Iced Caramel Macchiato

I'm baaaaaaack! 

So, I've been away a while, doing this: (warning: proud mama in the house)

But now I'm getting a bit of sleep again, and a routine has been carved out and I'm bursting with inspiration! I sat down last night and wrote out 25 recipe ideas I want to try.

Given my current state of perpetual zombieness this bevvie went right to the top of the list.

I love a good iced coffee in the morning. It's instant gratification for my caffeine needs (some mornings even my Tassimo takes too long!), and I much prefer a cold coffee to hot in the sweltering heat of summer. I used to be a straight up Mocha girl at coffee shops but lately I'm all about the Caramel. I was curious to see how the caramel flavour translated to an iced coffee and I'm thrilled to report my experiment was scrumtastic! (I couldn't decide between the two adjectives.)

I will definitely be brewing this up for the rest of the summer!

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Iced Caramel Macchiato

10 cups strong-brewed coffee, hot
1/2 cup caramel sauce (I used Torani)
1 tsp vanilla
Ice
Cream

Instructions

1. Brew 10 cups of your favourite coffee.
2. As soon as the coffee is done brewing pour in the caramel and vanilla.
3. Stir to melt the caramel into the coffee.
4. Allow to cool to room temperature and then place in refrigerator.
5. Serve over ice with milk or cream. Garish with whipped cream and a drizzle of caramel for an authentic coffee house experience.

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Homemade {Raspberry} Lemonade

Summ-ah is herrrrrrre! I am beyond thrilled! I'm really hoping it means the end of germies and my kids being sick! If not, that's what patios and cocktails are for right? (mama's "medicine")

I was at the grocery store and a super huge pile of bright yellow lemons called to me. As luck would have it I was pretty thirsty so I grabbed a bag full and came home to make lemonade. There's nothing like homemade lemonade. It tastes fresh and tart and summery. It's very simple to make, especially if you have a fancy electric juice extractor, I don't so I got a bit of a workout but that's okay, just made me appreciate my fruity beverage even more!

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Homemade Lemonade

6 fresh lemons
1 c sugar
6 c water
1 tbsp lemon zest

Instructions:
1. Boil 1 cup of the water with the sugar until dissolved. Allow to cool.
2. Zest one or two of the lemons depending on how big they are to get 1 tbsp zest.
2. Juice the lemons through a sieve to catch the seeds.
3. In a large pitcher add the lemon juice, simple syrup (sugar water), zest and 5 cups of cold water.

Add ice and lemon slices to make it pretty.

{Raspberry} Lemonade



If you made the Raspberry Cheesecake in a Jar this is a great way to use the reserved liquid from macerating* the raspberries. Add the liquid to the lemonade and throw in a handful of fresh or frozen raspberries for a delicious pitcher of Raspberry Lemonade!

 I swear I'm not a vampire!

 refreshing!

How cute is this for a picnic or Barbeque!

* Mascerating just means to mix with sugar and allow to sit so the sugar draws out the juices.

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enjoy!

Amanda

Pumpkin Spice Latte

I LUVVVVVV me some Starbucks. Alas, the nearest one is 2 hours away. Yes I live in the middle of nowhere. Recently I heard their Pumpkin Spice Latte had been released for fall (I heart fall!) and I've been stuck in my country town reading about everyone in the city enjoying the yummy, sweet, goodness of the latte. This makes a pregnant lady very jealous!

They say necessity is the mother of invention, and oh man, this is SO necessity! I sent my husband off to the store for canned pumpkin pureé (yes I know I could roast my own pumpkin, but they're not in the stores yet, and besides, I want my latte NOW, not an hour from now!) and some other supplies and I set out to recreate the yummiest fall coffee concoction since pumpkin pie itself. I used my Tassimo to make this but you can certainly use regular drip coffee (made strong) or your own specialty coffee maker (espresso machine).

Even if you pass a Starbucks everyday you should give this a try, maybe on a wet Sunday morning when leaving your house just ain't gonna happen.... like today!

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Pumpkin Spice Latte

1 c half and half (I like to live dangerously, you can use milk if you want)
2 tbsp pumpkin pureé
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 Starbucks Espressso T-Disc or 1/4 c really strong coffee

Instructions:

1. Place the half and half, pumpkin, sugar and spices in a small pot and heat over medium heat until the milk is hot and the pureé has melted and the sugar has dissolved.
2. Pour the cream mixture into a blender (or you can use an immersion blender in the pot) and blend for a minute or two*.
3. In the meantime brew your favourite espresso or coffee.
4. Pour your espresso in to a large mug and add the hot, blended pumpkin/cream mixture.
5. Top with whipped cream and some pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, or freshly ground nutmeg.


* Note: blending isn't 100% necessary, but you may find the cream mixture a little gritty if you don't as pumpkin pureé is fairly fibrous. The blending smooths everything out.

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White Peach Bellini - The Gourmet Pregnancy

For our first recipe we tried from The Gourmet Pregnancy was the White Peach Bellini. A simple drink using fruit, ice and a bit of flavouring. It was so good on a hot spring morning alongside our eggs. This will be a repeat recipe in my kitchen for sure!

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White Peach Bellini

2 ripe, white peaches
1 lemon, juiced
2 tsp grenadine
1 c crushed ice
1 tsp pure orange extract

Instructions:

1. Peel peaches and remove the pits. Chop into quarters and place in a blender.
2. Add the lemon juice, grenadine, ice and extract and blend until smooth.
3. Pour into a large wine glass and enjoy!

Review: Phil and PJ both said it was refreshing and not too sweet which they loved. Jason didn't have any cause he hates peaches. I loved it, peach is one of my favourite fruits and I thought it was a great summery drink. We gave it 4 cupcakes!

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enjoy!

Minty Mocha Latte

I love a little "Christmas cheer" in my mug around the holidays. The warmth spreading through me helps take the edge off, and warms me up as I'm perpetually cold from November until May! A friend of mine, the always delightful Jennifer Pershick, or as she's more commonly known on twitter, @Artsy_Jenny, has been raving for at least a week now about Bailey's new Mint flavoured liqueur, so when I stopped in at the LCBO today I grabbed a wee bottle to see what all the fuss was about. At the cash they had a bucket filled with bottles of a new flavour of Kalhua... Mocha! I had to have one of those too.

I raced home and started mixing and pouring and stirring and brewing. What I am now sipping on is divine! I had to share. I'm kind of guessing at the quantities of each element cause I don't measure booze... ever... I just pour until something inside says "that's probably enough". :)

Minty Mocha Latte

1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. brewed coffee, your fave will do
2 tbsp hot chocolate powder, I use Tim Horton's cause I love it!
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 oz. Mocha Kahlua
1 oz Mint Chocolate Bailey's
Whipped Cream
Chocolate Syrup

Instructions:

1. Brew your coffee to your desired strength.
2. Scald the milk in a pan over medium heat and add the vanilla and hot chocolate powder.
3. Pour the liqueurs into a mug and add the hot chocolate mixture and coffee.
4. Garnish with whipped cream and chocolate syrup.
5. Sit down, put your feet up, admire the lights on your Christmas tree and enjoy!

Gingerbread Latte at Home

The closest Starbucks to me is a 2 hour drive away. When we moved here I went through some pretty nasty withdrawal. Lately on Twitter I've been hearing people mention all the yummy fall drinks they've been enjoying and it's got me jonesing for a Gingerbread Latte. Now, a craving is a craving, but I ain't driving 4 hours with 2 kids just for a latte, so I figured there must be a way to re-create it at home.

I found a recipe on allrecipes.com but it calls for store-bought gingerbread syrup. Not having any or anywhere close to buy some (again, Starbucks is 2 hours away!) I had to make my own.

A syrup is essentially water and sugar with flavourings boiled down to create a thicker, sweet liquid. So taking that idea and adding the dominant flavours of a gingerbread cookie, I got what I think is a fairly reasonable facsimile of a store-bought Gingerbread Latte.

The syrup reducing by half

Gingerbread Latte

Syrup
1 c. water
3/4 c. sugar
2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
splash vanilla (I never measure vanilla!)

Coffee
2 shots espresso (or if you're not fancy like me, 1/4 cup REALLY strong coffee)
1/2 c. steamed milk or cream (again, not fancy, I microwaved mine)
1/4 c. syrup

Instructions:
1. Put ingredients for syrup in a large pot and bring to a boil. (careful, the syrup gets very hot and boils over easily)
2. When the syrup has reduced by half and all the sugar is dissolved remove from the heat.
3. Brew your coffee and steam the milk.
4. Pour hot coffee into the bottom of a mug, add syrup and stir. Add steamed milk and top with whipped cream and freshly grated nutmeg.

enjoy!

Amanda

Better than Timmy's Iced Coffee

As a stay-at-home-mom to 2 young children my trips out of the house have to well planned, prepared for, and necessary cause it's a lot of work wrangling my kiddos out the door. Because of these factors I rarely get to go out and buy myself a morning coffee, which used to be a daily luxury back in my former life as a career gal. I now make due with Starbuck's blend in my home coffee maker, which is a fairly reasonable facsimile.

So what makes this iced coffee better than Tim Horton's? The price! It's actually quite comparable in flavour but you can't beat the convenience and the fact that it's pennies a glass. This is great on those mornings you wake up and the thermometer is already reading 25˚C.

So pour yourself a glass and sit back and enjoy the last few days of summer.

Better than Timmy's Iced Coffee

4 c. brewed coffee (I do 1 standard scoop coffee grinds to 2 cups of water)
1/3 c. sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
5% light cream
ice
garnishes of your choice

Instructions:

1. Brew your favourite blend of coffee to your desired strength
2. Pour hot coffee into a measuring cup and add sugar. Stir to dissolve.
3. Add vanilla and refrigerate until cold.
4. Pour desired amount of cream (or milk) into a glass filled with ice. Add coffee and stir to mix.
5. Top with whipped cream, chocolate covered espresso beans, cocoa powder, cinnamon or whatever else you like. (I used President's Choice Chocolate, Cinnamon and Sugar Blend grinder)