DasBear's Blog of Noms

Everyone has a freezer and some ice trays, but do you use them very often?


Freeze your left over coffee! You can use these to cool down coffee that's too hot or blend the coffee ice-cubes in a blender to make a Frappe! Just add milk and whatever sweetener you like.
-Caramel Sauce
-Vanilla Simple Syrup
-Chocolate Sauce
-Cinnamon flavored caramel sauce

Try freeze some green tea to make a green-tea slushie! Add frozen blueberries for a twist and sweetness! (Just sweeten with honey or simple syrup)

I like to use some Sanpellegrino in Blood Orange or Lemon (Sprite is fine too), then add some fresh fruit to it (Kiwi, Mango, Blueberries, Peach, Strawberries). I will add this to ice-cube tray and freeze. Later add this to juice of choice. You can even add this to a alcoholic beverage. If you want to get really creative, add fresh mint leaves for a refreshing taste.

Freeze from cranberry juice and add a few ice-cubes to orange juice to make a Cranberry-Orange. Top with a sparkling wine or Sparkling Water.

Doing a Fruit Punch for a party? Freeze some fresh pineapple with the juice (or Fruit Punch with some fresh fruit), then later drop a few cubes to flavor your punch and also keep it cool.

Freeze some vodka with some fruit to chill your alcohol beverage and add a bit of color and interest to the cocktail. Why dilute your drinks with flavorless water.


Please enjoy these ideas responsibly!


Psssttt....You can freeze stock and left over wine to use on recipes later.

Want something that is refreshing and will get you surprisingly drunk?

You need 2 watermelons (seedless)
Soju
Limes
Ginger liqueur ( Do not substitute this. If you don't have any, opt out then)
Few sprigs of fresh mint
2-4 ice cube trays
Simple Syrup

If you want to make it a little girly you can add a splash of Sprite or Ginger ale. Maybe some maraschino cherries for garnish.

Take 1 watermelon and cut a hole in the top and scoop out everything, leaving it completely hallow (make sure not to rupture the walls) and also cut a small slice out of the bottom to use as your base. The second watermelon you want to just cut it up, remove the rind and add to the other watermelon flesh to removed. Blend all of that up and then pour through a strainer. Once you've blended and drained all of your watermelon juice. You will skim the foam off. Then pour some watermelon juice into your ice trays and freeze for later.

Now you will pour the watermelon juice back into the hallowed out watermelon about half way. 1-2 oz of ginger liqueur (Pour in 1 oz first, taste and add the second ounce if you want a more intense ginger flavor). You want about 2-3 leaves of mint, roughly chop that up and toss it in. Now add the SOJU, I like to start with 4 bottles (or more...just don't fill to the top, we still need a little room). Mix and cover it up and chill in the fridge at least 1-3 hrs in advance!

Just before serving add your watermelon ice cubes.Take a half of a fresh lime (Its very important that its fresh!) and squeez into the watermelon juice. (Optional: You can add a splash of sprite of ginger ale if you want something a little bubbly. I suggest you complete the recipe first. Then pour a glass and add some Sprite/Ginger Ale to it and see if that is how you like it). Top off with some more watermelon juice and at this point I add a little simple syrup to taste and stir.

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1 watermelon
Vodka or Patron Silver Tequila
Triple Sec or Cointreau
Lime

Cut up one watermelon into 1 inch thick wedges (I quarter mine) and place inside of a large plastic container with a lid. You will pour 1-3 cups of alcohol of choice, 1/4 -1/2 cup of Triple Sec or Cointreau over the watermelon. Now, you cover it up and put it into the fridge to chill for a few hours (If the watermelon isn't very sweet I will add about 1/2 simple syrup). Just before serving have some lime slices ready and couarse sea-salt flakes.

I take a slice, squeeze some lime juice over and sprinkle sea-salt before I take a bite. Its like taking a shot of tequila. If you go the Vodka route, I squeeze lime juice over it and don't bother with the salt (you can sprinkle coarse/raw sugar instead if you like).
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Vodka (I prefer Reyka - those Nords know how to make Vodka)
Gummy Bears (Don't get the generic crap, you want Haribo Gummi Bears - why? It holds up a lot better I find)

Take two large rectangle plastic containers, divide your large bag of gummies into either one. Now, you want to fill each with enough vodka to barely cover your gummies. Allow this to soak for 2-3 days in the fridge. Take your gummies out to add some more vodka - a little less than what you added before and cover again. This will sit in the fridge for another 2-3 days. Now, lets open them up and take a look. They should be doubled in size. Pour out any excess vodka and allow to chill back in the fridge until ready to serve. Once the soaking process has finished, I like to toss mine in the freezer for 2 min or so before serving and add into shots for an added kick.

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Simple Syrup
2 part Sugar (I use raw sugar)
1 part Water (bottled or filtered)

Why bottled water? Because tap water its treated with chemicals and will give also flavor your syrup. So, I bring my water to a boil and then add my sugar. I stir the pot until everything is dissolved and allow to boil without stirring for about 15 mins. Then, I remove it from the heat to completely cool down before pouring it into a glass bottle.




Please enjoy these recipes responsibly!

Tomorrow (today in just a few minutes) I will be entertaining some guests. I wanted to have a nice little cake to enjoy with some coffee or tea. So, naturally I wanted to make Dulce de Leche. After 2hrs of careful stirring, I had some super rich caramel. I noticed some apples looking lonely and thought about making an apple upside down cake. Apples + Caramel = YUM!


Then, I went digging into my e-mails and I noticed I promised a very good friend of mine some cupcakes. Well, she loves chocolate. Now, I wanted to do something a little different than the usual chocolate cupcake. So, I started melting some dark chocolate to add to my batter and popped those into the oven. I started with a simple butter cream recipe and added some Nutella. I tempered off some bitter-sweet chocolate, chopped hazelnuts and a tray of Ferrero Roche chocolates for garnishing.

For right now, my cupcakes are still cooling. So, I will post the finished product of the cupcakes later.


Fin! oh nomnomnomnomnom

I have a Vitamix. Its an awesome kitchen and lifestyle investment. But, you don't need a super fancy blender to make soups, a handmixer is fine or a normal blender. I'll share with you some soup delicious soup recipies and some side ideas to balance out your meal.

Butternut squash and sweet potato soup:
- 1 large butternut squash, peeled and diced up into small cubes
- 3 or 4 sweet potatoes, peels and diced up into small cubes
- Half of a large yellow onion or 1 small onion
- 1/2 stick of unsalted butter
- A touch of olive oil
- 1 clove of garlic crushed
- 1 1/2 cup of unsalted chicken stock or low sodium
- Slash of heavy cream (Optional)
Seasonings: salt, curry powder, cumin and freshly ground pepper

In a large stock pot, cut your stick of butter in half and toss that in with a little drizzle of olive oil
Toss in your onion and garlic on low heat until onions are translucent and be careful not to burn the garlic
Its time to put in your diced up veg into the pot and sprinkle a little curry powder and cumin
Add about a cup of your chicken stock and the rest of the butter
Allow everything to cook until tender (poke with a fork to see doneness)
Once slightly cooked, transfer to a blender and pulse until smooth
Add the blended soup back into your stock pot on a low heat
Season the food with salt and a bit more spices if you wish (if you like a thinner soup, add the remaining stock)
Before serving, add a bit of cracked pepper

This goes well with a nice side salad
-Mixed greens or spinach
-Toasted pecans (I make candied chipotle pecans, store bought it fine)
-Sliced granny smith apples or strawberries
-Goat cheese (optional)
-Vinaigrette dressing


Shrimp and Avocado Salad!
-Cherry tomatoes (10 cut in half)
-Red onion (half, thinly sliced)
-1 Avocado (ripe)
-Peeled & de-veined Shrimp (non-cooked) 1 lbs
-Red bell pepper (Half, dice into bite size cubes)
-Your choice of greens (spinach, romaine lettuce, mixed greens)

You can cook your shrimp in the oven or in a pan over the stove, the choice is yours. Now, for seasonings we toss our shrimp in a bowl and drizzle with a touch of olive oil, roughly chopped parsley, pinch of cayenne pepper, garlic, lemon juice. Then a dash of salt and pepper. Lay this out on a baking pan lined with parchment paper and cook for 12-15 min on 375 or you can toss the shrimp into a pan on med-high heat for 5-9 minutes depending on the size of your shrimp. (They should be pink and slightly curled when done). Let it cool before serving so it doesn't wilt the greens.

​Cut those cherry tomatoes into quarters or halves, dice a quarter of a red onion, dice half of a red pepper and cut up your avocado cup. Mix all of this together and place over a bed of greens, top with a vinaigrette and enjoy!