AND THE WINNER OF THE N.O. BREW RECIPE CONTEST IS….ELAINE!
ELAINE’S OREO PEPPERMINT MOCHA
What you need:
2-3 Oreos, crushed
1/2 oz creme de menthe or peppermint syrup
6 oz N.O. Brew coffee (made with milk)
Whipped cream
Crushed candy cane pieces, for garnish
Crushed Oreo pieces, for garnish
And now…a little DOMESTIC BLISS READERS’ CONTEST!
This morning it was too cold for me to hit the streets in search of my usual cup of coffee from the deli down the block, so I was very, very psyched when the mailman delivered a box full of N.O. Brew coffee, courtesy of the company reps. It’s very delicious, comes in lots of different flavors, can be served hot or cold…and each bottle makes up to thirteen coffee drinks, so it’s economical, as well.
YOUR CHALLENGE: Come up with a fabulous recipe (could be a drink, dessert, whatever) that uses N.O. Brew coffee. I’ll pick my favorite submission, print the recipe here, and the company will send the winner a free case of coffee! Yum.
Send your recipe ideas to jordan@nonsociety.com by Saturday afternoon; winner will be announced Sunday. Please include your address in the email, in case you’re the lucky winner!
A few more excellent tips for beating the common cold:
- Reader Hallie recommends adding lots of garlic to chicken soup: check out my post on the benefits of garlic here and my mom’s chicken stew recipe here.
- Reader Elizabeth recommends eating spicy foods to boost immunity and to drain the sinuses. She’s also a garlic advocate…check out her delicious, garlic-heavy orecchiette here.
- Reader Jenny recommends elderberry syrup (elderberry pictured above) for its infection-inhibiting properties.
I’ve gotten so many amazing responses to my query about home remedies for colds that I thought I’d post a few of them here.
First, reader Sarah of Wisewhimsy wrote to tell me about Hot Knives’ All-Natural Nyquil Recipe.
What you need:
2 cups fresh mint leaves
In response to the Great Pumpkin Soup Disaster of 2009, lots of you have written in with wonderful, helpful suggestions. The solution seems to be making a pumpkin soup in a more traditional fashion, and then serving it in a hollowed-out pumpkin if you want to heighten the drama factor.
Reader Sarah just sent me this recipe for pumpkin soup, which I think sounds fantastic:
1. Cut a hollowed-out pumpkin in half (reader Rachel suggests using a sugar pie pumpkin) and bake face down on a parchment-lined baking sheet at 350F for an hour (or until tender); let cool.
2. Scrape softened pumpkin from rind and process in blender until smooth, adding some milk if it gets too dry.
So the pumpkin soup experiment went…badly.
Lilly and Lucy loved this evening’s pasta carbonara (recipe to come).
Note: in response to a reader email, no, of course you shouldn’t feed your puppies big plates of people food. Lilly and Lucy’s version of my “carbonara” was some cubes of cooked pancetta and peas mixed into their regular dog food. Dogs deserve special meals, too!
Thanks to reader Elizabeth for this recipe for Grilled Chicken and Onion Pitas with Tandoori Tomato Jam and Cilantro Creme. Like I said, Indian food is not something I’ve ever tried to make, but I read this recipe to Kendrick and…well…let’s just say that the future of my marriage may rest on my ability to create these things.
At 8AM this morning, I launched myself out of bed and into a hideous pair of sweats and made my way to Agata & Valentina, our local fancy foods place, to buy ingredients for this afternoon’s NonSociety lunch meeting.
