Having a hard time keeping cool this summer? I've got a drink to cure your heat induced puffy sausage fingers syndrome. Get some first- Ade from Lemons (puns make me feel like a nerd). Make some lemonade, duh everyone's doin' it. This one's a keeper, not too sweet, made with the most awesome nectar agave. The best part about this swweettner is its low-glycemic index, it doesn't cause large spikes in blood glucose (sugar) levels. Its even keel for your pancreas and your sweat glands. Make some and give it to overly dramatic fainting ladies, little kids who say no to sugar rushes and your on-the-verge of diabetes friends.
AID Me with Lemons adapted from GOOP.com
1/2 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice (I like 3/4 c. but I'm a tartlette. )
1/2 cup light agave syrup
1 quart of water
Fresh mint
1/2 cup vodka (if you happen to be celebrating getting a new job)
Mix everything together, adding a bit more of any ingredient, if necessary
And feel as refreshed as hiking in the Virgin River
When I began discovering food blogs I was very pleased to find this one. Heidi’s vegetarian fair keeps it simple and delicious. I have made more of her recipes than any other food blogger out there; which is a grandiose statement considering I spend many hours (more than I spend cooking) reading those tantalizing blogs with their tasty food photos. I have a wee bit of an obsession. The best part about her food is that it makes me feel ssooo good. (It’s all about MY feelings, just ask my husband) It puts my mind and body on the same pleasure frequency.
Remember that Will Ferrel SNL Gatorade commercial parody with Cookie Dough? I know you want to drink this.
Until a few weeks ago I had been without a kitchen since Thanksgiving 2008. It was not an easy time, there was much lamenting over recipes that would have to wait and too much shelf-stable food consumption. But that’s all over now and I knew when the freshly remodeled kitchen was finished I would have to quickly dirty it in order to make these.
Chocolate chip cookies, the universal crisp, chewy, chocolate hand held agents of comfort. I tried and tried to find a prefab, packaged cookie in my kitchen-less days that could give me satisfaction but I always ended up feeling used; seduced by
promising packaging, followed by morning after regret. These cookies however will never deceptively take advantage of your weakness to their kind. These hotties are everything they promise to be. Regret never enters your thoughts after you eat one, or two, or even five. I love these cookies and they love me. It’s a perfectly dependable, devoted relationship we have.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from The New York Times
Time: 45 minutes, plus at least 24 hours’ chilling
2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8 1/2 ounces) cake flour
1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate least 60 percent cacao chopped, I used Ghirardelli’s 60% chips
1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.
3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.
4. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, Bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more.
Yield: 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies from the heavens.
