Refreshing strawberry drink

When I said on the previous post that one of the reasons I enjoy a more loose jam is to use the syrup that remains, I meant it.

That is perhaps the most amazing thing about strawberry jam; that viscous, sweet syrup with the condensed strawberry flavor that can perk up anything from a boring cup of yoghurt to a simple pound cake.

One of the best uses for this syrup though is in drinks. Sure, you can use it to intensify the aroma and taste of a strawberry daiquiri or margarita, or you can add a splash to a glass of champagne, but for me, the best thing to use it with, is the simplest thing ever. Water. Plain water, still or sparkling.

With a few ice cubes and a squeeze of lemon that cuts through the sweetness, it’s the best drink ever. The concentrated flavor of the strawberry is guaranteed to make you swoon.

Cold Strawberry Drink

Add to a glass ¼ cup of strawberry syrup, preferably from a homemade strawberry jam, and top it off with still or sparkling cold water. Mix, give it a taste and add more syrup if you like. You can also add a squeeze of lemon or lime, and don’t forget plenty of ice cubes and a straw.

Enjoy!

The first snow

Yesterday fell the first snow of the season. I woke up in the morning to see the beautiful snowflakes gently falling outside my bedroom window while my whole being was screaming, "don't go to work, stay in bed, call in sick". I couldn't. I had to go.

I wore my heaviest and warmest coat, my big fat woolen gloves, a long scarf that I wrapped around my neck and head to keep the cold out, my favorite sheepskin boots to keep my toes warm and I braved the cold weather. My hands and face were freezing in no time as the snow that suddenly turned to rain, then to hail, and finally to snow again was grazing my cheeks. I was aching to go back home and crawl into bed but I pressed on.

The whole day at work I was dreaming of being in the arms of my S, drinking a cup of hot cocoa. That's all I wanted to do, and that's exactly what I did when I got home. S and I, after a rather difficult day out in the world, we sat on our comfy couch, put our favorite music on and drank some of this rich hot cocoa.

I hope you'll enjoy it as well.

Rumor has it, it will snow heavily in the next couple of weeks in The Hague. I can't wait! Perhaps we'll have a white Christmas.

See you again soon.

Hot Cocoa

Milk, cocoa, sugar. It couldn't be much simpler than that. A good hot cocoa means good cocoa powder. Don't use anything other than Dutch-processed which has an intense flavor and dark color.

And if you prefer hot chocolate rather than hot cocoa, check this out.

Yield: 2 large cups

Ingredients
500 ml fresh, whole milk
5 heaped tsp Dutch-processed cocoa powder (I use Van Houten but also Droste)
4 tsp caster sugar (or more to taste)


Preparation
In a milk pan or small saucepan, add the milk, the cocoa powder and the sugar and place over medium heat. Heat, stirring until the cocoa dissolves. Don't allow the milk to boil but take it off the heat when it starts to steam.

Note: The 4 tsp of sugar that I use, make for a fairly sweet cocoa. Add more or less depending how you prefer your cocoa to taste. Keep in mind though that Dutch-processed cocoa powder is quite bitter.

Drink the cocoa while it's still hot, served with your favorite cookies. We chose the traditional Dutch pepernoten and mini stroopwafels.

Fresh

Yesterday was an extremely hot day, for northern European standards that is, and once upon a time, on such a day, I would go straight to the fridge and get myself a coke, a diet coke, which had been an obsession of mine for many years. Not any more.

About five years ago, I decided to quit drinking any type of soda. It was a good decision. One of those I'm proud I made, along with quitting smoking four years ago. Have I ever told you I was a smoker? No? Well, I was. Not any more.

It's a smart thing I decided to quit some of my bad habits, or addictions I should say, early on, in my twenties, because now that I'm in my early thirties, my body is already thanking me. I'm sure down the road it'll be even more thankful.

I don't mean to get all preachy on you, who am I to talk, I'm full of bad habits still, but this is my reality. However, since we're telling truths here, the reason I used to get pissed off at people who'd tell me how they quit this and that and how good it felt, was because they'd hit a nerve. I didn't want to think of my bad habits, I was scared to admit to them. I didn't want to examine myself and find that what I was doing, was actually detrimental to my health.

Anyway, let me get back to what I was trying to say in the beginning of this post before I got sidetracked. A hot day, that required a drink to quench my thirst, to invigorate and refresh me. Not a soda, nothing that contains soda, but rather a drink that's totally natural, fresh and sweet. A drink filled with the aromas of rosewater, honey and lemon.

A fresh, homemade, rosewater and honey lemonade.

P.S. I will never quit eating chocolate, just so you know. Or meat, or butter, or booze, okay?








Rosewater and Honey Lemonade

I've always loved the flavor of honey paired with lemon yet every time I added honey straight into a fresh lemonade, it wasn't right. The flavor of the honey simple syrup is more subtle, more rounded and it suits my tastes better.

Make sure to use a mild honey whose flavor you enjoy.
You can use the leftover honey simple syrup in all kinds of drinks, alcoholic and otherwise.

Yield: serves 4 / 450 ml honey simple syrup

Ingredients
200-250 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 5-7 lemons)
200 ml honey simple syrup
250 ml cold water
½ - 1 tsp rosewater
Ice cubes

for the honey simple syrup
200 g caster sugar
150 g mild-flavored, runny honey
240 ml water

Special equipment: juicer


Preparation

for the honey simple syrup
In a small saucepan, add the sugar, the honey and the water and bring to the boil over high heat, stirring constantly with a spoon until the sugar and the honey have dissolved. Once the syrup comes to the boil, foam will accumulate on top. Scoop it out with a metal spoon and remove the pan from the heat. Allow the syrup to cool completely before adding it to the lemonade.

You can keep the simple syrup in a glass container, covered, in the fridge for a week.

for the lemonade
In a pitcher, add the lemon juice, 200 ml of the honey simple syrup, the cold water and the rosewater and stir well (I use the back of a wooden spoon to stir mine). Add more or less simple syrup depending on how tart your lemons are.
Serve into glasses filled with ice cubes and enjoy.

All I need *

It's strange what I miss being away from home. Besides my family and friends, what I miss the most are the small things. The way the sun shines gloriously in Greece, the way the rain smells when it hits the rocky hills of Athens, the way the sea glistens under the moonlight at Batis beach.






It's the small things in food, too. I miss our sardines and anchovies, they taste like nothing else in the world, my favorite feta, aged in large wooden barrels, that I buy from a shop in my neighborhood, and Miranda biscuits, which I crave when it's really cold outside and all I want is to drink a hot cup of cocoa.






Sure, Holland is famous for its cookies and pastries, but nothing beats Greek Miranda cereal biscuits. When I was little, my mom would make for my brother and me her famous hot cocoa, always with Van Houten, and she'd give us a box of Mirandas. We would use the hot cocoa as a dip, dunking the rectangle-sized biscuits in it, allowing them to soften and then devouring them in one huge bite.






When my mom visited me this past August, among the numerous foodstuff she brought with her, she also brought me Mirandas. Needless to say, I was ecstatic when I saw her taking the boxes of biscuits out of her overstuffed suitcase. My instinct, even if we were in the middle of a heat wave, was to immediately go into the kitchen and make myself a hot cocoa, or better yet, a hot chocolate. And so I did.






I may still be trying to find a recipe for making these Miranda biscuits (and if anyone knows, please share) but I have already found the recipe for my ideal hot chocolate. Not cocoa, chocolate. That's the best.






There's something about pure, dark chocolate melting into hot, steaming milk that gets my taste buds all tingly and excited. When the smell penetrates my nostrils, I'm filled with anticipation for the hot, dark, liquid gold. There's just nothing like it.






Seventy percent chocolate, whole milk, and my secret ingredient, kaimaki (or kaymak). No need for heavy or whipped cream when there's something like kaimaki around, with its rich, creamy texture, to give the hot chocolate that extra-velvety consistency. One tablespoon is enough to make a difference.






Tackling the heavy Dutch winters is not an easy thing. A cup of this hot chocolate drink and a boxful of my favorite biscuits, is all I really need to make it just a little bit easier.






* The writing of this post was accompanied by the music of Air and especially by this song.






Hot Chocolate

I always use 70% chocolate for this drink and of course, the better the quality of the chocolate, the better the quality of the drink. As I always say where chocolate is concerned, make sure you use one whose taste you really like, otherwise you're not going to enjoy the flavor of the drink.

In case you can't find kaimaki where you live (try Middle Eastern stores), you can substitute with clotted cream, crème fraîche or even whipped cream (but it's not going to be the same).

And if you prefer hot cocoa rather than hot chocolate, check this out.






Yield: 2 large (or 4 small) cups

Ingredients
500 ml whole milk
100 g good quality chocolate, 70% (I use Lindt), plus some extra shavings for sprinkling on top
1 Tbsp sugar (or to taste, depending on how sweet you like your chocolate)
2 Tbsp fresh kaimaki


Preparation
Chop the chocolate into small pieces.


In a small saucepan, add the milk and heat over medium heat. When it starts to steam, add the chopped chocolate and stir with a whisk. When the chocolate has melted, add the sugar and stir to dissolve. Don't allow the milk to boil.
Turn the heat off and beat the hot chocolate well with the whisk, in order to create a light foam. Pour immediately into two large cups, add a tablespoon of kaimaki on each cup and sprinkle some chocolate shavings on top.

Enjoy with your favorite biscuits!

"Orange craze"

What I have discovered about the Dutch these past four years that I have been living in The Netherlands (I can't believe it'll be four years this month) is that they drink a lot of beer. And I mean, A LOT. Well, I didn't actually need four years to figure that out. A night out on the town the first time I visited the country pretty much made it obvious.






In Greece, you have a beer when you go out to a bar or a club and then you move on to the "real" stuff like vodka, tequila, whiskey or a good cocktail, not to mention the copious amounts of ouzo a Greek person can consume in one outing. But here, it is like there is no other drink on the planet other than beer. Ok, I know Holland is the king of beer producers but still, c'mon, it's only beer.

To any beer enthusiasts out there: "Please, don't shoot"






The Dutch may drink a lot of beer on any given day but on one particular day of the year they can drink every other nation under the table, and that's including the Czechs, Irish and Germans. That day is Koninginnedag; Queen's Day.






Koninginnedag is a national holiday which celebrates the birthday of the Queen of The Netherlands. Queen Beatrix's birthday is on January 31st but she decided to officially celebrate her birthday every year on April 30th, the date of her mother and previous Queen, Queen Juliana's birthday, as the weather is better in April and tends to favor outdoor festivities.






On Koninginnedag, the Queen—usually accompanied by her sons and their families—visits one or two towns of the country, which vary each year, greeting the people who receive her with fitting celebrations in her honor. These often involve traditional Dutch dances and demonstrations of old crafts.






Koninginnedag is also famous for the vrijmarkt (free market), where people all over the country are allowed to sell freely and without permit anything they want on the streets. Holland literally turns into an enormous garage sale. People lay blankets and sheets in front of their houses, on sidewalks, streets and parks, selling anything from chairs to computers and from books to refrigerators. You are supposed to bargain for the goods and as the day passes, you are bound to get a good deal on just about anything that is left unsold.






The largest vrijmarkt in Holland is in Amsterdam, where thousands of people try to secure a place on the streets of the city to sell their second-hand goods to the almost two-million people who celebrate the Queen's Day in Holland's capital. Vondelpark, which is the largest park in Amsterdam and a gorgeous one at that, is full of children who gather there to sell their cast-off toys and earn a pretty decent allowance.






On Queen's Day, most people wear orange clothing and nearly everyone has an orange accessory on, like a hat, scarf, crazy orange wig, or a stick-on tattoo of the Dutch flag on their cheeks. The streets are filled with orange balloons, orange banners, orange-colored foods and drinks. It's an orange-palooza. And all that because it is the day of oranjegekte, the day of "orange craze". Orange is the national color of Holland, as it represents the Huis van Oranje-Nassau (House of Orange-Nassau), which is the name of the current Dutch dynasty.






Koninginnedag has come to mean more to the Dutch people that just the celebration of the Queen's birthday. It is a day of unity and solidarity, and a day of fun and enjoyment of spring and everything that it has to offer. Which brings me to the drinking and partying part. Yes, that's what this holiday is all about. It even starts the night before, which is officially known as Koninginnenacht, "Queen's Night", where people all over Holland party like there's no tomorrow.






Outdoor live concerts are taking place around the country, dj's are spinning records on public squares, and a lot of beer-selling is happening on the streets by major Dutch beer brands. The largest celebration of Koninginnenacht happens in The Hague, where it actually originated in the early 1990's, when pre-Queen's Day riots were an increasing problem in the city.






Needless to say, this past weekend was decadent in more ways than one. A lot of drinking, eating and celebrating happened. And of course, I had to prepare something special for the day. Something fitting for Koninginnedag, something orange, something delicious and very refreshing since these past days were extremely hot. So, I decided to make smoothies. Mango, orange (naturally), banana and ginger smoothies.






They are perfect. The cooling mango quenches your thirst and the ripeness of the banana sweetens your senses. Then, as you continue to drink, the ginger suddenly hits you. You can feel it at the tip of your tongue and at the back of your throat, burning you just a tad, and you realize that this is no ordinary smoothie. This is potent stuff.
After all the beers consumed and all that alcohol entering the bloodstream, this smoothie feels like manna from heaven.

Who needs beer when you can have something like this?















Orange Juice, Mango, Banana and Ginger Smoothie
Barely adapted from the New York Times

This recipe calls for ginger juice, which is made by putting grated ginger in a cheesecloth and squeezing the heck out of it. The result is a ginger juice which added to this drink, has a brilliant flavor.
If you're not a fan of ginger, add 1/3 of the amount indicated in the recipe. The flavor will be barely noticeable but the smoothie will still have that "je ne sais quois" that will make it unique. You can omit it from the recipe altogether if you really don't like but, it will be your loss!

Dare I say, a little bit of vodka will transform this into a terrific "adult" smoothie. You knew I had to suggest this.






Yield: about 700 ml / 2 large glasses of smoothie


Ingredients
1 large ripe mango, cut into pieces
½ medium-sized ripe banana, cut into pieces
280 ml orange juice, freshly squeezed
3 tsp fresh ginger, finely grated
5 large ice cubes

Special equipment: blender, cheesecloth


Preparation

Make the ginger juice
Place the grated ginger in a cheesecloth, gather the edges of the cheesecloth together and squeeze the ginger well over a small bowl. You will end up with about 2 tsp of ginger juice.

Make the smoothie
In a blender, add the mango, the banana, the orange and ginger juice, and the ice cubes. Blend well until you have a smooth and frothy mixture.

Serve immediately.

...and a Lucky New Year

In Greece, during the Christmas holidays and all the way up to New Year's, the gambler in everyone comes out. 'Tis the time of poker and black jack playin' and roulette dice rollin'. Well, I suppose during the holidays, Greeks become totally addicted to games of luck.






The members of my family are the definition of the holiday gambler and no, we don't actually go out to any casinos but we kind of bring the casino to our house. Every year, around New Year's, my family's traditions switch from holiday baking and ham glazing to setting the table for a little card game fun.






The green felt tablecloth makes its appearance from the buffet drawer. It is perfectly ironed, no crease to be seen anywhere, no crease that will accidentally make a poker card flip and reveal what a perfect little bluffer my cousin is. The poker chips are all aligned in their boxes, ready to be distributed by my brother among us high rollers (!) and the good quality plastic playing cards are cleaned and ready to be dealt by my uncle, who always gets a kick out of being the card dealer.






Our lucky game of choice is poker. Draw and stud poker, lowball, follow the Queen, roll your own, to name but a few variants of the game. We all gather around the table, we put our game or better yet, our poker faces on and... let the games begin!






I have to say that, we take the game pretty seriously. No funny business is allowed and even if the youngest, more inexperienced members of our extended family play or friends who are newly initiated to our holiday customs join us, they are all expected to follow the same rules. They don't get any special treatment—we call that "tough poker love". How else are they gonna learn?






We bluff, we pass, we bet, we win, we lose, we laugh, we yell, we eat, we drink. Well, food and drinks are always part of whatever activity my family's engaged in and since the games might go on for hours, we surely need something to nibble on and sip. Nibbling is confined to finger food, spiced nuts and chocolate truffles that are passed around if we're in the mood for something sweet, and let me tell you, we always are.






When poker is played, or any card game for that matter, messy food may not be allowed but the drinks, ah the drinks; there are no rules where drinks are concerned. The bar is open and everyone can have whatever they want. Each member of the family has their favorite drink but I always like to be flexible or change things up. Sometimes I go classic, with a brandy or a Scotch, other times I'm in the mood for something sweet, like Port or Sherry, and then there are the times when a cocktail is in order. And it goes something like this; coffee liqueur, vodka, espresso, sugar, milk, ice / mix, pour, drink.






Listen, I'm not crazy about coffee and I'm perhaps one of the few people out there who could live without it but what I'm absolutely nuts about, are coffee-flavored desserts and drinks; coffee flavored alcoholic drinks that is. Espresso cocktails and Cappuccino shots are my favorites of the kind and I urge you to try them on New Year's Eve, right before you give a kiss to your loved one to usher in the New Year.
And then I urge you to try them on New Year's Day, right when you finish your big festive meal and you're waiting for that chocolate dessert to come.






And then I urge you to try them on every other weekend after that, until summer comes and you begin to crave fruity type of drinks. Until then, these are the mixed drinks of my winter and the reasons why you must try them are fairly straightforward. Both of these drinks are delicious, easy to prepare, they don't require fancy or outrageous ingredients and most importantly, they are guaranteed to make you light headed and alert at the same time. Is there anything more you could possibly want from a drink?






P.S. Yours truly rarely wins at poker but we have a saying in Greece "He/She who loses at card games, wins in love".












Espresso Cocktail
Adapted from Robert Schinkel

Have your New Year's kick with this amazing espresso-flavored cocktail. Don't worry if you don't have an espresso maker though. You can use the common instant espresso. Dissolve it in water and you're ready to go.






Yield: 200 ml espresso cocktail / 2 large drinks

Ingredients
80 ml freshly brewed espresso coffee
2 tsp sugar
20 ml coffee liqueur (such as Kahlua)
80 ml vodka
Pinch of ground cinnamon
10 large ice cubes
4 espresso beans, for garnishing (optional)

Special equipment: espresso maker, cocktail shaker, cocktail glasses


Preparation
Make the espresso coffee either by using an espresso maker or by dissolving instant espresso powder in hot water. Add the sugar and stir to dissolve. Leave the coffee to cool.

In a cocktail shaker (or any other shaker if you don't have a cocktail shaker) add the ice cubes, vodka, coffee liqueur, cinnamon and the cooled espresso. Shake vigorously for 20 seconds and empty the drink in the two cocktail glasses, passing it first through a sieve to get rid of the ice cubes (if you use a cocktail shaker you will not need a sieve because it's already attached to the tip of the shaker).

Garnish the cocktails with the espresso beans and serve immediately.

If you like your cocktail really cold, then add ice cubes to the cocktail glasses before you start preparing the drink. This will make the glasses super cold. Empty the glasses from the ice cubes before pouring in the drink.












Cappuccino Shots

I have been making these shots for many years. I have always enjoyed their "mock" cappuccino flavor but with alcohol, that gives a sweet buzz. Beware though; drink it slowly, otherwise you're going to get really dizzy, really quick.






Yield: 60 ml / 2 shots

Ingredients
20 ml vodka
30 ml coffee liqueur (such as Kahlua)
20 ml evaporated milk, beaten until frothy
Ground cinnamon, for sprinkling

Special equipment: milk frother, shot glasses


Preparation
In a large glass (or in a cocktail shaker), add the vodka and the coffee liqueur. Mix with a spoon and divide among two shot glasses.

Froth the milk with the milk frother and add three to four teaspoons of frothed milk on top of each drink.
Sprinkle with a little ground cinnamon and serve immediately.

I WISH YOU ALL A HAPPY AND LUCKY NEW YEAR!!