Author Archives: stacey

American Nuevo

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My favourite coffee order when I grab coffee at home or out and about has to be, hands down, the delicious Americano Nuevo. It’s simple, straight forward, and tasty. It won me over in one sip.

I ask for it at every coffee shop. Not by name because this is a Starbucks creation that, funny enough, a few Starbucks locations didn’t know anything about. So I l started showing everyone taking my order this above screencap from my phone so they understood what I was after.

Americano Nuevo:
1 shot Espresso
1/2 C Hot Water
1/2 C Steamed Milk
1-2 pumps Hazelnut Syrup

Highly recommend.

Strawberry Milk Drink

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This is my take on the new Starbuck’s Strawberry drink that’s going to be hot this summer.

Strawberry Milk Drink:
1/2 C Milk, frothed

4 Ice Cubes
1/4 C Milk
1/4 C Strawberries, frozen
1/4 Strawberry Jam

6 Ice Cubes
1/2 C Cold Water

Start by fluffing up a 1/4 C of milk in a tall mug with a frothing wand. Set aside.

Into a blender, place the 4 ice cubes, 1/4 C milk, frozen strawberries and the jam. Blend that up quickly and pour it into a tall glass or drink jar with a lid and straw.

Top that blend with the 6 ice cubes and the 1/2 C water. Top with the frothed milk.

Enjoy!

International Tiramisu Day

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Yesterday marked this magical day for a lot of us. It comes once a year, and this year it snuck up on me. I didn’t realise what day it was until it was almost too late. But I did manage to bang out one large tiramisu for the husband, and a baby one for me. (I’m tired of not getting more than two bites out of any of the ones I made in the past because my husband is a vacuum cleaning eater when I make tiramisu.)

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – even the worst tiramisu is still delicious tiramisu, and I’m not even sure it’s possible to make one taste bad. I’ve thought about it a lot, and I can’t come up with a single way to screw one up. 🙂

Cake Mix Cookies

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I’m a big fan of food hacks. I don’t have a lot of time and mental bandwidth to think of these myself, so when I come across them, I take a screencap for the future when I know I’ll be looking to cut corners. But, a food hack has to be a clever hack. The hack can’t ruin the final product. And it has to make my life easier. Like this one.

Spring Spinach Salad

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This is a salad I used to make when I worked at the cafeteria 3+ years ago. I love this salad. Very easy to assemble, and you can pair it with all kinds of fruit-based vinaigrettes you want to use. (We used to sell it with Raspberry vinaigrette packs.)

This salad makes me want to eat better all year long. Enjoy.

Spring Spinach Salad:
3 or 4 handfuls of fresh spinach leaves
6 canned Mandarin slices, drained
3 Cucumber slices, 1/4″ thick, quartered
3 or 4 Strawberries, cut into quarters
1 ounce Carrot sticks, julienne’d
Small pinch Almond slices

Auntie Stacey’s Jar Meat Sauce

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I was working on an idea in my head for a meat sauce I could whip up on the fly (the same way I would a salad dressing) in a mason jar that wouldn’t have to cook down like a bbq sauce, when I tripped over this idea from a random video I saw online doing a similar sauce for another application.

This is our new all-purpose meat sauce. I use it on everything! The husband thinks it reminds him of his beloved McRib sauce. I’ve never eaten a McRib, so I will defer to his expertise here. 🙂

Auntie Stacey’s Jar Meat Sauce:
1 C Ketchup
1 tbsp Soy Sauce
1/2 – 1 tea Hot Chili Paste (use as much as you can tolerate)

Mix or shake that in a small 125mL mason jar, and you’re good to go. It keeps well in the fridge if you have any leftovers. Sometimes I roll the whole batch around in pulled pork, and other times, I use a bit to top burgers or pork chops. It’s quite versatile, if you ask me.

Why this works: The complex flavours from the sugary ketchup gets balance out with the salty, umami flavour of the soy sauce. Add to that, the lovely kick of heat from the chili paste, and you’ve really got a great sauce to use on everything. Its brilliance comes from not only the low numbers of ingredients, but the distinct lack of need to cooking it down. Although, I’m sure if you wanted it even thicker, you could cook like an actual bbq sauce would be.

Enjoy!