Tag Archives: apple cider

White Sangría

26 Mar

I am a sucker for a white sangría… Ever since I visited Spain for the last time about 5 yrs ago, I prefer sangrías made with white wine/grape juice than sangrías made with red. They seem fresher and lighter to my taste.

We made this sangría at Alison’s recently when she invited me to “teach” her a few easy recipes she could make at home for her husband. It was funny because it started like a cooking class, yet we ended up with a nice party entertaining her friends and family celebrating the inaugural issue of the online magazine Karma Life & Style. You might recognize someone as the food editor… hum, hum.

Sangrías are so simple to make and excellent to entertain a crowd. Just mix in a large pitcher, keep cool and enjoy. And make sure to have extra ingredients to make additional batches. I’ve never been able to make just one batch… it goes down smooth like juice!!!!

WHITE SANGRIA

1 bottle of non-alcoholic sparkling apple cider or grape must
1 32oz bottle of natural ginger ale
½ can of passion fruit juice concentrate
1 cup of freshly squeezed orange juice
1 granny smith apple, peeled, cored and sliced thinly
1 orange, sliced
  • In a pretty glass pitcher, mix all the ingredients together. Let the flavors meld together for about 30 minutes to 1 hour before serving.
  • Serve over ice.

Serve over ice.

Tags: , , , , , ,

Citrus Punch

1 Aug

This was a non-alcoholic drink I did for the Les Francophones get-together.  I wanted to have something light and refreshing if someone needed a break from the French wine they brought over…

 

 

CITRUS PUNCH

1 container of frozen passion fruit juice, thawed
2  12oz bottles of pineapple juice
1 cup of orange juice
1 bottle of Martinelli’s sparkling apple cider
1 cup of lime-flavored Perrier

 

 

  1. Mix all the ingredients in a pitcher and chill in the refrigerator until your guests arrive.

Tags: , , ,

The Bounties of Vermont…

8 Apr

 

I recently visited Vermont for the first time…  The main purpose of my visit was to ski at SugarBush, a lovely ski resort right in the middle of Vermont.  My best friend’s dad has had a slope-side apartment there for the longest time, and it was this year the first time we’ve been able to sync our schedules and go together.

I am not the one to bring gifts or souvenirs back from a trip – but I like to purchase items that are indigenous to the place I am visiting…  so I need to share with you about these true Vermont beauties:

Vermont’s Maple Syrup

Oh goodie…  the variety of maple syrups can be overwhelming sometimes.  I learned about Vermont Fancy, Grade A Amber, Grade A Medium, etc.  I can get at home the Grade As, but I had never seen or tasted Vermont Fancy – so that’s what I bought as a souvenir.  I also bought some maple spread, maple butter and some maple candies.  You’ll be seeing some of these maple jewels in various upcoming posts… I see pancakes in my future… 

Vermont’s Apple Cider

We went past Cold Hollow Cider Mill…  but it is really hard to miss, because their cider bottles are EVERYWHERE!!!  Truth be told… I do not know the difference between apple juice and apple cider, but I LOOOOOVED this apple cider.  It’s like the freshest, sweetest unfiltered apple juice you have ever had.  If you’re ever in that neck of the woods, you need to try their cider.

 

 

Vermont’s Cabot Cheese

 I an a Cabot cheese lover.  What I love about Cabot cheeses is they explicitly mention in their packaging they do not use animal rennet in their manufacturing.  My favorite variety is the Extremely Sharp Hunter’s variety, which is as sharp as you can get here – to me, it’s perfect to eat with strawberries or green grapes.  We were able to go to one of Cabot factory store where we were able to taste test many varieties… and I found the Vintage Variety – aged for 24 months hand-selected by the company’s president… this is even sharper than the Hunter’s kind… it’s AWESOME!!!!  I just wish I could have been able to bring home a larger piece.

Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream

We visited Ben & Jerry’s factory tour one afternoon after skiing.  Even though most Ben & Jerry’s ice creams are not karma-free (because they contain egg yolks in the base recipe), they do offer a variety of organic flavors and fruit sherbets.  The new flavors we tried at the factory were AMAZING!!!!  And if you have a B&J shop nearby, stay tuned to their FREE CONE day coming up on April 29th.

 

It’s all right there on VT Route 100 – Visit and taste all the bounties Vermont has to offer… you can take a stab at skiing too if you’d like, you know…

 

Tags: , , ,

Aniette’s Bull

3 Apr

 Aniette has been my friend for many years now… since high school, now that I think about it.  We might not be in contact very frequently, but when we get together is like time has not passed by.  We have been with each other thru many good and not so good times and I am very grateful and fortunate to call her my friend…  Aniette is the original creator of the Sweet Red Pepper Dip – she was the one who showed me how to make it after a long guessing session trying to decipher what was the dip made off.  Aniette is also fluent in French… ever since high school she was reading full novels in French.  I invited her to our little French-speaking soiree, but she was planning a romantic weekend with her husband, so I could not really coax her into coming to my house to just speak French… no contest there.

But even though she was not here in person, she was with us in spirit… because the signature drink I served up at our French get-together was also inspired by Aniette – I had a version of this “bull” at a get-together we had at Chez Aniette a few months back.  I almost drank the whole pitcher by myself…  I was blown away by how delicious it tasted.

Why call it a “bull”??  I don’t know… Don’t shoot the messenger here, but in Puerto Rico we call a punch, like the kind served at the high school parties you see in the movies, a “bull”, pronounced “bul” – short U and short L.  And a punch bowl is called a “bulera”.  Hey… I don’t make this stuff up.  Besides, this will be a fun anecdote to tell around the “bulera” the next time you’re invited to a party, no??

This is an adaptation of Aniette’s original recipe, because I could not find all the ingredients I wanted for the original version… but the alternate was a hit as well, and so, I still give Aniette full credit.

p1030223.jpg

ANIETTE’S BULL

1 can frozen passion fruit juice concentrate
16oz of guava juice
8oz of grape juice
8 oz of orange juice
1 bottle of Martinelli’s Sparkling Cider – non-alcoholic
  1. Allow the frozen concentrate to thaw out a bit in the fridge.
  2. Mix all the ingredients in a pitcher.
  3. Serve chilled over ice.

Tags: , , , ,

%d bloggers like this: