I’ve heard that to a vampire one day is something like weeks to a human. Is this true?
I dunno…I’ve never actually MET a vampire, so I can’t really vouch for his perception of time vs. that of a human.
Ugh! This was such lame intro.
What I’m really trying to do is apologize for not blogging for over a dang month. I’ve been busy and quite frankly I hadn’t noticed a month flying by. Who doesn’t notice a month fly by?
Yea, me…
The earth must be spinning out of control. I hope we don’t end up smack dab into Venus or something…
Anywhoo… Not sure if you remember (because it was sooo long ago), but back in April (!) I was asked to make mini desserts alongside 7 other kick-butt food bloggers for Sweet Sensations, a benefit to help raise awareness and funds for C-CAP, an organization that provides culinary programs to at-risk youth. All benefits went to C-CAP and I was honored to have been part of such a fabulous event.
So the event was AMAZING, we raised $$$, awareness, two pastry chefs came out to do their delicious thang, and best of all I got to work alongside 7 amazing ladies who made some very tasty desserts of their own!
It was a bit frenzied at the end; actually this shot encompasses the frenzy in perfect detail as my dessert was still not completely plated by the time the doors were scheduled to open. I was knee deep in simple syrups, by the way.
I believe it was Hazel from Tasty Pursuits (LOVE HER!) who frantically yelled, “FIVE MORE MINUTES!!!” to a ravenous crowd. It was awesome!
You’re curious to know what’s in those mini cups, aren’t you? It’s starts with pudding and ends with whipped cream. The post is coming at ya soon – Soon! I’m just waiting for my homemade banana liqueur to finish it’s steeping process!
I’m not sure if you’re aware, but I’ve become the resident hooch maker. More on that later, but first…
Onto this non alcoholic spritzer situation. Along with dessert I was asked to come up with a nice non alcoholic bev to serve at the event. I came up with these spritzers.
These strawberry mint spritzers are exceptionally bright, perfectly tasty, with such a great balance of flavors. Visually these are like, WHAAAAAAT stunning; made especially to grab your attention and titillate those parched taste buds of yours.
They were the sleeper hit of the C-CAP event and can now be the sleeper hit of your summer par-tay!
You can totally make these yourself. It’s a 1:1 sugar to water ratio situation and you can add as much or as little fruit as you’d like. I like my spritzers fruity, so I went heavy on the strawberries and mint.
I will give you a recipe, but honestly you don’t even need one. It’s so easy a child can do it, with adult supervision for the stove deal… Duh!
My spritzer situation once the syrups are cooked and cooled goes something like this:
- 8 oz glass
- Chopped mint
- Chopped strawberries
- Mint syrup
- Strawberry syrup
- Fill the glass with seltzer
- Down that sucka like a BOSS
Are you still reading? I thought you’d be halfway to a simple syrup by now!
Love,
Me…
[purerecipe]
Strawberry Mint Spritzer
Ingredients
- 2 cups divided Cold water
- 2 cups divided Granulated sugar
- 14 Strawberries hulled and sliced in half
- 1 Large bunch of mint stems removed
- Seltzer water
- Chopped strawberries optional
- Chopped mint optional
Instructions
- For the strawberry syrup:
- Combine the strawberries, water and sugar in a small saucepan over high heat and bring to a full rolling boil. Reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking until the sugar has completely dissolved, the strawberries are soft and the liquid has a nice red syrupy hue, about 10 minutes. Strain the strawberries from the syrup and set aside to cool.
- For the mint simple syrup:
- It's the same procedure as the strawberry simple syrup (How's that for easy?) Combine the mint, water and sugar in a small saucepan over high heat and bring to a full rolling boil. Reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking until the sugar has completely dissolved. The mint leaves should be wilted and browned, and the liquid should have a nice very, very (very) light green syrupy hue, about 10 minutes. Strain the mint from the syrup and set aside to cool.
- To assemble the spritzers:
- To an 8 oz glass, add the chopped strawberries and mint. Add about 1 1/2 tablespoon of strawberry syrup and 1 1/2 tablespoon of mint syrup. At this point you can play with the ratio. Add more strawberry syrup or more mint. Do yo' thang! Top the glass with seltzer and enjoy!!