30

Jun

Perfect Iced Coffee

 
Iced coffee is a norm in New England, and I used to tease my yankee friends who would walk out of Dunkin’ Donuts into 2 feet of snow with their ritual daily giant cup of iced coffee in their gloved hands. I teased them…until I tried it…then I joined them.
Coffee is an incredible crop that allows thousands of farmers to live around the world. It brings equality among all types of people, from CEOs to retail cashiers to the chronic homeless. Coffee is one of very few things that a great diversity of people around the world can enjoy. People can come to the table and make business decisions, gossip, study for their LSAT, or pour their hearts out while sipping the distinctive-tasting brew. That said, let’s make some iced coffee!

Bitter? Gross
Tangy? Disgusting
Creamy, slightly sweet, a little spice? Perfect!

This is my version of the perfect iced coffee. In one of the 30 Dunkin’ Donuts near my Boston apartment, I’m pretty sure I was one of few to order iced coffee with a shot of coconut syrup, but it reminded me of tropical, warm home. Iced coffee, by definition, is brewed roughly twice as strong as regular coffee. A little goes a long way! But, once you add ice, spices, and a little milk or cream, everything balances out.

Perfect Iced Coffee
1 TB shredded coconut
1/4 cup chocolate soymilk (or cow milk or almond milk) 
3 ice cubes
1 1/2 cups strong coffee, room temp or cold
Whipped cream (optional)
Dash of cinnamon


Directions:
In a tall glass, add coconut, milk, and ice (in that order). Add ice cubes next, and pour coffee over ice. 


Top with whipped cream and cinnamon. Add a straw to keep your lipgloss intact. 🙂

 

We all need a little pick-me-up sometimes!
~Laurel~

15 years ago Short URL 3 Comments

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05

Jun

Aloha Pancakes

It’s Saturday night, when lots of people unwind, party or just lay beached-whale-style on the couch and stare at the tube. It’s also a perfect time for…
Breakfast for Dinner!
I am seriously dreaming of vacationing close to the coast, but our work schedules aren’t allowing for that anytime soon. Why not bring the coast to us, in a town deemed the Heart of Texas? Heart of Texas, shortened H.O.T., and that it is. No coast, a couple of rivers and a fake lake (ok, Army Corps created). We’re at 100 degree days. Boy, do we need a little coastal comfort.
These pancakes were thrown together, and I’m pleasantly surprised with the outcome. These are some of my favorite fruits, and I hope you like them, too. Normally, warm pineapple is not my thing, but this worked well. 2 notes:
1) Toasted coconut would be tasty in this, but a certain lady caught her toaster oven on fire tonight while trying to do so. Shocked the smoke alarm didn’t go off. Hope you’re toasting goes better.
2) Fresh fruit is ideal (especially when fresh pineapples are $2 right now at our grocery!) but canned works, too.

Aloha Pancakes
serves 4, 16 3-inch pancakes

Fruit-filled pancakes

Ingredients:
3/4 cup bread flour (or all-purpose)
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Dash of salt
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons almond extract
1 cup skim milk
1 egg
1/3 cup chopped coconut
1/3 cup shredded coconut (sweet or un)
1/4 cup chopped cherries (8 cherries)
1 medium banana, sliced 1/4-inch thick
Optional other ingredients: 1/4 cup chocolate chips, chopped macedamia nuts, or chopped mango

Tools needed: skillet/pan for pancakes, 2 medium bowls, 1 large spoon, 1 spatula, can of nonstick spray

It really is a pretty batter, trust me 🙂

Steps:
1) Heat a skillet or pan to medium-high heat. In a medium bowl, stir the first 5 ingredients until well blended.


2) In a second bowl, stir almond extract, milk and egg until combined. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and blend. Fold in fruits until well blended. If batter is too thick for your liking, add milk, 2 TB at a time.


3) Spoon 3 TB or so of batter to make a small pancake (bigger will take much longer to cook). Wait until bubbles and flip, cooking for 3 more minutes or so. 

Melty banana and pineapple in the middle
I hope you like these little flapjacks. They took me to a happy place as I daydreamed of breezy beaches and ukulele serenades over dinner. Happy vacationing over a fun breakfast meal next to the shore or at your own kitchen table.
Little Jeweled Pieces of Paradise…I hope
A little trivia…
~Spanish explorers discovered and named the coconut “Coco,” meaning monkey face, because of the 3 indentations resembling a face.
~Falling coconuts kills over 150 people a year, about 10 times the rate of people killed by sharks. Strange.
~You can make coconut butter (a wonderful spread on toast, in baking, etc.) by putting shredded coconut into a food processor and blending until it becomes a creamy, smooth consistency. It’s a $1.50 solution to avoiding the $10 jar of coconut butter in health food stores.
 
~Laurel~

15 years ago Short URL

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03

Jun

Coconut Tropics Salad

Over the next couple of months, you’ll see quite a few salads, both savory and sweet. Here’s another, with toasted coconut and fruits that you probably already have in your produce drawer.

Coconut Tropics Salad
*8 servings*
1/2 cup sweetened coconut
2 red apples
1 green apple
1 lime
1 pear
1 banana
1 mango
2 navel oranges
1/4 cup sliced toasted almonds (optional)

Sprinkle coconut and almonds on a small baking sheet and put in oven or toaster at 300 degrees F for 7 minutes.
Get out a large bowl. Chop the apples into small bites and toss into bowl. Squeeze half of lime over apples and toss, to prevent browning later.
Next, chop pears and bananas. Toss into bowl with juice of other half of lime. Toss gently.

Then chop mango and oranges, as well as any other fruits you have on hand. Gently toss with other fruits and top with toasted coconut and almonds. 

Have a wonderful weekend!

~Laurel~

15 years ago Short URL

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