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Christmas Trifle

Posted on December 17, 2012 by Kaitlin

Each year, my mom makes a beautiful trifle for Christmas. I’m pretty sure at one point, she was only making one, but as the popularity of her trifle grew, she is now up to making 6+ for different holiday events, friends, and family. My sister and I grew up begrudgingly helping my mom make these trifles but we both have grown to love them and look forward to a bite of trifle every December. A trifle is just a layered dessert that is usually made with cake pieces, cream, pudding, and fruit. My mom tops her with a beautiful design of fruit: kiwi, peaches and raspberries. I wanted to make some trifle to share with this blog but a normal trifle can serve a whole family, so I made a mini version! To prepare a regular trifle, the process is just the same. I highlighted Driscoll’s Berries in my trifle. I absolutely love their raspberries and blackberries so I wanted to have a higher ratio of berries in my trifle than may normally be used. Driscoll’s also sells really beautiful Strawberries and Blueberries that I have used in many many of my previous posts. Berries always add such … Continue reading →

Cinnamon Rum-Spiked Grilled Pineapple with Ice Cream

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Kaitlin

When I was creating my Labor Day Round Up post, I realized one of my favorite grilling recipes was conspicuously missing. My friends and I love to soak pineapple in a rum-sugar mixture, heat it on the grill until the sugars caramelize, and dig in. Although I have been butchering the recipe all summer, I used this Cooking Light recipe as inspiration for our favorite summer grilling treat. Now that I am making this in my kitchen on a grill pan, I’m actually able to pair it with the ice cream for the full effect. Ingredients: 1/4 cup packed brown sugar 1/4 cup dark spiced rum (such as Captain Morgan’s) 1 pineapple, peeled, cored, and sliced 1 tablespoon butter 1 pint vanilla ice cream Cinnamon, to taste You can usually find a peeled and cored pineapple in your supermarket. But just in case you don’t, I wanted to demystify cutting a pineapple. Start by cutting off each end of the pineapple. Next cut off the skin of the pineapple. Slice the pineapple into one inch slices. To core the slices, you can use a pairing knife to cut out the center. (I cheated and used a cupcake corer. shh) OXO … Continue reading →

Review of Routin 1883 Gourmet Syrups & Cocktails

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Kaitlin

One of my favorite parts of blogging is when I’m given the opportunity to sample products and give my honest review of them. I love the chance to try something new and to incorporate it into recipes. So when Routin 1883 contacted me to sample some of their gourmet syrups, I was excited to dust off my bartending kit and concoct some tasty beverages. The company produces gourmet flavors for use in cocktails, specialty coffees, Italian sodas, etc. The syrups, manufactured in the French Alps, have no preservatives, GMO’s, or high fructose corn syrup (they are even gluten free). Routin 1883 was kind enough to send me a bunch of different samples so I tried to highlight each of them to review. To try the vanilla, I added the syrup to a traditional White Russian (I thought it sounded like it would be delicious, I was right!) Ingredients: 2 ounces vodka 1 ounce Kahlua 1/2 ounce vanilla syrup Top with cream To make, add ice cubes to a glass. Pour vodka and Kahlua over the ice. Add the vanilla syrup and stir. Fill with light cream and serve. The vanilla syrup held up nicely to the strong coffee flavor … Continue reading →

Strawberry-Mint Mojitos

Posted on June 2, 2011 by Kaitlin

There are few things more refreshing on a hot summer day than a mojito. My CSA share came with mint this week as well, so mojitos sounded like a perfect drink for this little heat wave we are experiencing in Philadelphia. I didn’t want to just make a classic mojito so I was happy that the CSA share came with strawberries as well. Ingredients (per serving): 1 teaspoon simple syrup 2 fresh strawberries, halved Mint leaves from 1-2 sprigs Sparkling water (club soda) 1/2 lime 2 ounces light rum Ice To make simple syrup, combine 1 cup sugar with 1 cup water in a saute pan. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves. Cool. Prepare your strawberries. Remove the stem from the strawberries and cut in half. Add the juice from 1/2 a lime, two strawberries (4 halves), 1 teaspoon simple syrup, and the mint leaves to a glass. Using a muddler or the back of a spoon, muddle the ingredients together. Muddling is crushing ingredients to allow the flavors and oils to be released and combine. Add two ounces rum and ice, and shake to combine. Fill with sparkling water. This is so refreshing. I made … Continue reading →