Scott's Beer Brats

One of Scott's favorite things to make are these beer brats on the grill. Here's the recipe:

Scott's Beer Brats

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg. brats, pierce each brat several times
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1-2 Tbl brown sugar
• 1 bottle hard cider or beer
• disposable foil pans

Directions:

1. Prep your grill by brushing the grates clean, then preheat to high heat (450-550 degrees). Once preheated, turn off one burner to allow for both direct and indirect cooking.
2. Put brats, onions and cider into your foil pan. Place on the grill over direct heat and bring to a simmer.
3. Simmer for about 20 minutes, turning brats occasionally. Do not boil or brats might split open. (If cider starts to boil, move the pan to the indirect heat).
4. Lower grill to medium heat. Remove the brats from the onions and cider and place them in a new pan that has walls.
5. Strain onions from cider by placing a colander into a larger bowl to catch the cider. Use the strained cider to cover the brats to keep them warm. Return the onions to the original foil pan.
6. Stir brown sugar into the onions and return the foil pan to the grill and cook over medium heat until golden brown with the lid closed as much as possible (about 15 minutes). Then move the pan with the onions to indirect heat to keep warm.
7. Remove the brats from the cider pan and place them directly on the grill over medium heat for about 6-8 minutes, turning once or twice.
8. During the final minutes of the brats cooking, remove the onions from the indirect heat and place buns on that part of the grill to toast.
• Scott has a note that there isn't enough room on our grill to cook buns for all five of us, so he does them in batches of 2 or 3 at a time.
9. Serve brats in the buns with the onions on the side.

Adult Key Lime Pie Drink

I absolutely LOVE key lime pie, and when a friend told me about this cocktail that tastes like key lime pie, I had to try it. I was impressed with how much it actually tastes like the real thing, and how simple it was to make.

Key Lime Pie Drink

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. limeade
• 2 oz. whipped vodka
• 1/4 cup simple syrup
• Whipped Cream
• Ice

Directions:

1. Pour limeade, vodka, and simple syrup over ice. Stir. 
2. Top with whipped cream.

Marsha's Notes and Variations-

• I used Simply Limeade, which is a slightly pulpy limeade, so if that bothers you, then you might want to find another brand. I also used Pinnacle whipped vodka, which is a whipped cream flavored vodka. I imagine any brand of whipped cream vodka would do, but these too specific brands gave me the taste-results I was looking for.
• Some recipes don't call for simple syrup, but I found the limeade to be bitter enough that my sweet tooth demanded it, and it really turned this drink into that dessert-taste I was expecting. If you don't want your drink so sweet, you can certainly leave it out or adjust the amount.
• I also tried putting in a splash of coffee creamer instead of using whipped cream, and it worked okay. It tasted fine, but the acidity of the limeade made the creamer split a bit, so just be aware. I think whipped cream would be a safer choice because it more floats on top of the drink and wouldn't mix as much with the limeade.
• Some people dress up their cups with a lime wedge, or by rimming the cup with crushed graham crackers. Simply wet the edge of the cup with either the limeade or the vodka and then dip the cup into a bowl of crushed graham crackers.
• If you don't want the ice to water-down the drink, you can chill your vodka (and your glass) in advance and not use ice, or you can mix your limeade and vodka in a shaker with ice and strain it into your glass once it's cold.
• Some recipes call for lemon-lime soda instead of limeade, so if you want it sparkly, you can go that route, but you probably wouldn't need the simple syrup since soda is already sweet, you couldn't chill it in a shaker, and it might not have that true "lime" taste. That being said, it would still probably be really yummy.

Beer Pancakes

When I was a kid, my Dad would make beer pancakes that were delicious. I wasn't old enough to remember how he made them, but feeling nostalgic one day, I Googled a recipe and found something on All Recipes. While I will add that recipe below because it was good, I have sort of found that if you just take your favorite pancake mix that calls for water and add beer to it instead you get practically the same thing with MUCH less work. (Maybe that's how Dad did it after all... humm...) So, either way, enjoy!

Beer Pancakes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup beer
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. 
2. Pour in the egg, beer and melted butter; stir with a whisk just until blended - a few lumps are okay.
3. Heat a skillet or griddle over medium heat (325 degrees). 
4. Coat with vegetable oil or cooking spray. 
5. Spoon about 1/4 cup of batter onto the hot surface for each pancake. 
6. When bubbles appear on top of the pancakes, flip, and cook until browned on the other side.

Easy "Drop Drinks"

To round out my posts about all my favorite home-made cocktails, so far, I am going to do a quick post about all of my easy "drop drinks." Simple, fast, and yummy... they basically involve a serving of the base of your choice and about a shot of the preferred liquor. Enjoy!

Rum and Coke- 1 shot rum to a serving of cola. You can change things up by using vanilla rums or other complimenting flavors to your cola.

Lime Ricky- 1 shot grape vodka to a serving of lemon lime soda pop plus grape flavored syrup (1/4 cup or so depending on taste) and optional fresh lime juice/wedges.

Bailey's and Coffee/Hot Chocolate- approximately 3 oz of your favorite Bailey's Ice Cream Liquor to a serving of coffee or hot chocolate. For a cold twist, add to chocolate milk or iced coffee.

Rumchatta and Coffee/Hot Chocolate- same as Bailey's.

Dr. Malibu- 1 shot Malibu rum and 1 serving Dr. Pepper

Marsha's Notes:

1/2 a shot usually equals about 25 ml or .845 oz. 1 full shot usually equals about 50 ml or 1.7 oz.

Marsha's Classic or Fruity Mojito And Long Island Iced Tea

Over the years I have made some delicious classic mint and lime mojitos (very refreshing when it's hot), but I have also sweetened things up a bit and made some amazing fruity mojitos as well. Here I will share both recipes with you. Enjoy!

Marsha's Classic Mojito

Ingredients:

• 1/2-1 shot white rum (Bacardi)
• 2-4 Tbl. white sugar or 1/4 cup simple syrup
• 8 small mint leaves
• Juice of 1/2-1 lime, freshly squeezed
• Crushed Ice
• Soda Water/Club Soda

Directions:

1. All proportions vary depending on your taste, but these are the proportions we like. First you have to decide if you want to muddle your mint leaves in real sugar or crush them with simple syrup. 
• If you use regular sugar, add the juice of your lime to the serving glass, then the sugar, and finally drop in the mint leaves. Muddle (smash with a muddle stick) gently in the bottom of the glass 3 or 4 times to release the mint flavor. Over muddling makes things bitter. 
• If you decide to use simple syrup, I find it easiest to just take my mint leaves, and instead of muddling, I just smack them really good a few times in my hands to release the flavors before adding them to the rest of the ingredients in the glass. Just give them a good spank.
• Pick the smallest, newest leaves of mint from the top of the stem for the least amount of bitterness.
2. Then add your rum and ice; stir. 
3. Top off the glass with a splash of club soda. Again, the amount of soda depends on your taste, but I usually add about a 4 oz. or so.

Marsha's Fruity Mojito

Ingredients:

• 1 shot fruit flavored rum
• 2-4 Tbl. white sugar or 1/4 cup simple syrup
• 8 small mint leaves
• Juice of 1/2-1 lime, freshly squeezed
• Crushed Ice
• Soda Water/Club Soda
• sliced/diced fresh fruit coated in sugar and left to macerate, about a 1/4 cup

Directions:

1. The directions for this recipe are almost exactly the same as above, except you will now use a fruit rum instead. Fruit rums tend to be about 1/2 the strength of white rum. We have really loved Cruzan's Tropical Fruit or Black Cherry flavors, but you could use any that you like. 
2. Earlier in the day, I will prep some fresh fruit to compliment the drink by slicing/dicing it, covering it in some white sugar, and letting it sit in the fridge to release the natural juices, such as strawberries. I have also sliced a kiwi to make a kiwi strawberry version.

Marsha's Long Island Iced Tea

Ingredients:

• 1/2 oz vodka
• 1/2 oz rum
• 1/2 oz gin
• 1/2 oz top shelf tequila
• 1/2 oz triple sec
• 1 oz sweet and sour mix
• 1/4 cup simple syrup (optional)
• 1 oz cola or to taste (more than a splash)
• 1 lemon slice

Directions:

1. Fill cocktail shaker with ice. 
2. Pour in all ingredients except cola and lemon slice, cover and shake. 
3. Add fresh ice into serving glass (Collins or hurricane) and pour over. 
4. Top with cola and stir for iced tea color. Garnish with lemon slice.

Marsha's Notes:
I don't usually like the taste of tequila unless it is subtle/top shelf, so I might sometimes leave this out if I don't have any good stuff on hand. I like my drinks to be sweet, so I add the extra 1/4 cup of simple syrup to mine, but a true recipe doesn't call for it. Adjusting the sweetness just with the cola changes the sweetness AND flavor, unlike adding the simple syrup instead, so that's why I opt for that. But don't kid yourself. This drink has LOTS of alcohol in it, so there's only so much you can do to make it sweet. It's gonna taste like alcohol.

Lemon Drop Shot

Marsha's Lemon Drop Shot

Ingredients:

• 0.5 oz. Vodka
• 0.5 oz. Triple Sec
• 0.5 oz lemon juice
• sugar for rim
• lemon wedges

Directions:

1. In a measured shot glass, measure out 1/2 an ounce of all three liquids. 
2. Take a clean shot glass for serving, run a lemon wedge around the rim and dip in sugar to coat. 
3. Pour the measured drink into the glass and serve with a lemon wedge. You can either shoot the whole thing and chase with a bite into the lemon wedge, or you can sip and drink gradually while chasing with the lemon after each sip.

Copy-Cat Olive Garden Sangria

Olive Garden has the most amazing sangria and I was lucky enough to find some copy-cat recipes on the internet so I could get the basis for making my own at home! So fruity, sweet, and yummy especially in summer! I want to jot down this recipe before next summer comes and I get a craving!

Marsha's Olive Garden Copy-Cat Sangria

Ingredients:

• Ice, crushed
• Fruit, sliced strawberries and oranges
• 4 oz. Moscato
• 1 oz. flavored syrup/puree
• 1 oz. soda pop or juice

Directions:

1. For Watermelon Sangria- use crushed ice, sliced strawberries and oranges, 4 oz. Moscato, 1 oz. Monin Watermelon Syrup, 1 oz. ginger ale
2. For Green Apple Sangria- use crushed ice, sliced strawberries and oranges, 4 oz. Moscato, 1 oz. Monin Green Apple Puree, 1 oz. pineapple juice.
3. Add all ingredients to your glass (or quadruple recipe for a pitcher) and stir!

Monin Watermelon Syrup (click here to go to Amazon)

Monin Green Apple Puree (click here to go to Amazon)

Marsha's Cinnamon Roll Drink

This is a super sweet, delicious cocktail that tastes like eating the center of a cinnamon roll. YUM!

Marsha's Cinnamon Roll Drink

Ingredients:

• 1 can cream soda
• 1/2-1 shot Porter's Fire Cinnamon Vanilla Whisky
• Ice

Directions:

1. You can either pour your cream soda of your choice over ice, add the whisky and give it a quick stir, or you can take a bottle of cream soda, drink a bit to make room, then add the whisky right to the bottle. 
2. I've also seen people garnish this drink with some whipped cream sprinkled with cinnamon sugar for an icing effect.

Beer Bread

My son had a school fundraiser, and one of the items I purchased as a bread mix called, "For What Ales You." Hidden within that clever title is the simple fact that this was a beer bread mix. It was SUPER tasty with the extra yummy yeast-y flavor of the beer... I just had to find a way to make this recipe again, even though I might not ever have the opportunity to purchase that same mix from the school.

Beer Bread

• 3 cups flour (sifted)
• 3 teaspoons baking powder (omit if using Self-Rising Flour)
• 1 teaspoon salt (omit if using Self-Rising Flour)
• 1⁄4 cup sugar
• 1 beer (I used Redd's Apple Ale)*
• 1⁄4-1⁄2 cup melted butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. (I used 350 on convection.)
2. Sift dry ingredients.
3. Mix dry ingredients and beer.
4. Pour into a greased loaf pan.
5. Pour melted butter over mixture. (We use an entire stick (1⁄2 cup), but if that's too buttery for you, use a 1⁄4 stick instead.)
6. Bake 1 hour (or 45 min. on convection), remove from pan and cool for at least 15 minutes.

Marsha's Notes: 

I have to use my larger dark bread pan, as opposed to my clear glass (smaller) bread pans. Sifting your dry ingredients for this recipe is a MUST!

I spray my pan because I really don't want it to stick, but you do use a lot of butter and this is a non-stick pan, so you do you.

Sifting!!!

Sifted.

Add the beer.

Nice and foamy after the beer is added.

Stirred JUST until the ingredients are incorporated and you have a shaggy dough.

Plop the dough into your pan and push it to the edges.

Pour over your melted butter.

It will pool in the pan.

Place in the hot oven to bake.

Done! And so pretty!!!

Yum!