Beverages Tips
Read these 22 Beverages Tips tips to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Each tip is approved by our Editors and created by expert writers so great we call them Gurus. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about Gourmet tips and hundreds of other topics.
Strawberry Kiwi Smoothie
A refreshing smoothie with a slight tang from the kiwi fruit. This recipe will make 2 one cup servings.
1 cup fresh strawberries
1 cup vanilla yogurt
1 medium kiwi fruit, peeled
1 cup ice cubes or crushed ice
2 fresh strawberries for garnish
1.Place all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.
2. Garnish with a strawberry before serving.
Quick Flavored Coffee
Adding flavors to your drip coffee is very easy.
Simply add a drop or two of vanilla, almond or hazelnut extract
to the water when you prepare your coffee.
Apricot Almond Smoothie
A delicious way to start the day!
1 tablespoon blanched almonds
1 frozen banana
2/3 cup fresh or frozen apricots
1/3 cup plain or french vanilla yogurt
1 1/2 cups apple juice
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
Combine all ingredients in a blender. Serve immediately.
How much coffee?
How much coffee to use when making fresh brewed coffee is a matter of taste, BUT follow these guidelines
for the most common ratio.
For each 6 ounces of water use:
1 Tablespoon of ground coffee
2 Tablespoons of whole beans (grind before brewing)
Kir Royale Recipe
Kir Royale
Serves: 1
6 ounces champagne
1/2 ounce crème de cassis
Lemon twist
Pour the champagne and cassis into a champagne flute.
Stir. Garnish with a lemon twist if desired.
Minted hot chocolate
Bored of plain hot chocolate? Try this simple trick.
Place a sprig of fresh mint in the bottom of a cup of hot chocolate for a minty fresh treat.
If you are using a store bought hot chocolate mix this really enhances the flavor.
Bitter Coffee Fix
A pinch of salt added to coffee grounds before perking will avoid any bitter
taste.
Leftover Tea
Use leftover tea to make tea cubes. Pour the tea into a clean icecube tray and freeze.
When serving iced tea use the tea cubes to cool the iced tea without diluting it.
You can also add a sprig of mint to each cube before freezing to add a touch of mint flavor to your iced tea.
Champagne Freeze
This is more of a dessert than anything else - wonderful for a special occasion.
Strawberries and Champagne make excellent partners!
1 pint vanilla ice cream, softened
2 cups chilled champagne
1/2 cup fresh strawberries
Place all the ingredients in a blender and puree. Place the
mixture in the freezer and freeze until mushy. Pour into stemmed glasses and
serve.
Almond Apricot Smoothie
This smoothie makes a nice breakfast drink.
Apricot Almond Yogurt Smoothie
1 Tablespoon blanched almonds
1 frozen banana
2/3 cup fresh or frozen apricots
1/3 cup low or non fat plain yogurt
1 1/2 cups apple juice
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
Combine all ingredients in a blender. Serve immediately.
Cosmopolitan Recipe
1 1/4 Ounces Absolut Citron (Vodka)
1/4 Ounce Lime Juice
1/4 Ounce Triple Sec or Cointreau
1/4 Cup cranberry juice
1 Cup ice cubes
lime twist for garnish
In a cocktail shaker combine all ingredients. Shake well and strain into a
Martini glass.
Garnish with lime. Makes one drink.
How many calories?
Each 5 ounces of plain regular tea has approximately 2 calories.
Add 15 calories per each teaspoon of sugar you add.
Cooking with Wine
When cooking with wine, leave the pan uncovered so the
alcohol will burn off. The resulting liquid will have a rounder, firmer, fruitier
flavor.
Making good coffee
To ensure that your coffee is not bitter sprinkle a small amount of salt in the ground beans before starting coffee maker.
Chocolate Martini
1 Part Vodka
1 Part Creme de Cacao liqueur (must be the clear variety)
Shake and pour into a very chilled martini glass.
Garnish with a curl of very high quality bittersweet chocolate in the bottom of the glass. Very nice and very intoxicating.
What's a Split?
When used in reference to Champagne a split is a small bottle equal to 2 cups of Champagne.
Leftover wine
Instead of throwing away an unfinished bottle of wine,
pour it into an ice cube tray and freeze.
The wine cubes will be wonderful for adding to soups,
sauces and gravies later.
Cinnamon Cider
A pot full of simmering Cinnamon Cider is just the thing on a cold winter day.
This recipe will serve 4.
4 cups apple cider
1 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons honey
12 whole allspice berries
4 cinnamon sticks, each 3 inches long
1 whole nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon grated orange rind
1 small red apple, cored and cut into wedges
In a medium-size saucepan, bring the cider, orange juice, honey,
allspice berries, cinnamon sticks, whole nutmeg, and orange rind to a boil
over high heat.
Lower the heat and simmer (don't let it boil), uncovered, for 10
minutes.
Add apple wedges and simmer for 3 minutes more. Strain through a tea
strainer or a sieve lined with cheesecloth into a large heat-proof
pitcher. Carefully pour in cider and stir gently.
Cranberry Wine Spritzer
A fruity wine spritzer perfect for hot summer days.
4 cups white wine
2 cups cranberry cocktail
3 cups sparkling water
3 Tablespoons fresh cranberries -- for garnish
Mix wine and cranberry cocktail in a large pitcher; stir in sparkling water.
Pour into 8 glasses; garnish with fresh cranberries if desired.
Coffee making
To make smooth coffee that is not bitter, use cold filtered water in your coffee maker.
Add some sparkle
Add club soda to chilled juices or punch to add sparkle, reduce calories and make it more refreshing.
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| Alexis Niki |
