Horchata

Hello! I apologize for the long delay. I have been super busy trying to pack up since we're leaving for Ireland in t-19 days. Yes, I will be living in Ireland for 8 months. I'm so excited and hopefully will pick up some new recipes there!

For those of you who don't know, I adore Mexican food. It's so good! Here is my favorite drink, horchata. My friend Cidne is legit, she's half Guatemalan. I'm literally copying and pasting this recipe from their cooking blog, here is the link to the original.

This tastes best on a hot, summer day. It's not for everyone, but I grew up drinking it... The porportions are very vague so you can easily alter it to your own preferences. Some people like it really watery, while others like it very sweet.

2 cups rice

water

cinnamon

sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

lots of ice

Place rice in pitcher and add water until it completely covers the rice. Liberally sprinkle with cinnamon and let it soak for at least an hour. It's best if you can do this the night before and let it soak overnight.

When you're ready to make the drink, pour everything into a blender and blend away. Then run it all through a strainer to eliminate as much as the rice pulp as you can. My mom doesn't bother with this step, but I think it's worth it. Otherwise it's very grainy at the bottom. I just use a normal strainer, but I've heard cheese cloth works really well. I'll get back to you if I try it that way...

Once your water is strained and in the pitcher, add some vanilla extract. Now the water that you've got now is concentrated horchata. You will need to dilute this AND add sugar. How much sugar and how much water is up to you and what you like. I wish I could be more specific but I just eyeball it and every pitcher is different.

Refrigerate and serve with ice. The drink will go sour after a couple of days so drink as much as you can while it's fresh.

(Source: Cidne W. from The Tasty Spoon and Fork.blogspot.com)

Apple Pie Granola

At my house we really enjoy granola, but it can be really expensive. I've tried a few recipes to make my own, but I had a hard time buying all the ingredients I would use maybe once or twice a year (ex. wheat germ, flax seed meal, oat bran soy grits (are those even real?)). These recipe has ingredients that I always have on hand! It's so good! It really does taste like Apple pie, just with nuts and raisins.

Apple Pie Granola

- 5 c. rolled oats

- 1 c. chopped apples

- 1 c. coarsely chopped pecans

- 1 c. raisins

- 3/4 c. butter or margarine, melted

- 3/4 c. firmly packed brown sugar

- 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Toast oats in ungreased 15 1/2 x 10 1/2 in. jelly roll pan in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. Combine toasted oats and remaining ingredients except raisins and mix well. Placed back in ungreased jelly roll pan. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally to brown evenly. After the first 15 minutes of baking time add the raisins in. Cool and stir until crumbly. Store in a tightly covered container in fridge. Makes about 9 cups.

I actually make this many times with the nuts. I even made it once without the apples and raisins, and it still tasted amazing!

(Source: Kathe M.)

Snickerdoodles

When I was younger I was always baking cookies. I really like this recipe because it calls for ingredients that you probably already have in your cupboards.

Snickerdoodles

- 1 c. butter
- 1 1/2 c. sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 3/4 c. flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp. cream of tartar
- 2 Tbsp. sugar
- 2 tsp. cinnamon

Cream the butter and sugar together and then mix in the other powdered ingredients and eggs. Roll into walnut-sized balls. In a separate bowl mix together sugar and cinnamon. Roll the dough balls in the cinnamon sugar mix and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet 2 inches apart.

Cook at 375 to 400 degrees F for 6-10 minutes. Remove them from oven before they turn light brown. Makes several dozen.

(Source: Michelle D)