Iced Coffee!

I am an iced coffee addict.

Eight or so years ago I was working full time as a nurse at the University of Washington Medical Center while my hubby attended Dental school.  Those early mornings for the day shift were never easy for me. I'm what you call a NIGHT PERSON. Through and through.  Doesn't matter if I wake up at 5:15 AM for four years straight (which I did)....I am still groggy, quiet and subdued until 9 AM.  It just IS what is IS.

So, coffee was extremely helpful for those early mornings. During the random hot (for Washington, that is) summer days we roasted in our third story air conditionless apartment...and dreaded opening windows as they would let in not just cooler air but a plume of smoke from the oh so pleasant chain smoking fellow who lived directly under our apartment.

So, hot coffee? Yeah no. I decided to try iced coffee. Problem was, pouring hot brewed coffee over ice is NOT yummy. At all. Add in your necessary creamer and you get something diluted and metallic. No, thank you.

Thanks to the wealth of information on the good ole internet I researched the best way to make iced coffee. I landed on a random professional coffee roasters site that explained the cold brewing process. Um, what? Cold brew?

COLD brewing coffee leaves you with a nice smooth, rice concentrated coffee base that is NOT METALLIC.  It is sweeter and not acidic and tastes the best with some sort of creamerization. Yes, I made that word up.  Also? It's easy peasy!

Apparently there is also now an ice brew coffee method that is growing in popularity where you fill your coffeemaker carafe with ice cubes to let the just brewed hot coffee instantly cool in the carafe as it drips down. However, it is meant to be drunk WITHOUT CREAMER...and that is just a NO GO in my coffee land.  So no ice brewing here!

I have been drinking cold brewed coffee ever since first trying it out 8 years ago.  I usually start cold brewing in the late spring through the fall months as in the winter I need a good morning hot coffee.

Convinced you yet? Let's make some cold brew iced coffee!

Supplies:

•  A pound or so of dark roast coffee - preferably one with sweet tones, NOT acidic or "earthy" tasting. I love Ethiopian Sidamo.
• A large container for soaking, 1.5 - 2 gallon size.  I use dutch tupperware: A leftover 1.5 gallon ice cream container, courtesy of Edaleen dairy works great!  I also use my 2 gallon stock pot - but note: do not use an uncoated metal- it reacts with the coffee and will give it more of an acidic, metallic taste.
• Large Spoon - you know. To stir. I really didn't have to write that I just needed something here to italicize.
• Coffee pot with metal mesh strainer. A paper cone filter will work it just takes forevah and a day to strain the coffee.
• 24 hours. Yep, TIME is on your side my friend.

Determine your coffee to water ratio:

• 1 lb coffee to 2 gallons (8 quarts) water

• 1/2 lb coffee to 1 gallon (4 qts) water

• 11-12 oz coffee (common bagged amount) to 1.5 gallons (6 qts) water

 Dump your coffee into your container and fill it with water according to your ratio.

Yep, make sure all the coffee ground get wet.

Cover it and yes, wait for 24 hours!  Stir it every few hours as able but for the most part just leave it be.

Next up, the magic:

After 24 hours are up, I move my container next to my coffee pot and start carefully (um, yeah, not really) ladling the liquid directly into my coffee filter. It pours through pretty quickly.  When the filter starts looking like the above right pic you need to rinse it out a bit.  I rinse it out about 4 - 5 times during a 1.5 gallon filtering session.

These are the grody leftovers. But don't throw em away! Go put them in your garden...your plants will love you for it! And bonus, your garden smells like a fresh pot of coffee :)

Pour your gold, er, I mean coffee concentrate (which I've also nicknamed "Coffee Sludge") into containers for storage.  I use a drink dispenser to keep it cool in my fridge. Most of my close friends know that lime green topped dispenser very well!

For traveling and gifting, I reuse those ginormous Coffee-mate creamer containers. They work great!

Directions: Fill sad, empty large mouth ball canning jar with ice, cover with coffee sludge and then....creamerize!  It's a beautiful thing really.



Enjoy your home cold brewed iced coffee!!!

Amanda - Vintage Dutch Girl

Perfect Bran Muffins....and Banana Pound Bread?

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I had a friend and her lovely kiddos over for a quick playdate this morning.

Of course, I forgot to clean up last night's dishes after we got home (we went out to watch Transformers 3 - super cool!) and then proceeded to accidentally sleep in.

Wonderful.

I awoke to shouts of, "Nuh UH! That's MY bread!" What the??

Turns out if Mommy sleeps in...no problemo! Bubbalu and Lil Chick can steal a loaf of bread from the pantry and chow down on however many slices they want. One? Two? Twelve?

However, I thought this was rather convenient as I had a large to-do list that I needed to complete in less than 58 minutes and they took care of one of the most important items. Sweet!

Managed to whip the house sorta into shape (ya know, the normal: dishes, laundry, pick-up junk, hide the weapons, etc).

I decided that I really should try to bake something yummy before they arrived and then remembered that (insert head slap) I had used the rest of the white flour on making banana pound bread.

What's banana pound bread?

It's SO easy. You make it JUST like banana bread, except omit the baking soda. Voila. Banana pound bread.

Anywho, all I had left was oat bran and whole wheat flour...which is better for ya anyways!

Quickly googled bran muffins, threw it together....but then took some artistic license and added a bunch of extra ingredients and different measurements. So I've got a new recipe to share with y'all!

(Ulterior Motive: I won't remember if I don't write it down TODAY. If I don't post this recipe and instead just jot it down on paper, I'll lose it. So really, I just want to forever post this in blog-land so I'll still have it. Thank you little blog. )

Perfect Bran Muffins

2.5 cups whole wheat flour
1.5 cups oat bran
2 tsp. soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 cups milk
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup corn/vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup packed brown sugar

Combine all dry ingredients. Combine all liquid ingredients. Mix those both together. Fill muffin tins 3/4 full. Bake 375* for 18 minutes. Let cool, serve! Makes 24 muffins.

Try em, they're delish. Just enjoy them in moderation. Just sayin. Y'all know what too much fiber does to your digestive system, right? Yup.

Enjoy :)

Amanda

* Totally kidding about the weapons...Sorta
* Banana pound bread? Yeah, well.... let's just say it was an unintentional discovery... ;)

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Crack Soup... I mean Pasta e Fagioli...

This soup is SO good it deserves a repost. Especially it is Autumn and chilly in our part of the country.

*originally posted February 4, 2009*

This is the best. soup. ever.

Seriously? Want to impress anyone? Not that talented in the kitchen? Short on time?

This IS the soup for you.

I actually made 6 batches while 7 months pregnant to freeze and use when Lil Chick arrived. It is actually thawing nicely in my refrigerator at the moment. My lovely Sister in law requested this recipe for her husband, who dubbed it "crack soup", it is THAT good.

Enjoy! Really, PLEASE enjoy:

Pasta e Fagioli Soup

12 ounces chicken sausage, halved lengthwise and sliced (Sun Dried Tomato Basil or similar flavors work well).
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup bow tie pasta
2 cups (or more) coarsely chopped zucchini (about 2 small zucchini)
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 tsp oregano
1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
Dash of pepper

Heat sausage, stirring constantly, over high heat in large pot for 2 minutes (or until sizzling nicely). Add broth and pasta and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 6 minutes. Add zucchini and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer another 2 minutes. Stir in oregano and kidney beans, give a good dash of pepper, cover and simmer 3 minutes or until pasta and zucchini are tender.

Serve with shredded asiago or Parmesan cheese and eat and eat and eat until you hate me.

I get the chicken sausage at Costco, which is really flavorful. I've doubled the recipe except for the sausage and it still tasted wonderful.

Also very good with my favorite and easy Cheddar Garlic Biscuits to dip into the yummy broth.

You're welcome...

A


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Pumpkin Chocolate Chips Cookies...

The mornings are starting to be crisp and we're pulling out our scarves and hoodies from the back of the closet.

Don'tcha just love fall?

I particularly love the scents and tastes of fall.

Sipping on a Pumpkin Spice Latte,

munching a (few) Gingerbread cookies,

smelling my Harvest Yankee Candle,

brewing up a batch of apple cider,

and that crisp morning smell promising frosty mornings arriving soon.

Are you in a fall mood yet?

NO?

OK, for all of you still mourning the loss of Summer, here is my never-fail fall mood inducer:



Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir in. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.
2. Add vanilla and chocolate chips and lightly stir until combined.
3. Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown.
4. Eat liberally with extra large iced glass of milk.

There, that should help you get your AUTUMN on...

A

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(Nearly) Effortless Buffalo Chicken Dip...

We headed up north to Canada yesterday for a sweet little boy's first birthday celebration.

I opened up my cupboards an hour before we had to leave and sighed. What in sam hill am I going to make? And no, I don't want to NOT bring something. I just don't do that.

I grabbed some canned chunk chicken left over from my Costco 8 pack and headed to the office. Enter trusty online recipe sites. I browsed a bit and came up with this lovely Buffalo Chicken Dip from AllRecipes.com.

I skipped a few steps and tweaked a bit and it turned out pretty grand.

(My version of) Buffalo Chicken Dip:

• 2 Costco cans chunk chicken, drained
• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup Ranch dressing
• 1/2 cup pepper/hot sauce (I used green Jalapeno hot sauce)
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Mexican blend Cheese
  

I threw all the directions out and lumped it all together in a pot over the stove and it turned out great. You know what? I bet it would do just dandy being microwaved. And you know how we all love convenience and happy yummy dip. It may have just earned a spot as a Super Bowl regular.

I used a bit less hot sauce due to the intended consumptors and shunned the celery stick idea for crackers. Once again, what I had in my cupboards and fridge dictated the menu. If you like a zip, kick or thwack to your food, I would suggest adding green chiles and a dash of chili powder. That oughta do it.

It got rave reviews and I am thrilled to report I have some leftovers in the fridge calling my name...

A

Soup For You!

This is the best. soup. ever.

Seriously? Want to impress anyone? Not that talented in the kitchen? Short on time?

This IS the soup for you.

I actually made 6 batches while 7 months pregnant to freeze and use when Lil Chick arrived. It is actually thawing nicely in my refrigerator at the moment. My lovely Sister in law requested this recipe for her husband, who dubbed it "crack soup", it is THAT good.

Enjoy! Really, PLEASE enjoy:

Pasta Fagioli Soup

12 ounces chicken sausage, halved lengthwise and sliced (Sun Dried Tomato Basil or similar flavors work well).
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup bow tie pasta
2 cups (or more) coarsely chopped zucchini (about 2 small zucchini)
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 tsp oregano
1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
Dash of pepper

Heat sausage, stirring constantly, over high heat in large pot for 2 minutes (or until sizzling nicely). Add broth and pasta and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 6 minutes. Add zucchini and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer another 2 minutes. Stir in oregano and kidney beans, give a good dash of pepper, cover and simmer 3 minutes or until pasta and zucchini are tender.

Serve with shredded asiago or Parmesan cheese.

I get the chicken sausage at Costco, which is really flavorful. I've doubled the recipe except for the sausage and it still tasted wonderful.

Also very good with my favorite and easy Cheddar Garlic Biscuits to dip into the yummy broth.

You're welcome...

A

My Favorite Lunch...

1. Take one Costco cheese bagel and toast it.



2. While bagel is toasting, fry one egg in a perfect circle ( Ha! As if that's possible! )



3. Spread generous amount of light cream cheese on bagel once it pops.



4. Throw that perfect circle of an egg in between those bagel slices and you have a perfect, my toddler is down for a nap, lunch.

YUM! I've gotta go eat my cream cheese n egg cheese bagel now.

And for dessert? THIS:



As if there was any other option!

A

Toddler Friendly Insta-pizza...

1. Take open hot dog bun and get it all nice and crispy using your BBQ, toaster, toaster oven, or your oven.

2. Squirt any tomato-based sauce on the insides. Use bottled pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce, BBQ sauce, or like I did, ketchup. Cause we gotta teach them young to love the ketchup. That's how we roll in this house.

3. Pile shredded cheese and various toppings on. I just used plain ole mozzarella and nothing else.

4. Nuke until the cheese melts.

5. Cool and serve.

6. Viola! Easy toddler friendly insta-pizza.

A

Recipe for Yum...

Made this for game night with Nat n Megs tonight...

• Take one box of white cake mix.


• Stir the mix as directed, but add 5-6 Oreos to the mix and get em all nice and crumbly.


• Bake in oven as directed


• Frost cake after it is completely cooled


• Smash 5-6 Oreos and scatter over top of cake.
  

Perfecto.

It tastes good, is super easy, and you can snack on Oreo's the entire time you are baking the cake. What's not to like? Unless you don't like Oreo's, but then I don't know if we can still be friends.

What's your favorite recipe for Yum?

A

Chicken Fajita Lime Marinade...

This is a fantastic marinade to kick your fajitas up a notch.

Fajita Lime Marinade

• Juice of 4 - 5 Limes
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp light molasses
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Preheat oven to 350. Mix ingredients together, pour into freezer size ziplock and marinade uncooked chicken in refridgerator for at least one hour. Remove from fridge and bring to room temp before cooking. Cook chicken over medium heat, spooning extra marinade over chicken until mostly cooked. Discard any left over marinade. Add sliced veggies (green bell pepper, onion, mild green chile and a red chile pepper) to the chicken and continue cooking until sizzling.

Serve with warm tortillas, sour cream, guacamole, salsa, sliced green onions and chopped tomatoes.

How to warm tortillas:

• Oven at 350, wrap stacked tortillas in aluminum foil and heat in oven 15 minutes or until hot.

Be sure to invite me over for dinner if you are making this, I'm good for the guacamole, sour cream, green onions and chopped tomatoes...

See? Doesn't that look fantastic!?

A

Sticks to yer ribs..

Being that it was a cold and snowy morning here in Seattle, I decided to make a warm yummy something for lunch. After searching around I found a recipe for Baked Oatmeal in one of my tried and true cookbooks from the family...



These cookbooks are treasures. They contain all the favorite recipes from my Mom's side of the family. They are usually easy to understand, easy to prepare, and especially easy to consume.

There is a section of recipes from my Great Grandma Malena with things like Stroopwafels, Ice Box Cookies, Dutch Apple Pie, and good old Fried Chicken.

Another interesting section is Dutch Recipes. I must admit I haven't tried many of them, being as I can't pronounce most of them without Grandma K's help. Try it for yourself:
- Advokaat

- Vet Bollen
- Banket
- Boter-Koek
- Gevulda Speculaas
- Taai-Taai
- Rogge Brood
- Balken Brei

Well? Howd ya do?
So, I'm a-thinking I need to attack some of these recipes soon to preserve them. I don't want Jude to grow up never having tasted the yummyness of Banket with sprinkles at Christmastime.

Baked Oatmeal
Preheat Oven to 350. Mix together:
1/2 C. Oil
1/2 C. Sugar
2 Eggs

Add:
2 C. Oatmeal
1 C. Milk
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Mix well and bake in a 9x9 pan for about 40 min.
(Original recipe Uncle Orlin & Aunt Judy H)

I (of course) tweaked the recipe a bit, the posted recipe includes my tweaks.



Mmmmmm....yummy. Notice how uneven it is? I may have taken a fork to it after the little one was in bed and couldn't witness his Mama eating it right from the pan.

So, being that it tasted so good, I tweaked it again and came up with this:




I didn't add the spices this time, and instead added dried cranberries, raisins and chopped dried apricots and prunes. We'll see what Jude thinks of this tomorrow for breakfast.

A