The Hazel Bloom

Iced Coffee

About March-ish every year, I get my first iced coffee of the year from Starbucks. It's usually a sunny day, I may even be braving some sock-less shoes, and I'm feeling the spring fever. My toes and the rest of me are usually freezing by mid-morning, but I'm still practically giddy because, woo hoo! It's officially Iced Coffee Season!

Not only does Iced Coffee Season mean summer is coming, it also mean that for the next few months, this coffee drinker is going to be drinking copious amounts of iced coffee. Hey, what can I say. I'm all for straightforward, clear, and downright obvious when it comes to naming my seasons.

After spending far too much at the 'bucks on iced coffee over the years, I finally figured out how to make it at home.

 

 
I have a three personal rules for making iced coffee. Because if you just pour some brewed coffee over some ice cubes (yes, I started out trying that), you'll be disappointed. And might possibly want to throw up.

But when I follow my rules, I end up with a perfect cuppa icy joe:

1. Start with very strong coffee.
2. Cool the coffee first.
3. And, my favorite rule: Use ice cubes made of coffee, so you don't dilute the brew.

The coffee ice cubes are key.

Ready to cool down and caff up with me? Here's the recipe:

Iced Coffee

Serves 1

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups very strong coffee
• Coffee ice cubes
• Half and half to taste
• Sugar to taste

Directions:

1. One day ahead, make the coffee ice cubes. Allow coffee to cool, then pour into ice cube trays. Freeze.
   
   
2. Brew coffee, then pour into a large Pyrex measuring cup or other container that's safe for hot beverages. Allow to cool a bit, then place in the refrigerator until it's cooled off.
   
   
   
3. Add coffee ice cubes to a tall glass.
   
   
    
   
4. Pour cooled coffee over the top, leaving a little room for half and half if desired.
5. Stir in some sugar (I usually add just a spoonful). You can add this in step 2 so that it's perfectly dissolves, but personally I like to add it to taste per glass.
6. Stir in half and half to taste. And enjoy!
   
   
   
   

 
P.S. Please do not feed to dogs, no matter how much they beg.

Fourth of July Sangria

I'm kind of into the dorky over-the-top holiday themed stuff. If you were around here for Halloween goodies like Deviled Egg Eyes and Witch's Finger Breadsticks, you know what I'm talking about.

I know I'm a dork. I own it, for the most part. Sometimes I think it would be cooler to be, well, cool - but then I look in the mirror or hear the words coming out of my mouth and I laugh at myself. I am what I am. May as well embrace it.

But enough about me. How about America, and freedom, and liberty, and justice for all? And how about celebrating the day of independence with a tasty, dorkily themed beverage like Fourth of July Sangria?

 
That's right, my friends. We've got a nice refreshing white sangria with star fruit. And strawberries and blueberries and wine and deliciousness and good times. So how about getting dorky with me for your very own Fourth of July celebration? Jump on in to the uncool pool with me. The water is, actually, pretty fine.

Fourth of July Sangria

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 1 bottle dry white wine (I use pinot grigio, sauvignon blanc would probably work nicely as well)
• 1 1/2 cups strawberries, hulled and halved
• 3/4 cup blueberries
• 1 medium star fruit, sliced
• 15 maraschino cherries
• 1/2 cup pomegranate schnapps
• 1/4 cup sugar
• Club soda

Directions:

1. Add the strawberries, blueberries, star fruit, and cherries to a pitcher.
2. Pour in the wine and the pomegranate schnapps.
3. Gently stir in the sugar.
4. Cover and let sit in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours - or, preferably, overnight.
5. To serve, fill a glass about 2/3 of the way full with ice cubes. Pour the sangria in about 2/3 full, and add a few pieces of the fruit. Top off with club soda.

 

Salvaged Patio Cart

This thing cost me $5 at a garage sale last Friday.

Total shocker, right? I mean, it's in such pristine condition...

I know, I know. Not.

It's certainly a little worse for the wear, but it was the perfect size for our patio - where I wanted a cart or a table for drinks, BBQ prep, snacks, stuff like that.

I originally thought I'd paint it, but the truth is, I really kinda like the greenish yellow thing it had going on. And painting can be a pain.

So I stopped at the fabric store and picked up some fabric with a plastic laminate over the top. And, using spray adhesive with a very light touch, I applied some of said fabric (Moda Fabrics, Odyssea collection) to the top.

And you know, it's still not the most perfect thing in town, but I love it.

This stuff is the coolest damask pattern ever. Look closely, right there in the middle of the pattern. Fish!

Yeah, I kinda love it. Though, unless I seal it in some way, it'll probably only last me a season, then I'll have to find another plastic-laminated fabric or oilcloth to cover it with. But for now, I am instantly gratified.

Now to finish the other 99.9% of the patio and yard... no "instant" about that.

Oy.

Mini Cinnamon Muffins

Mini things are, just by their diminutive nature, super duper cute. Miniature horses. The teensy windmills in mini golf courses. Puppies. Oh my God, puppies. So cute.

And, muffins. Mini muffins!

I know, I know, mini muffins enjoyed their time in the sun a few years back. They used to be everywhere, but today they're overshadowed by things like gourmet doughnuts, full-on cupcakes, and salted caramels. By the way, I gorged myself on a combo of two of those yesterday - a salted caramel old-fashioned doughnut from Frost Doughnuts. Holy moly. I'm not sure I've tasted anything better. I mean, these Cinnamon Mini Muffins are really good, don't get me wrong. But I'm the first to admit they've got nothing on one of those salted caramel old-fashioned doughnuts.

I'm really convincing you to try this recipe, aren't I?

Really, these are good. They're exceedingly simple to make, and you probably have all the ingredients already on hand. Dusted with cinnamon and sugar before they go into the oven, they come out tender and tasty with a sugary top, perfect finished off with a sliver of butter.

 
And, of course, they're cute. Cuter, even, than that blasted doughnut.

Mini Cinnamon Muffins

Adapted from Joy of Cooking, "Basic Muffins with Milk or Cream"

Makes 3-4 dozen mini muffins, or a dozen maxi (regular size) muffins

Ingredients:

Batter:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 of a stick) unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Topping

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Grease or line your mini muffin pans. I used cute red and white striped mini baking liners from Bake it Pretty. 
   
   
    
3. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
   
   
    
4. Melt the butter (I nuke it in a microwave-safe bowl for about 30 seconds).
5. In a separate medium bowl, beat together the eggs, brown sugar, milk, melted butter, and vanilla.
6. Pour the wet ingredients over the flour mixture, and mix just until incorporated; do not overmix.
7. Scoop the batter by tablespoonful into the mini muffin cups (or, if you're making normal-size muffins, divide the batter between 12 cups).
   
   
    
8. Mix together the 1/4 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.
9. Sprinkle the top of each muffin with the cinnamon and sugar mix.
   
   
    
10. Bake for about 10-12 minutes, until muffin tops spring back when you lightly poke the top (or stick a toothpick in and it comes out clean). If you're making normal-size muffins, bake for about 12 - 15 minutes.
    
    
     
11. Let cool for a couple of minutes, then serve and enjoy the adorable tastiness!

Lamb's Ear

I know this is primarily a food blog, and so if you see the title of this post, you may have already "ewwwww"ed. No worries. Today I'm talking about a plant.

 
Photo Credit: Moosey's Country Garden from This Old House's Best Plants for Colorful Foliage

Lamb's Ear (Stachys byzantina) is one of the cutie patooties of the plant world. What makes it so cute, you ask? Its thick silvery leaves are so fuzzy, they're practically hairy. In a good way. We're not talking man's scary back hair hairy. We're talking, I don't know, baby head hairy. Abundant peach fuzz hairy. Good hairy.

But as we all know, looks aren't everything. The groundcover grows easily and nearly maintenance-free in carefree mounds anywhere from 6 - 18 inches high. Those hairy silver leaves provide great contrast in the garden, both in texture and in color. The flowers? Admittedly unimpressive. Lamb's Ear is all about the cute, contrasting foliage - its fuzzy spikes with little pink flowers are an afterthought, though the bees do love 'em.

Here we see Lamb's Ear bordering the gravel circle in a New York garden. Neat, huh?

Photo credit: Matthew Benson, from Country Living's "Explore a Cloistered Garden"

Why am I all about the Lamb's Ear right now, you ask? Well, just a few days ago, I was thumbing through one of many home and garden magazines scattered around here. When I came across a mention of Lamb's Ear, and I felt a little sad. See, when I moved out of my little cottage a year ago to get all domestic with my guy at his house, we brought a bunch of my plants with us. But for some silly reason, we left behind all the Lamb's Ears. Wah.

And so, just a couple of days after mourning the Lamb's Ears left behind, I was out front weeding when I came across this.

A little bitty Lamb's Ear plant! I guess the stubborn little bugger piggybacked over on one of the other perennials last year.

And so I took him around to the backyard and planted him in the spot I was thinking of back when I was bemoaning our lack of Lamb's Ears.

If he survives the transplant, it'll take him awhile to fill the space. But I'm willing to wait.

Want to learn more? 

There are a few different varieties of Lamb's Ears. Learn more on one of these terrific web sites.

• Fine Gardening Plant Guide
  
• Sunset Plant Finder
• Martha Stewart
• HGTV
  
• GardenWeb.com Forums: "Help I can't get rid of my lamb's ear and I don't really like it"
  Equal opportunity linking, here. Lamb's Ear can be considered invasive. If you like tight control over your garden, it may not be for you.

Rummy Lemonade with Peppermint Swizzle Sticks

I'm not a morning person. Case in point: Just a couple of minutes ago, I put some cream in a mug and poured in some nice strong coffee. My first cup of coffee for the morning. I grabbed it and meandered (okay, stumbled) over to the couch and set it down on the table... right next to the mug I had prepared for myself about 5 minutes previous and had promptly forgotten about.

Now I have two mugs of coffee to drink. Maybe this will actually be a good thing.

I'm sure my fogginess on this particular morning has nothing to do with drinking this delicious Rummy Lemonade last night.

 

This easy cocktail is a refreshing antidote for a hot summer day. It's great as a crisp, simple punch for a party, too. Just slice up a couple of lemons, throw in a few peppermint leaves, and add the punch to a beverage jar (like this one we received as a wedding present from Crate and Barrel and can't wait to use!). Easy peasy.

About the peppermint "swizzle sticks" - just pick a big tall peppermint stem, strip off the bottom leaves, and stick it in your drink for a tasty swizzle stick that doubles as a garnish. Neat, right? (Notice the purplish color of my peppermint. This seems to be the variety of peppermint that's happiest in its new yard. I kind of dig it, no pun intended.)

Here's the recipe! Me, I'm off to do the coffee thing two-fisted this morning.

Rummy Lemonade

Adapted from Bobby Flay's Rum Lemonade recipe on Food Network

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups lemonade (Store-bought or homemade. I did store-bought. Don't tell!)
• 2/3 cups light rum
• 15 or so mint leaves, plus a couple of stems for the peppermint swizzle sticks

Directions:

1. Stir together the lemonade, rum, and mint leaves.
2. Pour into two large glasses filled with ice.
3. Strip all but the uppermost leaves off of two stems of peppermint.
4. Give it a good stir, then add the peppermint swizzle sticks and a straw.
5. Enjoy!

Ridiculously Easy Brownies

So yeah, this having a wedding and going on a honeymoon thing is quite the time suck. So is the whole having-a-demanding-job thing. Now that I'm hitched and back from my honeymoon, the fact that I quit my full-time gig the week we got married (unrelated, the feminist in me wants you to know!) - it's all sinking in. All of the sudden, I've got a lot of time on my hands. And I've actually got time to ponder the fact that I've got a lot of time on my hands. Both novel concepts. We'll see how I do with this.

Rewind a couple of weeks. Back when time was a scarcity, I managed to eke out 20 minutes and whipped up these Ridiculously Easy Brownies - my favorite brownie recipe for when time is scarce and a homemade treat is in order.

These are everything a brownie should be - chewy, dense, melt-in-your mouth chocolatey. My guy gives 'em a coveted One Grunt Up. And, as I keep mentioning, they're ridiculously easy - one bowl, one sheet of foil, one pan, done.

Here's the recipe!

Ridiculously Easy Brownies

Makes 24 brownies

Adapted from the Baker's One Bowl Brownies recipe on Kraft.com

Ingredients:

• 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate (I like the Ghiradelli 100% Cacao unsweetened chocolate bars)
• 3/4 cup (1 and 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1 3/4 cups sugar (that's 1 cup plus 3/4 cup more, just to clarify)
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup chopped pecans (toasted with a little kosher salt adds an interesting, and even better, twist)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line a 13x9 pan with piece of foil long enough to extend over the ends of the pan, and grease the foil and the rest of the pan.
   
   
    
3. In a large microwaveable bowl, add the butter and the chocolate (break the chocolate into pieces).
   
   
    
4. Microwave for about a minute, removing and stirring to judge how much the chocolate has melted, then nuke in 15 second increments after that. It usually takes me about a minute and a half to completely melt the chocolate.
   
   
    
5. Stir in the sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
6. Stir in the flour, and if using, the pecans. Mix well.
   
   
    
7. Spread the batter into the pan.
   
   
    
8. Bake for 30 - 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out crumby.
9. Let cool, then remove the brownies from the pan with the foil "handles."
10. Cut into squares, and enjoy!
    
    
     
11. Store in an air-tight container at room temp.

For the Love of Pancakes

Hello, my fellow breakfast lovers! Through the magic of technology, I am posting while on my honeymoon at a fancy resort on a Mexican beach. At this very moment, I'm likely sipping a drink and have finally cracked open my copy of "The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo." Then again, I may be so distracted by the new husband lounging next to me that I'm not able to read much at all. Yet, somehow, here I am, posting on The Hazel Bloom!

Okay fine, it's called "TypePad lets me write stories then schedule them to publish on the future date and time of my choosing." But wasn't that a riveting mystery, while it lasted?

So. I thought I'd share with you a few stories of pancakes past. Who, after all, doesn't love pancakes? Except for a beloved relative, who says they feel like they swell up in her mouth while chewing, and another friend of ours, who says they make him feel too full too fast. Freaks. (Kidding!)

Go ahead, make some pancakes for breakfast today. Me, I'm going to order another umbrella-topped drink. Later!

Buttermilk Pancakes

Basic, and anything but. My favorite pancake recipe is the classic, the quintessential, the plain ol' buttermilk.

Heart-y Buttermilk Pancakes with Raspberry Honey Syrup

With whole wheat flour, flaxseed, and rolled oats, these guys are hearty and, when a heart shape is cut out of the middle, heart-y. And the Raspberry Honey Syrup? Oh yes.

Cardamom Apple Pancakes

Apples and pancakes are MFEO. MFEO = Made For Each Other, which my friend Reema taught me just the other day (she was talking about my aforementioned new husband and I, also MFEO apparently, which I totally hated hearing. Not.)

With little diced apples and cardamom, I really really love these.

Apple Dutch Baby

A different sort of pancake, the dutch baby (sometimes also known as a german pancake) is baked in a cast iron skillet. It puffs up all wonderful like and you eat it in wedges. So good.

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Sauteed Apples

I made 'em, photographed 'em, and ate 'em, but they're from the wonderful Smitten Kitchen. I talk about the pancakes, the recipe, and the blog - along with a couple of other recipes I tried from some of my other favorite bloggers.

Gingerbread Pancakes

These alone almost make me look forward to winter. Almost.

Banana Sour Cream Pancakes

These are deeee-lish. Though they're kind of ugly on one side, because you place the diced banana on top of each pancake, then flip. I photographed the pretty side only. That felt a little wrong. But they tasted right.

Blueberry-Lemon Sauce

We're getting married on a blueberry farm. This weekend. This WEEKEND! Gosh, this thing came fast. Seems like Christmas Eve was just yesterday... the day my guy got down on one knee and popped the question. I didn't say yes, though. I said "of course!"

Gotta say, I'm psyched the day is here. Yes, yes, I am definitely just ready to get it done with and get on with our lives. But I'm also just dang excited for all the festivities (and the honeymoon!) Plus, I get to marry the most wonderful guy. Bring it on.

So I thought it was appropriate this week to share this recipe for Blueberry-Lemon Sauce. Not only because there are blueberries involved, but also because we're going to be serving this sauce over cheesecake for dessert at our reception.

Not just cheesecake-appropriate, we also love this sauce over ice cream.

We love it over pancakes, waffles, and french toast, too.

It's delish. I love how the lemon really complements the blueberry flavors.

Yum, yum, yum.

Here's the recipe! And with that, we're off to get hitched and stuff. See you again in a couple weeks! :)

Blueberry-Lemon Sauce

Adapted, quite a bit, from Ina Garten's Blueberry Sauce Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 pint blueberries
• 2/3 cup sugar
• Zest and juice from one medium lemon (about 1 tablespoon of zest and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice)
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:

1. Rinse and pick through the blueberries, discarding any bad berries and stems.
   
   
   
2. Pour blueberries in a medium saucepan and stir in the sugar, lemon zest and juice, and water.
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Stirring occasionally, heat over medium-high heat until the mixture comes to a boil.
   
   
   
4. Turn heat down to medium-low, and simmer for about 15 - 20 minutes, until the mixture thickens.
5. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.
6. Serve warm or cold over cheesecake, ice cream, pancakes, french toast, waffles, or whatever else you dream up. Keeps in the refrigerator for several days.