and more.
Stainless Steel Tea Infuser – designed to brew loose tea or ground coffee, either hot or cold. The infuser’s filter sits low in the pitcher, accommodating small quantities as well as a full pitcher.
Chill Core – filled with non-toxic gel, it is better than ice because it keeps the beverage cool without diluting the flavor.
On to the giveaway! One lucky reader will receive a Primula® Flavor It™ Beverage System. Giveaway closes on 2/2/2013. Open to US Residents, 18 years of age or older. Please wait for the Rafflecopter widget to load. If it does not load, please click on the “a Rafflecopter giveaway” link below.
Living in the South, tea is a staple. Well, sweet tea that is. Being that I’ve lived in the South for almost half my life I consider myself a southerner. However, I’m totally ok with drinking unsweetened tea (gasp! I know). My husband on the other hand doens’t discriminate. He loves the sweet tea, and he loves flavored teas. So when Primula reached out to me and asked if I would do a product review and giveaway for the Flavor It Pitcher 3-in-1 Beverage System, because I knew that this was something my husband would love. And he might actually make a few brews of his own.
100 years ago today, Julia Child was born in Pasadena, California.
The iconic woman who turned Americans on to French cooking and most notably known for the famed dish, boeuf bourguignon, would have been 100 years old today. In celebration of Julia Child’s 100th birthday I introduce you to her favorite cocktail, Angosoda. A recipe featured in Julia Child and Company, her fifth published cookbook. I think this is the way that Julia Child would want her life to be celebrated–clinking glasses and enjoying a cocktail.
In the words of Julia Child “Always start out with a larger pot than what you think you need.” and that is the case with this drink. Start with a tall glass, filled with ice cubes, and pour the Perrier Sparkling Natural Mineral Water into the glass.
This recipe is brought to you by Katie Jasiewicz of Katies Cucina
Disclaimer: I was provided a sample of Perrier Sparkling Natural Mineral Water and Angostura Bitters to recreate this classic cocktail. All opinions are always my own.
This recipe has been long anticipated by many. It all started after I posted a few photos on instagram giving my social readers a sneak peak into what I was making. I’m going to preface right out the gate that I am no mixologist. Creating drinks is foreign to me. Don’t get me wrong, I love to drink them, but getting the measurements just right is very challenging for me. Some would say that making a drink is just like creating a recipe; however, I beg to differ. Hence the reason why this drink recipe will be in tablespoons and cups rather than 1 or 2 parts… I tried the whole equal parts, 1 parts, 2 parts thing and failed miserably a few times. That was until I went back to what I know… measuring things out a tablespoon and a cup at a time!
Go ahead and laugh. Fine by me, but you won’t be laughing after you drink this refreshing adult beverage! You’ll be hooked and will find yourself measuring out tablespoon by tablespoon to achieve the perfect peach mojito!
I’m also going to put it out there that I’m not a big fan of the mojito. I love the taste of mint, but hate drinking chunks of it. That’s why when I had a mojito recipe in mind I decided I would infuse the simple syrup with mint… that way it wasn’t needed nor required to have large chunks of mint in the drink! I can definitely say that my master planned worked beautifully, because you still got the strong mint taste without tons of muddled leaves in your mouth.
1. In a cocktail shaker, add 1 sprig of mint (about 4-5 leaves, stem removed), mint-infused simple syrup, and peach purée. Using a muddler, muddle the mint so that it breaks up in the simple syrup/peach purée juice. This should take 30 seconds to 1 minute.
2. Once mint is muddled, add 2 tablespoons rum and 3/4 cups sprite. Shake well, pour into a glass, and garnish with two peaches and a sprig of mint.
My husband and I grow a wide variety of herbs and vegetables in our home. One herb that doesn’t get used as often as I’d like is mint. The only reason why we grow it is for mojito’s–but we don’t make them that often, so I find myself always clipping back the mint and giving it away to friends and family.
My husband is the worlds biggest mojito fan–me not so much. I wanted to make a batch of peach mojito’s (which I’ll be sharing later this month), but I didn’t want all the excess mint. That’s when a lightbulb clicked on and I decided to infuse the simple syrup I was making with mint! Can I just tell you that not only does your house smell fantastic this super simple syrup can be used in so many different ways. Stay tuned… I have a few recipes up my sleeve with the sweet concoction I’ve created.
In a large sauce pan combine the water and sugar on medium heat. Carefully, mix the ingredients well over the heat making sure to not splash anything out of the pot. Once the sugar has dissolved (about 5 minutes) place the washed mint springs in the pot. Turn the heat off and let the mint seep for 5 minutes.
Carefully pour the syrup into 2 pint size mason jars. Divide the sprigs of mint evenly amongst the jar. Let the jars rest until they reach room temperature then seal and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
This is the first of many recipes for “Thai Week” at Katie’s Cucina. I’ve never had Thai Iced Tea; however, I have a friend who swears by it and every time we all go out to eat at a Thai restaurant you better believe he is going to order some Thai Iced Tea. Although the color was slightly different from the iced tea I’m use to seeing in the Thai restaurant I think the flavor was there. This was like a cold creamed tea. It wasn’t too sweet, but had just enough sweetness for a “sweet tea”. All in all I would definitely make this tea again–it was a nice twist on the traditional Southern tea. You can find this recipe on the Thai Kitchen website.
I'm Katie Jasiewicz: home cook, food blogger, and recipe developer. I’ve always had a love for cooking, and more so in the past few years a love for eating!
Join me on a culinary adventure where life always tastes good. {more}
I'm Katie Jasiewicz: home cook, food blogger, and recipe developer. I’ve always had a love for cooking, and more so in the past few years a love for eating!
Join me on a culinary adventure where life always tastes good. 
