MANGO BREAD

4 cups of flour

4 cups of sugar

5 teaspoons of cinnamon

4 teaspoons of baking soda

1 teaspoon of salt

 2 1/4 cups of oil

2 teaspoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons vanilla

7 eggs

4 cups of fresh diced mango

1 cups of walnuts or pecans

1 cup of coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil then flour your bread pans.

Stir the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.

In your mixer bowl, mix the oil, lemon juice, vanilla, and eggs. Gradually add the dry ingredients from the first bowl. Then fold in the mango, nuts, and coconut.

I use three rather large bread pans when I make this recipe. I usually bake them for at least an hour and then I use a cake tester to test doneness. You may have to adjust your time if the loaves are not completely baked in the middle. Feel free to use smaller loaf pans or min-loaf pans, but you'll have to adjust the baking times.

Freezes well.

 

VODKA INFUSIONS

Cinnamon Infused Vodka

Making your own infused vodka . . . sounds intimidating to some. But in reality, you are chucking some herbs or fruit in vodka and monitoring it until it achieves the strength of taste you are looking for in your infusion. Of course, there are some some things to consider. I'll go over some things I think are particularly important and that I do when infusing. 

First off, use glass. Mason jars are great actually, but I'll use anything I have handy. Right now I have a cinnamon infusion in a maple syrup glass container and my ginger infusion is in I believe a spaghetti sauce jar. Make sure whatever you are using is clean and you should be fine.

Don't go out and buy the cheapest vodka imaginable. Cheap vodka tastes cheap and an infusion made with cheap vodka will taste like an infusion made with cheap vodka. I'm not saying you should use Grey Goose or Belvedere, but please don't buy a rot gut vodka. I usually use Absolut or Stoli. I would also recommend that you do not use a vodka distilled from potatoes or rye since they often have their own distinctive taste.

As with the vodka, you should be using quality fresh fruit, fresh herbs, fresh veggies and fresh spices. Don't use the strawberries that have been sitting in the back of the refrigerator for the past 2 weeks. Make sure all your fruits, veggies, and herbs are clean. Wash them in a colander and allow them to dry before using.

You want to prep your fruit by cutting it into smaller pieces. This will speed the infusion process. If you are concerned about aesthetics, you can leave the fruit whole or in bigger chunks but pierce the pieces in a few places. Some fruit should also be peeled due to the fact that the skins impede the infusing process. These fruits include most stone fruit and mangoes. For citrus infusions, you may actually want to use the peel since the peel contains strong flavorful citrus oils. Just make sure to scrape the white pith from the peel. If you are feeling adventurous and using tomatoes, you should leave the peel intact because the tomatoes will disintegrate quickly without the peel. If I'm using berries, I usually muddle them. You may choose to add some sugar. This will help the berries to yield their juices. 

Ginger infused vodka

If using seeds, such as star anise or peppercorns, they should be crushed slightly. When using herbs, I strongly recommend using fresh herbs. If that is not an option, at least use whole or dried leaf spices. Powders will be next to impossible to strain out of your infusion.

Put your fruit, herbs, veggies, or spices in your infusing jar and then gently pour the vodka over them. Don't fill your container to the brim. Some of your ingredients may release juices during the infusion process and you don't want your container overfilled.After that, I give it a good shake. I try to shake my infusions at least once a day. I make sure to keep the bottle out of light and do my infusing at room temperature. Some people may disagree with me on that particular aspect. Vodka should be served cold, however, coldness slows down the infusing process. You also need to taste your infusion  on a regular, probably daily, basis. You don't want your infusion too strong. What I usually do is to allow my infusion to sit out for a few days, do regular tastings, and when I think it is near completion, I place it in the refrigerator. Do not allow any of the flavoring ingredients to be exposed to air. If that happens after your tastings, simply add a little more vodka to make sure they are covered.

When you think you are finished, find yourself a pretty decanter or another clean Mason jar. Pour your infusion through a sieve lined with cheesecloth or a coffee filter. And I stick mine in the freezer and enjoy it.

MOJITO - COLUMBIA HOUSE STYLE

We recently visited The Columbia House in Ybor City, Florida. While I have a much more in depth restaurant review planned, I thought I might share how much we enjoyed the mojitos.

They prepared them at the table, and served them in beautiful blown glass pitchers and glasses. I first told the girls I was going to do an internet search for a Columbia House knock-off recipe, but discovered I did not have to since they have the recipe listed on their web site.

Visit their web site for this recipe and others. Make sure you use fresh lime and they even include a recipe for the mint simple syrup they use. The only thing they do not include is the fact that they add a stalk of sugar cane to each glass.

Part of the appeal of these drinks is the presentation. While we all can't have a server from the Columbia House recreate these drinks at out dining room table, we can use pretty blown pitchers and glasses. Check out the glassware below.

PEANUT BUTTER PIE

A no bake pie, rich in chocolate and peanut butter flavors. It is a dense pie, due to the cream cheese.

FILLING

1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese

1 cup of sugar

1 cup of creamy peanut butter

1 tablespoon of melted butter

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 cup of heavy cream, beaten until stiff

 1 (9 inch) chocolate cookie crumb crust

hot fudge sauce

TOPPING

1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips

3 tablespoons of brewed coffee

chopped peanuts for garnish

First, melt about 3-4 tablespoons of the hot fudge sauce in the microwave. Spoon it over the bottom of the pie crust. If you must spread it, be careful; those pie crusts are very delicate.

Beat the cream cheese, sugar, peanut butter, butter, and vanilla in a large mixer bowl until creamy. Fold in half of the beaten cream. Then fold in the remaining cream until blended. Then place filling into the pie crust.

Combine the chocolate chips and coffee in a microwavable container. Microwave until melted and smooth. Cool slightly, and then pour over top of pie. Place chopped peanuts on top of chocolate. Carefully place plastic lid from pie crust onto the pie and refrigerate over night. Yes, really . . . over night.

Take that pie traveling!

ASIAN CUCUMBER SALAD

You should really "sweat" your cukes before using them for this salad. What does that mean? Peel them first. Then slice in half. Take a spoon and scoop out the cucumber seeds. Lay cukes on paper towels and salt them. The salt will cause the excess water in the cucumbers to "sweat' out. Turn them over after about a half hour and salt the other sides. Allow them to sit for another half hour. You may need to change the paper towels occasionally.

3/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
4 large cucumbers, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted

Stir together first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Add cucumbers, tossing to coat. Cover and chill 1 hour. Add sesame seeds, and toss; serve immediately.

Having problems finding sesame seeds or sesame oil? Check out the sesame seeds and oil below.

KING OF SNAKE COCKTAIL

A rant before the recipe - I had a heck of a time finding chile pepper vodka. You can get Swedish fish flavored vodka, but good luck trying to find pepper vodka. Is this a Florida thing? Sheesh.

You'll have to really like ginger to enjoy this one.


1 inch piece of peeled fresh ginger, first crushed, then chopped
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
1/4 cup of vodka (I used Absolut)
1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons of chile pepper flavored vodka ( I used Stoli Hot)
2 tablespoons of orange liqueur (I used Cointreau)

2 cups of crushed ice


Muddle the ginger and brown sugar together in a cocktail shaker. (I got to use my skull shaker!) I allowed it to sit for about 10 minutes too. I wanted the sugar to liquify. Add all remaining ingredients except the ice. shake for about 20 seconds. Fill 2 old fashioned glasses with the crushed ice. Strain cocktail into glass and serve.

And then be prepared to sit. Because it's a butt kicker.

Need a cocktail shaker? Look at some of these.

FIZZY CHERRY LEMONADE

With alcohol or not. Your choice. Make the right one.

This recipe yields 8 10 oz. servings.


2 lbs. of Bing cherries
1 cup of fresh lemon juice
3/4 to 1 cup of sugar
1 1/2 cups of vodka
chilled sparkling water


Take the stems off the cherries. You do NOT have to pit them. Put the 2 lbs of stemmed cherries into your blender. (I have a pretty good blender.) I put mine on the maximum speed and power for a few moments. Then pour the cherry mixture into a sieve over a pitcher. Add the lemon juice to the cherries in the pitcher quickly because the cherries will start to discolor almost immediately. Then add your sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved.


This is when I add my alcohol.


Fill a glass with ice in it about half way full with the cherry lemon mixture and top with sparkling water.

SPINACH DIP IN A BREAD BOWL

1 package (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry 1 container (16 oz.) sour cream 1 cup mayonnaise 1 package Knorr Vegetable recipe mix (And yes . . . you do NEED Knorr) 1 can (8 oz.) water chestnuts, drained and chopped Mix all ingredients together. Allow to sit in refrigerator at least 1 hour before serving. To make a bread bowl - buy any round loaf of bread. I use to special order a round rye. Now I just buy whatever is available, usually whole wheat. Whatever is your preference.  Take a serrated bread knife and cut out center of bread. Be careful so you do not cut through bottom of loaf. Brush the inside of the cut loaf with melted butter and put in 300 degree oven until it reaches the desired crispness you want. While the loaf is in the oven, you can either rip or cut the center of the bread into pieces for dipping. **I also use celery, carrots, and tortilla chips for dippers.