Ingredients

• Tequila
• Creme De Cassis
• Lime Juice
• Ginger Ale

Quantities

• 1 1/2 oz Tequila
• 1/2 oz Creme de Cassis
• 1/4 oz Fresh Lime Juice
• 4 oz Ginger Ale

Blending Instructions

• Shake the tequila, cassis and lime juice and strain into an ice-filled highball glass
• Fill with ginger ale, garnish with a slice of cucumber, and serve

*Serve in a Highball Glass

**Good for one drink

Ingredients

• Scotch Whisky
• Ginger Ale

Quantities

• 2 oz Scotch Whisky
• 4 oz Ginger Ale

Blending Instructions

• Build over ice in a highball glass
• Garnish with a slice of lime

*Serve in a Highball Glass

*Good for one drink

Ingredients

• Vodka
• Bitters
• Ginger Ale
• Orange

Quantities

• 2 oz Vodka
• 3 Dashes Bitters
• Ginger Ale
• 1 Slice Orange

Blending Instructions

• Put vodka and bitters into a collins glass
• Add several ice cubes, fill with ginger ale, and stir
• Add the orange slice and serve

*Serve in a Collins Glass

**Good for one drink

Ingredients

• Gin
• Heering® Cherry Liqueur
• Orange Juice
• Ginger Ale

Quantities

• 1 1/2 oz Gin
• 1/2 oz Heering® Cherry Liqueur
• 1 1/2 oz Fresh Orange Juice
• 4 oz Ginger Ale

Blending Instructions

• Build ingredients (except ginger ale) in a highball glass over ice, and fill with ginger ale
• Garnish with orange peel and a cherry, and serve

*Serve in a Highball Glass

**Good for oen drink

Ingredients

• Jagermeister® Herbal Liqueur
• Stolichnaya® Vodka
• Apple Juice
• Ginger Ale

Quantities

• 1 oz Jagermeister® Herbal Liqueur
• 1 oz Stolichnaya® Vodka
• 4 oz Apple Juice
• 1 Splash Ginger Ale

Blending Instructions

• Pour jagermeister into a highball glass filled with ice
• Add vodka, and almost fill completely with apple juice
• Add just a splash of ginger ale, garnish with an orange slice, and serve

*Serve in a Highball Glass

** Good for one drink

*sigh* I wish I had some new work to show you guys but sadly everything is, ugh, In Progress. I should have several new things to show you come Friday, though. 3 new paintings, at least! And hopefully a rad illustration of the quintessential Badass Cyborg… Yes, that is correct: ROBOCOP.  (Word on the street is Darren Aronofsky is bringing back RoboCop in 2010 or ‘11. Not sure how I feel about this yet. I just love the original so much. Hm..) Stay tuned.

Last night was the reception at Brews Brothers. Thank you Darin and Gordon for the food and super-spicy ginger ale, as well as the two live acts and fog machine. Lots of people showed up and said lovely things to me about my work. All in all, a success. I totally forgot to take my camera, though. What a dink.

So the other day I sat down and I figured out how to make t-shirts through RedBubble. It was actually quite easy, just tedious. So far I have 8 designs to offer you. Come Winter Break I will certainly be making more. They are available as unisex tees, unisex v-neck tees, long-sleeved, and girly-cut. And they come in a variety of colors and sizes. Here’s some of what I’ve got so far:

To see the rest, click here.

My good friend Michelle is expecting not one but TWO babies (both girls) in January. Clearly, this occasion could not go uncelebrated! Since Michelle already has a five-year-old daughter, she’s pretty set with girly pink schwack and supplies, but I figured she could never have enough diapers. Therefore, I swiped an idea from another baby shower I attended last summer and decided to throw her a “Pamper Michelle” party, asking everyone to bring a pack of diapers in lieu of gifts.

I wanted the food to be reflective of babies and twins, so opted for mini versions of standard party fare. Several recipes were previously untested dishes I’d been wanting to try, and this seemed a perfect excuse. Two of them – sweet potato biscuit sandwiches with ham and honey mustard, and pickled shrimp — came courtesy of last month’s Bon Appetit. Thanks, BA editors!

My first batch of biscuits turned out a little too flat and a little too brown. Fortunately, I had enough ingredients to bang out a second batch lickety split. This time, I didn’t roll them out quite as thin and I didn’t bake them quite as long. The result – yummy, although next time, I’ll use a saltier ham and a spicier Dijon to really up the flavor punch.

Sweet potato biscuit sandwiches with ham and honey mustard

The shrimp, too, turned out to be an interesting experiment. I had quite a prep list going, so to simplify things, I bought frozen cooked cocktail shrimp instead of boiling my own. The thing was, they didn’t thaw as quickly as I’d hoped in the fridge, so when the time came to throw them into the pickling liquid, they were still slightly frozen.

The pickling liquid itself was tricky. The recipe called for equal parts vinegar and olive oil, but when I tasted it, it was ALL oil. You couldn’t make out any of the other flavors – lemon, garlic, bay leaves, etc. I siphoned off a bunch of the oil and added more vinegar, salt and sugar. As the shrimp finished thawing in the pickling juice and released water, I worried that the flavors would end up being even more diluted.

In a happy stroke of luck, by the time I drained off the pickling liquid and plated up the shrimp, I found they’d taken on a ton of flavor after all! In fact, they were quite addictive, if I say so myself. The crowd seemed to agree – there wasn’t much left at the end of the night!

Pickled shrimp

Elsewhere on the menu – I took a basic cheeseball recipe, used a mini-ice cream scooper to form one-inch balls and rolled them in parsley, paprika and chopped almonds. The intention was to make them look like little truffles. See what you think…

Individual cheeseballs and crackers

Instead of the boring old sectioned veggies-and-dip platter, I decided it would be pretty and Christmasy to do all red and green vegetables and mix them together. I thought it looked lovely, and would definitely use this idea again with color-coordinated noshes.

"Christmas" crudite

For dessert, I made mini-cupcakes and frosted them to look like little roses. Also, in honor of the twins, I made two kinds of fudge – chocolate marshmallow and cookies ‘n creme.

Fudge two ways - on top, cookies 'n creme; on bottom, chocolate marshmallow

To wash it all down, I bought wine and beer, but also wanted to have something fancy and non-alcoholic for the mom-to-be. I made a quick punch of cranberry juice and ginger ale, coated the rims of the glasses with crystallized ginger sugar, and made a gorgeous ice mold to float in the punch bowl.

Cranberry ginger punch

All in all, a good time was had by all, and I think Michelle appreciated the chance to enjoy some quality time with the gals, which was the main goal.

I’ve been thinking a lot about my catering biz lately, and in 2010, I would like to focus on baby and bridal showers. I feel they’re what I do best, and what I enjoy most. I like the food, I like the theme. So if you know of anyone who’s tying the knot or getting pregnant in 2010, please pass along my name and direct them to my blog for pics and details!

Boylan Bottling

This punch recipe is super simple! It makes 50 small servings or about 25 large servings.

What you’ll need:

1 pkg cherry koolaid mix
1 pkg raspberry koolaid mix
2 c sugar
2 quarts (8 c) water
1 (46 oz) can unsweetened pineapple juice
2 quarts (64 oz or you can use 2 liters) ginger ale or lemon-lime soda, chilled

Mix together all ingredients except the ginger ale or soda. Chill for at least an hour. When ready to serve, stir in chilled ginger ale or soda.

Cost:
koolaid- $0.25
sugar – $1.99/4 lb bag
pineapple juice – $2.50
ginger ale – $1.29
Total – $6.78/$0.13 per small serving or $0.27 per large serving

I love “Sesame Street” a lot. Hence the title of my post, which was inspired by the lyrics of the show’s theme song. The wonderful PBS program was basically my surrogate preschool, and I can’t thank it enough for all it taught me. Thanks, Big Bird!

Today was a sunny Sunday though, and absolutely divine. I awoke to have some frozen leftover whole wheat pumpkin pancakes that I toasted and topped with pumpkin butter, maple syrup, and a little Earth Balance buttery spread:

Thanks again, Maria, for the tips about freezing pancakes! Total time saver. The pancakes were yummy, but afterwards, I remained unusually hungry so I had red delicious apple slices and peanut butter to make my stomach happier:

After digesting all that and playing email, blog reading, and New York Time’s catch-up- I headed out for what was intended to be a 5 mile run, yet due to some stomach bug I’m fairly certain I inherited from the kids…I had to walk. Also, I think my legs are telling me (my shins are sore) to keep my mileage at a minimum of 12-15 miles per week. Lame, because I want to go back up to 2o miles a week again. However, after being sidelined by injury not too long ago, I know not to take my body’s cues for granted anymore. So, I walked. I let the wind blow me into uncharted park territory today and it was absolutely amazing. I turned off my stop-watch, turned up my eyes to look around at the glorious fall foliage, and wandered like a little baby taking its first curious steps (ok, I was definitely walking at a faster pace than a baby). I paused at a secluded bench tucked somewhere in The Rambles and did 3 sets, 10 reps of lunges, squats, tricep dips, and calf raises.

On my walk home, I picked up a ginger ale to sip because my stomach was still bothering me:

I also ate a leftover slice of veggie pizza for lunch:

Despite my tummy troubles, I still couldn't resist putting red pepper flakes on my slice. I'm fairly certain I'm going to give myself an ulcer.

Later on in the afternoon, I had a small handful of raisins and pecans:

As well as leftover tea from yesterday:

I then went to the grocery store to get some stuff to get me through the week, Usually I post my grocery finds, but I’m pressed for time tonight and will omit just this once. I will say I managed to get plenty of produce during my trip all for under $40. Should get me through the week.

For dinner, I enjoyed a simple pre-made grilled chicken breast that I picked up and some steamed Brussel sprouts:

I also sipped on another Ginger Ale because my stomach is maintaining its dull ache even as I type this to you:

Save Me, Bubbles!

I then went downstairs to the movie theater right that’s literally next to my building (talk about convenience) and saw Precious. I was simultaneously traumatized and inspired by that movie. It’s not for the squeamish, most definitely, but the movie makes some bold statements and sheds light on some largely ignored issues in our society. Even though the film takes place in 1987, the societal and human issues explored in the plot are still completely relevant today. I highly recommend it and desperately want to read the novel it was based on now!

Anyway, I’ll get of my Roger Ebert soapbox now, and onto my Food soapbox. When I got home, I had a small bowl of Edy’s Slow Churned Peppermint Ice Cream because I love ice cream to soothe my stomach:

And now, I sleep. Good night all! Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

What were the big highlights of your weekend?

I think I’m going to die.  Took yesterday off from work because of this wicked bad sore throat.  Most of the time I can deal with what ever ailments I have to continue to go into work so I don’t need to burn a sick day.  Have a cold?  Just pop some pills until it clears up.  Hacking rough Cough?  They make cough drops in every flavor of the Willy Wonka candy rainbow.  Clogged up sinus?  Tylenol makes a hell of a good sinus with headache combo to treat that.  Flaming diarrhea?  A bottle of pepto and a wadded up piece of toilet paper clenched between the cheeks to catch any excess run off will fix that messy problem.  See?  Any ill feeling I have a solution for.  Just not a quick fix for a sore throat.

A aching scratchy throat is the one thing that I’ll break down and take a sick day for.  Mostly because there’s no quick easy Walgreen’s inspired cure.  Sure there’s the throat sprays and drops but those have never worked that well for me.  The lozenges that numb that back of your wind pipe work some what but the direction says not to use more that six throat drops in a 24 hour period and here I am downing six every fifteen minutes.  When your meals consist of throat lozenges for breakfast, a sensible lunch, more lozenges for dinner and hit of sore throat relief spray for dessert the farts you lay down are amazingly potent.  I made the mistake of “beefing” in the car driving home from work Thursday and almost rear ending a pickup while I was gagging.

Yesterday on the “Eric Get Well Tour” I did three things.  Sleep, drink liquids, and Piss.  Sometimes all at once.  No, I didn’t wet the bed.  I almost fell asleep filling the great  porcelain temple with golden holy water.  Seemed as if I was standing there for hours going….and going…………and going and going some more.  Guess when you choose drinking liquids to quell your burning throat over traditional medicine your bladder will suffer.  My urination has turned into such mammoth proportion I was going to take a ”should I” pee and end up sending a ropey jet of urine that almost over flowed the bowl.

For those that don’t speak Eric a “should I” pee is when you think you might have to take a small leak just because you don’t want to be in the middle of something later when the urge to go strikes you.  You might not even have to go that bad but just do it to clear the tank. A mercy piss.  Here, let me use it in a sentence.  “I’m going to play my video game for the next few hour but Should I go to the bathroom now so I don’t have to go later thus interrupting my gaming session?”  A more common application for a “Should I” pee is on a long road trip when you stop at a dirty rest stop.  You’ll hold your breath bearing the brunt of the stinky urinal because you don’t want piss pangs a few hours down the interstate when there’s no way to relive them except filling a empty gatorade bottle with the latest sports drink flavor……Urethra thunder.

My goal today is drink enough icy cold ginger ale so when I used the bathroom to relive my aching bladder I can belt out the entire classic hit Young MC’s Bust a Move from start to finish before I’m doing peeing.  Lofty goals I know but someone has to set the bar high. 

Wish me luck.

Of all the scenes in Ichigo Mashimaro’s anime, the one I remember most is the one where young british lass Ana Coppola is out on a hot day.

Ana stops by a vending machine, looks at one of the sodas, and says to herself, “Ghingheru…? Well, as long as it’s cold, it should be fine.”

Then an old man’s voice creeps in.

“G. I. N. G. E. R. A. L. E. It’s called…’Ginger Ale.’”

This sudden information startles Ana, who decides to leave quickly.

And ever since then, that is what I think about whenever I open up a can of Canada Dry or Schweppe’s. In a way, I’m not much different from those guys who bought Akiyama Mio left-handed basses.

After buying a copy of The Hairy Plug Monster for Abigail for her 2nd birthday (absolutely wonderful book, go buy it now! ) , I saw on the author’s blog the recipe for a Ginger Ale Plant.

I was completely intrigued, so went ahead and gave it a bash. Ginger Beer was a favourite drink of mine although I used to combine it with copious amounts of whisky. Nowdays I tend not to drink at all so haven’t purchased any ginger beer in a while. I am really looking forward to drinking this.

You can view the full tweaked recipe here in Word or PDF

Ready to go plant

Making the Ginger Ale

Store the bottles in a safe place at room temperature, and leave for three to four weeks to ‘brew’. We’ve got ours in a tall box, with a heavy book on the top ‘just in case’ (finally finding a use for my Certificate in Management ) This box is hidden underneath my sewing table.

I can’t wait to blog about the results!

These are a few of my favorite things:

 and

 Need I say more?

 The greatest comfort food.

April Fresh!
 Mmmmmm sushi.
Vosage’s Mo’s Bacon Bar.  Don’t mock, if you’ve ever dipped your bacon or sausage into your maple syrup at IHOP or Denny’s, or even at home, you’d love this as much as I do.

 Wellington Park in Simcoe Ontario Canada.  That windmill is on one half of the park, you can drive right past that, a tiny bridge, tiny aterfall, a tiny (litterally) church and many  many Canadian Geese and mallards ducks.  Also swans.  LOVELY park.  To this day I still bug who ever is driving to drive through the park at least once. If not more.
Preferred Shade: Paramour
 Ferrous
 Oliver
And finally…
 Ben.  Especially when he’s enjoying my cooking.

Flu-fighting foods

What to eat (or avoid) when you’re down with the crud

Kate Morin, beat blogger

The inevitable has happened, and I have caught what seems to be the flu. I have been quarantined to my bedroom for the last 24 hours, freezing cold, then burning hot, falling asleep constantly, barely able to get out of bed. The last thing I want to do is eat, but, everyone keeps telling me it is really important to eat something to keep my energy up. The idea of eating anything is repulsing to me, so I figured if I have to eat something, I’m going to avoid the things that might make me feel sicker, and choose something that might actually make me feel better.

Tips for staying healthy

Drink plenty of liquids: Water, juices, and ginger ale are the best.

Get as much nutritional value from your foods as you can: G citrus fruits, bananas, chicken and/or vegetable soups, lean proteins (chicken, fish, green vegetables, soy products), bland foods like whole wheat toast — with NO butter.

Get lots of sleep: The more rest you get, the more energy your body has to spend on fighting the virus. If you feel sick, and you feel like you could sleep — do  it.

Foods to avoid

Junk food: anything that has little nutritional value. Avoid candy, soda, chips, etc. These products are empty calories, plus the extra sugar and grease is hard to digest and will wear your body out further.

Alcohol, coffee, tea: All three lead to dehydration, something you want to combat when sick– not contribute to. I know its a common thought that tea will help when you are sick, which can be true for colds, but not for the flu. However, if you do decide to have some tea, be sure to drink an equal amount of water to keep your hydration levels up.

Fried foods and spicy foods: Fried foods are hard for your body to digest, and are often filled with empty calories. Spicy foods can be good to clear up congestion, but if you have having any stomach troubles, avoid these foods.

Cheese, milk, butter, and other dairy products: These can also be hard to digest, but they also can make the mucus in the nose and throat thicker, which 1. Gives the virus a better breeding ground, and 2. Makes your runny nose, sore throat, and cough even worse.

Excessive salt: salt dehydrates your body– try to avoid it in large amounts.

k

Kate Morin is a junior magazine journalism major, with minors in hospitality management and English and textual studies. She also writes for the print version of What the Health. Morin loves spending her free time cooking, traveling, and writing all about it.

I’ve overloaded my system with potatoes the whole day.. I’ve had a banana and a piece of green pears for breakfast but I was too lazy to prepare anything for lunch..

I bought three loaves of multigrain bread two days ago but I’d rather keep them frozen for the time being just so its fresh.. Or I was just making an irrational excuse why I could not get my feet to stand up and my hands to open the fridge, toast some slice and spread some soya cheese.. Either way, indeed it was a very lazy day..

Or! Maybe, because I bought 20 canisters of Pringles and I stocked them all in my room, that made me too lazy to prepare a real food for a decent meal.. Yes.. No other reason’s out there.. I was just really lazy..

See? This is what I hate about going to the grocery store.. I always ignore my list and end up buying instant products like noodles, canned beans, canned fruits or chips, and I know it’s not healthy at all..

One time, I was at the counter with a cart full of instant cheesy macaroni and canned pineapple chunks, and the old guy next in line told me, “Yeah, typical bachelor’s meal, eh?”.. I should have given him a nod but he blurted, “Oh boy, you remind me of my younger days, and now I was this big because of that”, pointing to my groceries.. That’s scary.. I don’t wanna be a 500-pounder brown hobbit.. Not with my height or people would ask me, “Oh great Buddah, is that you? I didn’t realize you’re Southeast Asian?”..

One more thing, I haven’t had ginger ale for a long time, but when I did my groceries few days back, I bought four cans of those organic brands and now I am beginning to have my gastroacidity back.. I didn’t realize that though it is organic, the ale’s still carbonated and I haven’t had such thing for quite a time..

Maybe, I should cut spendings on my grocery shopping and I’ll save the Pringles for Halloween.. Atleast, it’s more than the usual chocolate bars or candies and the kids will surely be happy.. Or I should just not do grocery shopping at all.. That means savings and I think it works better that way..

I’m full and I know, it is because of my foolishness.. And because it is winter time, I should go back to the gym soon to avoid having winter weight.. I haven’t gained weight since last year, but I just wanna make sure that what I’m eating is right and that I maintain a healthy lifestyle.. Maybe a Kung Fu class would help, basketball works fine but hey, I don’t have that many buddies to play even a 3-on-3.. Squash sounds cool too, but first, I have to learn how to play the game.. Or bowling..

By tomorrow, I should have fresh tomatoes and broccoli, and there’s no reason why I should be lazy..

And oh, by the way, give me a shoutout if you want Pringles.. I have 17 canisters in 5 different flavors sitting in my room and I am ready to give it for free..

IT’S SHOUTOUT TIME
Happy birthday to CHEDEans, Ms. Rebecca “Te Becky” T. Ugalino and to my cumpadre, Ronald “Tokwa” Andrada.. May you have a bigger amount of CNA to come.. I miss the fun..

Another happy birthday to a former CHEDean, MaMai Reyes.. Hope you’ve found the video I took during your despedida in 2006 in my Multiply site..

And to another WordPress resident, Maria Adrielle Solsoloy, happy birthday.. Have a blast..

And to everybody, enjoy the Halloween!

JUST SO YOU KNOW!
Did you know that the Indians in Peru were the first people to cultivate the potato over 4000 years ago? The Andean Mountains of South America is the birthplace of the “Irish” white potato. The Symara Indians developed over two hundred varieties at elevations of over 10,000 feet over sea level. The potato, a name derived from the American Indian word “Batata”, was introduced to Europeans by Spanish conquerors during the late 16th Century. Source: The Hot Potato Website

Jeff Koons Jerry Springer now on tv Massachusetts A. Sister. Man works too much lost his mind. Too much Jerry. Five minutes. Ginger Ale? Need to get a plastic bag for painty pants. The first card I see. Maybe I should see different tv. Smelly farts damn that Hillary. We can see now why the white man is a devil. Pink. Three sisters share a man. So – I should be leaving in about an hour to drive north – will be later in all likelihood. We are here doing laundry there aren’t two of us. Blegh blaagh? Shame showing on television. So wrong, very sad. Get the hell out. He ain’t worth it. Yep. Got to pee again. Hmmm. Damn I have to pee. Queen Latifa with no h? Brain dead. Have to be. Need sleep? Well. Couldn’t quite tell. Wouldn’t wanna confess. Jus cuss he dozen no whadda do. Yucky. Why wood you wanna tv. Reall rite anthin here clean rite center. Godda pee. Hope that the fog burns off some by the time I leave. I was up early enough but then went back to sleep. And then went back to sleep. Chill out. Take it easy. Mmmm, this is better. Yeah. So I’m at Clean Rite Center waiting for the laundry to dry. Preparation to drive north with clean clothing. Why I gotta pee so bad? Cause I just did… Not my own stunts.