Thirsty Thursday: Bourbon Slush (Sequiota Bike Shop)

Hey--remember those crazy kids who used to own an ice cream shop as a "side business" because they thought it'd be "easy"?  What a hoot!

Oh wait...that was us.

So, if you recall, a few years ago we sold our business to some friends (veteran restauranteurs). I can't recall if we ever did an update, but they have truly transformed that location. It's now the Sequiota Bike Shop--they have a great menu of sandwiches, a full-on outdoor dining area and bar, just a really fun space.  They even do bike rentals. 

Our formerly awkward parking lot is now a lovely covered seating area (perfect for those drizzly-but-still-warm days)...

And for every other day, there's an outdoor bar in the back, plenty of seating, oh, and they even added a fire pit for those slightly cooler days.

The interior of the building was reorganized and the indoor seating was removed to give them some much needed additional space inside for workers, where they crank out some of the tastiest sandwiches in town.  No fryers to mess with, so they serve up sides like chips, housemade soup, and potato salad instead.  It's a really smart use of a small space (about 600 sq feet).

Jamis Roast Beef sandwich.

The Hubs & I like to stop by periodically to have a drink (great local beer selection) and share a sandwich (our personal favorite is the Finnegan's Reuben). 

Soooo good.

It's always a little bittersweet because we have so many stressful memories tied to that business and location, but I'm honestly very happy for our friends.  They've done more with it than we ever could have.

Anyway, enough gushing.  Bring on the booze!

Sweet tea bourbon slush.

So, Bike Shop has a rotating menu of slush cocktails, made with Four Roses Bourbon.  As much as I love my beer, it's hard to not get a slush when I go.

Watermelon mint slush.

Simple, cold, refreshing. And I do not have the recipe, so I cannot replicate it here.  So I guess you're just going to have to go try one for yourself.

Granted, we are in October....in Missouri.  Where it can be 70 one day and 40 the next.  But I still think Bike Shop is a great destination for this time of year.  Because if it's 70, you get a slush. If it's 40, then you grab a chair by the fire and ask for a spiked cocoa,coffee, or chai instead.

They also frequently have live music, so if you don't have a kiddo (or are lucky enough to have one old enough to leave at home, or better yet, be your DD), it's a great place to kick back in the evenings.  It's like your own back yard...but better.

Cheers!

Snow Day Treats: Snow Ice Cream!

We had our first big snow of the season this week; got about 8-10 inches at our house, depending on where you stick the ruler…or dog. 

“Okay, verrrrry funny guys.  Now…how do I get down?”

It started on Thursday afternoon, and by the time I left work at 4:15pm that day, the roads were awful…ice beneath snow, plus darkness = my typically 30 minute commute took 2 hours.  Yuck!  To top if off, my windshield wipers got coated with ice on the way home, and when I went to clean them off, the driver’s side wiper snapped right off!  Since I can’t easily make it 18 miles to the office without a working wiper, I ended up working from home on Friday.  I’m pretty blessed that we have such a nice setup that allows us to work remotely & still access all our files even when you can’t get into the office.

But of course…around lunch time…I decided it was time for some snow ice cream!

Aaaannnd….well…seeing as how we have all the leftover ice cream toppings from The Scoop in our pantry right now…our snow ice cream got a little fancier than usual. :D

INGREDIENTS:

4-6 cups packed snow

1/2 cup half & half (or evaporated milk)

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

TOPPINGS!  (whatever you have on hand)

 

DIRECTIONS:

Working quickly (because this will melt FAST), combine the snow, milk, sugar, & vanilla, and stir until well combined. 

Add your toppings and devour as quickly as possible!  (or as quickly as brain freeze will allow.)

Grillin’ Time: Grilled Peaches & Ice Cream

So, you may notice a trend for a while:  If I make a post, it’s something super-simple and easy.  Because that’s about all we have time for anymore.  Summer is gearing up and things at the ice cream shoppe are in full swing!  It’s tiring and mass pandemonium at times, but we are still enjoying it… particularly that 7-hour coma we fall into every evening out of sheer exhaustion. :D

This week, peaches were on sale, as was corn, so we decided grilling was in order!  We charred a couple brats, seasoned our corn with smoked salt, chili powder & honey butter:

…but a dessert was needed.   A grilled dessert.  That goes great with ice cream.

INGREDIENTS:

2 peaches, washed, halved & pits removed

1 tbsp light butter

1 tbsp honey

cinnamon

Vanilla ice cream

 

DIRECTIONS:

Melt the butter & honey together in a small bowl, and use a pastry brush to coat both sides of the peach halves.  (We used this honey butter on our corn too—delish)

Sprinkle cinnamon over the tops.

Once your grill is good & heated,  place on the upper rack skin-side down and grill for 3-4 minutes, then flip and place on the lower rack for 3-4 minutes.

Serve with ice cream.  I sprinkled more cinnamon on mine—the Hubs went for extra honey.

DEVOUR!!!

Thirsty Thursday: Frozen Watermelon-Lime Margarita

Maybe I’m a cheapskate, but frozen fruit is expensive.

So I like to stock up various fruits when they’re in their respective peak seasons at super-cheap prices, and then freeze them myself. 

Example?

A 14oz package of Dole frozen strawberries can go for $2.50 at Wal-Mart.  OR---I can buy a 16 oz carton of fresh strawberries for 99 cents, wash, hull & halve them, and then freeze them myself.   That’s a 12 cent per ounce savings.  And with the recent popularity of “green” and fruit smoothies, there are probably families out there spending at least $10-20/month just on pre-frozen fruit and smoothie mixes.  For the upper end of this scale, these families could save up to $144/year just by freezing their own when things are on sale.  Aldi’s constantly has random fruits under a buck—and as I’ve mentioned before, if you don’t like the quality of the produce at Aldi’s, you can get Wally-World to price match it.

ANYWAY… this also means I have a veritable crap-ton of fruit in our freezer right now.  Which my husband likes to remind me of, because it’s taking up valuable retail space where more manly things, like meat and ice cream, could be. Because the two shelves filled with everything from chicken tenders to elk steaks apparently isn’t enough meat.  (…love you, honey…) ;-D

This weekend I organized our freezer and decided it was high time to use up some watermelon (I went a little crazy when they were marked down to $2.99 for a large seedless).  Did you know you can freeze watermelon???  I didn’t, until this summer.  Granted—it’s not so great for “freezing then thawing” uses, but if it’s intended to remain in a frozen state (think frozen yogurt, smoothies, granitas, etc) then everything is peachy-keen!

You know what I like in a frozen state?  Margaritas.  And when you use frozen fruit?  No ice needed.

 

Ingredients:

2 cups frozen watermelon

juice and pulp of one lime

2-3 tablespoons sugar (start with 2, then taste & add more if necessary.  The amount needed will depend on how sweet your watermelon is.)

1/3 cup tequila

pinch of salt (optional, but I think it makes the flavor of the watermelon pop)

 

Directions:

Combine the above in a blender and pulse, using the “ice crush” setting.  Pulse until no large chunks are visible.

Wet the rim of a glass with lime juice, and then dip in a shallow plate/bowl of sugar.

Garnish with lime slice & straw.

INHALE. Savor on your back porch as the sun sets on another weekend.

Makes two small (10 oz) margaritas (or one big @$$ one).

NutriFacts:

Calories 190.1

  Total Fat 0.7 g

  Saturated Fat 0.1 g

  Polyunsaturated Fat 0.2 g

  Monounsaturated Fat 0.2 g

  Cholesterol 0.0 mg

  Sodium 3.5 mg

  Potassium 199.6 mg

  Total Carbohydrate 23.1 g

  Dietary Fiber 0.9 g

  Sugars 20.8 g

  Protein 1.1 g

Blackberry FroYo!

Have I mentioned how much I love my mom?  I’m sure it goes without saying, but I do.  And I know every child is biased, but my mom is my favorite mom on the planet.  Why?

Because even at 32 (my age, not hers) she still does what she can to help me out.

My folks aren’t well off, so I paid for & worked my way through college, but my parents always did what they could.  Every time I came home to do laundry (a couple times a month) my mom always gave me a $20 for gas (remember when that got you a full tank?  *sigh*) and would have a huge BOX full of groceries for me.  If I had casually mentioned in conversation a week or so before that I needed to watch for tuna on sale, sure enough, when I came home there would be a 6-pack of tuna cans, a few boxes of mac-n-cheese, cans of ravioli and Spaghetti-Os, miscellaneous cans of veggies, snack cakes, chips/crackers, etc. waiting for me in the kitchen.

I’m 6 years out of school and married w/ a professional job, but my mom, may the Lord bless & protect her, still loves to take care of her only daughter.

So when I asked my mom to keep an eye out for blackberries at the local farmer’s markets up around my hometown…she came through like a champ.  She called me up last weekend & asked to meet me for breakfast at a town about halfway between here & there (We live about 2.5 hrs apart), and THIS was the haul waiting for me:

That’s EIGHT pints of blackberries, and a huge pile o’ maters—the little ones are from her own plants, and one lil’ onion.  All I had to do was buy her breakfast.  And since my mom eats like a bird, that’s a pretty cheap date.

Never mind that she’d also given me two pints a week prior to this.  TEN PINTS of blackberries!  I’m the richest girl on the block.

Now, I suspect at least ONE person out there is whispering under her breath: “I thought this was a CAJUN food blog? She hasn’t posted anything Cajun in like, a month!”  This is true…Pinterest has stolen a lot of thunder from my Cajun recipes.  However, the FIRST thing I think about when I see blackberries is Louisiana.

One of my favorite things about my job in Louisiana was the constant source of mid-day snacks while out in the woods.  Wild blackberry bushes (Rubus argutus) are everywhere—dewberries too (Rubus trivialis), which are extremely similar, but slightly sweeter and more pinkish.  And then there are the mulberry trees (Morus rubra), and the occasional stray satsuma tree.

(Deer like to hunt for berries as well.)

 

Anyway…After a good soaking, half of my blackberry haul went in the freezer…but what to concoct with the other half? The world is my oyster. Or, my blackberry bush.

My first adventure was a blackberry cobbler….but I forgot to include baking powder and it sorta flopped…it was delicious, don’t get me wrong, but not photo-worthy.

Next mission?  BLACKBERRY FROZEN YOGURT. And this time, I SHALL NOT FAIL.  It’s the perfect treat for this sweltering summer weather, nicely tart and sweet, and FAT FREE. 

 

Ingredients:

2 cups blackberries, washed & patted dry

2 cups plain greek yogurt

1/2-2/3 can of fat free sweetened condensed milk (depending on how sweet your berries are, or if you have to use a flavored greek yogurt)

 

Directions:

First: prep your ice cream maker.  For us, this means freezing the metal canister for about 24 hours.

Then, 24 hours later, in your blender or food processor, blend your blackberries & the condensed milk.

 

Then add the greek yogurt and pulse until combined.

Look at that color!  Is that not gorgeous????

Now, set up your ice cream maker, & pour the mixture in.

(Avoid making off-color jokes about your ice cream maker’s “extra large opening”.  Teehee.)

Let mix until frozen—for our maker, that’s about 15-20 minutes.  You can hear when the mixing paddle starts to strain.

Then scrape into a freezable storage container.  If your froyo isn’t 100% set up, let freeze for an additional hour or two.

Serve w/fresh blackberry garnish.

Makes about 4-6 servings.

The Greek yogurt has a pretty strong flavor, so that will be predominant in this dish.  For that reason, I think I’d love to try making this with a flavored greek yogurt next time—maybe honey or vanilla?  Or even lemon!

NutriFacts:

Calories 165.3

  Total Fat 0.2 g

  Saturated Fat 0.0 g

  Polyunsaturated Fat 0.1 g

  Monounsaturated Fat 0.0 g

  Cholesterol 4.8 mg

  Sodium 64.8 mg

  Potassium 196.3 mg

  Total Carbohydrate 31.6 g

  Dietary Fiber 2.5 g

  Sugars 25.5 g

  Protein 9.9 g

Pineapple Sorbet vs. Pineapple Whip.

One of my favorite things about Springfield in the summer time is seeing these little trailers scattered across the city:

PINEAPPLE WHIP. 

For $2.25, you get 8 ounces of heaven in a styrofoam cup.

 

“It just looks like soft serve,” you say.  Well…yeah.  But it’s SO much more than soft serve.  Because it’s laced with bits of pineapple & full of pineapple juice & AWESOMENESS. 

It’s also full of calories.  About 200 by my best guess, though I think their website says 150.  Other sites estimate 180-220 in an 8oz serving.

Pineapple is one of my absolute favorite fruits.  Aside from being abundantly naturally sweet, it has tons of fiber, manganese, vitamins B1 & C, and can help ease arthritis, sinusitis, and indigestion.  They’re also plentiful this time of year and can often be found on sale (Aldi’s is running a $1.29/each sale right now).

And with ONE pineapple, you can make 5 servings worth of your own frozen pineapple treat, with about half the calories.

INGREDIENTS:

1 medium pineapple, cut into chunks (outside & core removed), about 5 cups of chunks

1/2 cup sugar

2 tbsp lemon juice

 

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place all the ingredients in a blender or food processor & pulse until smooth.  If the mixture is too sweet, add more lemon juice—it adds a good balance to the sweetness of the pineapple.

2. Pour into a container, cover, & freeze for 3 hours, or until the top & edges are frozen but the center is still slushy.  Then whip with a fork or place back in the blender to mix. 

3. Pour back into your container & freeze for another 4 hours.  Then scoop & serve!

 

For a more adult treat, you could mix in some coconut rum (50 calories per ounce) & have a mighty nice frozen cocktail!

And as my husband just showed me, it’s also delicious with a dollop of Cool Whip & some shredded coconut sprinkled on top!

 

NutriFacts: (for an 8 oz serving)

Calories 125.2

  Total Fat 0.4 g

  Saturated Fat 0.0 g

  Polyunsaturated Fat 0.1 g

  Monounsaturated Fat 0.1 g

  Cholesterol 0.0 mg

  Sodium 1.0 mg

  Potassium 114.7 mg

  Total Carbohydrate 32.2 g

  Dietary Fiber 1.2 g

  Sugars 29.9 g

  Protein 0.4 g

  Vitamin B-6 4.2 %

  Vitamin C 28.9 %

  Copper 5.3 %

  Folate 2.8 %

  Iron 2.0 %

  Magnesium 3.4 %

  Manganese 77.9 %

  Thiamin 5.9 %