Margarita Floats

The last two weeks, I have been out of town learning how to teach physics. The big problem I seem to be having with this is that I don't really seem to KNOW physics. 

When I graduated from college, I had changed my major enough and taken some magical combination of classes that allowed me to add physics to my license. Oddly, only one of those classes covered what is traditionally taught in a high school physics course, and that class appears on my transcript next to the lowest grade I received in any class. Ever.

So I have been spending 8 hours a day with a bunch of other teachers trying to keep up with the vectors, vaguely familiar trigonometry and the ever popular Isaac Newton. 

My brain hurts.

One night we went to supper at Whiskey Creek. On their drink menu they had what they called a margarita float. Since I hadn't done my homework at that point, I figured I had better not chance it. But that picture just kept coming back to me. It sounded so good. Why hadn't I ever heard of this?

And do I even need to mention the weather???? 

So I set out to discover my own. The only thing I could remember from the description was Tequila and Triple Sec. Not much to go on. Now, I love margaritas, I just have never given much thought to how I would make them at home.

So I guessed. Well, I Googled it. Do you know how many recipes there are out there for margaritas? Hmmm...now that I think about it, I didn't check to see if there were any for margarita floats. Did I mention my brain hurts?

For each serving, mix together 1 tablespoon Triple Sec, 2 tablespoons Tequila and 1/4 Cup Lime Juice. Add 1 cup of Tonic Water.

Add in a nice big scoop of sherbet. I was going to use lime or raspberry, but all my grocery store had today was the rainbow. I wasn't terribly disappointed because all flavors of sherbet taste pretty much the same to me.

That tonic water makes a beautifully fizzy foam on the top.

Aren't these gorgeous?

Incredibly tasty, too. Maybe a tad strong. I think I would not add full tablespoons next time. But that sherbet swirls in and gives a nice refreshing sweetness to the limes.

Oh, here's another tip. If you happen to be experimenting with drinks made from multiple variations of alcohol, it is probably a good idea to invite a friend over. Just sayin'

Click here for Printable Recipe

Margarita Floats
1 oz Triple Sec
2 oz Tequila
1/4 Cup Lime Juice
1 Cup Tonic Water
Scoop of Sherbet
Mix it up and enjoy.

Note: It is a good idea to have all the liquids chilled before mixing since there is no ice added.

Firecracker Floats

In the same issue of Taste of Home that revealed the layer cake, The Girl found a page covered in different variations of sundaes, floats and other ice cream delights. While they all look delicious and will eventually all be tried in due course, the Firecracker Float just pulled us in. We were going to serve these with the cake when my nephew was here for his birthday. That was the plan, anyway.

The big obstacle was finding Pop Rocks. I went to every store and gas station in town that might possibly have supplied them to no avail. Not a single Pop Rock to be found. We were so excited to try this one and were going to have to give up the dream until we could get to a metropolis large enough to carry such a delicacy.

So, so sad.

I happened to be in the dollar store yesterday and at the end of the aisle was a great big display of Pop Rocks. I KNOW that those were not there when I looked earlier this week, and sure enough, when questioned, the lady said she had put it up the day after I came looking. 

So I stocked up and rushed home to try these out.

Add a scoop of ice cream (any flavor) into a tall glass. Sprinkle with Pop Rocks. The instructions called for a third a package, but I think it needs a little bit more. Be careful. They are called Pop Rocks for a reason. They pop. Everywhere. They are even activated by ice cream. The Boy is forever scarred.

 Repeat these layers until the glass is most of the way full.

 Fill in the spaces with lemon lime soda. The first thing Jeff said was "won't my stomach explode and kill me?" No. It won't. What it will do is cause the Rocks to start Popping. This is good.

 Add a straw and mix it up.

You cannot enjoy this float with out giggling at least once. I'm not sure how these little tiny candies can cause so much joy. And they are tasty.

Click here for Printable Recipe

Firecracker Float
3-4 Scoops Ice Cream
1 Package Pop Rocks
1-2 Cups Lemon Lime Soda
Scoop ice cream into a tall glass. Top with Pop Rocks. Repeat to you heart's content. Top with soda.

Warm Butterbeer

So we are on our sixth snow day of the year. And while being a teacher definitely has it's perks on days like this, I am really sick of snow and cold, not to mention being couped up in the house for days at a time. I went out and shoveled the driveway this morning just so I could escape. It was 7 degrees.

When I came back in, I briefly thought about hot chocolate. We have been drinking so much lately that the suggestion received very little enthusiasm. I went on a kick awhile back (you may remember) in the hot drinks category. I had one more recipe that we hadn't tried yet.

Butterbeer.

For those unfortunate enough to not know anything about the Harry Potter world, go now to your local library and check out the series. I firmly believe that you will want to read them all if you start on the first, so just get them all.

I'll wait.

Back? Okay. Butterbeer is a favorite drink in the wizarding world. J.K. Rowling made it up, but she has said that she imagines it tasting "a little less sickly than butterscotch." There are a lot of recipes out there, especially since the Wizarding World of Harry Potter has opened at Universal Studios in Orlando, so it took awhile to sort through them all and find one that sounded right. We had 10 inches of snow last night, what am I supposed to do?

This one sounded most like what I think Butterbeer should be, plus it is super simple to make.

Add a heaping tablespoon of butterscotch sauce and a tablespoon of cream to a can of Cream Soda. If you are lucky, press the "on" button on your Cocomotion. If not, you can also heat this on the stove or in the microwave.

Enjoy.

This went over really well. We ended up making two more batches before the day was over. This is really sweet, so I added a bit more cream on the second batch and prefer that version. The Kids I don't think even noticed there was a difference.

In the books, too much Butterbeer can make one a little tipsy, especially if you are a house elf. To make this more of adult drink, a shot of butterscotch schnapps is recommended.

Click here for Printable Recipe

Warm Butterbeer

2 Tablespoons Butterscotch Sauce
1 Tablespoons Heavy Cream
1 Can Cream Soda

Mix it all together and heat.

Caramel Apple Sips

Know what else you can add that caramel sauce to? Apple cider.

Just add a tablespoon of the caramel to each cup of apple cider. Heat. Stir. Enjoy.

I love this. The Girl isn't a big fan of apple juice, so she was pretty unimpressed. I had to bribe The Boy to taste it and then he wanted more. And more.

This is definitely a keeper. It's a nice change from the creamy drinks I usually make and less involved than regular apple cider. I seem to be the only one who likes the spices, anyway.

Click here for Printable Recipe

Caramel Apple Sips

4 cups apple cider

1/4 cup caramel sauce

Bring the cider to a simmer in a medium pan over medium high heat. Add the caramel sauce and whisk until melted.

Remove from heat, pour into mugs.

Mulled Dr. Pepper

I mentioned my recent obsession with hot drinks the other day. This was actually the first recipe I tried. I found it long ago in a Taste of Home cookbook and thought it sounded good. I surprisingly had all the ingredients on hand, so I set it to mulling on one of our snow day afternoons.

Cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, nutmeg, allspice, salt and brown sugar all go into a slow cooker.

Add in your Dr. Pepper and a bit of lemon juice and cook for a couple hours.
Dr. Pepper seems to be a flavor that you either really like or you really don't. I can remember my great-grandma called it "grasshopper juice." I have a vivid memory of looking at a captured grasshopper spitting on my finger while I was thinking, "she's right, it does look like Dr. Pepper." Just a little side note to remind you how impressionable young children can be...

The Girl liked this okay. I liked it. Jeff, however, wasn't even going to try it after getting his first whiff. He also threatened to cancel his life insurance policy if I continued to try to poison him. It wasn't THAT bad, but I don't think I will ever make it again unless The Girl specifically requests it.

Click here for Printable Recipe

Mulled Dr. Pepper

8 cups Dr. Pepper

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon whole cloves

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3 cinnamon sticks (3 inches)

In a 3-qt. slow cooker, combine all ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 2 hours or until heated through.

Discard cloves and cinnamon sticks. Yield: 8-10 servings.

Caramel Steamed Milk

It's cold here. I mean really cold. And snowy and icy. Our weatherman keeps saying the words "arctic air." That can never be good.

As a result, I am moving through on a hot chocolate drinking marathon. I love hot chocolate, but I was starting to crave something else. Anything else.

And so it began.

I hit Google up for as many hot drinks I as it could find. Turns out, there are a lot of hot drinks, many of which contain an amazing amount of alcohol. That wasn't really what I was going for, but maybe later, that will come in handy. Anyhow, I found several that sounded good and am in the process of trying them all.

This caramel steamed milk was the first one I tried. It sounds weird, I know, but don't discount it yet.

It is so simple. Add a tablespoon of caramel syrup to a cup of milk and heat it up. You can use store bought syrup of make your own.

You can heat it on the stove, in the microwave or if you are lucky, your brother gave you a Cocomotion for Christmas one year. The first batch I cooked on the stove. Slowly. Painfully slowly. The second time, I mixed it up in my machine. That was by far my favorite since you get a nice layer of foamy milk on the top.
I could have stopped here. This is the perfect just-before-bed-get-the-kids-calmed-down treat. I have a cup right now as I watch the "wintry mix" fall outside my window.

Give it a try. It is so amazingly good.

UPDATE: I have also used the Butterscotch Sauce in place of the Caramel...yummm...

UPDATE: When I posted this, I hadn't really spent any time away from it. Now that I have, I realize that I don't think I conveyed my love for this drink. Seriously, I think about it all day long. Try it. It will make you happy.

Click here for Printable Recipe

Caramel Steamed Milk

1 Cup Milk

1 Tablespoon Caramel Sauce

Mix all ingredients in a saucepan placed over medium heat. Bring to just a boil and remove from heat. Alternatively, you can steam or heat a cup of milk using your preferred method and stir in the tablespoon of caramel once the milk is hot. The sauce will easily melt and mix with the milk. Serve immediately.

Hot Pumpkin Chocolate

I'm not sure where fall went. When I was forcing teenagers out the door to go run, it was 40 degrees. Now it is 70. I am pretty sure the calendar says November, but I am not buying it. Last night brought thunderstorms and lost power to my area, and it did cool off a little bit. But not enough for me.

In hopes of (or in spite of) a cooler evening, I tried a recipe that has been sitting on my list for quite some time. Actually, this is a heavily modified version of a Pumpkin Latte I found in a now missing check-out aisle cookbook. Have I mentioned my addiction to those??

Anyway, I don't drink coffee. Don't even remotely like coffee. Cannot choke it down. I have never understood how something that smells so incredibly good can taste so bad.

But somehow, the Pumpkin Latte kept calling to me. It looked (and even sounded) really, really good. But I knew the coffee would make me hate it. So, like any other sane person, I figured I would substitute hot cocoa for the coffee. Turns out, this was a great idea...

Take 2 tablespoons of pumpkin puree and add it to 2 cups of milk into your Cocomotion. I have mentioned how hot chocolate drinkers NEED one of these. Seriously. If need be, however, you can also put the ingredients into a heavy saucepan.
Add in 1 tablespoon cocoa, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice blend and 1 teaspoon vanilla.
Press the "on" button and wait patiently. If your ingredients are in a saucepan, cook on medium heat until hot and stir until mixed.
Add a dollop of whipped cream and enjoy.
This is huge. Two of my favorite ingredients come together at my favorite time of year. The Girl enthusiastically chugged her cup and I had to make some more.

I also went ahead and froze little 2 tablespoon servings of pumpkin puree. Fill up an ice cube tray and freeze overnight. In the morning, put them all into a freezer bag. Then you can just pop them out as you need them.

Click here for Printable Recipe

Hot Pumpkin Chocolate
2 Tablespoons Pumpkin Puree
2 Cups Milk
1 Tablespoon Cocoa Powder
2 Tablespoons Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla

Stir all ingredients together into a saucepan. Cook on medium heat until hot. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream if desired.

My Quest for the Perfect Hot Chocolate Part IV

I gotta say, gettin a bit discouraged here. But in a good way. I am still looking for my perfect hot chocolate. Digging around in my drawer, I have found one that seems promising.

This recipe actually uses chocolate chips - can't get much more chocolaty than that, can you? Even if it does use powdered milk.

The instructions for making the actual drink seem kind of complicated to me. 3 heaping tablespoons for each 3/4 cup water. Not something that is easily remembered from winter to winter....

So, let's see, shall we?

Instant Hot Chocolate Mix
3 C Instant nonfat dry milk powder
2 1/2 C Semisweet chocolate morsels or mint chocolate chips or butterscotch chips or milk chocolate chips
1 1/2 C Mini Marshmallows

1. Place half the milk and chips in a food processor and whirl until finely ground.
2. Repeat.
3. Put all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.
4. To make 1 cup, place 3 heaping tablespoons of mix into a mug, add 3/4 cup boiling water and stir.



Wow. And by that I mean son of a gun that is some chocolaty hot chocolate. It is like I just melted down the chocolate chips and drank that. I distinctly remember adding in the powdered milk, but it all must have leaked out. Maybe it evaporated.

I used semisweet chips for this. I would have liked to have used milk chocolate (I am NOT one of those people who claim to love dark chocolate), but I didn't have any on hand. I think that might have taken some of the edge off. The idea of mint chips intrigues me, I love mint (see my original post).

All in all, not too bad, but not what I was looking for. It's a bit too labor intensive for me, and really lacks the creaminess I am searching for.

My Quest for the Perfect Hot Chocolate Part III

So I'm cleaning off my kitchen counter, my cabinet door is open, and the Hershey's cocoa box is at eye level. Guess what it says on the side?? Perfectly Chocolate Hershey's Hot Cocoa. How long has that been there? Surely, Hershey's knows what they are doing.


Perfectly Chocolate Hershey's Hot Cocoa

• 2 tablespoons sugar or Splenda sugar substitute
• 2-3 teaspoons hershey"s cocoa
• 1 dash salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Mix sugar, cocoa and salt in large mug.
2. Heat milk in microwave at HIGH(100%) for 1 to 1-1/2 minutes or until hot.
3. Gradually add hot milk to cocoa mixture in mug, stirring until well blended.
4. Stir in vanilla.

We're getting there. At first, I thought this was the one. Nice balance between chocolate and sugar and milk. But then the after taste remained. Not overpoweringly so, but I still felt the need to brush my teeth right away. Although this one moves up to the top of my list, I am still looking.

My Quest for the Perfect Hot Chocolate Part II

I really wanted to like this one. Not because it is "fat free sugar free", but because it had pudding in it. What a good idea. Typically I steer clear of any recipe that advertises itself as fat free. To me, that simply means flavor free. The sugar free intrigued me. One of my New Year's resolutions was to cut back on sugar. (This is not going well, by the way)

So I tried it. I made it non sugar free, simply because I don't have Splenda in my pantry, so I was 'forced' to use real sugar.


Fat Free Sugar Free Hot Chocolate Mix

Directions

• 3 cups nonfat dry milk powder
• 1 cup Splenda granular
• 1/2 cup baking cocoa
• 1 (1 ounce) package fat-free sugar-free instant vanilla pudding mix

1. Mix all ingredients together.
2. Store in airtight container.
3. To make a cup of hot chocolate use 1/4 cup of mix and 1 cup hot water.

Nope, not it. There are rave review aplenty on the Recipezaar.com site this recipe came from, but I just am not getting it. It could be the nonfat dry milk powder. That in general I don't like. There really wasn't much in the way of a chocolate taste - it tasted more like...wait for it....pudding.

The search goes on.

My Quest for the Perfect Hot Chocolate

I love hot chocolate. I used to adore Carnation mix (with a shot of peppermint schnapps), but for some inexplicable reason, this particular brand has been phased out. This winter, I am embarking on a mission. I am going to find the perfect hot chocolate recipe. If you have never attempted an internet search for hot chocolate recipes, count yourself lucky. There are millions of them. I believe every person in the United States and Canada has posted two, maybe more recipes that "mom used to make."

I have in my head what I am looking for. It can't be too sweet. Nor too chocolately (Is that a word??). I want something creamy. Something I can drink all day long, but not have to spend a lot of time making. I don't want to have to drag out the sugar, cocoa, etc, etc. The mix should go in a jar where I can scoop it out and add milk or water. I would prefer a mix that can be added to water, but that is not a requirement. Actually, that is probably not an option since I don't really like powdered milk, but I am open to suggestion.

Something to make on a snow day.

Something to wind down with before bedtime.

So, my first attempt (from www.allrecipes.com) sounds exactly like what I want....

Creamy Hot Cocoa

• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 1/3 cup boiling water
• 3 1/2 cups milk
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup half-and-half cream

Combine the cocoa, sugar and pinch of salt in a saucepan. Blend in the boiling water. Bring this mixture to an easy boil while you stir. Simmer and stir for about 2 minutes. Watch that it doesn't scorch. Stir in 3 1/2 cups of milk and heat until very hot, but do not boil! Remove from heat and add vanilla. Divide between 4 mugs. Add the cream to the mugs of cocoa to cool it to drinking temperature.


As I am cooking this up, I realize this recipe is almost exactly the same as my chocolate pudding recipe, without the cornstarch.

I rarely have half and half on hand, so I bought some specifically for this recipe. I also tried making the cocoa by substituting regular milk for the half and half.

Verdict: This recipe is VERY rich. Really good, but not really what I was looking for. It was a bit too chocolately for me. Too sweet, too rich. DD drank about four sips and then just ate her marshmallows. I think this would be a good treat every once in awhile, but not for every night.