Juicing fun

Oh the joys of a trip to Central California, where winter means oranges, tangerines, lemons, grapefruit. Yum!
We came home with TONS of them, picked from the grandparents' tree, where we know they were grown with much love!
And here's Zeal's new favorite kitchen gadget - the citrus juicer:



The one we used is a Braun, and was sooooo easy to use. It also strains out a lot of the pulp and all the seeds as it was juicing. A far cry from the old hand citrus juicer that has been a staple at our house for years. With the large quantity of citrus we were processing, we couldn't have done it with that old one. No way.

As for the juice, it didn't last long enough to take a picture of the final product. Mmmmmm. Nothing like fresh squeezed juice.

our favorite sippies

Cheers to all the companies who are now making sippy cups that are safe for our toddlers to be drinking from!!!!

Here are our favorites:



The Foogo sippy, made by Thermos, (yes, this is how she carries it around).

and,



The Safe Sippy.

The best thing about both of these (as opposed to other stainless sippies out there, is that these don't leak and have that "must suck to get anything out of it" stopper. And oh yeah, they are chemical, plastic, and BPA free. Yippeeeee!

a holiday drink for mommy

So, I've been in the kitchen most of the day preparing for the holiday feast that will ensue around here come tomorrow about mid-day. Most of today's "cooking" consisted of drink making, the ones we usually have for the adults... drinks I won't be taking part in this year. But why should everyone else be without them? Still, I wanted something a little special, and non-alcoholic- for me (besides my usual-of-late "belly tea".

So, I decided to make a "Ginger-only" drink, featuring, what else, but....



ginger!

For a brief while I became enamored by this spice that is my namesake. We even went out of our way on a trip years back in Australia, to visit this place:



So here's todays creation, something I've never made before but always loved. Ginger-ale.



How to Make Homemade Gingerale
Ingredients
1/2 lb. fresh ginger, cut into 1/4 inch "coins"
2 cups tap water
2 cups light brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
pinch cayenne pepper
sparkling water

Directions:
Combine ginger, tap water, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a saucepan. Bring to boil. Once boiling, turn down heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cayenne. Let cool. Once cooled, strain syrup into a container/pitcher. When ready to serve, pour 1/4 cup of syrup and 1/2 cup of sparkling water over ice. Stir. Yum, yum!


And now, I don't think I'll ever go back to the store-bought stuff again. I have ended up sharing it with the rest of my family (I just couldn't keep it a secret - it was that good!) and they too agree, that it is definitely worth making at home!