i'm a baaaad baaaad blogger...

this is what i haven't posted...

1. island cookies
2. coconut, vanilla bean, macadamia nut ice cream
3. cherry jam turnovers
4. we'll stay up late, swapping manly stories and in the morning i'm making waffles!
5. my mom's thousand island dressing
6. a redux
7. caprese panzanella salad
8. potatoes- girarrosto style

not pictured:

9. crumb buns (oh... get your mind out of the gutter!)
10. lemon fluff ice box pie

Which recipe do you want first? Because I'm really at a loss...

cappuccino granita

Okay, so it's hot. You know that, I know that. And according to the news everyone is broke, no one has job or will lose it soon, and Korea wants to seemingly start WWIII with us. My suggestion is to have cappuccino granita for breakfast. It solves everything, seriously. You go to your coffee shop to get some type of coffee drink anyways. Why not make it yourself and save the 4 dollars?



Biggie Biggie Biggie can't you see
Sometimes your words just hypnotize me
And I just love your flashy ways
Guess that's why they broke, and you're so paid

I know that's totally random but when I started mixing the ingredients it was swirly and beautiful. It hypnotized me. It looked like highly shellacked exotic wood. Purty.



I felt like I was looking into Kaa's eyes so I just had to take a picture. I did but I kept getting my reflection instead of all the swirls which was kinda cool in its own right but now as I type this it just sounds like I've been taking too many nips of the Kahlua. Whatever.



cappuccino granita: (recipe adapted from Urban Italian/method from The Perfect Scoop)

granita:

2 cups of freshly brewed coffee, cooled. I like this recipe.
2/3 cup of Kahlua, optional BUT I can imagine all sorts of boozy goodness could be added. Godiva Liqueur, for example.
1/2 cup of whole milk
1 tablespoon sugar

vanilla cream:

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
optional but I always add a splash of Grand Marnier to my whipped cream

for the granita:

Use a flat plastic container approximately 8-12 inches across, with a 2-quart capacity, with sides that are about 2 inches high. (Don't find out the hard way, trust me!)

Pour mixture into the dish and place in the freezer. Begin checking it after about an hour. Once it begins to freeze around the edges, take a fork and stir the mixture, breaking up the frozen parts near the edges into smaller chunks and raking them toward the center. Return the dish to the freezer, then check the mixture every 30 minutes afterward, stirring each time and breaking up any large chunks into smaller pieces with a fork, (i love this next line) until you have beautiful, fine crystals of homemade granita. (mmmm) If at any time the granita freezes too hard, leave it out at room temp for a few minutes until it softens back up to be stirred again.

whipped cream:

Add cream, vanilla, and sugar to stand mixer with whisk attachment. Whisk on medium high speed until mixture is fluffy. Spoon on top of granita.

Tasting Notes: Well worth the effort and makes me a happy camper in the morning. Did you think I was joking about having it for breakfast?

the muddle

I was doing some behind the scenes updating on my blog when I noticed that I do not have any cocktail recipes posted. Well, that is just wrong. So, to redeem myself I'm going to post the most perfect-est summery-est Fourth of July cocktail recipe ever.



This will make you feel like you should be summering in the picture above, in a white bikini that you look absolutely stunning in without an ounce of cellulite. Sexy not trashy. Glamorous yet casual. Like you are in some sort of gauzy lens shot of a Town and Country magazine spread with everyone laughing at some witty story you are telling about the time you ran into Prince William on a yacht in the middle of the nowhere with nothing but time on your hands.



Are you sold, yet?

the muddle: adapted from Bon Appetit july 2009

makes 6

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cup of chopped hulled strawberries (any fruit would be good in this but if you are feeling particularly patriotic add strawberries and blueberries)
6 thin lemon slices
1 750-ml bottle of chilled Prosecco
ice cubes

Stir sugar and water in a heavy small saucepan over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and bring to a boil. Cool syrup.

Divide fruit among six 6-8 ounce glasses, add 1 tablespoon simple syrup to each and mash with a muddler or handle of a wooden spoon. Add lemon slice to each and mash to release flavor. Add several ice cubes to each glass, then fill Prosecco.



Tasting Notes: Really? The above description didn't do it for you? You need more info? Okay... the fizzy crisp Prosecco with a slice of lemon and some fruit bathing in this magical cocktail. Tasty and delicious and if you can't imagine that I don't think I can help you at all.