Fancy kick-ass hot chocolate drink

Good bye hot summer Hello sexy Fall

It was hot. very hot. Foggy. Hotter on some days. Foggy again. But mostly hot. You got the idea.

That’s why I love Fall. Autumn. But I prefer to call this festive season Fall. It literally illustrates falling leafs and a whole new world of colors is unfold right in front of our eyes. Absolutely magnificent.

Don’t you love Fall in Paris?

Along with the celebration it became a habit here to indulge on hot chocolate drinks flavored with whatever comes to mind. It’s the coziest of cozy drink and the more I make it the fanciest it gets.

My younger daughter is my fancy hot chocolate drink number one fan (child version of course). Let me remind myself for a moment that she still drinks hot chocolate every morning since she was two years old. She is almost 13 now. You do the math.

So if it’s cool where you live and you feel like having a fancy kick-ass hot chocolate drink click the link here, where I posted my recipe for this frothy and cozy hot chocolate.

It’s made of real chocolate not powder and that’s what makes the difference. Simple, easy with a little bit of preparation – it never hurts anyone.

Here’s a tip about my fancy hot chocolate drink: you can omit the liquor in the recipe if you don’t feel like having it. But  remember, the liquor makes it not only a fancy kick-ass hot chocolate drink for adults, but also give it that nice kick your taste buds will thank you for it. Try it with and without if you like and let me know what you think.

Last but not least, this month god only knows how much chocolate in almost any version I’ve had and it’s only the beginning of October – that includes my birthday, anniversary, my daughters birthdays and our holidays. Now that’s a lot of chocolate. I’m going through a chocolate phase.

And it gets even better, drinking it with Mr sense of hummus makes me feel I’m on a date.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Banana Cream Cocktail

…creamy…frothy…wickedly delicious…

And I don’t mean getting intoxicated.

I am not a big drinker and I generally don’t drink alcohol unless on a special occasion when I’m offered a light fruity glass of wine (which most time gets shared with the Mr). The exception is my Kahlua coffee liquor that lives in my pantry and I like to use in food for its distinct aroma and flavor. Like this:

Growing up one of my favorite fruits to eat was bananas. I would mash it, add a touch of kosher salt (yes, salt), and eat it. Growing a little older I “discovered” banana shakes that I prepared myself using banana and ice. Never added yogurt or milk.  To this day while I do something in the kitchen like cooking,  I find myself sometimes mashing a banana, add salt and eat. Yes, some roll their eyes on me. But this is one of many childhood memories…and I love remembering them that way.

Lately I’ve found myself monkeying around with bananas possibly a new obsession, then come up with delightful drinks that the Mr would be proud to rate them as Award Winning banana cocktails.  Well, the Mr would rate anything I do as Award Winning. But that’s another post.

Banana drinks are nothing new, they date back to late 1800s, and now I personalized the recipe and made it an absolutely new favorite. This one is based on Banana-Kahlua mix, it’s delicious and satisfying enough to rock as the new DJ in my house.

Hanging out with friends any time soon? if they love bananas they will love this cocktail…

they will probably ask for more…

and you probably will run out of bananas.

Are you anything like my beloved first born and don’t like to share? be my guest then and have it all to yourself. You might want to add another banana. You deserve it. Something like this:

The best thing is that you can mix into the bananas any flavored liquor you like. I use Kahlua in a lot of my mix-a-drink recipes but never on its own, because for someone like moi who cannot tolerate alcohol (which is a good thing), this one when mixed does not make me talk in a language no one heard of.

So…shall we:

Banana Cream Cocktail

ingredients:

1/2 part kahlua coffee liquor**
1 medium firm banana
1 part whipping cream
pinch cinnamon powder and/or cardamom powder (optional)
crushed ice (start with 1/2 a cup, you can always add more).

In a blender combine all the ingredients. Blend.

Pour drink into chilled martini glass. Garnish with banana and spices.

** Turn this drink to kid friendly by substitute the liquor with low-fat or skim milk. Super for breakfast or a treat.

Note: Drink responsibly.

You may adjust measurements to your liking.

Miss you to pieces…and a fantastic no-bake cheese dessert recipe

Alright, I haven’t been posting for a while, I have no one to blame but myself  and it’s only because I decided to do nothing and devote more time for sitting.

But first, this:

I’m kitting I’m kitting…

I get 4,000 reminders from the Mr and daughters that go something like this: “hey mom/babe i haven’t heard your shooting gun pew pew for a while, what happened? and don’t give me excuses i/we don’t wanna hear it!”. So why did you ask.
See, my camera makes fast and repeat shooting sounds kinda like run-and-gun…too funny.

Now this:

I’m also aware of the fact that by not posting every week can/may/has an effect on my blog and my beloved followers (hi honey), not to mention a limited amount of eyeballs.

What!?

…but that doesn’t stop me from coming back and posting about the things I love to do that fuel my soul.

And now this:

You see, now and then life throws at you a couple of balls to juggle like there is no tomorrow for example: we got another dog, a puppy, I don’t even know why. That’s a lot of show right there. Being away from home for a long time isn’t easy on my family (although I get to do whatever I want and end the nights really…really late).  I recently traveled overseas to plan my daughter’s Bat-Mitzva this summer. Apparently it’s like planning a wedding minus the groom. And I’m only scratching the surface here. The book I want to write that is long over-due and that my family “reminds” me about it every day…I’m about to explode. My head is full with so much to write that sometimes its hard to get it all out. Don’t get me wrong I love my head it’s wonderful and full of awesomeness but…wait let me breath…nonetheless, I will and shall make it happen.

And now, I am delighted to introduce a fantastic dessert that has just the right ingredients to make anyone happy. It’s summer, it’s hot, we wear less and excercise more but this dessert only completes our summer picture perfect. It’s surprisingly provocative and infused with acidity, sweetness, creaminess and texture that create a sultry dessert – it’s a party in your mouth.

No-bake cheese dessert with OMG blueberry sauce

So easy to make I call it SmartDessert because first, you can enjoy this elegant sweetness under any weather even if you’re having a turbulence in your living room. Second, it’s three easy recipes in one, where I’ll post about separately, that you can enjoy completely on their own. Smart he?

My favorite part is the blueberry sauce. O.M.G – It is to die for. I mixed a couple of liquids and made a heavenly blueberry reduction. The Mr was speechless! so was I. But you know how kids are…they always have something to say…errr.

Finally, this:

Shall we?

Ingredients:

Cheese batter

8 oz. cold Mascarpone cheese
1 cup very cold heavy whipping cream
3 tbsp white sugar
1 tsp vanilla paste (or vanilla extract)
pinch of kosher salt

Blueberry sauce:

2 c. fresh blueberries
1/2 c. Kahlua liqure
1/4 aged balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp pure honey

*1 tbsp honey butter, room temperature – click for the recipe

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Yields 6 cups. Grease 6 glass ice-cream cups with honey butter. refrigerate until ready to use.
In a medium bowl combine cheese, vanill, sugar and salt. Whisk until smooth and creamy. In another bowl beat the whipping cream until thick and fluffy. Fold the cream into the cheese mixture. Scoop into the chilled ice-cream cups. Refrigerate 4 hours.

In the meantime, combine kahlua and balsamic in a non-stick medium pan on medium heat. When starts to boil lower heat to low and cook until liquid reduced by a third. Add blueberries and honey, mix and continue to cook a few more minutes stirring occasionally, until sauce is honey-like consistency. Keep in mind not to overcook the blueberries. Remove from heat, let cool to room temperature**.

Take the cups out of the refrigerator, arrange on a serving tray and top with blueberry sauce. Serve.  It is A.mazing every.single.time.

**I store the Blueberry sauce in a glass container in the refrigerator, it becomes hard when chilled. I stick it in the microwave on high for a few seconds to melt, just before re-use.

This sauce also makes an amazing jam on a fresh country toasted bread.