Berry Quik Drink, or, Chocolate Strawberry Milkshake

Getting sick during the summer is the worst, but it's somehow compounded when you have guests coming or a vacation planned... so the fact that Judson and I are passing a sore throat back and forth now is pretty yucky, but at least we have no company and no vacation plans anytime soon.

Judson came down with this illness first, and so I've been brainstorming cold things to make to soothe his aching throat, which is great because now I know all the recipes to send his way now that I'm sick. Just kidding!

Anyway, if you're sick, this is the perfect way to dose up on Vitamin C and soothe your throat with a nice cold snack. If you're not sick but you are hot, this is a great shake to sip while you dip your toes in the pool and soak up the sun. (Plus, if you're anything like me, being out in the sun makes me never want to eat again, so a cold, fruit-filled drink is just the ticket to make sure you keep your energy up for swimming.)

Variations on this not featured in the box but still delicious:

• Make as per below, then pour into popsicle molds and freeze.

• Add a shot of rum to the strawberries before blending.

• Throw in whatever other fruit you have around-- cherries or bananas (or both!) would be amazing here! Like a banana split in a sippable drink!

Also, in case you, like us, do not have a blender but only a food processor, and you would like to make whipped cream to go on top of this, know that you can make whipped cream in a food processor, but it happens really fast so be careful or you'll just end up with butter. And so ends my useful lesson for the week.

The verdict:

5 spoons out of five. Judson was asking for another one before he had even finished his, and with only three ingredients there's really not a reason not to make these every day until the grocery store stops selling strawberries. Plus, these are the most adorable shade of pink, and if you have a cute straw to go in them, it would ABSOLUTELY brighten your day by at least 19%.

the recipe:

Strawberry Chocolate Milkshake

the directions:

Blend strawberries and milk until almost smooth in a food processor or blender.
Add chocolate syrup and stir or pulse to combine.
Pour into tall glasses and sprinkle with nutmeg.

Yields 3 large servings.

the ingredients:

10 oz strawberries, hulled and partially frozen
1 ½ c milk
4 tbsp chocolate syrup
Sprinkle of nutmeg

Bacon Rounds

We're back home! A little rougher around the edges, a lot happier after a bunch of coconuts, some amazing tacos, and some quality time at the greatest wedding I've been to in ages, and happy to be done with long plane rides for awhile. But we had an amazing time, first at the wedding in California and then in Tulum, Mexico, where we ate a lot of shrimp, swam in the sea in the shadows of Mayan ruins, and generally relaxed after a long and stressful few weeks of work leading up to our holiday.

And since we both stayed up all night on the plane ride home and thus slept for fourteen hours on Saturday night, I really thought I might have escaped the jetlag unscathed... but then the week rolled around, and for the last two nights, I've been awake from 2am until 5:30am, just laying in bed and wishing I could start my day. Then at 7am when my day ACTUALLY starts, I can barely hold my eyes open (I'm yawning as I write this).

Do you know what helps with jetlag? Breakfast. (No, seriously.) Eating real food-- something besides just coffee-- helps reset your body clock and get you back on schedule, so I've been relying on these bacon rolls to do the job for me. They may not be the same thing a Scot thinks of when he thinks of a bacon roll, but they're pretty tasty, and they pair amazingly well with raw salted butter.* (Also, if you promise not to tell anyone, they also taste pretty great with a thin smear of apricot preserves. Try it, no one is going to judge!).

These rolls may not be the classiest breakfast (or the healthiest one), but they make a nice change from the 'lukewarm cup of instant coffee at the office' trend that I find it really easy to fall into, and because they're so easy to grab on your way out the door, you don't even have to wait for a weekend to take advantage of them. Bonus: they keep really well, so you can take one to work every day all week and they'll taste just as warm and fluffy on Friday as they do on Monday. If you can find two 1-pound ovensafe coffee cans, this recipe should technically be made as two small loavess in those cans. Coffee cans that I found are all either cardboard or painted, and either way I couldn't put them in the oven, so I just popped these into a standard muffin tin and got exactly 12 rolls out of the recipe.

Finally, let's just note that the bottom of this recipe pamphlet, which I'm pretty sure was a freebie that came with a bag of flour or a packet of yeast, includes an ad for silverware if you mail in coupons, along with a coupon for 5 cents off a tub of margarine. Ew.

*Bacon rolls are as close as you can get to a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit in the US, but they only include bacon-- no egg, no cheese, and they're served on a roll that has kind of the texture of ciabatta, and they're topped with brown sauce, which is like a sweeter version of A1. I'm pretty indifferent to them because of the lack of cheese, but also because, I mean, if you're going to have a breakfast in Britain, wouldn't you rather have a cream scone? I know I would.

The verdict:

3 out of 5. They're delicious, but I'll always prefer a biscuit or a scone when it comes to breakfast food.

The recipe:

Bacon Rounds

the directions:

Grease 12 muffin cups.
In large bowl, dissolve yeast in hot water.
Add 1 1/3 c flour and all remaining ingredients.
Stir until only pea-sized lumps remain, about 15 seconds or so.
Stir in remaining flour thoroughly, scraping sides of bowl until mixture is almost smooth (as my mom taught me, you want a few lumps to remain or the rolls won't rise).
Batter will be very sticky, so avoid going at it with your hands; instead, use a large spoon to scoop heaping spoonfuls into the greased muffin tin, then smooth out the tops of each portion.
Let rise in warm place (aka anywhere in my apartment this time of year) for 50 minutes.
Batter will rise slightly but not double.
Heat oven to 176C/350F, then bake 20 minutes or until golden brown and firm on top.
Immediately remove from pan and serve warm, if possible.

If saving for later, reheat with a pat of butter and a sprinkle of salt, and a tiny spoonful of jam if you're feeling daring.

the ingredients:

4 ½ tsp yeast
¼ c water, very warm
2 1/3 c flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp soda
1 c sour cream
1 egg
½ c lardons, fried until crisp and then drained on a paper towel

The Cast of Characters

No new recipe today as Judson and I are currently on holiday in sunny Mexico, soaking up the heat and, in all likelihood at this very moment, drinking something out of a coconut. But I didn't forget about you, dear reader, and in hopes of keeping things a little easier to understand around here, here's a handy list of people who appear frequently in stories on the blog.  

 

The Main Characters:

Blair (me): Eleanor's only granddaughter, owner of this blog, can generally be found making a mess in the kitchen or drinking coffee. Passions include traveling, big words, unusual fruits, and farmer's markets. Favourite foods include oysters, all forms of cheese, frosting, and wine. Current location: Scotland.

Eleanor: My grandmother, the owner and creator of the recipe box that started this entire project. Gravel-voiced and crooked-smiling, she was born and raised in New York City until she moved, with her husband and two children, to Florida in the late 1950s. Died in 1991, lives on in memory and kitchen exploits.

Elyse: My mother, Eleanor's daughter. Strongest woman I know, capable of making the best pound cake I've ever tasted, and keeper of the recipe box for the past 24 years, until she gave it to me last fall. Deserves all the credit for the existence of this project, because without her the box would have been lost years ago.

Judson: My husband. Lover of video games, root beer, chips and salsa, and me. Abides my culinary successes and failures with remarkable good humour, except when I made him help me try to make chestnut soup and we both burned our fingertips so badly we couldn't use our hands for a week.

 

The Ensemble:

Wilbur: Eleanor's husband, my grandfather. Redheaded golf whiz who fought in WWII, loved corny jokes, and dropped out of school before he hit sixth grade to take care of his family. Died in the 1970s, long before I was born.

June: Wilbur's sister, Eleanor's sister-in-law and best friend, my great-aunt. Worked in a factory with Eleanor during WWII, had an entirely pink kitchen and was one of the genuinely nicest people I've ever met. Moved (with her family) from New York to Florida with Eleanor (and her family) in the late 1950s. Died two years ago before it ever occurred to me to ask her where Eleanor's sauerbraten recipe was hidden.

Margie: Eleanor's other best friend, my mom's godmother, and a general aunt-like figure to my entire family. Redheaded, Irish, cantankerous, and mysterious. Also moved to Florida with Eleanor and June and family in the late 1950s. If Eleanor is the embodiment of Bea Arthur on the Golden Girls, Margie is Estelle Getty.

Augusta Bonhag: Wilbur's mother, Eleanor's mother-in-law. No other important news on her as she died so long ago my mom barely remembers her, but isn't her name just the greatest?