Sunday, October 25, 2009

Celtic Whiskey Apples Recipe

Based on a very old recipe for Golden Apples, this sweet treat is like having only the best parts of apple pie.



You'll need:

1 Apple

1 Rolled, refrigerated pie crust

1/2 cup Jim Beam whiskey

1 cup Sugar

1/4 t Cinnamon

1/4 t Dried Orange Peel

A dash of Ground Clove



- Start by coring an apple and cutting into 16 even wedges

- Set aside the apple pieces for later use

- Unroll the pie crust and cut into circles using a drinking glass

- Roll out each circle a little before placing a wedge of apple along one side

- Fold the pie crust circle over the wedge of apple and smooth over using your fingers to encase the apple wedge

- Repeat this for each apple wedge

- Arrange the wrapped apple wedges onto the bottom of an ungreased 9X9 casserole dish



- In a sauce pan, dissolve 1 cup sugar into 1/2 cup of Jim Beam whiskey on low-medium heat

- When the sugar has dissolved, stir in your spices

- Pour the warm whiskey syrup over the wrapped apple wedges

- Bake at 400F for 20 minutes

- Allow to cool a bit and serve warm

Lavender Honey Sweet Rolls

A favorite from a few months ago I thought I would share.
Here it is at last.

Combine the following:

2c Whole wheat flour
1c All purpose flour
2 packets of Dry active yeast
2t Salt
1/2t Baking soda

*Heat the following in a saucepan over low heat:
1 1/2c Plain Yogurt
1/2c Water
3T Butter
1/2c Lavender infused honey

(Heat to about 125 F)

*Pour the mix from the saucepan over the dry ingredients

*Mix well (use a mixer if needed)

On a floured surface, knead in the following:
1c Whole Wheat flour

*Once kneaded, place the dough into a greased bowl and allow to rise until it
has about doubled in size.

*Punch the dough down and push out into a rectangle

*Using a pizza cutter, divide the dough into 1 inch by 6 inch sections

*Take one section and curl it over two of your fingers. The dough is fairly
stretchy so it should curl up nicely.

*Slide the roll off of your finger and onto a greased baking sheet.

*Reapeat that process with each section of dough until all of your rolls are
complete.

*Cover the rolls and allow them to rise for a 1/2 hour

*Bake on the middle or upper rack at 350F for 10-12 minutes. Keep a close eye on
these because the bottoms love to burn.

*Spray the top of each roll with cooking spray and set onto a wire rack to cool.

*Serve the rolls with lavender honey butter or rose petal jam.


In case you don't know how to infuse honey...
Heat a cup or two of honey on low until it is easy to stir. Add in a few sprigs
of fresh lavender or a tablespoon or two of dry lavender. Maintain a low heat
for a few minutes until the smell of the flowers is strong. Strain the lavender
out and jar the honey for later use.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Cool Down with a Mango Lassi Recipe

M is for Mango Lassi by ilovelalalu

Mmm... One of my favorite drinks of all time has to be the Mango Lassi. It's an Indian smoothie that's absolutely delicious. It's just the right amount of sweet and cold to cool me down on a balmy, hot night like tonight. Here's a simple recipe for my frozen Mango Lassi.

-----------------
INGREDIENTS
-----------------
1/2 cup Skim Milk
1 cup Stonyfield Farms French Vanilla Yogurt
10 -15 Ice Cubes
1 cup Frozen Mango Chunks (1 1/2 if you really like mango)
2 T Agave Nectar
1/4 t Nutmeg

---------------
DIRECTIONS
---------------
1. Place milk, yogurt, ice and mango chunks into the blender
2. Mix on Puree setting until smooth
3. Pour on agave nectar
4. Sprinkle on nutmeg
5. Blend for a few more seconds
6. Pour some into a glass
7. Enjoy

Since I'm in a Mango Lassi mood, here are some awesome related items on Etsy:

Mango Lassi Soap by BathAlchemy

This soap looks very yummy. In fact this seller has a number of fun and colorful soaps in her shop. Her Midnight Jasmine soap looks amazing too!

Mango Lassi Lip Balm by StarbornAlchemy

For all of those times when you aren't near a blender, this lip balm can act as a surrogate lassi. According to the description, not only does it smell of Mango Lassi but it's also sweet! Yum.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Cooling Muscle Salve - Visual Recipe

Sore, hot muscles are inevitable as the days get warmer and activity increases. This recipe is intended to help soothe just those aches and pains. Think of it like a cooling version of tiger balm.

This recipe is simple, but does require quite a few essential oils. Having tested it on my own sore knees after a long day, I can say that it feels utterly refreshing and smells uplifting too!

--------
TOOLS
--------
Candle warming plate
Small ceramic mug
Measuring spoons
Stirring stick
Measuring cup
Empty 2oz jar with lid
-----------------
INGREDIENTS
-----------------
1 oz Jojoba Oil
1 oz Sweet Almond Oil
1 1/2 t Beeswax
30 drops Peppermint Essential Oil
20 drops Camphor Essential Oil
15 drops Eucalyptus Essential Oil
10 drops Lavender Essential Oil
3-5 drops Lemongrass Essential Oil (optional)

Note: The lemongrass can be overpowering. It smells fresh and citrusy, but if you prefer a cool mint smell I would encourage you to not include it in the salve.

------------------
INSTRUCTIONS
------------------
Turn on the candle warmer
Place mug on the warmer
Add jojoba and sweet almond oil to the mug

Add the beeswax and stir
Allow the beeswax to melt completely into the oil

Cover with foil to speed the process

When fully melted, add in the essential oils
Stir to evenly distribute

Pour the salve mix into a jar
Allow to cool at room temperature until hard
Store in the refrigerator for extra cooling action!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Yarrow Healing Salve - Visual Recipe

Today's recipe is for a simple Yarrow Salve. Yarrow, a.k.a. Achillea Millefolium, has been praised for centuries in western culture as a great healing herb. Traditionally Yarrow was used to treat wounds due to it's styptic properties. It's colloquial nickname of "nosebleed" reflects one of it's common uses.

Here I will cover step by step a method for making a Yarrow Salve. The nice thing about this recipe is that it does not take much in the way of supplies and can be prepared in a small space.

---------
TOOLS
---------
Candle warming plate
Small ceramic mug
Measuring spoons
Stirring stick
Measuring cup
Cheesecloth
Small mesh strainer
Empty 2oz jar with lid
-----------------
INGREDIENTS
-----------------
1 oz Jojoba Oil
1 oz Olive Oil
3-4 Yarrow Leaves
3-4 T Yarrow Flowers
1 1/2 t Beeswax
5 drops Vitamin E Oil

------------------
INSTRUCTIONS
------------------
Turn on the candle warmer
Place mug on the warmer
Add jojoba and olive oil to the mug

Add yarrow leaves into mug
Break apart if needed

Add yarrow flowers to mug
(Fresh, white flowers are best, but dry will do)
Make sure the yarrow is mixed well
The oil should just cover the yarrow

Allow yarrow bits to sit in the warm oil for up to 2 hours

Strain through cheese cloth into a cup

Bundle up excess the cheesecloth around the yarrow and press the bundle against a mesh strainer to squeeze out the last of the oil.

Be VERY CAREFUL, the oil is HOT.
Hot oil hurts, a lot.

Transfer the oil back into the ceramic mug

Warm the oil up again

Shave off the beeswax needed for the next step

Add in the beeswax and stir

Allow the beeswax to melt completely into the oil
This is your salve mix

Warm up a glass jar under water of increasing temperature
Wipe the jar dry
Transfer the warm salve mix into the jar
Allow to cool at room temperature

Voila! Yarrow Salve!

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Peppermint Lip Balm - Visual Recipe

I've been wanting to post this for a while, but my personal life has been a big distraction lately. Not that I mind, but it also feels good to get another recipe up. This one is very simple and requires only little bits of ingredients. It will make just about one tube of lip balm.

---------
TOOLS
---------
Set of measuring spoons
Stirring stick
Candle warmer
Ceramic mug
Empty lip balm tube

-----------------
INGREDIENTS
-----------------
1/2 tsp White Beeswax
1/2 tsp Cocoa Butter
1/2 tsp Sweet Almond Oil
3 drops Peppermint EO

-----------------
DIRECTIONS
-----------------
Heat up the candle warming plate.
Place beeswax into little ceramic mug.

Add sweet almond oil to little mug.

Place mug atop the candle warming plate.
Melt the wax and oil.

Shave cocoa butter into the mug.
Stir to distribute.

Add in 3 drops of peppermint essential oil.
Stir.
It should smell beautifully minty now!

Continue to melt into a uniform liquid.

Make sure the pusher is at the bottom of the tube.
Pour the warm liquid into the empty lip balm tube.
Set aside to cool.
Refrigeration speeds the cooling process.

TA-DA... some super cheap, very fab lip balm.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Thanks to Visitors Worldwide - 10 Weeks

After 10 weeks of keeping Majhada full of fun recipes, tutorials and interesting bits of inspiration I feel I should thank all of the visitors for their support!

THANKS SO MUCH!

Thus far I've had visitors from the following places: United States, Australia, Malaysia, Germany, South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Canada, United Kingdom, Malawi, Italy, Croatia, Philippines, Netherlands, France, Reunion, Slovakia, Hungary, Pakistan, Malaysia, Mexico and Dominican Republic.

I hope to post a thank you to visitors from many more countries in the months to come.

Keep coming back. :-D