Beverages

Mango Bellini

31 December 2012 Beverages
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It’s funny that I’ve featured several beverages here recently, when normally I’m a very boring water drinker. I love the idea of cocktails, but usually I’m so busy with food I can’t fuss with drinks. My friend Lisa – who is never boring – inspired me when she came over with ingredients not just for [...]

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Banana nog

12 December 2012 Beverages
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Some of my kids can’t get over the idea of drinking raw egg in eggnog, even after I tell them that eggnog is like ice cream in liquid form. I would love to make fresh eggnog with them, as I did with my mom’s rotary metal eggbeater when I was a kid, but bacterial contamination [...]

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Cranberry tea

29 November 2012 Beverages
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There was something familiar about the ruby, warming cranberry tea my little brother made for Thanksgiving. As I sipped it, I could picture it being made – fresh cranberries simmering in water with cinnamon sticks, cloves, orange and lemon juice. For an instant I imagined I’d developed magical culinary insight. My brother looked at me [...]

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Fruit smoothie

29 August 2012 Beverages
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I am a chronic over-buyer of fruit at any time of year, but in the summertime I really go crazy. In our large household, the best fruit disappears the minute I cut it, leaving only sticky fingers. But when fruit gets overripe or just plain tired, I pile it into the blender with juice, milk [...]

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Fresh herb tea

12 August 2011 Beverages
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Herbal teas in a bag can taste musty to me, but teas made with fresh herbs have a bright garden greenness that I love. This summer I’ve been enjoying fresh mint, always a tongue-tingling delight, as well as lemongrass and lemon verbena. I adore my black tea in the morning, but in the evenings a [...]

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Minty lemonade

4 August 2011 Beverages
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Before there was Silicon Valley, there was an expanse of blossoming fruit trees known as the Valley of Heart’s Delight. A local hardware chain, the aptly named Orchard Supply Hardware, began in 1931 as a farmers’ cooperative. Mountain View is now home to Google and a hub of Silicon Valley activity, but in a 1995 [...]

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Barry’s Gold tea – sunshine on a gray day

28 September 2010 Beverages
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If you came into my kitchen from today’s rain, I’d serve you up a steaming hot cup of Barry’s Gold tea. My morning tea ritual takes a hiatus during the hot summer months, and a real joy for me with the first fall chill is the return of my rise-and-shine cuppa. I know the west [...]

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