Faux Latte with Cold Brew Coffee

Are you familiar with cold brew coffee? It seems to be gaining quite a bit of popularity. I was vaguely aware of cold brew coffee and wondered out loud to Patrick if it could be a good option for us to have on hand for our Cookies & Cocoa party. Since we only have our Keurig we needed to be able to have a pot of coffee for our guests. Patrick hadn't heard of cold brew coffee and after some research we decided it wasn't a good option for the party. Our neighbor's coffee machine / pot saved us for that! Part of why we didn't do it for the party was because I only asked him the night before and we would've needed a trial and error research period.

Back to cold brew coffee. I had piqued Patrick's interest in the technique when I was wondering aloud before the party. So we figured out what it was:

"Cold brew ... refers to the process of steeping coffee grounds in room temperature or cold water for an extended period. Cold brew coffee is not to be confused with iced coffee, which generally refers to coffee that is brewed hot and then chilled by pouring over or adding ice, though iced coffee can refer to cold brew coffee served on ice. The cold water extract process requires grinding: coarse-ground beans are soaked in water for a prolonged period of time, usually 12 hours or more. The water is normally kept at room temperature, but chilled water can also be used. The grounds must be filtered out of the water after they have been steeped using a paper coffee filter, a fine metal sieve, a French press or felt in the case of the Toddy system. The result is a coffee concentrate that is often diluted with water or milk, and can be served hot, over ice, or blended with ice and other ingredients such as chocolate." [Wikipedia] 

We followed the procedure highlighted on this website: 1 part coffee grounds to 4 parts water. Into a one quart mason jar we place 1 cup of coffee grounds and fill the rest with water. We then place the jar into the refrigerator and let it "brew" overnight. Finally strain out the coffee grounds through a coffee filter and sieve into a pitcher and put it back into the quart jar to store.

Step 1 - Place 1 cup of ground coffee into a quart jar

Step 2 - Fill with water

Step 3 - Refrigerate overnight or up to 24 hours

Step 4 - Strain out coffee grounds and store in refrigerator (not pictured)

Patrick is a bit more of a coffee snob than I am and didn't enjoy the cold brew coffee concentrate. He did like adding it to his homemade mochas though. I, on the other hand, am not a coffee snob and have really enjoyed making faux lattes with cold brew coffee. To present the cold brew coffee as a traditional cup of coffee you would mix it with water in a one to one ratio. When I make the the faux latte it's at least a one to four ratio of cold brew concentrate to milk.

Faux Latte with Cold Brew Coffee
   In a small pot (I use a butter warmer) add 1 cup of milk and 1/4 cup of cold brew coffee concentrate and bring to a simmer. Serve immediately.

What do you think?? Have you tried cold brew coffee? This faux latte is my new go-to coffee drink in the mornings... when I'm not drinking tea of course!

Beer & Cheese Party

It's finally here! The notes on our Beer & Cheese Party! Since my birthday was snowed out in February I really wanted to put some extra effort into our next party which would be celebrating Patrick's birthday! Our birthdays are about two weeks apart. Fortunately Mother Nature minded her manners at the beginning of March and we were able to carry out Beer and Cheese party as planned.

I had a lot of fun planning this and Patrick had a lot of fun picking out the beers! We decided we wanted to present our guests with a taste of NC so all of our beer and cheese were selections from the good ol' state of North Carolina. The cheese monger at our local Whole Foods was simply fabulous. He was actually responsible for the pairings; I told him about the party, what beers we had selected, and said "you can just give me a NC cheese and tell me which beer to pair it with and I'll be a happy customer."

The beers getting chilled in the fridge.

I purchased some brown packaging paper that I used as a table covering. This allowed me to write on the table about the pairings. At one end of the table I wrote a "welcome" note and some tips for tasting. And here's what was on the table:

WELCOME to our Beer & Cheese Pairing Party
“One of the main reasons beer and cheese pair so well together is due to beer’s heady carbonation. The high content of fat in cheese allows it to take over your entire mouth. The carbonation in beer acts as a palate cleanser.”

Tips for tasting
Find a balance - You want to make sure your cheese will not overpower the beer and vice versa.
Take texture into consideration - The texture of different cheeses makes them amenable to particular beers. You don't want to overwhelm your palate with too many bold flavors.
Have fun with flavors - You can pair similar flavors or pair beers and cheeses that contrast in flavor.
Timing your tasting - Typically, the best way to taste your beer and cheese pairings is to start with the lightest beer and work your way up to the heaviest or darkest.

After the welcome portion of the table we placed the beers around the table from lightest to darkest color and intensity. This was so someone's palette wouldn't be overwhelmed with flavor at the very beginning. We encouraged everyone to try the beer and cheese as paired but then make their suggestions for other pairings!

And here are the notes for each beer and cheese pairing.

BEER: “Endless River” Kolsch-Style Ale by Mother Earth Brewing, Kinston
Clean, crisp beer with a slight fruity flavor and aroma. Expect a slight tang in the finish
CHEESE: Hickory Grove by Chapel Hill Creamery Aged cheese; full flavored, natural washed rind Trappist style cheese.

BEER: “Wildflower” Belgian-Style Witbier by Natty Greene’s Brewing Company, Greensboro
Belgian-style witbier with a sweet and tantalizing taste. The flavor is defined by spices, rather than aromatic yeast or hops. Chamomile, coriander, and sweet orange peel are the spices that create its distinctive flavor profile. Crisp, light-bodied brew.
CHEESE: Smoked Farmer Cheese by Chapel Hill Creamery
Fresh cheese; naturally smoked. Smoky and tangy, this cheese is intensely flavored.

BEER: “Bad Penny” Brown Ale by Big Boss Brewing Co, Raleigh
Slightly sweet with a caramel and dark fruit finish. A show case of fine English malts, floor-malted the old way. Big Boss uses pale, chocolate and crystal malts to produce a complex but easy drinking dark ale. Very reminiscent of northern English ales.
CHEESE: Chocolate Lab by Looking Glass Creamery, Fairview
This is a washed ring cheese made from pasteurized Jersey cow's milk in a patterned basket mold. The wheels are washed every other day by hand with a brine solution to develop the classic intensity and pungent flavor of this style of cheese. When ready, the wheels are coated with a mixture of sea salt and crushed cocoa nibs from French Broad Chocolates to impart a rich and rugged finish to the rind.

BEER: “People’s Porter” Porter by Foothills Brewery, Winston-Salem
A robusty English-style brew with a dark, ruby hue. Complex chocolate, caramel and toffee notes give way to an herbal bitterness, finishing with a pleasant hint of espresso.
CHEESE: Gouda by Goat Lady Dairy, Climax
Using traditional Dutch methods the curd is washed and cooked before pressing in a vat under the whey. This gives the cheese a remarkably smooth, creamy texture and sweet buttery flavor. It is aged for 4-8 months or more. As it ripens, it develops brothy and umami notes with a nice caramel finish.

BEER: “Death by Hops” Double IPA by Olde Hickory Brewery, Hickory
This double IPA was hopped with 5 different West Coast hops and was twice dry hopped with different combinations of the hops. The result is an amazing aroma of ripe juicy fruit mixed in with a bouquet of spring flowers. Death By Hops was brewed to a high level of bitterness and therefore leaves a lingering bitterness.
CHEESE: Calvander by Chapel Hill Creamery Aged cheese; inspired by asiago. Aged at least 7 months. During the aging process, the cheese develops a natural rind with a leathery texture. This rind covers an assertive, flakey paste with balanced flavors of butter, herbs, and walnuts with a piquant tang. As it ages, it becomes increasingly spicy and firm.

 Can't have a birthday party for Patrick without some chocolate cupcakes! I followed this Smitten Kitchen recipe for the cupcakes.

We really had a lot of fun celebrating with everyone at our Beer & Cheese Party! If you came to the party and you're reading this, thanks for coming!

Bros Brunch: Drinks

Last week on the meal plan post I forgot to put in Sunday! Sunday morning of Patrick's Alumni Weekend we planned to host brunch for his friends that were in town (and some that are still local)! I affectionately dubbed this the Bros Brunch menu. Tomorrow Patrick will be sharing all the food we planned for brunch but today is something even more exciting -- the drinks!

Patrick thought it would be fun to offer Bloody Marys. I worried that not everyone would be on the Bloody Mary bandwagon so I picked up a bottle of champagne to have for those folks more interested in a Mimosa. We set up everything on the kitchen ledge so that our guests could help themselves to whatever they wanted and however they wanted it.

Here's the Drinks Bar!

Off to the side of the drinks bar I had glasses set up for everyone with a "grab a glass" sign next to it. This was a stemless wine glass which I thought would be appropriate for either the Mimosa, Bloody Mary, or whatever the guest wanted to drink. Even though this glass may not be ideal for the Mimosa or Bloody Mary I heard no complaints!

From there folks had the option between the Mimosas or Bloody Marys. Here are the signs I had prepared.

MIMOSAS
Champagne
Orange Juice

DIY BLOODY
MARY BAR
Vodka / Gin, Bloody Mary mix,
Celery, Lemon, Olives,
Worcestershire sauce, Hot sauce

Here's a close up of the DIY Bloody Mary section.

Patrick wanted us to make a Bloody Mary mix (the tomato juice base) but I thought that was a bit ambitious. So I picked up a nice mix from World Market. To the mix we let everyone choose if they wanted to add vodka or gin. Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, lemons, and olives were all available as add-ons to the drink. The celery sticks were used to stir and garnish.

Patrick's Bloody Mary

This drinks bar was quite do-able. Patrick and I don't host cocktail parties so I was a little unsure how everything would work out but this was perfect! Everyone was able to fix their drinks exactly how they wanted it. The options between the two drinks was nice for guests too.

Smoothie Prep

In the past few months Patrick and I have really gotten into enjoying fruit smoothies. We keep all the ingredients on hand for those mornings when we need a quick breakfast. Recently we've started portioning the ingredients into small containers that we freeze and when we're ready to make the smoothie we can just add milk!

When we were registering for our wedding we knew that we wanted to begin making smoothies so we registered for our Ninja blender (read about our registered kitchen electronics here) which has been essential for making smoothies.

This past weekend Patrick and I put together for the first time an assembly line for our smoothie making containers. One thing I really like about smoothies is their adaptability. You can put whatever fancies your palette in them. Read on to see what we included in our smoothies!

The set up

We started with fresh bananas and sliced frozen strawberries. A few hours before we began the assembly line I sliced the strawberries and froze them. I did this so they wouldn't freeze to all the other items in the container and hopefully not have a big chunk of fruit when we take it out to blend the smoothie.

Here we have an hodgepodge of frozen fruit. There are plain raspberries, mixed tropical fruit, mixed berries, and plain blueberries. Patrick enjoys pairing different fruits together for a more cohesive flavor profile in the smoothies whereas I just throw a little bit of everything in there.

Next we add yogurt. I freeze the yogurt in our silicone muffin cups. It's about 1/4 cup of yogurt. I do this for a few reasons: 1) I don't have to worry about the yogurt spoiling in the fridge and 2) it's another frozen component to add to the smoothie which prevents me from using ice as a filler.

Finally we toss in two scoops of protein powder. These containers are "Smoothies for 2" and make enough for both of us. As I mentioned earlier when Patrick is concocting is smoothie flavors sometimes he will use just bananas and plain yogurt in anticipation of replacing one scoop of protein powder with Chocolate PB2 which is chocolate powdered peanut butter.

Then when we're ready for a smoothie, we empty all the contents in the container into the blender and finally add almond milk and puree! So simple.

I'm sure you're aware of all the hype surrounding "green" smoothies. Green smoothies incorporate leafy greens and vegetables. We tend to lean more towards fruit smoothies. Every now and then I throw in some spinach or an avocado into the smoothie but Patrick always seems to notice!

Do you have a favorite smoothie recipe?

Celebrating Christine!

Congratulations Christine and Kasper aka the new Mr. & Mrs. Statz!
A month ago today we were celebrating their nuptials in beautiful, historic Charleston so cheers to a very happy first month together!

This post is in honor of one of my very best college friends but have no fear there is a recipe! Below are some details on her Bachelorette Weekend, a shower in DC, and her wedding in Charleston.

Bachelorette Weekend, mid-September

Christine's bachelorette weekend was stress-free and relaxing in beautiful northeastern NC. We stayed at my grandparent's lake cottage. The water was calm, the air had a newfound fall crispness to it, and there was a winery right down the road! There aren't too many restaurants around so we fixed ourselves a nice brunch both Saturday and Sunday and had plenty of snacks throughout the weekend.

For brunch on Saturday, we had a spread with ham biscuits, hash brown casserole, smoked salmon platter, and bagels.

Sarah, the matron of honor, provided the ham biscuits which were a family recipe.

Holly and I went in together for the other goodies. We followed this recipe for the hash brown casserole (a copycat Cracker Barrel recipe).

For the smoked salmon platter, we paired sliced onions, capers, fresh tomatoes, and cream cheese. The bagels were served alongside the the smoked salmon platter.



The brunch cocktail was a bottle of sparkling apple juice, a bottle of champagne, pineapple juice, and some seltzer. We just poured varying amounts of said liquids... don't really think you can go wrong here. On Friday I had prepared pineapple ice cubes for the cocktail. I finely chopped fresh pineapple and froze it with the sparkling apple juice in ice cube trays. To serve the cocktail, we placed 2-3 ice cubes in a cup and drizzled grenadine over it for a pop of color. Then finish with the cocktail.

After brunch we headed over to the Rosemont of Virginia Vineyard and Winery. They have a beautiful tasting room and an expanded area for groups. We tasted four white wines, six red wines, and two sweet wines. I was so amazed at how many offerings they had; that's a lot of grapes to grow! They also provided cheese and bread with the tasting. There is the opportunity to go on a tour of the facilities after the tasting. The tour guide was very informative and we learned a lot about wine! 

In the tasting room

We spent time relaxing on the dock...

And then we ate cake!

Shower in DC, end of September

Sharing a few of the photos I took during her shower weekend in Washington, DC. 

Opening presents outside on the front lawn.

We went out in DC Saturday night; we took a picture in the bathroom just like old college times. Camera phones have gotten much easier to use since we were in college. This is making me feel old...

The Wedding Weekend, mid-October

The weekend started with a bridesmaid luncheon at Poogan's Porch. 

Then on Saturday was the real deal! What a wonderful honor to stand up with one of my best friends as she married the love of her life. 

First Dance & Cake Cutting

My handsome date; our first wedding as a married couple!

We look forward to sharing more milestones with you in the future :-)

Pumpkin Spice Latte-ish Coffee

All things pumpkin spice are back! So it's no surprise that I should have a pumpkin spice featured post here.

Pumpkin spice latte-ish coffee

Last Thursday Stephanie came over for our Grey's girls night. We've been watching Grey's Anatomy together this season and I've been looking forward to our weekly date nights.

I decided to whip us up a special coffee drink. In case you didn't notice fall decided to make an appearance last week and our above normal highs sunk to above normal lows and they were chilly! I decided pumpkin spice latte-ish coffee would be a perfect addition to our night! Latte-ish means I don't have an espresso machine but wanted warm milk in my drink!

After this decision I consulted the google and used these posts (from the New Nostalgia blog and Real Housemoms blog) as jumping off points before I entered the kitchen. First thing you have to do is decide if you want to use pumpkin. Technically "pumpkin spice" doesn't require pumpkin flavoring but rather the spices traditionally used in pumpkin pie making: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, and others. I had some pumpkin on hand so I decided to use it!

Here's what I did for two servings:
While brewing 1 cup of regular coffee, warm 1 cup of milk (I used half almond milk and half skim milk) over low-med heat. To the milk, add 1 tablespoon pumpkin puree and a good dash of pumpkin pie spice and stir together. After the milk is heated through add to the coffee. Sprinkle with cinnamon and serve.
For extra fun, I used a hand blender with the whisk attachment to froth the milk before adding it to the coffee... this was after all girls night.

Serve with chocolate cookies and a girlfriend! I asked Patrick if he wanted me to make him one and he declined. He's too much of a black coffee purist.

 

Enjoy!