Tips and tricks

Now that the weather is heating up I really only want to have cold drinks. For me, a great cup of iced coffee with some coconut cream really hits the spot each morning. I usually only do one smaller cup per day so I make only enough cold brew coffee concentrate to last 3 days at a time then I remake it every few days.  If you are used to drinking more than one cup per day or you have multiple people drinking it then you could easily double or triple this recipe.

Here is what you will need:
1 cup of ground coffee of choice
3 cups room temperature water
A large pitcher, french press, mason jar, or bottle with lid (size will depend of if it is a single, double, or triple batch)
a fine mesh strainer

1. Place coffee grounds in the bottom of jar or pitcher

2. Add the water and wet the grounds thoroughly and use a spoon to mix well, making sure that all the grounds are adequately wet.

3. Place the lid on the jar and let sit at room temperature for 12-15 hours.

4. Using the mesh strainer, strain out the coffee grounds, reserving the liquid.

5. Place coffee concentrate in the fridge until ready to drink.

The concentrate will last covered in the fridge for approximately 5 days.To make each cup, add one part of coffee concentrate to one part coconut cream, coconut milk, or water and serve over ice. Sometimes I add a Tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder with the coffee grounds before adding the water so I get a mocha flavored coffee. Each morning, I simply shake my coffee with equal parts coconut cream in a jar and add some ice and a dash of cinnamon. Shaking it in the jar leaves you with a frothy, caffeinated beverage. Here is what my morning glass usually looks like.

My husband and I love making pre-made seasonings. It is nice to go into the cabinet and pick out one shaker and not have to go searching for much else. We made this blend of seasonings as a basic spice blend. We use it on just about everything like chicken, potatoes, and veggies. So in our house we started calling it “everyday seasoning” for just that reason. I like this seasoning because it is basic enough for a variety of dishes but it gives a slightly smoky, almost barbecue flavor.

Just as a note, we usually buy our spices from the bulk section in our grocery store- mostly we go to Whole Foods for this. We find the spices are fresher and are less expensive than buying an entire bottle in the spice section.

Everyday seasoning

1 Tablespoon Garlic powder
1 Tablespoon onion powder
1 Tablespoon parsley flakes
1 Tablespoon smoked Paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon Dried mustard powder
1 teaspoon celery salt
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Pepper to taste

Mix all the seasonings together and place in an airtight jar. Then sprinkle it on everything!

I cook with a fair amount of garlic. Sometimes I find that the peels are difficult to get off of very small or very large cloves. I came up with this quick way to take the peels off of the garlic with minimal work.

All you need to do is put individual cloves into a mason jar with a lid and shake well for a little while. That’s it. Perfectly peeled garlic cloves. If the cloves are small or have particularly tough skins, you may need to shake it a bit move vigorously.

There are tons of methods out there for making boiled eggs- they are mostly addressing the problem people have with the eggs not peeling well. Some say you need older eggs, some say you need to add the eggs to cold water than bring it all to a boil, some methods are steamed, or even baked. I’ve been making eggs this way for a while now and haven’t had any trouble with peeling them. I’ve used old eggs and new eggs and I have done it with brown eggs too. You know where this is leading- I’m going to tell you how I make my eggs easily peel-able and cooked to perfection. I also experimented a little with the length of time cooked to get the type of egg you want. Just as a note if you use brown eggs some of the color from the shell may peel off. It must have something to do with the vinegar in the water but I haven’t found a definitive answer on why this happens.

So here is what you need:

Small sauce pan with lid
2-3 Tablespoons of white vinegar
A spoon
Bowl of ice water

Put the pan of water on the stove and bring to a boil. Add the vinegar. Once the water is at a rolling boil lower the eggs into the pot with the spoon. Cover the pot with the lid then turn the burner off.

For soft boiled eggs with a nice runny yolk, cook for 4 minutes.

For a medium, more set slightly runny yolk, cook for 7 minutes.

For a boiled egg with a creamy yolk, cook 10 minutes.

For a firmly cooked yolk, cook for 13 minutes.

Once you’ve reached the time to get the type of egg you want, transfer eggs into the bowl of ice water. Once cooled, peel and enjoy as desired.