Better Home Cooking Basics: #71 Cool Down Summer Drinks with Frozen Fruit Instead of Ice.

If you didn't know - summer is here! I'm keeping cool with ice cold drinks except I'm swapping out traditional ice cubes for frozen fruit. Lately, I've been really into filling my glass with frozen strawberries, mango & peaches & then pouring a can of limonata (a fizzy lemonade) on top of all that goodness. As the fruit defrosts it adds more flavor to the limonata & cools it down at the same time. Then at the end I have a nice fruit cocktail to snack on. Plus, it looks really pretty.

I also use frozen fruit in my smoothies. That means I skip the ice cubes all together & just blend up frozen fruit. It adds flavor without watering it down. I'd opt for smaller sized fruit when making smoothies. Larger pieces like peach segments should be cut in half as they can sometimes get stuck in the blender & don't chop up as evenly as small chunks of mango would.

PS: Frozen fruit also works like magic for wine & cocktails. Try frozen grapes in your favorite glass of white wine or prosecco.

How are you staying cool this summer?

Get more of my better home cooking basics here.

2 Ingredient Drinking Chocolate

I had a sweet tooth craving the other night so I attempted my own version of drinking chocolate. It hit the spot for sure. The best part is that I only used two ingredients & it only took about 10 minutes to make this insanely decadent treat that’s great on super chilly nights. Give it a try & you’ll think twice about cracking open the powder packets again.

If you're looking for a chocolate-free way to warm up try this hot cardamom milk, it's awesome!

Happy Friday! I hope you have a wonderful weekend :)

SweetGreen's Blueberry Basil Lemonade

A few weeks ago I spent some time in DC for work.  At the recommendations of my coworkers I tried & became obsessed with SweetGreen, a fabulously fresh local salad joint. Besides their super fresh salad toss-ins that are locally sourced and prepared by (maybe) angels themselves, they also have this ridiculous blueberry basil lemonade.  Yes it is as good as it sounds.  I was really missing it when I got back home so I did what every good food blogger does, I googled it.  I didn't look long since SweetGreen actually gives you the recipe on their blog! (read: I officially love SweetGreen more.)  In honor of their awesomeness and a scorching heatwave I made a batch myself & loved every sip.



PS: SweetGreen is slated for the streets of NYC so be on the look out (or I'll just tell you when it hits!).

Culinary Agents Made Simple

I couldn't be more proud of my girl Alice for spearheading her brandy-new company: Culinary Agents. Culinary Agents is a social buiness network designed for the food & beverage industry. Profiles are free (that's right people - FREE!) They make it easier for the food and beverage industry to find qualified talent while also giving the industry talent new opportunities to shine.

You may think I'm not in F&B  so this doesn't apply to me - but it does. There are so many job opportunities that touch this industry it's really endless.  Think beyond the traditonal front of the house & back of the house position like event planning, photography, selling retail cooking items, & more.  Sign up for an account today, it's free & you never know who you may meet.

In this age of social media you probably think something like Culinary Agents already exists because it's the obvious solution. Before Alice it didn't but thanks to Alice & her team it does now! Watch this video for the rundown.