Tag Archives: recipes

Love Friday: May 11th

Welcome to the May 11th edition of Love Friday! A round-up of wondrous things I discovered from around the web this past week.

10.

4 Whiskey Sour Recipes. One of my all-time favorite drinks!

9. The Weekly Review: How One Hour Can Save You A Week’s Worth of Hassle and Headache. I’m thinking about doing this at end of each week. Does anyone do this? Does it help?

8.

Being Happy is Productive. I love this so much! I’m not sure if I have the original source linked or not. Damn, tumblr. If someone knows who the illustrated this, let me know.

7. 

Book People Unite! An adorable video from Reading is Fundamental. LeVar Burton makes a cameo appearance!

6.  How to start your blog with a bang by Elsie and Kinsey. I don’t really follow any of these guidelines, but que sera, sera.

5. 

Should you quit your day job to blog? Probably not. But the infographic is cute!

4. Freeze coffee in ice cube trays to make coffee ice cubes. I’ve been using coffee ice cubes all week in my iced coffee and it makes such a difference! I don’t know why I’ve never thought of this before…

3.

I’m dying over this Zac Posen dress. Of course, it is sold out. Anyone know where I can find it?

2. 10 Famous Fiction Writers and Their Cocktails. I swear I’m not a lush.

1.

Our president spoke out in favor of same-sex marriage!

I hope ya’ll have a lovely weekend. We are planning a motorcycle ride and a picnic. Are you planning anything fun?

love,
melanie

Gluten-free, No Bake, Chocolate Cake Bites

cake bite

My oven has been broken for over a month. I live in a gorgeous building, but when something breaks, there is no hurry to fix it.

Which means my cake cravings are out of control. You know what I mean. You always want something more when it is practically impossible to acquire. So, I searched around the Internet, did what a good librarian does, and found THE BEST, gluten-free, no bake chocolate cake. EVER. I mean it.

You can find the original recipe at 101 Cookbooks. I’ve adapted it just a tad to make cake bites since the cake is so rich.

Supplies

  • cupcake pan
  • cupcake liners
  • plastic wrap
  • whisk
  • double boiler or the bowl- over-pan method described below
  • medium pan

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces of 70% dark chocolate, well chopped
  • 8 ounces of heavy cream
  • 1/2 teaspoon allspice
  • 2 teaspoons finely ground espresso
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine grain salt
  • cinnamon, to serve
  • whipped creme, to serve

Step 1. Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners. You may want to try spraying the liners with a little nonstick spray. I didn’t try it, but I wish I did since the bites were a bit ugly.

 

improvised double boiler

improvised double boiler

Step 2: Melt the chocolate in a double boiler over gentle heat. If you don’t have double boiler, don’t worry. I don’t have one either. Just put a larger bowl on top of a smaller saucepan and fill with about an inch of water and heat the water to simmering.

Step 3: As the chocolate is melting, in a separate pan, heat the cream over gentle heat. Stir in the allspice and the espresso.

Step 4: When the cream is hot to the touch, remove from heat and stir in the salt.

Step 5: After the chocolate has melted, pour it into the cream slowly and whisk slowly. At this point, you are probably going to think, this isn’t working! But I promise, if you are patient and keep whisking, it will come together.

Step 6: Pour mixture into the cupcake pan.

Step 7:  Cover with plastic wrap.

Step 8: Refrigerate until solid. I let mine refrigerate overnight.

Step 9:  Let the cake bites come up to room temperature.

cake bites

Step 10: Peel off the wrapper and finish them off with a little whipped creme and a dusting of cinnamon.

Hope your day is scrumptious!

love,
melanie

Strawberry Grapefruit Mimosas

Strawberry Grapefruit Mimosas

I love a classic mimosa, but for brunch on Sunday I wanted to try something a bit different. So, somehow I got the zany idea to substitute grapefruit juice for orange juice. Here’s what you’ll need to recreate this bright, delicious drink.

strawberry grapefruit mimosas

Ingredients:

  • 1 bottle of (cheap) champagne
  • 1 bottle of grapefruit juice
  • 1/2 cup of sugar (You could use less sugar if you like a tart drink)
  • approximately 1 dozen strawberries
  1. Cut up the strawberries.
  2. Add the sugar to the strawberries and mix.
  3. Transfer strawberries to a pitcher or a glass and meddle with a spoon.
  4. Fill the pitcher 1/2 way full of grapefruit juice.
  5. Top the pitcher off with champagne. Stir. Enjoy. It’s too easy!

Mondays call for a cocktail, don’t you agree?
love,
melanie