Limoncello. ‘The Elixir of the Gods.’ Tart, sweet, served bracingly cold; it’s the perfect liqueur for sipping after dinner. Add some Prosecco and berries like I recently did with this Limoncello Cooler and you’ve got an a gorgeous apertif. It’s well known the very best is made in Sicily but that should not stop you from making your own!

I love making liqueurs and it’s not about saving money; making your own allows you to not only control the quality of the end result but you can also determine taste based on the quantity of ingredients. Like something a bit less sweet? It’s in your hands. The added plus for me is that I love to offer guests a liqueur I’ve made and they’ve become so popular with my friends and family that holiday gift giving has been made much easier. I’ve done Limoncello, coffee, chocolate and cranberry liqueurs that I think I could bottle full-time if my friends had their say.

This Limoncello is made with plain Eureka lemons, the ones found most often in supermarkets. The Sorrento lemon with a zest high in lemon oils is preferred for making Limoncello in Italy but I’m happy with the results from the Eureka lemon; maybe the end result color is not quite the yellow from commercial brands, but the taste is what matters to me. The commercial brands of Limoncello I’ve purchased have included a dye for their coloring anyhow…so do that if  you want but I’m good with a product that is not so yellow as long as the result is a bright, lemony flavor and this definitely measures up to that standard.

More important I believe for overall quality is using good organic produce. Since you will be steeping the peels for some time in vodka I strongly recommend using organic lemons that have not been doused with pesticides. The ones I used also had a thicker and yellower rind…all conducive to making a superior product.

You want peel, not pith!

Although Limoncello is made with the peels of lemon, it’s extremely important to not include any of the white pith that is next to the peel or it will impart a bitter taste. If there is any pith on a slice, scrape it off with a knife or spoon. I used a vegetable peeler and when necessary, a very sharp paring knife to scrape any pith from the peels. Some people prefer to grate the peels with a Microplane grater; though that does expose more of the peel to the vodka to extract the lemon essence I also think it’s more conducive to having some of that pith get included so I don’t recommend it.

Recipes for Limoncello are all over the map. Giada de Laurentis has a recipe that only takes 4 days, I’ve seen others that require the peels be steeped for months. I’m not sure how much lemon flavor will come from 4 days and I’m way too impatient to plan months in advance, so my favorite recipe takes 3-4 weeks (all depends on how impatient YOU are!).

I’ve also seen several recipes that call for Everclear which is 195 proof alcohol; it’s true that the aromatic elements are leached from the lemon peel by alcohol so it stands to reason that the higher the proof of the vodka, the better. But Everclear is a harsh ingredient and I simply don’t like it; add to that fact that some stores won’t carry it because of that high alcohol content so I want something that is a bit smoother and more readily available. Additionally the European recipes I’ve seen don’t use it and simply specify equal quantities of pure alcohol and water which is the equivalent of 100-proof vodka.So that’s what I use. Smirnoff 57 is 100-proof vodka; combining it with the others ingredients will result in a liqueur that is 60 proof which is what commercial varieties offer. If you can’t find 100 proof vodka, use the more common 80 proof and be sure to steep the peels for 4 weeks total to extract their flavor; your end result liqueur will then be 50-proof.

The high alcohol content is one reason Limoncello can be kept in the freezer without turning to a block of ice; the lower the alcohol content, the more ice formation you will see. If you do use 80-proof vodka; be sure to not overfill your bottles as you may see some ice crystals form; allowing some room for expansion will insure that you don’t have an explosion in your fridge!

Don’t limit yourself to just Limoncello; the same recipe can be used with limes, blood oranges, mandarins and more (next season I’m absolutely making Blood Orange Liqueur). Using grapefruit or their related fruits will result in something with a touch of bitterness, more akin to Campari or Aperol. Campari is just a bit too herbaceous for my tastes but I just love Aperol and the Aperol Spritz is a favorite cocktail so I need to put that on my own to do list.

By the way, the biggest expense I’ve found when it comes to making liqueurs for gifts are the bottles. I’ve begged for people to return them and some do but still, each year that I bottle up gifts, I’m flummoxed at how much I have to spend on bottles, often in the neighborhood of $8-10 each. Until now. Not only can I find smaller sizes than those available locally but the unit price for bottles at Specialty Bottles is so much lower. I’m sharing this with you in case you want to start running your own brewing facility too!

Make this now…and be enjoying some with friends by the 4th of July…cheers!

Let’s just cut to the chase. I hate green peppers. I don’t recall picking them out of dishes as a kid so I’m thinking one or both parents felt the same way. My ex-husband didn’t like them which was convenient and both of our daughters hate them too. My sister shares the same proclivity. So…nature or nurture I’m wondering??

As a result, for the majority of my life if it was green and called a pepper, it was to be avoided. When I moved to Denver 25 years ago I was introduced to jalapeno peppers in everything it seems and they suffered the same fate. Picked out and discarded (although I think that heat was also a reason…I was used to Midwestern and Southern cooking!). If served at a gathering I would try my best to be discreet; I’ve even eaten dishes with them to avoid embarrassing a host but it was a miserable experience because if you hate them like I do…it is simply ALL you can taste. I’m even a card carrying member of the ‘Green Pepper Haterz’ Club which has a Facebook page where we can lament about the awful pepper if circumstances call for it.

My only lament today? That I just wish I had not presumed that all peppers, green or otherwise, deserved my ire. The change came about quite by accident. I was at a Super Bowl party many years ago and everyone had brought a favorite dish to share. One such dish was labeled Chile Relleno Casserole and was quite obviously a layered cheese offering with a red sauce on top. I cut a section to add to my plate and it was AMAZING so I later sought out the fellow who had brought it to wrangle the recipe from him and was shocked at the ingredients. Poblano peppers? Jalapeno peppers in that tomato sauce? It was the start of a learning process and a love affair. To be honest…even after discovering the difference between green ‘bell’ peppers and others in the green family, I continued to steer clear of red and yellow bell peppers and it’s only in the last couple of years I’ve finally made that transition. Old habits do indeed die hard sometimes don’t they?

This month marks the one year anniversary of Abby Dodge’s #baketogether event. One Year! Hard to believe but it’s true; my first post was this Chocolate Hazelnut Pie last May. Which I now want bad! Our challenge each month is to take Abby’s recipe and ‘switch it up’ with our own take. This month it’s corn muffins and I originally had planned to do a pretty standard version from my kitchen, adding corn and jalapeno but when I saw my friend Carol do those I decided mine needed some additional switching! For some reason I was reminded of that casserole and decided to introduce some of those elements; my own personal ode to the Pepper!

I always put corn into my corn muffins so that was a given, but with these I’ve substituted some of the buttermilk with sour cream and added chopped Poblano pepper, some queso fresco cheese for the cheese element and finished with a garnish of green jalapeno and red grape tomato to represent the red sauce topping from that casserole.  They were good with just a dab of butter but they were GREAT with another dab of red jalapeno jelly. I guess in this case I followed the mantra we hear often today, ‘Go Big or Go Home.’ These are truly big on the pepper but oh so good too! As a last note, I doubled Abby’s recipe; I was having friends for dinner…I just knew to not trust 6 muffins. It was a very good call. :)

Want to join in? It’s easy. Abby does a post the first of the month giving us our inspiration…you can make it as is or run with it. We tweet them using the #baketogether hashtag and add our version via a link and thumbnail to her main post; it’s a great group of people that both inspire and support each other…come on along with us!

I’ve written before about joining a group of Denverites for #TwEATDrink and I finally made my way downtown again last week for another event organized by my Twitter pal Sarah Gore. This time the destination was the Crimson Canary on Broadway (certainly one reason for my attendance…it’s close!). I had called and talked to a manager a couple of days prior to the event to see if it would be a problem for me to acquire a recipe from them for a specialty cocktail and they were great; mentioning their Caprese Margarita as a favorite and I loved the sound of it so it was game on!

Greeting me upon arrival was a friendly face…but one I did not immediately put a name to; sorry Seth! Seth was the manager of a fabulous restaurant that I held an event at last year which sadly closed it’s doors (still can not get over that) and I recognized his face and his voice but yes, I needed a hint. I’ll blame the transition from white shirt and tie to t-shirt as the cause…I hadn’t even started drinking! The Crimson Canary is relatively new, having only opened their doors 6 months ago. It’s a nice space with a parking lot in the rear so my dreaded fear of city parking was not realized. Thanks guys…that matters to us suburbanites venturing into the city.

Their concept is a 1970′s style Italian American steakhouse offering affordable and approachable food. I particularly loved the calamari which included a smattering of veggies in the mix; unexpected yet a great idea. Both Seth and Joey Newman, the owner, were gracious and generous. I enjoyed the calamari, some substantial meatballs and the Caprese Margarita, of course! When I went to recreate the cocktail at home, I was also lucky to have just received a bottle of Justin Timberlake’s new Blanco Tequila, 901. Yes, that Justin Timberlake. Justin apparently has a passion for tequila and has started his own brand. Like many I was a bit skeptical but this is a nice tequila with a good review at Tequila.net and one I’m happy to use as a mixer. This was somewhat prophetic as I typically keep a reposado tequila on hand and this drink really called for a blanco; part of the presentation relies on seeing the striations from the balsamic vinegar. Yes, vinegar! This was a big hit. Unique, pretty and oh so summery with basil from my backyard even!

I’ve had a LONG week. Computer problems galore compounded with camera card issues multiplied by not being able to figure out how to get my laptop which had to be reformatted to network to my new computer. As the result of all of the above, I missed posting on Monday entirely and this post is WAY late on a Friday afternoon. The only good news? I’ve had to make this cocktail three times as a result and I just finished the last one; actually had photos on a card and I was able to finish in time for Happy Hour. No matter that would be east coast time; I’m done. Which means I’m sipping in about five. Join me?

I received a bottle of 901 Tequila at no charge but was not required to or compensated for mentioning them in this post.

What did I do with all that down time? Maybe it was prophetic in a way. Some of you know and  others probably don’t want to hear again but I’m still dealing with a long term injury; slowly getting better but slow as in molasses runs fast type of slow. But at least I’m encouraged I can hobble around now in my garden, for 2 summers I did not set food in it and it showed. I was so sad to see the mess it was but I’ve been hard at work and must say…weeds are almost gone and new grass is coming up and some revisions after the removal of a dead tree are helping make things get better. I thought I would give you a couple of photos; you know…prove I haven’t been just lazing around and watching soaps. While I sip that margarita! :) Unfortunately it’s turned a bit overcast this afternoon but still, here’s my managed mess!

A dead tree that was removed meant this shade garden had to be completely redone; did you hear my shout when I moved that rock and discovered ants. A gazillion or so? Red, brown, big and nasty. And now? No more. :)

The Bridal Veil needs some serious trimming after it blooms and maybe it’s time to put some paint on the birds but this area is right off of my covered patio and greets me in the morning when I’m having coffee. What to come over?

I call this my ‘back forty’ – feet that is. I first tore out the grass in this area ten years ago; it was hot and dry and I thought xeriscape a better choice. I won’t deny; the work here has been eradicating not just weeds but seedlings that sprouted and were not pulled out from a tree that it not visible on the left. I’m getting a handle on it…even if all of those tall purple plants are volunteers…much rather them than thistle!

Next…my water feature. Maybe I’ll feature it next week but it’s not ready yet. Soon…very soon.

I can’t drink Limoncello without thinking of Boston. After my daughter Emily graduated from college her first job as a teacher was at a private school in the small town of Milford, CT. The summer after her first year of teaching, I traveled from Denver to New York City, met my sister Laura there and we drove to Milford. We spent a couple of days exploring that charming town and eating a TON of lobster but then headed to Boston for five days. Five days of gorgeous weather, never seeing a whale on a boat we went out on just to see whales and meeting some of the most amazing people.

I’ve heard more than one person lament their own experience in Boston and it usually includes having to deal with rude and impatient people. We must have been blessed; our entire trip was filled with the most fun people imaginable. I do think we lucked out that we stayed at a gorgeous Bed and Breakfast in the North End; that turned out to be the perfect choice.  I’ve not been to Italy but this felt close; the language, the humor and the amazing generosity of spirit we experienced. Everyone was so friendly and fun, even the pet lobster from the Union Oyster House (featured with my daughter and sis above) .

Sure we made it up to Harvard, bought the requisite sweatshirts too and at least made of point of driving by Cheers (loved that show) but I could not wait to get back ‘home’ to our B&B and just visit with the local shopkeepers, have the best damn Eggplant Marinara sandwich imaginable at a small local deli and be treated by the owner of my favorite restaurant to Limoncello after dinner. Great dinner, windows open to the street, twinkle lights sparkling everywhere and Limoncello? It was almost magical.

I had never had Limoncello before and I can promise you this…I’ve never been without it since. I make a favorite lemon cheesecake and have found that adding some Limoncello does not hurt one little bit but typically I just drink it straight up; out of the freezer ice cold. I’ve got some I’ve made myself in my brewing facility (you might call it a garage) that is almost ready and I’ll be posting on that process soon but until then I had to share this amazing little cocktail with you today.

I was ready to do a post on the my home version but in just mentioning it to my friend Jenn (especially since I thought it needed another week), she told me about this cocktail she had made with Limoncello. I still had some in a bottle I had purchased and I just knew I had to do this. Originally a recipe from Giada De Laurentiis; Jenn had substituted raspberries for blueberries and since that combination is such a favorite of mine I had no intention of revising again; it was the perfect choice. While I’m certain this is a great light ‘cooler’ I did not have sparkling water on hand but I did have sparkling wine (no big surprise there right?). I am a huge fan of both Cava (sparkling wine from Spain) and Prosecco (the same from Italy) and love it mixed with other liqueurs…besides doesn’t Limoncello and Prosecco seem like the perfect Italian apertif? Glad you agree…cause I sure thought so! This was simply wonderful and I can see it going from brunch to dinner and with a bit of vodka even beyond! Salut!

Make this for a Mom in your life this Sunday…it would be perfect!

Earlier this spring I was contacted by Erika Kerekes with Deluxe Corporation, based in Shoreview MN, wanting to know if I could help put together an event for one of their clients, a local Denver sausage maker. Kathy Laurienti, the owner wanted to introduce their newest product, a dry Italian sausage that they sell along with fresh Italian sausage under the Paisano Sausage Company label. Luckily for everyone involved, I coordinate a local group of bloggers who meet once a month; I knew I could find a willing crew to participate.

Kathy’s late husband started the company over thirty years ago and she has been a part of this family owned business for many years. Upon his death last year, it fell on her to take over the reins of the operation. Not content to just do business as usual, Kathy decided to start producing a dry Italian sausage in addition to the fresh Italian sausage she produces daily.

On the day of our visit, 20 of us were invited into the heart of their operations and I think I speak for everyone that the cleanliness of their production facility was impressive. I was also a bit surprised but I can’t deny equally impressed that a health inspector inspects her facility every weekday before they start production. If we had visited during a production day we would all have been required to ‘suit up’ and wear a coat and hair net. I am glad we went on a Saturday. :)

I made a second trip with my friend Karen from Savoury Table so that we could see the sausage being made and pick up the packages promised to the members of our group. I’m thankful Karen brought her camera and allowed me to use these photos of the seasoning and stuffing in process. That’s Kathy on the left and I wish I had a more glamorous shot of her; I took some but she’s constantly moving and she was a blur in every photo; still the eyelashes tell the story enough, right? I’ve actually thought of making sausage myself and certainly followed a number of people who did for the Charcutepalooza event last year; looked easy enough but then their equipment might be a far cry above my KitchenAid attachment!

The process for making both the fresh and dry sausage is similar but once completed, the dry version is salted and hung in their drying facility for at least 19 days. Once that time has elapsed and the moisture is removed, this sausage needs no refrigeration and is perfect not just for use at home as a snack or appetizer, but a great addition to trips away from home. If I were prone to hike I know it would be perfect. Since I’m not, I went the appetizer route and served it with these savory crackers and wine. Prepared with both mild and hot seasonings it was the perfect accompaniment for savory crackers with some jam and of course…wine! Kathy’s Italian sausage is primarily provided to local restaurants and one specialty meat store in the Denver area but their dry product is available online for shipping to the continental US.

After our groups tour of the facility we got on to the fun stuff; the food! Kathy had arranged varieties of her dry sausage for tasting with some unexpected elements for dipping. Marshmallow fluff? Caramel? Yes, there were savory offerings too but the sweet ones were unexpected and surprisingly good. I’m not sure why I questioned that…I sure love most anything with a combination of sweet and some heat! I can’t say I’m the biggest fan of dry sausage…opting to never have pepperoni on my pizza even, but this was good and the hotter version has a nice kick. Impressed with how well it married with those sweeter elements, Karen went off the charts and made some Chewy Salted Dry Sausage Praline  and I was lucky she saved one for me; salty, sweet, spicy, chewy…really OMG good!

I opted to do my own version of the sausage and peppers that Kathy served our group using her fresh Italian sausage. As a card carrying member of the ‘Green Pepper Haterz Club’ I just had to substitute something for those green bell peppers and in the making ended up with a much different dish. Kathy had sent each of us home with a basketful of goodies so I also wanted to incorporate some of the other local products she had given us including the Aiello’s spaghetti sauce and Balistreri Vineyards Sangiovese wine.

Was it so good because I was a part of the process and got to see it being made? As unique and fun as that was I don’t think so…it’s just great sausage. Most of their fresh Italian sausage is produced and sold to local restaurants (the one local retail outlet is Vinnola’s Italian Market in Wheat Ridge, CO) so I feel particularly blessed that we were given some to play with. I just happened to have some Tillamook Monterey Jack Cheese on hand which was perfect for this sandwich. You might not be lucky enough to have some of Kathy’s sausage in your neighborhood but just find some good fresh sausage and try this sandwich; it’s a keeper!

Not in Denver? Be sure to visit their online store if you love dry sausage; it’s made with care and it shows.

When I made this blood orange margarita in February I mentioned that I normally reserve margaritas for the summer. And this cocktail is the one I save until then. The first touch of warm weather and I start to think of margaritas; there is something about warm weather, a barbecue and having friends over that makes a pitcher of these a required element at my backyard get togethers. I say margaritas and my friends and neighbors know and I can count on them to flock to my backyard and I just know it’s not the food! I’ve been dying to do this cocktail for Happy Hour Friday but I had to wait until the time was right and FINALLY the time is now!

What makes this drink so special? It’s the attention to detail; from the type of tequila to the quality of ingredients and ending with the preparation. It’s not something you can throw together at a moment’s notice (though I do have a quick version) but the wait is worthwhile, trust me. Letting the different flavors meld together from the juices and zest infuses this cocktail with a bright citrus punch. The longer the zest and juice mixture is allowed to steep, the more developed the citrus flavors are in the finished margarita. If I’m planning ahead for company, I will let the citrus mixture steep for 24 hours, although the margaritas will still be great if the mixture is steeped only for the minimum 4 hours. If you’re in a rush and need to serve margaritas immediately go ahead and try the quick version; it’s good too but the more time the better.

If you’ve visited this blog for a bit, you know I live in Denver, Colorado. One mile high. Five thousand two hundred and eighty feet above sea level. Sea level being the place where recipes are written and then folks ‘up in the air’ have to revise for our altitude. I get it; I’ve been here a long time. Air is thinner and dryer so baking requires some adjustment. I think of those high altitude warnings on the side of cake boxes when I was growing up in a suburb of St. Louis; those warnings I got to blithely ignore, not even sure what that was all about. Atmospheric pressure was for classroom studies, the stuff you forgot as soon as possible when science was a requirement and not your passion and you lived at ‘normal’ altitude.

Still, getting it and getting things to always work are two completely different animals. I’ve never been afraid to bake here and after some fledgling snafus have come to realize that a smidge less of leavening with maybe a bit more moisture (even our flour becomes drier) usually does the trick. So when this months #Baketogether event with Abby Dodge was announced and it was Angel Food Cake, I had no fear. My only concern was not having an angel food cake pan so when I discovered one in my cupboard that I must have bought long ago at a yard sale, I think you can understand why I thought the fates were on my side.

Not so fast Barbara. Trust me, over the years I have done my share of ‘fixes’ if things don’t go quite as planned. The most popular method of going awry in my kitchen is to have something develop a crater in the center. Too much leavening and the cake rises too fast in our thinner air, the cell structure does not bake quickly enough to hold and the result is that the rise then collapses and voila…a sinkhole. Because I always make some adjustments,snafus are now seldom and typically minor and the addition of some fruit or an extra dollop of frosting is all it takes to right that wrong.

Not today. No…today I present you with my Chocolate Angel Food Pancake; though I guess Flat Tire Cake would be more appropriate. I thought it could have been a bit higher in the pan when I took it out but it was still about 4″ up the sides and I thought I could live with that. Angel food cake pans have little feet on them that are attached to the cake rim, once baked, they are turned upside down to rest on those feet while they cool for an hour. After that, run a knife around the cake to release it and voila…you ‘should’ have an Angel Food cake. Me? I turned to something else in the kitchen for a moment and when I glanced back I noticed my cake laying under the pan on my butcher block. I lifted off the pan and this is what I had. Definitely an #AngelFoodCakeFail. I measured it too; poor thing is just a bit taller than an inch. I actually thought it would taste fine but when my neighbor Sally came over to get some of the brownies, we tasted it. Um. No. It’s pretty pathetic; something is lost without the volume and lightness. Not Abby’s fault; so many ‘flatlanders’ have done amazing versions as testimony to that. Of some solace was my call to my local blogger friend Karen; I thought she could commiserate and I would see what she did to succeed. What I found was that I was not alone!

I’m not one to do a lot of experimenting and testing; for me it either works or it doesn’t and I move on. I won’t say I won’t try this again with some revisions but not today; I’m out of cake flour and don’t have enough eggs so a shopping trip would be in order and I don’t have the time. I guess I could have left with this story except for one thing. The Bourbon Caramel sauce I made for this cake was so good; it would have been a shame to just ignore it, right?

So I’ve punted. LONG. I wanted a chocolate angel food cake  so had chocolate on my mind so brownies seems to fit the bill and I had enough ingredients for one of my favorite recipes too. I’ve topped them before with a cream cheese frosting and had a sneaky suspicion that a bourbon caramel frosting would work just fine and I was so right. I’m doing this again for the Kentucky Derby; something about  bourbon and brownies with pecans just seems perfect and will transport me just a bit back to the south where stuff like this never happened. I suppose it’s a good thing we get to put a spin on Abby’s recipe cause I spun this one like an LP! I’ll try again and I’ll let you know when I do; altitude is NOT the boss of me.

Make sure you visit Abby’s website for the original recipe and lots of different variations and join us if you want. Abby gives us a recipe on the first of each month as inspiration and we have a month to do our own  thing, posting anytime during the month and chatting on Twitter via the hashtag #baketogether. It’s a great supportive community and a fun exercise for both novice and experienced bakers alike.

I made these brownies, substituting pecans for walnuts and then topped them with the Bourbon Caramel frosting.

This recipe for strawberries that are mixed with egg whites, whipping cream and sugar and then frozen between layers of crunchy nuts was a favorite of mine a long time ago.  I still remember the reason I didn’t make it very often though and why it eventually lost favor with me. It was a mess to make. Whipping the egg whites and whipping cream was easy enough but it was the addition of those strawberries that did me in. They would wrap around the beaters of my little handheld mixer and whip that mixture all over the place. So making this dessert was a true labor of love; it also meant wiping down not just counter tops but the floor and often cabinets too!

So what inspired me to give it another try beyond nostalgia (trust me I  had no nostalgia for the mess!). A couple of things. First, I can’t discount my love of strawberries and how I love to find new ways to use the bounty of the amazing berries we get in the spring; I’m remembering how much I love this dessert and it was time. The resulting texture is much like ice cream and when coupled with the combination of the brown sugar, flour, butter and nut crumble; they are simple yet simply divine. Secondly I had the notion that my larger capacity stand mixture would make easier work this time around and thankfully that was true. I did put the mixer attachment on that is actually used to make adding flour and other dry ingredients easier as a protective collar and it was just enough to catch the few droplets that were determined to make their way to my white cabinet doors.

But one of the main reasons? I think a great example of our food culture is within the story of this dessert and it serves to illustrate again why I feel so strongly about the current food blogging notions regarding  ‘recipe ownership.’ That notion coupled with the immediacy of the Internet has made this a situation that I think in many ways ruins the entire sense of how food has fit into many of our lives for decades. It’s meaning for me has always been a way to nurture those I love everyday, that time and attention to detail that says ‘I care’ in every bite. To show others that same sense through a gift of cookies, a pot of soup during an illness or a special cake for an even more special event.

Now it’s too often about inbound links and hits and revenue and an ugliness in that quest for those that has an entire generation of cooks not just claiming ownership of recipes but publicly maligning those they feel have ‘stolen’ from them. It’s not just ugly and rude; it’s plain wrong.Yes, I’ve had my own experience. A demand to take down my version of this Strawberry Pie recipe that I’m sure I was making before the person making the demand was born…another recipe from this very same cookbook as a matter of fact!

Why did this dessert so clearly illustrate to me why this is so often too much ado about nothing? I saw Amy of the website ‘She Wears Many Hats’ publish a post last summer about Strawberry Squares and she made a point of attributing them to her Aunt Carole’s  “Hearts Go Home for the Holidays” Cookbook; a cookbook her aunt had compiled for family members with her favorite recipes. I knew as soon as I saw the recipe that it was the same one I had used for years from an old version of ‘Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook’ published in the early 70′s. I suppose if I were BH&G I could make quite a scene with Amy about this not being her aunt’s recipe but before this whole food blogging thing, the sharing of recipes with friends and family was a given. No one expected that their name would forever be attached to a recipe. We just wanted to share with others something we loved. It really was that simple.

I for one think that one thing in this story of ‘recipe wars’ that is totally forgotten is that in the making of a recipe some ownership has got to be handed over to the maker of the dish. It’s not as if the ingredients miraculously hop off the page onto a prepared table where a camera is setup and ready to snap a pic with no interference whatsoever from human hands. Once I put my time and effort into anything…that recipe has MY name on it too. I’ve said it before and I remain steadfast in this. If I use a recipe from someone else, I will attribute but I will not forgo including the recipe on my site. This is my journal of what I prepare, not a marketing tool to push the websites or cookbooks of others. Weren’t they equally inspired in some way?

I’ve started a new practice that is particularly eye opening. After I develop something on my own and feel it’s successful enough to blog about I do a Google search. The results serve to prove my own point. Sorbets combining garden herbs and liqueurs from my bar? Done. A patty melt with jalapeno peppers and pepper jack cheese? That too. Strawberry Squares? Lots of different ones including an almost identical one on AllRecipes.com and Cook.com and none referencing the one I have that precedes those by decades.

What is my point? Well, first this is a great dessert and I for one am happy that Amy chose to include this recipe from her Aunt Carole’s cookbook. As a reminder for me and I’m hoping as something new for someone else because first things first; it’s particularly perfect in spring or summer when fresh strawberries are in abundance. Beyond that it’s just a reflex to the continuous complaining that gets wearisome. Food and the preparation of it is about nurturing and caring for others. Our sharing it should be for the same reasons. That is all. :)

I’ve enjoyed this venture into cocktail making but can I share something with you? I don’t drink a lot…no, really I don’t! I come from a family with a history of alcoholism and as a result I’m as cautious as any one person could be to be aware of my drinking habits. So…do I drink the cocktails I make for these posts? Not always. I only make cocktails that I already know I enjoy or if it’s something new that I’m happy with and consider blogworthy, then I have definitely tasted the end result but depending on the time of day, that might be all I enjoy. If they’re made later in the day and photographed I just might enjoy a tipple…but not two. Until last night.

I simply LOVE gin and tonics and throwing anything with Bombay Sapphire Gin into the sink was not going to happen. Can you blame me? Despite last night’s forecast of potential snow (not all that unusual for spring in Denver), yesterday was a gorgeous spring day and I definitely think of a Gin and Tonic as one of my favorite warm weather cocktails. Light and so refreshing with just a touch of citrus from fresh lime juice, it’s just a perfect warm weather cocktail.

Gin was first created by Dr. Franciscus Sylvus, a Dutch chemist, in the 16th century. Originally developed in an attempt to cleanse the blood of those suffering from kidney disorders, Dr. Sylvus named his creation genièvre, French for juniper, the primary botanical that is a part of the distilling process. When King William III used his grudge against France to ban expensive liquor imports from there, mass production of gin in England made it affordable and that made it easier for the Brits to deal with the ban.