How citrus can help sickness

After a long hiatus, I am back!  Mostly because I started some preserving last night, which I will write about later this week.

I am trying this whole mind over body thing, but let's face it I am once again sick.  For about the 6th time this winter I am ill.  While luckily this isn't the head fuzzy illness, it still sucks.  It is voice is deep and raspy (that just makes it sexy right?), coughing, hacking, no fun sickness.  It is also preventing me from running, which in and of itself makes me cranky.

So I tried traditional cold meds to no avail.  Therefore, I finally went to the internet and found something that finally quelled the cough, opened up the air vessels to allow me to breathe and even tasted delicious.  It's adult cough medicine.  I found the recipe here http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-bourbon-cough-syrup-for-79030 and I am proof that it works.

The ingredients are simple
A shot of bourbon (use the cheapest you have because you are sick, you cannot taste anything anyway.  I used Jim Bean until I used it all up and then switched to Makers)
half a fresh squeezed lemon (use the fresh stuff here and not the bottled stuff, it tastes much different)
a couple of teaspoons of honey

Heat for about a minute or so.  I put it in my fancy handpainted teacup so that I felt a little bit classier drinking at 10am.  It was a holiday and it was medicine!  Now I just have to figure out how I can drink this at the office.


Later on in the evening I decided that I need to snuggle up with my adorable kitten, Trouble, a blanket and a fire.  Here is a picture of the cutest kitten that ever existed (I do not care if he is actually 7, he is still my kitten).  Anyway back to the fire, which was the purpose of this....



Little known fact, dried out citrus peels make amazing fire starters.  Plus they your apartment or home smells like citrus.  I normally save my peels and then put them on a baking sheet at 200 for about 15-20 minutes or until they are dry.  I suggest you also do this because it is amazing!

The Week of Wings

Update on autumn beer quest - its still ongoing and there will be an update soon.

So after talking to one of the partners in my office about where the best wings are, I decided to try and figure this out myself.  Thus emerged....the week of wings...  (I still have a couple more days, but I figure that I might as well document my current findings, plus to be frank I am not sure if my stomach can handle all that many more days of wings.)

Sunday was Kickback Jack's.

http://kbjacks.com/

Football, beer and wings....these are some of my favorite things.  I am slowly trying to convince my friend, (whose name I will omit since I do not have her permission to publish, but rhymes with Mandy), that she loves football and should watch it more.  Given the fact that she thought a field goal was worth 2 points, its a work in progress.  However, the wings here were delicious.

We got the regular buffalo wings and the habenero bbq.  These wings were nice and crispy with a delicious sauce.  The buffalo sauce had a nice hot kick without being too overwhelming.  There was a good amount of celery.  My one complaint is that they did not provide enough of the ranch/ blue cheese and we had to request more.  Overall I would say 8.5.

Monday - Fishers

http://www.fishersgrille.com/

I picked these up on my way home from work because apparently my friend thinks a date is more important than finding out where the best wings are...her priorities are a little odd....or mine are, one of the two.  However, she did not miss out on much.  These wings were the best deal, but that was about the only good thing about them.  The buffalo sauce was....weird.  It was not buffalo sauce but some odd mix of bbq and buffalo sauce with some vinegar mixed in.  Not a fan.  Plus there was no celery.  I will say that they provide plenty of ranch and the wings were the perfect crispiness.

Overall - 4

Tuesday - East Coast Wings

http://eastcoastwings.com/

One of my problems with this place was that there were too many options.  I am an indecisive person and do not like being overwhelmed with choices.  Eventually we (since I had my co-pilot back with me) decided on regular buffalo medium, polynesian medium and bourbon street medium.  The wings overall were good, my favorite being the polynesian.  They also had both celery and carrots - I like the carrots and plenty of dipping sauce.  The reason that these did not rank higher was the lack of heat.  I probably should have gotten them hot, but there was not the kick that I wanted.  Overall 8.

Wednesday - Pour House

No website available

We went for lunch for this one.  It was particularly amusing to see the looks on people's faces to see two young women eating wings for lunch in business wear.  I recommend that everyone do this.  These wings were also tasty.  We got the buffalo medium, habanero honey mustard and teriyaki.  The habanero honey mustard were the biggest surprise, being quite tasty.  My gripe is that they only had the baby carrots and not celery or carrot sticks.  These were also a little bit fatter than kickback jacks or east coast wings.  Overall 7.5  

The Quest to Find the Best Autumn Beer.....

So I will fully admit that I get really odd cravings.  We are talking similar to how most pregnant women act, that happens to me regularly.  Lately it has been something that pregnant women could not consume...pumpkin beer.

I was first introduced to pumpkin beer by my amazingly awesome sister.  She works at a brew pub that makes a seasonal pumpkin beer.  http://oldepenkazoo.com/  Now, while I much prefer their vanilla porter or hefenweizen they make - this beer is really good.  If you live in Michigan or visit Michigan, I suggest going there (see sister - free advertising!)   I would always get a pint or two of their pumpkin beer when I was in town, but never really craved it.  I also informed my sister of the pumpkin bomb that I tried last year and it is now on their menu, but that is a story for another day.  Now that I moved down south and when I was in Boston, I would get a 6 pack of some pumpkin beer - and it might be gone by Christmas time.  This season, however, I cannot get enough pumpkin beer.

So this led me to wondering, what is the best pumpkin beer?  Then I decided to expand that even more, what is the best autumn seasonal beer?  I then traveled to my local Total Wines and purchased every fall seasonal beer they had in single bottles that was not an IPA (I hate IPA, much to my craft beer snob friends dismay...you know who you are).  I did not count up all of the bottles, but it is somewhere north of 30.  Also, because there already has been an argument as to a bottle being "misclassified" and it was not actually a "fall seasonal" beer (yes some of my friends are that dorky), I am making the disclaimer that this was what Total Wine considered a fall seasonal.  Needless to say, this project is going to take a little while.  The favorite before this endeavor is Olde Peninsula's pumpkin beer, followed closely by Dogfishhead's pumpkin beer.

Now without further ado, here are some of the ones that have been tried:

Victory's Festbier 
Rating - 7.75


image - http://victorybeer.com/beers/festbier/

This beer is currently tied for the winner so far.  It played with the fall spices without becoming too sweet, was very drinkable, had a bit of a nutty taste and overall was just very good.  It also was an excellent accompaniment to my chili and good while watching the Falcons beat the Eagles, allowing me to taunt the my friend who had chosen the Eagles to win that game.

Southern Tier's Harvest Ale
Rating - 4

image - http://www.southerntierbrewing.com/for%20download%20page/downloads_harvest.html

Similar to how some of the teams I chose to win the earlier games on Sunday...this beer disappointed.  It was bitter and way too hoppy for me to enjoy.  For those of you that actually like the bitter taste of hops that make it so you cannot taste anything else in your mouth for the next hour, you might enjoy it.  Granted it is a ESB, but I was not paying that close of attention when purchasing these beers.  Not a winner.

Beck's Octoberfest
Rating - 5.5



image - http://the-beer-fan.blogspot.com/2010/09/becks-oktoberfest.html
This beer was just meh.  Nothing remarkable, no reason to go out of your way to purchase.

Shiner's Octoberfest
Rating - 7.75


image - http://beernews.org/2010/06/shiner-96-to-come-out-of-retirement/

I will admit that I do enjoy Shinerbock, was thrilled when it starting getting distributed in Michigan, and normally have a bottle in my fridge.  I also was a fan of their Oktoberfest.  It was sweeter than most Octoberfest styles, but I have always been a fan of sweet and overall the caramel and toffee tones made this a very nice beer to drink.


That is all for now...more to come.  And yes I do realize that none of the beers I have tried yet are actually pumpkin, despite the craving.

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

These may be my favorite fall treat, also clearly made for the Wake Forest tailgate.  To be upfront and honest, because I hear those things are important, only the football ones here are pumpkin.  The "WF" ones are yellow cake with chocolate frosting because that is what one of my friends requested and well I aim to please.

So onto the deliciousness of the fall cupcakes

Ingredients - cupcakes
2 cups canned pumpkin (I have never tried it with actual pumpkin, but if someone does - let me know)
1 cup canola oil
4 eggs
1 and 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp soda
2 tsp cinnamon (this is to taste, I prefer lots of cinnamon and nutmeg)
2 tsp nutmeg (this is to taste, I prefer lots of cinnamon and nutmeg)
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar

Combine the canned pumpkin, canola oil and eggs in a mixer.  Beat well.  Then slowly add flour, mix to combine.  Then add everything else.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes (I am not sure about the actual time because I have a sixth sense as to when my cupcakes are done - mostly by checking them frequently).  If you can put the toothpick in them and it comes out clean, it is done.

Ingredients - frosting
1 brick of cream cheese (not sure off the top of my head how much it is, but you know what I am talking about - the stuff that comes in the box, also I used the reduced fat it no one knew)
1/2 stick of margarine
1 bag of powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp milk

The key to making this frosting if you want to do things such as pipe it is to put the liquids in last - remember a little goes a LONG way in frosting.  So first combine cream cheese, margarine and powdered sugar.  Also make sure to start the mixer slowly so not to have the powdered sugar coat your counter. (I tend to have a problem remembering that if I add more powered sugar, then I end up with powder sugar all over my phone, move phone and somehow have to IM my friend to call said phone and find out I had put it in the silverware drawer.  But hey I am forgetful).

After it is combined slowly add the vanilla and milk.  And I mean add a very little, let the mixer do the work, if it is not as thin as you want, add a little more, and keep going.

Then spread on the frosting and/or pipe however you want!  Enjoy fall yumminess!

Mulled Cider and Mulled Wine

I have failed at posting anything in a while, and for that I am very sorry.  However, feel free to blame my job and working 18-20 hour days for while, which put everything else in my life on hold.  I am now caught up and you will be getting at least 3 posts today.  You should feel special.

If you are like most of America (I think there are some non-American readers out there, so I need to explain these things), it became autumn very quickly.  Also, random aside note - autumn is such a better word than fall, it is a little bit more classy and makes the season seem more friendly in general.  I went to the amazing Wake Forest tailgate that my friends throw every home game this past Saturday.  I realized that I might be cold, therefore I made hot mulled cider and hot mulled wine to keep warm while grilling, dancing to the tunes, heckling people with the microphone to the stereo-system and generally hanging out.  The cider was a hit, the mulled wine did not get touched.  Granted it ended up being a very male dominated tailgate, so this might explain it.  I enjoy both.

Unfortunately I did not take any pictures, so I will leave it up to your imagination.

Mulled Cider

1 gallon of cider

1 bottle of spiced rum

a little (about 1/2 cup) of bourbon

mulling spice mix*

For my mulling spice mix I use the following

- cinnamon

- nutmeg

- cloves

- star anise

- all spice

- a couple of juniper berries

(you can also normally just by this in a lot of stores)

Pour cider and liquor into a saucepot.  Put all mulling spices into either a spice bag, tea difuser if you are using whole spices, or piece of fabric and very tightly wrap a rubber band around it to prevent the spices from leaking out.  Simmer for a couple of hours.  I also put a little bit of cinnamon and nutmeg directly into the saucepot, but I really like cinnamon and nutmeg.

Mulled Wine

(Note - similar to sangria everyone's recipe for this is very different)

1 bottle of a red wine

1 cup of triple sec

1 cup of sugar

mulling spice mix

Pour red wine, triple sec and sugar into saucepot.  Put all mulling spices into either a spice bag, tea difuser if you are using whole spices, or piece of fabric and very tightly wrap a rubber band around it to prevent the spices from leaking out.  Simmer, stirring until the sugar is dissolved, then continue to simmer for a few hours.

Garnish both of these with a cinnamon stick.  I did not bring these to the tailgate, because well it was a tailgate.

Blueberry Cobbler

So I offered to make my friend's bday cake, little to realize that according to his awesome girlfriend, his favorite is blueberry cobbler.  Blueberries are high on my list of favorite things, but I have never made one of these before, nor have I actually ever made a fruit pie.  So I was a bit worried.  On top of that, the birthday party was cooking out and playing volleyball (both of which are awesome and ended up being really fun) but started at 6pm on a Friday, making me have to rush from work to get there at 7pm.

So think that this cobbler taste alright, at least I liked it, so I am sharing the recipe.  Which was modified from one found on localkitchenblog.com.  Unfortunately I was in a hurry so did not take any pictures while making it and this is the only finished picture I have.

Ingredients
4 pints of blueberries
zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 1/2 cup of sugar
little pinch of salt
2 Tablespoons of  acai-blueberry vodka (or any other type of berry liquor and this is optional)
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 sticks of margarine
2 cups of flour


In a bowl - mix berries, lemon zest and juice, 1/2 cup sugar, salt, and liquor - allow to sit for a couple of hours (it allows the berries to release some of their juices)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray your 11x13 inch pan with cooking oil.  In another bowl - mix together 1 stick of margarine, 1 cup of flour, and 1 cup of sugar together until crumbly.  I then patted this into the bottom of the pan as a bottom crust.  I then put this in the oven for about 5 minutes.

Strain the fruit mixture, collecting the liquid, syrupy stuff in saucepan.  Bring this liquid to a boil, let it boil for a few minutes.  Then whisk in cornstarch and sugar.  Allow it to boil for another minute until the mixture starts to thicken.  Then remove from heat.

Put the berries in the syrup and mix thoroughly.  Then add this to the pan where the cobbler will be.

Mix together another stick of margarine, cup of flour and cup of sugar until crumbly.  Sprinkle on top of blueberries.

Place in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, the top should be a nice golden color and the blueberry juice should be bubbling.

When we served this we warmed it (and by we I mean Birthday Boy's Girlfriend because I am not all about the grille) on the grille.

Important lesson learned, placing 26 candles into a warm birthday cobbler means that the candles will melt and get wax in your cobbler.  However, even with the addition of wax, it was still tasty.

Dark and Stormy!!!

RELEASE THE KRAKEN!!!!

So I dedicate this post to my good friend from law school R.  (not sure if she wants her name posted, so she is called R.)  She introduced me to this fantastic drink and was always a fabulous hostess when she would have people over to watch Project Runway or play Rock Band.  Also note, I miss playing Rock Band.

So to make up for my lack of posting, this is a double header - drink and jam.  I promise not all my jams are inspired by drinks.  So onto the Kraken...

Dark and Stormys are easy to make as a drink.  Get some ice pour in some black spiced rum, add some ginger beer.  Now while R. always had Goslings as her black rum of choice.  I personally much prefer the Kraken.  One the flavor is just a little better.  Two, the bottle is just kind of awesome looking and well - the Kraken squid monster  or as the bottle says "sea beast of myth and legend" could totally take a seal and mess it up.  See my drawing below....  However, any type of black rum is tasty in this drink.

(To be fair - first year of law school, when we did not have the internet I was much better at paint drawings)

Next up.... the Dark and Stormy Plum Jam

Ingredients
1 cup black spiced rum (preferably Kraken)
10-12 plums
4 cups sugar
juice of 1 lemon
3 hunks candied ginger
1 T powdered ginger
1 package powdered pectin

Wash, pit and chop up the plums.  Leave the skins on.

Next add 1 cup black spiced rum, juice of 1 lemon (this is probably not necessary because of the alcohol, but I am new at this whole chemistry thing and did not want to worry about it.), and ginger.  Now this is a lot of ginger and will make it taste very gingery - feel free to cut back, it should be to taste.

Bring mixture to boil.  Then add in sugar.  Boil from 15 to 20 minutes, stirring regularly. Then add pectin, boil for an additional 5 minutes or so until it starts gelling.

Ladle into sterilized jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace.  Wipe rims, place warm lids on then rings.  Process in water boiler canner for 10 minutes.  Then spread on a rye bread of pumpernickel for a fantastic experience.