Friday Unwind – Zombie Killer Cider Mead
March 22, 2013 - Written by DianaSo, my husband is drawn to things that start with the name Zombie, like all kids his age. Zombie Killer Cherry Cyser by B. Nectar Meadery is pretty darn tasty. We bought this at the Bottle and Barrel in North Market when we were searching for some fun drinks to add to our hard cider list.
Zombie Killer – Cherry Cyser (Cookerati.com)
Zombie Killer Cherry Cyser Label
You have to admit, this bottle is attractive for a Zombie loving fool. The ingredients: Michigan cherry juice, apple cider and star thistle honey – the taste – cherries, apples and honey. A nice crisp apple and cherry taste with a sweetness but not over the top too sweet and a light carbonation; you won’t be belching after drinking this. Very little foam, pours out pinkish with an orange tinge and a cherry/ honey with (maybe a little floral) aroma. I’m not an automatic mead fan because I think many are way to sweet for me, but this was very good …
This Weekend My Beer Of Choice Is Hard Cider
February 1, 2013 - Written by Diana
Is hard cider really an ale or beer? No, probably not but it’s what I’m going with this weekend. My husband and I have tried some hard ciders and are enjoying the crisp clean but fizzy apple taste of Angry Orchard varieties. Hard Cider is becoming more and more popular as the alcohol of choice at gatherings. It’s not more popular than wine or beer but it’s making advances. I can see it being used in braising liquids in place of beer or soda too.
- My favorite is the Apple ginger which seems a little less sweet, though it could use a bit more of the ginger bite(heat?) that I enjoy.
- Crisp Apple was appropriately named with a nice sweet crisp apple flavor – the downside to this one was that we drank it way too fast. You can forget that it’s hard cider until you start to feel the effects.
- The Classic is more of a dry hard cider, less sweet but still great apple flavor.
Hard Apple Ciders are growing in popularity and becoming easier to …
The 2012 Holiday Recipe Book Gift Guide
December 20, 2012 - Written by DianaThis a quick listing of books that I have received for review and suggest to my readers. This is not a complete guide to every new book; I can’t afford all that’s available but I can give suggestions among those I have received. The one book I bought for myself in the beginning of the year is The Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook: 2,000 Recipes from 20 Years of America’s Most Trusted Cooking Magazine
When available, I’m adding links to amazon. I do get a tiny bit from it, but feel free to find it on your own, buy it used from another bookseller or borrow from the library. I’m attaching links for your convenience and so you can find the correct book but you don’t need to go through these links. This will be a long post but there are a lot of …
New Kosher Products by Manischewitz
November 12, 2012 - Written by DianaEvery year Kosher Fest is usually part of my food news. Kosherfest highlights kosher product companies with emphasis on new product lines. It’s held at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, NJ and is on schedule for tomorrow. Manischewitz has a few new products for this year’s Kosherfest, that can help you get through the jewish celebrations and holydays as well as any regular day. I wasn’t sure what I would get when I agreed to do to the review. Without further ado – here’s my review of some of Manischewitz new product line of 2012.
- Mediterranean Matzos – flavored with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Onion, Garlic and Herbs – This was one of my favorites. The underlying herb, and olive oil flavor comes through as almost an after note. It’s mild, but still there and leaves a good impression. This would be fantastic with tomato soup.
- Chocolate Gluten Free Cake – As far as cake mixes go, this is good, especially gluten free. I’ve found some of the gluten free cake mixes to have a different texture than I’m used to but this feels like a …
Daylight Savings Ends – Time to Check Your Batteries And Maybe Something Else.
November 1, 2012 - Written by DianaDaylight Savings is ending this weekend. Usually we are told to check our batteries in our smoke detectors. I have a suggestion though. I have been trying out a new smoke detector, one that can be used near your kitchen. The Iophic Smoke and Fire Alarm with Universal Sensing Technology won’t go off when you open the oven even when the food is a little charred. So when you change your battery this weekend, think about changing that smoke detector with all of the nuisance alarms, the one that’s affected by the kitchen the most.
I was skeptical when I accepted the offer to review the smoke detector. I have them throughout the house, but the biggest problem is that the detector down the hall from the kitchen goes off every time we open the oven door. When the smoke detector arrived I was determined to do a good test of the smoke detector because if I was endorsing it, it had better work.
So, this is what we did. We took the new smoke detector and we placed it on a wall …
What I’m Drinking – Leinenkugel’s Berry Weiss
September 29, 2012 - Written by Diana
Leinenkugel’s Berry Weiss
Today is National Beer Day but I’m not a beer drinker or at least not a regular beer drinker- and maybe that’s why Leinenkugel’s Berry Weiss has become my summer drink on the deck with dinner. I wanted something light, with a fruity-ish flavor and some alcoholic fizz and I want it when I walk in the door. Yeah!
Okay, maybe it’s not light in calories, but it is light in taste and not really sweet. I’m a wine drinker, but my tastes are evolving. In college we could only afford 3.2 beer, so that’s what I drank though I didn’t enjoy it much. When I could afford wine, inexpensive but sweet wine was my choice. Slowly I’ve been tasting and exploring adding new things here and there. I’ve moved from sweet, to more complex in my wine drinking and today Berry Weiss my drink of choice on national beer day.
Leinenkugel also has Summer Shandy and a Lemon Berry, but the Berry Weiss is my favorite. The berry flavor isn’t the artifical syrup taste you get in the …
What I’m Trying – Fusionbrands Poachpods
August 22, 2012 - Written by DianaPoaching is one of lower fat ways to prepare eggs. I love eggs over medium, cooked in olive oil but left still runny. I like poaching, but they’re always messy when I do it, leaving little trails of egg floating around and sometimes sticking. Forget cooking a bunch of eggs at once. I’ve been eyeing Fusionbrands Poachpods wondering if they work. When I was offered a chance to try them out, I went for it.
The poachpods are food safe silicon cups – that you place the uncooked egg in before dropping it in the pan to poach. So no swirling tentacles of egg all over the pan, it’s all contained in the poachpod. You boil the water, drop the poach pod with the egg into the pan, top with a lid and when it’s poached, pull it out of the pan, turn it over and flip the egg out.
;
;
I’ve been playing with it a little, and these are my observations.
- It takes a little longer to use the poach pod – but you have to keep an …
Thomas Tilert & TJ Gallivans Pasta Sauce
August 2, 2012 - Written by DianaThomas Tilert entrepreneur and part owner of TJ Gallivan’s Pasta Sauces learned about Old World sauce from his mother Mama Alma and his grandmother. The family sauce recipe has been passed down through the family with each generation adding his or her own little twist. His mom tweaked his grandmother’s recipe and he also altered it a little bit making it to his own taste. His sauce is delicious, tomatoey and clings to the pasta much better than my homemade. I think I need some insider information.
Before I go any further, I want full disclosure out there. Tommy is also known as Buff and one of founding authors on this Cookerati site. He’s shared some of his favorite recipes, reviewed a few ingredients and added his two cents in the comments. He’s moved on to other endeavors and though he doesn’t have time for our page because he’s so busy with his own foodie adventure, he keeps in touch and asked for a review of his sauce. My review is hopefully impartial but I thought I’d use this opportunity to have him share with us some of the steps he went through to produce his own …
Baked Ricotta Penne Pasta
August 2, 2012 - Written by Diana
Penne is one of my favorite tubular pastas – the sauce seems to cling in and around the pasta better than some of the others while keeping the tube shape. I love to cover it in a meat sauce and layer it with ricotta. Since I was reviewing TJ Gallivan’s Pasta Sauces, I used La Matrice to make my Baked Ricotta Penne Pasta.
TJ Gallivan’s Sauces are great when you don’t have the time to make the sauce yourself. They are full of tomato flavor – that’s something my kids and I noticed right away, how the tomato stood out. The other big plus was how thick the sauce is and how well it clings to the pasta. I love a sauce that sticks.
The Tradizionale – is a sauce full of tomato, garlic, basil and oregano and is the mildest of the three sauces. My daughter liked this because she thought it was customizable. She could take the sauce plain, or …
Healthy Home Cooking for Kids & Tuna Wrap Roll Recipe
July 10, 2012 - Written by Diana
Healthy Cooking for Kids by Emily Rose, is a cookbook that caters to the young palate, but also has no butter, no white flour and no added sugar. It does use rice bran oil, honey, whole wheat pasta, plenty of vegetables and whole grains. Emily’s book contains about 100 pages – with 50 recipes, and nice photos to match. The kids can join in to help with cooking and baking and putting the food on the table because they are simple in preparation and in taste. Kids seem to enjoy foods that are uncomplicated – and I think this book fits the bill, and also manages to get in lots of good for you ingredients.
I made the Tuna Wrap Roll in about 2 minutes – I like the idea of adding avocado and cucumber into the wrap with the tuna. Give it a try, I think your kid will like it also.
Tuna Wrap Roll Recipe…
- It takes a little longer to use the poach pod – but you have to keep an …
