My new best friend : OnStar (and a tip about white royal icing)

"People let me tell ya 'bout my best friend..." (Raise your hand if you are old enough to recognize that song.)

OnStar...yes, OnStar is my new best friend.  There for me in an emergency, always answers my call (no matter the time of day), helps me find my way when I'm lost...sounds like a best friend to me!

One the perks of test-driving this Chevy Malibu this month is getting to play around with the OnStar system.  I always used to cry during their commercials, but I didn't realize everything else that OnStar does!  The turn-by-turn directions are definitely my favorite part. It's like having my own little concierge right there in the car.

If only it would go fetch me a Starbucks without my having to leave the house.

I brought these cookies over to the Chevy dealership where I picked up the car two weeks ago.  Maybe they think I'm crazy professing my love for OnStar in cookie form? 

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Let's talk about making white icing...

Royal icing looks pure white when you make it, but have you ever had it change to an off-white color as it dries?  It happened to me only once in a blue moon, but that was enough to drive me insane.

Here's how to fix it: Americolor Bright White gel food coloring.  Add some to your white icing....and add more than you think you need. It's a toughie because your icing is going to look white already and it depends on how much icing you are coloring.  Pretend you are making a "color" icing and go from there.

(These cookies were made with royal icing colored with AmeriColor Bright White and Americolor Royal Blue mixed with Navy Blue.  Letters and star were piped with a #2 tip.)

{psst....if you live in the Houston area, you can click here for a chance to win a trip for 2 to the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa from Gotta Love Chevy Houston!}

TFIG: Kara Newman's Spice & Ice Cookbook Review

Spiced Iced Tea

Sorry, Cosmo girls. Sweet cocktails are out. Spicy cocktails are in. It’s time to update your cocktail wardrobe.

Adding sliced chilies is perhaps the simplest and surest way to spice up a cocktail, but don’t stop there. Spicy cocktails have a wide flavor spectrum: Think sprigs of heady rosemary, a drizzle of sweet maple syrup, or a dab of nose-tickling wasabi.

According to Kara Newman, author of Spice & Ice: 60 Tongue-Tingling Cocktails (Chronicle Books), spicy cocktails come in a range of flavors. The most important thing to remember when mixing savory cocktails is balance. Why does the quintessential spicy drink, The Bloody Mary, remain a perennial favorite? Because of its balanced interplay between sweet tomato juice, pungent horseradish, and savory celery salt. 

Newman clearly explains the "elements of spice" which run the gamut from fruity and floral to spicy and savory. She gives readers "spicy do's and don'ts," such as "do start with less heat," and "don't use shriveled, old peppers; fresh is best." She even tells you what to do if your mouth feels like it's on fire: drink milk, or eat cheese, bread, or a teaspoon of sugar. 

Newman explains how to make infused liquors, such as jalapeno-infused tequila and simple syrups, such as chipotle-orange syrup. She even tells you how to garnish drinks and rim a glass with panache.


Summertime Sunburned Berry Cocktail from Spice & Ice.

The recipes in Spice & Ice are divided by season and often include fresh, seasonal ingredients such as blood oranges, blueberries, and tomatoes. The recipes are a collection of Newman's own as well as those of chefs and mixologists across the country.

So if you're looking for something sexier in your cocktail wardrobe, then get yourself a copy of Kara Newman's Spice & Ice. It's like wearing a pair of red peep toe heels; you can't help but feel hot in those!

Spiced Iced Tea
Makes 1
Printable recipe.

1 tea bag (preferably orange or black tea)
4 ounced vodka
1 Thai chile or serrano pepper, sliced
2 ounces triple sec
1 whole pepper, for garnish

1. Immerse the tea bag in hot water for 10 seconds. Then remove it and immerse it in the vodka. Allow to steep for 5 minutes. During the last minute, add the sliced chile pepper. Remove the tea bag before proceeding.

2. In a shaker filled with ice, shake the infused vodka and the triple sec. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with the whole pepper.

You might also like these cocktail recipes:
Blood Orange Vodkatini
Homemade Creamy Limoncello from my NPR article, "Have Your Limoncello, and Eat It Too"

Burger Sliders (or Mini Man Burgers) with Special sauce and homemade pickles

Last week, Whole Foods had grass-fed ground beef on sale for $3.99 a pound. How could I possibly resist that price for such quality beef? I spotted a bag of potato rolls and I had an idea that Beef Sliders would be fun to make.  I've never made sliders, myself, but I see them all over Blogosphere.  How hard is it to shape mini patties, for Pete's Sake?!  Still, I like to Google and see if anything interesting pops up. Sure enough, Alton Brown's "Mini Man Burgers" recipe popped up.  As I read his directions, I said a silent thank you to Mr. Good Eats.   Here you go, Alton-- here is your version, with my own garnishes:

I grabbed a jelly roll pan and some parchment paper.  I cut a piece of plastic wrap, and a rolling pin.
Roll one direction...

...and another direction. The idea is to roll the ground meat very thin.  Now, it's time to season the meat.  Alton uses onion powder and garlic powder, salt & pepper.  That's fine.  But, I'm enchanted with the Susie-Q Santa Maria seasoning that I've blogged about a couple of times, this month.   I use it on veggies and as my "go to" quick seasoning. No MSG, too.

Sorry, the shot is a little out of focus. But, I wanted to show you the label of the product. If you can find this at your local supermarket, this will become a pantry staple.  Otherwise, go with Alton's seasonings. Or, have fun experimenting. You could season this with a South of the Border Flair-- taco seasoning.  Use Greek seasoning. The sky is the limit.

Now fold each side in, using the parchment paper is helpful. Whatever method you use, don't forget to wash your hands thoroughly when you are finished. The raw meat police is watching.  I realized, later, that cheese could be easily layered as well.  Imagine those possibilities, would you? Feta... Parmesan... Smoked Gouda. But, this time I skipped the cheese.  Grab a pizza cutter, or your favorite cutting tool. I love my metal bench scraper.

One pound of beef makes 8 burgers.  You could easily substitute ground chicken, turkey or even lamb.

Grill each mini burger for 2-3 minutes, per side.

These kind of resemble White Castle Burgers. Only, I think these taste better.  I made a mayonnaise by adding red chili sauce and some sweet pickle relish. For a garnish, I cut a garden tomato and I had the perfect excuse to test drive my homemade Bread & Butter Pickles.

For a side dish, Garlic Oven-Fries  are perfect.

I'll be making these for Super Bowl. But, first, there are a few Friday Happy Hour's until January.  Simple. Easy. Delicious! 

From my kitchen to yours,

Homemade Oreos . . . oh, yes!

Oreos...my child learned to stop asking for the real ones at the grocery store years ago.  I like to blame it on preservatives and all the words I can't pronounce on the package, but the truth is, I buy Oreos only once or twice a year because I can't resist them.

Once the package is open, all bets are off...there is a path worn in the kitchen tile from my feet going back and forth to the pantry to get just "one more."

Now, Homemade Oreos, I don't feel so bad about. I know exactly what's in them. They're a little softer the the packaged variety, but so satisfying that one, well two, will be enough for one sitting.

{It doesn't hurt to make them the "Double-Stuff" variety.}

Homemade Oreos

1 batch of chocolate roll-out cookies (minus the espresso powder)

 

{It's going to get messy.}

I cut these out using a 1 and 3/4" cutter and baked for 9 minutes.
{I also pressed a small heart cutter into the top, but not all the way through, before baking.}

Let cool.


Cream Filling
{source: The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion: The Essential Cookie Cookbook }

1 tsp. plus a heaping 1/4 tsp. unflavored gelatin
2 TBSP. cold water
1/2 c. shortening
1 tsp. vanilla
2 and 1/2 c. powdered sugar

Combine the gelatin and water in a small bowl or cup.  Place the cup into a larger bowl of hot water and leave it there until the gelatin is completely dissolved and liquid transparent.

Remove the cup from the hot water and let the liquid cool to room temperature, but hasn't begun to set...about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat the shortening with a paddle attachment until fluffy.  Beat in the vanilla.  Add the sugar a little at a time, beating until the mixture comes together.  Scrape the bowl as needed.  Beat in the gelatin.  Use immediately, or store, well-wrapped at room temperature.

To make the sandwiches, flip one cookie over.  Make a teaspoon-sized ball of filling and place on upside-down cookie.  Press another cookie, right-side-up, down on top of it.

{Makes 26 or so sandwich cookies if you don't eat too much of the dough.}

Remember I'm driving that new, 2011 Chevy Malibu this month? Well, they sent us on a mission to the grocery store.  Normally I'm in my SUV, would the Malibu trunk be able to handle all the groceries?  YES!  It held ALL my groceries...and I did BIG shopping, all the usual suspects, including everything I needed to make these Oreos...

....and did I mention the remote start had the AC on and the car cooled off by the time we got inside?  No?  Well, it did and it was heaven in the 90 degree heat.

The mission got me thinking, though...what items are on your grocery list every week?  I tried to narrow mine down to the top 5:

1. tortillas (you can't live in Texas and be without tortillas),
2. milk
3. OJ
4. flour (always more flour),
5. bananas

What's in your top 5?  Oreos?