Eggnog Pumpkin Milkshake

It seems like it has been forever since I've posted on here.  I wish I could say time flies when you are having fun but truth is I've just been sick.  Everyone in my house seems to be being hit with one cold after the next.  Guess this whole winter in Japan thing is gonna be brutal for our entire family.  I've had a horrid cough for almost a month now.  I've been sick and then diagnosed with pneumonia.  Now that I'm starting to feel just a tiny bit better my husband and son are both sick again so I'm preparing to be hit with that cold soon too.  I'm even on a prescription cough medicine but nothing works.  So I can't really get into the kitchen to do anything because being warm in the kitchen puts me into an uncontrollable coughing fit.  Oh well I suppose I can try to look at the bright side and how much stronger our immune systems will all be next year!  

I actually made this milkshake before Thanksgiving and am just getting around to posting it.  It was amazing.  It was like pumpkin pie in a glass.  This was definitely a nice treat.  The recipe calls for raw egg yolks.  You don't have to use these they just give it an extra incredible richness.  I used them but I didn't give any to my kids because of the raw egg.  Of course, they wanted chocolate milkshakes anyways not pumpkin.  I'd definitely make this again, a nice holiday drink.    This recipe was adapted from Aaron McCargo, Jr. of Food Network. 

Eggnog Pumpkin Milkshake  

 

3 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
4 cups vanilla ice cream
Whipped cream, for garnish
Graham Crackers, for garnish

Add all the milk shake ingredients except the ice cream into a blender and blend until smooth. Add the ice cream and blend until smooth and thick. Pour into glasses, garnish with whipped cream, pumpkin pie spice, and a bit of graham cracker crumbs.

Old Fashioned Lemonade

I love lemonade but anytime I buy lemonade in a bottle or as a fountain drink somewhere I am always extremely disappointed.  It just isn't the same as the good homemade lemonade I use to get in restaurants when I lived in South Carolina.  This is such a simple recipe but so good with lots of nice lemon tang.  If you have the time you can juice fresh lemons for this or just use the bottled lemon juice.  If using fresh lemons though you'll need a good bit of them to make an entire pitcher of lemonade, anywhere from 10-14 lemons depending on how much juice you get from each.  

Old Fashioned Lemonade


10-12 c. water
2 c. sugar
2 c. lemon juice


You start by making a lemon simple syrup.  This consists of just equal water, lemon juice and sugar.  So you add in the 2 c. water, 2 c. sugar and 2 c. of the lemon juice into a saucepan and bring to a simmer just until the sugar is completely dissolved then turn off.  Add into a 1 gallon pitcher and fill with remaining water (which usually is about 8-10 c. of cold water) and just put in the fridge for a few hours to cool off.  I always like to garnish mine with fresh lemon slices just for the extra lemonade feeling and because it looks pretty.  

Raspberry Banana Smoothie

My daughter loves smoothies so I make them for her every day.  The picture is actually a Strawberry Raspberry Banana Smoothie because I had some extra strawberries I needed to use this morning, but our usual is just a Raspberry Banana Smoothie.  I find the combination of bananas and yogurt makes it so creamy and using frozen fruit gives it such a nice chill.

Raspberry Banana Smoothie

1 c. low-fat vanilla yogurt
2 very ripe bananas
1/4 c. orange juice
1/2 c. frozen raspberries
2 tbsp. flax oil (*optional)
2 tbsp. agave nectar or honey (*optional)

Put all ingredients in the blender and let it go until smooth and creamy.  This makes roughly 2 8oz. smoothies.

Sweet Tea

I'm sure most people will see this and wonder why I posted a recipe on here for something so very simple.  I'll tell you why.  I've had some good sweet tea and some really bad sweet tea.  I'd like to give an honorable mention to my mother on her tea making abilities.  She made sweet tea so bad once it was agreed upon that it actually tasted like dirty socks.  Not to mention, in a place like Washington it is hard to get sweet tea.  If you find a place that actually has sweet tea, odds aren't it isn't very good.  I love tea.  I never even realized it was necessary to specify between sweet and unsweetened until I moved here.  In the South we just simply say we want tea and it comes sweetened.  Ahhh, the South.

Simply bring about 4 cups of water to a boil.  Add in 1 cup of sugar and stir until dissolved.  Simply turn off the heat completely and add 2 family size Lipton tea bags.  Steep for 12 minutes. Pour tea into a gallon pitcher and fill the rest of the way with cold water.  Let it sit in the fridge for a few hours before drinking to let the flavor meld a bit.