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What’s So Hard About Being a Lemon?
You know the saying: When life gives you lemons… But why stop at just plain old lemonade? Why not bring lemonade from the stand to the shaker and beyond? When you hear “Hard Lemonade” it probably brings to mind the bottled malt beverages that come in a variety of flavor options. To make this sort…
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Magazine Mash-Up
Okay, everyone, show of hands: how many subscribe to cooking magazines? Bonus round: how many times have you actually used a recipe from said magazines? Uh huh, exactly what I thought. (Don’t worry, I’m just as guilty as the rest of you.) It doesn’t seem to matter what I’m interested in, a “collector” streak always…
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Kirsch Me, I’m German
Kirsch (or kirschwasser) is one of those liqueurs that, if you you have it, you probably have it because you’ve made a Black Forest Cake (aka Kirschtorte) at some point in the not too distant past. This dry cherry brandy is strong! Definitely not something I would ever sip without it being heavily diluted with…
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Croutons
Good croutons are like little nuggets of gold, carbohydrate contraband hidden amongst leafy greens and good-for-you veggies. How often, though, have you had fresh croutons or, better yet, made them yourself? Fresh croutons is actually a bit of a misnomer as the best bread for croutons is bread that’s been around a little bit. Just…
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Jello Shots Get Classy
Behold, the lowly Jello Shot. Generally relegated to college parties and other youthful excess, they’re a good way to consume quite a bit of alcohol without realizing just how much. But let’s look at just the Jello for a moment. Gelatin’s been used in a number of quite grown-up recipes for centuries (various meats and…
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The Chef’s Knife
It’s tough to cook much without a good knife, that’s just the way things are. And, in a lot of ways, it’s true: you get what you pay for. But sometimes, just sometimes, you get more than you expected. When I was in School, along with uniforms and books, part of our fees went towards…
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A Touch of the Irish
Most people who have encountered Irish Cream liqueur have done so favorably and come away fans. While it does well as a single spirit, over ice or neat, it also pairs with a whole laundry list of others. There are some notable exceptions, however: like the lime juice that tops it in a Cement Mixer…
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It’s All Greek for Me!
Yogurt, that is. I keep a pretty repetitive eating routine (at least during the week when I’m on a schedule) that involves regular meals and snacks, primarily to keep my blood-sugar from dropping. Mid-morning means a dose of yogurt which has the added benefit of live cultures and, over the years, I’ve tried most of…
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Harvey & Hillary
Have you ever picked up a bit of seemingly useless trivia and wondered when it was ever going to be useful? Believe it or not, sometimes it actually does. Case in point: many, many years ago (could be a decade or more) I vaguely remember someone telling me that when a cocktail has the word…
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A Disclaimer for July
Hi, gang! So, if you haven’t guessed by today’s comic, the focus as we near the end of this arc (and the end of the month) will be on Ghost Hunting. Now, I know not everyone believes in ghosts, spirits, residual energy, hauntings etc etc etc and I’m not asking anyone to change their mind.…
Got any book recommendations?