Orange Applesauce

Orange you glad it’s the weekend?! (I had to say it!)

Huguet, Meaghan Courtney

from MissWink.blogspot

Burlesquers, I am sitting and drinking some pumpkin coffee this morning! I don’t have a microwave right now, which means I need to heat up my milk for my usual cafe au lait (coffee with milk) in a pan…today I added pumpkin and cinnamon! Fun!

And I am so happy for the weekend! From my weird day in the middle of the week, to a bad case of heat rash (my sensitive, fair Californian skin is not used to this humid weather), I was just itching (no pun intended) to have fun this weekend. I love the weekends to relax, play catch-up, clean, and prep for the week. I work better knowing I have large blocks of time (maybe that’s everyone?). And I already had a wonderful time last night—I had dinner with friends! We grilled, had wine and beer, and the night ended with—wait for it—the group of us putting on old TLC, Salt N Pepa, and other 80s and 90s music videos, singing/dancing along, and then making our own hottest male and female celebrity lists! Yes, we are pretty amazing.  I can’t decide if I liked our “Whatta Man” or “Addicted to Love” rendition the best.

Salt N Pepa and En Vogue

Anyway, as I continue my adventures in eating my leftover/canned/frozen food before we move, I decided to use up some of my apples from a very cheap 3 lb bag I recently bought. I also had a tad over-ripened orange on hand. How about orange applesauce? I actually got this idea when I saw a pin on Pinterest for pumpkin applesauce—hmmm, how about we replace that (orange) pumpkin for an actual orange in the applesauce and add in a tsp of honey, brown sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and orange zest to make it orange and spice and everything nice?!

Orange applesauce…a cool treat for the summer!

I was unsure how this applesauce would come out, but I loved it! I used only a scant amount of sugar to sweeten it (a tsp is no big deal) and it tasted crisp and a tad citrusy. I’ve made applesauce before with a lemon, but Ron said this batch made with oranges is his favorite so far. Yay! This is perfect for the summer because it’s cool, slightly zesty, and healthy. I might eat this with a pork roast soon. Mmmmmm. Honestly, this is good enough to make year round, or even to give as a gift!

Happy Easter! Strawberry White Tea Spritzer (with mint)

Good morning, Burlesquers, and happy Easter!

"All happiness for Easter", ChoiceArtwork.com

I hope you all are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for the Easter bunny! I am admittedly a little tired. (And I was so productive with work on Friday! Drat!) This weekend, for me, was a bust! I think part of my tiredness must be some of my lifestyle changes– I’m beginning to go to the gym again, and I’m eating better. In fact, I woke up a pound lighter on Saturday! Huzzah! All of my recipes are working! But my body is adjusting, I think, and I need a little perking up.

How to remedy my energy zap? A virgin Strawberry White Tea Spritzer (with mint), of course!

Strawberry White Tea infused with my leftover cucumber, orange, and mint, and some frozen strawberries.

Cucumber-Orange Tea Infused Vodka (with Mint)

As I’ve said before, I’m not much of a drinker. That doesn’t mean, however, I didn’t USE to be more of drinker (Vodka Tonic at a concert, please) or that I don’t like alcohol (the John Daly is delightful).

Absolut Vodka ad, May 2008. This ad imagines the state of California as split between north and south. This gestures not only towards the 19th century California Republic revolt of the north during the Mexican-American war, but also satirizes the present-day cultural differences/tensions between the northern and southern parts of the state.

Now and then I still sit down and have a good, stiff drink. I’m not much of a beer fan, but I do love my hard liquors. My favorites are the clear variety that contain less congeners: gin, vodka, and St. Germain. (If you don’t know, congeners are the toxic byproducts of the fermentation process that cause hangovers, and the darker varieties of alcohol have higher concentrations of these toxins, like red wine, bourbon, brandy, and tequila.) I usually order my favorite liquors with soda water/tonic water and citrus fruit, like lemon or lime. So refreshing!

With that being said, sometime last year I was attending a party and decided to bring fruit-infused alcohol to the festivities (as my potluck contribution). I was unsure how the infused-liquor would taste (and if I could even properly infuse the alcohol), but I decided to be bold and take my chances! I am so happy I did. My friends not only drank all of the fruit-infused hard liquor (they made drinks with tonic water from it), but they also ate all of the fruit right out of the pitcher! (Some sticking their hands right into the pitcher and grabbing the fruit. Maybe they had a few too many drinks?) I am actually going to write up this recipe for my Cinco de Mayo post!

This month, however, I thought I’d include a more spring showers-esque infused-alcohol recipe that includes both herbal and citrus flavors: Cucumber-Orange Tea Infused Vodka (with Mint).

Cucumber-Orange Tea Infused Vodka (with mint). So refreshing!

Hello, Tangerine KitchenAid!

While I was making my quick Lemon Raspberry cupcakes this week, I realized I had no hand mixer! Gasp! How could a baker—in need of some quick cupcakes– be without a hand mixer? I have a standing blender, an immersion blender, and a crockpot, but no hand mixer!

I quickly solved this problem. I knew I wanted something mid-range: not too cheap, but not the most expensive (I’ve seen some for $70!). I checked online for the best deals on hand mixers, and I finally found a fitting, sassy mixer that I am excited to use: the 5 speed tangerine KitchenAid hand mixer.

the 5 speed KitchenAid. Lovely!

I purchased this at Target for $31 dollars—-What a steal!  I am so excited to go whip up something in the kitchen! Cheers!

DIY home: Citrus-infused Sugar

If life gives you lemons, you make lemon-infused sugar, right?

Because I’m on a citrus kick (and this California girl can’t wait for spring), I decided I wanted to include yet another DIY tip to use up the remaining citrus fruit and zest from your Grapefruit-Orange Scrub and Morning Glory Toner. (I swear this is the last one!) How about you take the peels from your grapefruit, orange, and lemon, and make something that looks pretty on your shelf and tastes just as sweet? Something like this…

DIY Beauty: Grapefruit-Orange Sugar Scrub

Rise and shine, all you post- St. Patrick’s Day celebrators!

Feeling a little blue (after one too many Green beers)? Here’s a scrub that will leave you feeling bright-eyed and bushy-tailed: the Grapefruit-Orange Scrub! Citrus is a nice dose of Vitamin C for your skin, honey is an anti-inflammatory, sugar will leave your skin soft and smooth, and sweet orange will balance the zesty scent of the tart grapefruit. Plus, all these ingredients are relatively inexpensive (and sitting in your pantry). This is a great scrub for in the shower, or you can leave it by the kitchen sink whenever your hands need a little TLC. You can also be a good neighbor and give this as an inexpensive gift!  Simply put this in a jar,  and tie it with a bow or twine. You could even make a printable for the jars and stick it on for decoration. How sweet!

Grapefruit-Orange Sugar Scrub 

Ingredients:

1 and 3/4 cups sugar

3/4 cup Almond Oil (or grapeseed oil)

1 tbsp honey

1 Grapefruit

1 Orange

1 empty mason jar with lid

Directions:

Mix together the sugar, oil, and honey. Juice the grapefruit and orange, making a total of 1/2 cup of juice  (1/4 cup juice of each fruit). This should be about one quarter to one half piece of each fruit. Add the juice to the mixture, and stir well until a thick paste forms. Hurray, you now have a zesty citrus scrub! Scoop out with your hands, a small spoon, or even a slice of citrus (even more Vitamin C.) And eat the remaining fruit–it’s good for you!