Two For One Hot Beverage Recipes

Hello, my lovelies! I've gone into a sort of blogger's hibernation the last several months, during which the never-ending polar vortex caused me to believe that I was actually updating my blog, when this was, in fact, only happening in my head.

So today you get a two-for-one! I'm kind of obsessed with the latte maker my in-laws gave us as a wedding present. I start the day with a coffee and end the day with a hot cocoa. Here are my twists on the usual.

The Pooh Bear*

This drink can be made without any fancy machines or tools, as long as you can brew black coffee.

Add 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon to your coffee grounds before brewing. While your coffee is brewing, add about a Tablespoon of honey to your coffee mug. Pour in the coffee and your milk or cream of choice, and stir. If you use a sweetened creamer, you might want to start with a little less than usual and check to see if the sweetness is enough.

*This title is taken from a similar drink that I got at a local coffee shop.

Daily Hot Cocoa

Pour 8 oz of your favorite milk into the carafe of your latte maker. (If you don't have the latte maker, you can do this in a larger glass with an immersion blender. I haven't had any luck getting it to blend properly by whisking with a fork.) This is very, very important. I've been making this drink for over two years now and I've learned that the key to this cocoa is to use a milk that has fat in it. Skim milk is awful, but 1%, soy milk, and unsweetened almond milk (add a very small pinch of salt to that one) all work really well. Add a Tablespoon or less of your favorite sweetener (I use local honey, because my allergies seem to be getting worse every year), then a rounded Tablespoon of cocoa powder**. Blend until well mixed and serve in your favorite mug.

Optional: If it's boozy Tuesday, mix in a shot of Rumchata or Orchata for some cinnamony goodness.

**Never, ever pour your honey through the floating cocoa powder. You will end up with a mug full of hot cocoa and cocoa nuggets. This is much grosser than it sounds.

Smells Like Heaven

And now, the recipe you've all been waiting for… My favorite infused vodka ever. This recipe comes from  the French Farmhouse Cookbook, an impulse buy at Barnes & Noble. 

When it comes to food, the French really know where it's at. When my sister and I got back from a 10-day vacation in France, I dreamed about French food every night for two months. Not just the fancy restaurant meals, the bread and produce, too. Anyway, most French cookbooks are full of haute cuisine, you know, the stuff with ingredients you don't just find in an American grocery store, lots of cream and butter, cooking techniques that require you to study at Cordon Bleu before you can execute them properly… To quote a popular internet meme, "Ain't nobody got time fo' that."

This cookbook, though, it's filled with real food. Stuff that isn't that hard to understand with basic cooking techniques. Granted, there's still stuff in here that makes me say "Huh?" (Quince jelly? What the heck's a quince?) And ingredients that I'd have trouble getting access to, like lamb and rabbit. But overall, it's very accessible, and very tasty. And best of all, it has an entire chapter devoted to "the cellar and the pantry," aka jams, nuts, and booze.

I have been in love with "Liqueur 44" since I opened my first finished batch. It's infused with coffee, fruit, and vanilla and blends together into the most gorgeous smell. The hardest part is leaving it alone. It has to sit for 44 days before you can filter and serve it. So find yourself a closet that you don't use often, clear out a corner, and prepare yourself for the bliss that is Liqueur 44.

[Picture currently being held hostage by my old laptop]

Liqueur 44

1 large orange, preferably organic, well scrubbed (anything on the orange will infuse in your vodka!)

1 banana, peeled (haha, I just realized I've never peeled the banana for this. 

        It turns black, but everything comes out fine.)

1 vanilla bean (the fresher, the better. You have to poke it with a knife, so crispy beans 

        won't turn out well. I get mine from Penzey's Spices.)

1 1/3 C white sugar (270 grams, if you have a kitchen scale)

44 coffee beans

1 qt (or 1 liter) vodka

Use a sharp knife (paring is fine) to pierce the skin of the orange 44 times. (Just the skin, don't stab through into the fruit.) Pierce the banana and the vanilla bean 44 times each.

Throw all the dry ingredients into a nonreactive container (glass or ceramic, no metal!!), and pour in the vodka. Swirl it a little to get the sugar mixing in, seal the container airtight, then put it away in that dark corner of your closet. Take it out and swirl the container (don't open it!) once a day for the first week.

At the end of the 44 days, carefully open the container; it may have built up some pressure inside during the process. Strain the liqueur through cheesecloth and rebottle it. I like to hang onto the original vodka bottle and just pour it back in there. Unfortunately, *snicker,* there will be just a little bit more vodka then what will fit in the bottle, so you might have to drink a little. What a shame.

You can drink this however you prefer your vodka. I like to pour a shot or two over ice cubes, then top off the glass with my beloved ginger ale. It doesn't thin out the flavor too much, and I can spend more time savoring it before I'm too loopy to appreciate the flavor. I have, sadly, never mastered the art of *sipping* an adult beverage.

If you're not a huge fan of coffee (if you like Kahlua, give this a try anyway) you have a couple options. I made this once with chai tea for a friend (hi Sam!), but the tea flavor was two strong. If you want to go that way, try adding one or two chai-flavor teabags to the vodka for 10 minutes, then remove and discard the bags. Otherwise, you could try skipping the coffee altogether. Make sure you come back and leave a comment! I want to know how it turns out.

If you, like me, just ran to the calendar to see when 44 days would be up if you started this right now, you're probably noticing that New Years is in 42 days. I won't judge you if you open this early to serve at your party, especially if  you invite me.