It’s the season of apples. Pies, tarts, oatmeal, cider, cake. Magazine and food blogs are chock-full of apple recipes. But what about the peels?
These simple apple peel roses can be brushed with lemon juice (to keep them from browning) and used as a centerpiece at dinner.
Or they can be brushed with butter, sprinkled with brown sugar, and baked to top a cake or cheesecake:
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There are no words.
Epic Thanksgiving recipe coming this Thursday!
Scene: Cocktail party. Room full of people trying to schmooze and network with each other. Me, standing in a corner, balancing my drink on a ledge or in my arms, avoiding eye contact with everyone while trying to eat a cheesesteak to prevent the instant drunk that comes after drinking on an empty stomach. Enter: Tiny Food Party, a book that has changed every party I’ll ever host again.
Bite-size versions of large foods are the best for cocktail parties or any situation where there isn’t enough room for all guests to eat with a knife and fork, and are way more substantial than baby carrots. We’re not talking pigs in a blanket, here. But I was still apprehensive about throwing a party out of a book based on small food because: 1) I don’t like following recipes 2) I was afraid my guests would be hungry 3) I was afraid my guests would eat too much and not get drunk (frequent problem among my group) and 4) I was afraid I’d spend the entire party in the kitchen cooking.
And you know, I feel like, in general, the reason people don’t use recipes or cookbooks more is because the recipes are long and involved, and always involve a list of ingredients that either a) I do not have or b) I don’t feel like buying for one recipe. Also? The thing about entertaining is that I like to actually *enjoy* my parties and talk to my guests, instead of being stuck in the kitchen pumping out food and carefully plating things, using recipes I am unfamiliar with. I know my friends love my food, but they love my company even more. So when I was planning my own tiny food party, I did a few things that I believe are successful to any entertaining situation.
1) Know your recipes: I used each recipe as a general guideline. Why? Because it was easier for me to make my standard potato salad than use their recipe.
2) Know yourself: Many of the recipes had to be modified for drunk cooking, because hello, I’m not saying sober at my own party.
3) Know your guests: I took the bacon out of everything. Sacrilege? Maybe. This book is absolutely wonderful in that everything includes bacon (from the BBQ sauce to the muffins), but I had a non-pork eater in the house. She’d never want me to modify my cooking for her, but then she just wouldn’t eat and would end up a drunk mess. Turns out she still ended up slapping my new boyfriend across the face, but whatever, at least it wasn’t my fault.
To test the real functionality of these recipes, appetizers and dinner were served without seating and with minimal utensils. The menu (the photos get worse as the night progressed, deal with it):
Well, it’s here, the day we’ve been waiting for all year: National Nachos Day. No, I’m just kidding—I’m talking about Election Day, of course! (But seriously, it actually is National Nachos Day as well, so maybe hit up your local Mexican restaurant after visiting the polls today.)
I know a lot of people like to make their decision by examining where the candidates stand on important issues such as the economy, civil rights, coolness factor, and international relations, but for our endorsement, Endless Simmer cuts through the crap to the only thing that matters: who eats it better?!
(photo: WYNT)
(photo: Buzzfeed)
Romney goes for a tall cone o’ soft serve, which is one of my favorite treats. (Seriously, every time we drive by a Dairy Queen on a road trip, I scream “DQ!!!” like a rabid six year old.) Obama, on the other hand, goes for a controversial choice: mint chocolate chip eaten with a spoon. I’m not kidding about the controversy; bloggers had a heyday about Obama’s outrageous rebellion. (“If he wanted to eat with a spoon, he should have ordered ice cream in a cup!”) Well, guess what, haters: I also eat ice cream out of cones with a spoon. Sometimes my teeth are sensitive! I’m glad to see our sweet-toothed POTUS understands my struggles.
Ice Cream Winner: Obama
(photo: Gigabiting)
(photo: Hard Grubbin)
Well, it’s reassuring to know that both of our options aren’t afraid to grub down on some bird. Romney seems a bit… uh… glazed over during the whole thing, while Obama aggressively tears into his wing. What does this mean? It probably means nothing. Both of these political bros are just chowing down on some chicken, and while Romney looks perilously close to the mortal sin of sticking his fork into that drumstick, he doesn’t actually do it.
Winner, winner, chicken dinner: Neither. Tie.
(photo: DailyAdvance)
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Now that we’re approaching the ‘holiday season’ (I consider it to start at Halloween), recreational drinking usually begins to rise. Being that I am a person who is passionate about alcohol, I always look forward to this time of year. But it’s because I view alcohol as a passion that I try to govern its consumption by not taking it for granted. I recently came off of a week of alcohol abstention, which is something that I do on a semi-regular basis in order to keep my liver healthy, as well as to make sure that drinking remains a pleasurable indulgence and not a dependence. The years of looking forward to the weekend party ‘buzz’ are behind me and I now consume alcohol simply for its taste, as well as its ability to enhance and compliment the flavors in food. I’ve learned the hard way about lapses in judgment due to not keeping my consumption in check, and I’m not going there again.
So, time for an ES PSA. Here’s a trick question for you: Do you know what your LD50 is?
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Finally, Halloween is here! We’ve spent weeks dreaming about candy, cocktails, and all sorts of festive party snacks, but you know how it goes… the day hits and you realize you’re one recipe short, or you get invited to a last-minute shindig… never fear, we’ve got you covered. ES has been compiling the best, weirdest, and funniest Halloween ideas on our Endless Halloween Pinboard. Here are the top five most repinned discoveries we’ve posted (not counting our own amazing ideas and creations, which you can find collected here!).
Butterfingers, Reeses Cups, M&Ms, honey-roasted peanuts, and toffee candy paired with both bittersweet and white chocolate? Sounds like a recipe for a massive amount of cavities… and a massive amount of Halloween happiness. Also good for post-Halloween when you need to use up all that leftover trick-or-treat candy.
Here’s one that’s perfect for all the last-minute lazybones. (Get it? Sorry.) With only three ingredients, these bones manage to be sweet, salty, crunchy, and pretty cool looking.
We already told you what kind of beers to drink while handing out candy to the tots. But sometimes there are just SO many kids, and halfway through you can’t help but break out the strong stuff.
Be prepared. Don’t answer that doorbell until you’ve whipped up at least one of these 10 new Halloween cocktails.
1.5 oz Old Forester Bourbon
.5 oz Cream
.5 oz Peach Purée
.5 oz Apple Butter Syrup
Pinch of Cinnamon Spice
Brown Sugar Rim
Peach or apple garnish
Muddle and strain over ice into a martini glass with a brown sugar rim. Garnish with a peach or apple slice.
From: W Los Angeles Westwood
2 oz. gin
¾ oz honey syrup
½ oz fresh lemon juice
Shake with ice, strain into a chilled cocktail and enjoy!
From: Brown Palace Hotel, Denver
1 1/2 parts EFFEN Vodka
1/2 part Triple Sec
1/2 part Lime Juice
3/4 parts Spiced Syrup (see recipe below)
1 dash Angostura® Bitters
Ginger Beer
Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker over ice and shake. Strain and pour into a cocktail glass with ice.
From: Effen Vodka
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