Sayso Cocktails

Last Summer's Fancy Food Show in NYC introduced me to several new favorites, one of which is Sayso Cocktails.

I am a big fan of mixed drinks but I'm usually too lazy to make one at home. I'll toss stuff together without measuring--various liqueurs that are on hand, some juice, seltzer--and end up with something quaffable, but not worth remaking. (I will never claim to have any mixology talents.) Sayso lured me immediately with the ease of making a tasty cocktail with only three ingredients: a Sayso "tea bag" (which I prefer to call a "sachet,"), water, and alcohol. The sachet contains all-natural flavorings and a blend of no-aftertaste low-calorie sweeteners that turn water into the cocktail mixer of your choice. You can stop right there, adding a bit more water and ice to your glass and enjoy it a mocktail, or you can add your favorite hooch. Sayso comes in four flavors so far: rosemary honey moscow mule, old fashioned, skinny cardamom paloma, and skinny spicy margarita.

Cocktails can be super sweet, but Sayso drinks are not. If you like sugar, you can certainly add some simple syrup to taste! You can also use Sayso as a starting point and create variations on a theme. For instance, when I remembered we had a container of Talenti Mango Sorbetto in the freezer, I realized I could make a spicy mango margarita. 

Spicy Mango Margarita

1 sachet Sayso skinny spicy margarita

4 ounces warm water

2 ounces blanco tequila

1/4 cup Talenti mango sorbetto

Ice

Seltzer (I used a tropical fruit-flavored one)

Fresh Mint

In a highball glass, steep the sachet in the water for 5 minutes. Wring all the goodness out of the sachet and discard. Add the tequila and sorbetto and give it a stir. Add a few ice cubes and top with a splash or two of seltzer. Garnish with fresh mint.

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I prefer the old fashioned and Moscow mule flavors in the colder months, when I'm more likely to drink brown liquor like bourbon and dark rum. But all four flavors are great any time of the year.

Order Sayso directly from the company, or from Amazon. I received samples of all four varieties from the company, but I will definitely be purchasing these again, particularly the spicy marg version. 

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Thanksgiving in October

When Keystone Meats sent me several cans of their products to play with, the temps were still in the upper 70s and low 80s, yet it was already October. I really wanted to do something with pumpkin, like a nice curried soup, but I was also in the mood for an easy chicken salad. The best solution seemed to do both. And to make the chicken salad a more seasonable companion to the soup, I thought it might be nice to add some Thanksgiving-ish flavors to it. Sage and cranberries made the most sense to me, as stuffing and cranberry sauce are two of my favorite sides and are both essential elements in the traditional post-dinner turkey sandwich.

If you'd rather crack open a can of cranberry sauce and add that to the dressing instead of dried cranberries, be my guest! Some chopped walnuts would be nice in the salad, too.

Thanksgiving Chicken (or Turkey) Salad

1 teaspoon dried sage or 4 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
2-3 sprigs fresh thyme (optional)
2 heaped tablespoons dried cranberries
1 tablespoon chopped scallion
1 tablespoon finely diced celery + 1 tablespoon chopped celery leaves
1 heaping tablespoon mayonnaise
1 14.5-ounce can Keystone All-Natural Chicken or Turkey, drained
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 slices of your favorite hearty bread, lightly toasted, per sandwich

Combine first seven ingredients in a bowl. Add the chicken and stir to coat. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Pile onto bread and serve.

Makes 2-3 sandwiches.

Easy Curried Pumpkin Soup

2 cups chicken stock
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling!)
1/2 cup coconut milk + 2 tablespoons
2 teaspoons curry powder (I like The Spice House or Penzey's)
Salt and ground white pepper
Maple syrup

Combine stock, pumpkin, 1/2 cup coconut milk, and curry powder in a saucepan and bring to a simmer.  Cook 10 minutes. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper. Add a teaspoon or so of maple syrup to balance the curry flavoring, but not enough to make the soup sweet (unless you want sweet soup!)

Pour into bowls and garnish with a bit of the extra coconut milk. I put a pinch of fresh thyme on top, too, because our thyme plant is out of control.

Serves 2-3

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

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National Root Beer Float Day

National Root Beer Float Day is Saturday, August 6th. I know I can use any old root beer and ice cream combo to make a tasty drink, what really floats my boat (see what I did there?) is one made with the boozy Not Your Father's Root Beer and Graeter's Ice Cream. Mmmm....Graeter's. (My favorite!)

While Graeter's Madagascar Vanilla Bean ice cream is perfect for a root beer float, so is their salted caramel flavor. I think so anyway. It adds just the right amount of salt to cut some of the sweetness. One of their chocolate flavors would be great too, but maybe not one with chocolate chips as they'd plug up your straw and impede the flow of root beer+ice cream to your gullet. And we can't have that.

Honestly, I don't know why Small Town Brewery calls their product, "Not Your Father's Root Beer," because my Dad will definitely drink it! It's an ale that tastes exactly like root beer - sweet, with the typical root beer melange of wintergreen/ sarsparilla/ vanilla/ anise notes, but it's 5.9% ABV. In any case, it's an alcoholic beverage, so don't give it to your kids. And please drink responsibly.

For those of you lucky enough to be living in states where ice cream and alcohol can be purchased in the same store, you can pick up pints of Graeter's and six-packs of Not Your Father's Root Beer at places like Kroger, Giant Eagle, and Harris Teeter. Then you can rush right home and make yourself a sweet treat. Even luckier people who have a Graeter's Scoop Shop (and can get fresh Graeter's ice cream any time they want - my dream) in their town can get someone else to make a root beer float for them in a branded commemorative mug. Here in Maryland, you have visit two stores (for example, Dulaney Wines and Spirits is a couple doors down from The Fresh Market in Towson) to get your boozy root beer float supplies, but heck, Graeter's is so tasty, it's worth any minor hassles you might face to obtain some.

If you do indulge, take a pic of your drink and post it on Instagram. Don't forget to use the tag #nationalrootbeerfloatday, and you can tag me, too, @Daminxy1, while you're at it so I can see your posts.

* Products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!



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Thanksgiving Restaurant Round-up

Thanksgiving is a week away, and if you're not up for cooking the usual roast beast, there are always plenty of restaurant options to choose from. Here's a few for your consideration. Click the names of the restaurants for menus, plus additional information.

Wit & Wisdom

Chef Zack Mills is offering a three-course Fall-inspired Feast
Thursday, November 26
2:00pm - 8:00pm
$85 per adult | $40 children under 12
$40 optional wine pairing

The menu includes turkey, of course, but you can also choose monkfish, if you prefer. Chef Mills' gorgeous crab bisque is available as a starter, and pastry chef Dyan Ng's creations include the fall flavors of sweet potato, butternut squash, or good old chocolate.

Cinnamon Tree

Brunch
10am - 4pm
$35 per person | $16.95 for children under 10

Brunch staples like omelets cooked to order, plus standouts like grouper stuffed with Maryland crabmeat and a red pepper coulis; allspice and cinnamon scented pork loin with apricot sauce. Turkey, of course, and a prime rib carving station, with traditional stuffing and side dishes. For dessert, try their specialty Cinnamon Tree Cinnamon Buns, which make you wish that Thanksgiving was every day of the year.

Waterfront Kitchen

Thursday, November 26, 2015
12:00 – 7:00pm
$65 per person | $15 for children 12 and under
$25 wine pairing

New executive chef Chris Amendola has created a family-style meal that includes Rettland Farm turkey with all the trimmings, followed by pumpkin pie and apple crisp. Just like home, but with a harbor view.

Milton Inn

$58 per person | $29 for children 12 and under
A la carte menu also available

The Milton Inn is offering a three-course Thanksgiving Feast this year, an appetizer of your choice, followed by a full turkey dinner with gravy, sauerkraut with sausage, sweet potato mousse, onion and celery stuffing, Jack Tarr mashed potatoes, cranberry relish, seasonal veg, Parker House rolls, and cornbread! Whew. Plus dessert. Or, you can choose venison, short ribs, or surf and turf from the a la carte menu.

Manor Tavern

Thanksgiving Buffet
Seatings at 12:30pm, 3:00pm, and 5:30pm
$39.95 per person | $15.95 children 3-12 | Free for children under 3

Turkey, ham, and prime rib are the centerpieces of this buffet that includes all the usual suspects: sweet potatoes; cranberry sauce; gravy; sage dressing and oyster dressing; plus mac and cheese; red cabbage with kielbasa; lots of desserts.



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Bonefish Grill - Hooked on Tuesday

Hooked on Tuesday is Bonefish Grill's new promo featuring three course meals starting at $14.90. Diners have a choice of house or Caesar salad, one of nine entrees (each with a side and veg), and a dessert. Depending on the entree chosen, dinner can cost as little as $14.90 or as much as $20.90, which is still super inexpensive, especially considering all of the choices are either steak or seafood.

Bonefish Grill in Towson invited us to try a Hooked on Tuesday dinner for ourselves. How could we refuse?

We started with a couple of cocktails, including a "Fresh Watermelon Icicle Aphrodisiac Martini" (hand-muddled watermelon, fresh sour, house-made cucumber infused vodka, and frozen watermelon cubes), and a Summer Kiwi Smash (Olmeca Altos silver tequila, freshly muddled kiwi, mint, lemon juice, and an edible summer orchid.) Over the years, I've had several drinks that didn't taste particularly watermelon-y, but this one had a nice fresh melon flavor. The kiwi drink was basically a light-flavored margarita.

There are only two options for appetizers with the Hooked on Tuesday dinner, a house salad with hearts of palm, kalamata olives, and a citrus herb vinaigrette, or a Caesar salad. We tried both. The former was pleasant and light. The Caesar was enormous, with a super garlicky dressing that was quite good.

We skipped over the three $14.90 entree choices (Angler's steak, spicy tuna bowl, salmon) and went for the pricier items. I chose the cold water lobster tail for $17.90. While not particularly large, the tail was nicely cooked. I used the pesto olive oil that came with the bread service as a dip for the lobster; like the Caesar dressing, it was quite garlicky, which I enjoyed. Accompanying the lobster were small Yukon gold potatoes that had been battered and fried. They reminded me of a cross between Thrasher's fries and my grandmother's potato pancakes, only super crispy.  

Mr Minx went for the pecan Parmesan crusted rainbow trout with artichoke hearts and basil lemon butter from the priciest ($20.90) tier. He chose potatoes au gratin for his side, and both of us got the same combo of zucchini and bell peppers with cheese as our veg. Trout and pecans go so well together, and we were not disappointed by his fish.

Next came dessert. Mr Minx's cheesecake, served with chocolate and caramel sauces, was extremely light and creamy, almost like a no-bake cheesecake. My "Jen's Jamaican coconut pie," was quite homey, with a heavy coconut to custard ratio, a boozy Myers's rum sauce, and toasted coconut on top. Honestly, it was one of the best restaurant desserts I've had in a long time. And, according to the manager, it's only available on Tuesdays during the Hooked on Tuesday promotion, so if you want to try it for yourself, that's the time to get it.

Our verdict: Bonefish Grill's Hooked on Tuesday promotion is a great deal. The portions are generous, the food is good, and when else can you get that fab coconut pie? With rum sauce. Seriously the pie is worth the trip. Go. Eat pie. And some salad and fish, too.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!



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Cookbook Review - Kitchen Pantry Cookbook

I love reviewing cookbooks, especially when they prove to be endlessly useful. Like this one, Erin Coopey's The Kitchen Pantry Cookbook: Make Your Own Condiments and Essentials. Every recipe in the book makes a pantry staple, from Dijon mustard to chicken stock to ketchup. With this book and some raw ingredients, one can make pretty much any condiment, even Thousand Island Dressing, that tastes as good or better than store-bought...and without high fructose corn syrup, preservatives, or other additives.

The book's intro emphasizes the importance of knowing where food comes from and how its grown. GMOs are everywhere, and especially in processed foods. Avoid them by buying the most basic items (like eggs for mayo), make sure as many of them are fresh as can be, and create your own pickles and vinaigrettes. Sure, home-made products won't last as long as store-bought, especially since the recipes in this book are for single-batch, eat in a couple weeks, un-preserved foods. But you'll feel better. And they'll probably taste better, too.

Sometimes Neal and I like a little French dressing on our salad. Yes, real French dressing is just vinaigrette and not neon orange glop, but neon orange glop tastes good. Especially when it's home-made. So I tried the French dressing recipe from The Kitchen Pantry Cookbook. And it was terrific - and terrifically easy to make. Just mix sugar and some spices, add ketchup, oil, and mayonnaise, and voila! A tasty dressing that's much less-expensive than pre-made stuff from the supermarket, and if you use home-made ketchup and mayonnaise, much healthier, too, as you know it won't have corn syrup and whatnot.

I made half a batch of the creamy French version, which ended up being almost two full cups. It was delicious on a simple salad of tomatoes and avocado.

I have a feeling I'll be getting a lot of use out of this book, especially as I like to make my own condiments anyway. Now I need to procure large quantities of mustard seed so I can make one or more of the mustard variants in the book (ballpark, Dijon, honey). Homemade mustard might just be a great gift, too, and Christmas is right around the corner....

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats.

Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!



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What's New from Kraft - Giveaway

I'm going to guess that most of my readers grew up eating that particulate matter in the metallic green cylinder, the pasta product in the blue box, and the bright orange rectangle of an easily-melted substance. I'm talking Kraft Parmesan, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, and Velveeta. You probably also ingested Kraft Singles, Kraft Mayonnaise OR Miracle Whip (but never both), and Cool Whip. Me too. Our house was always full of the various products that currently fall under the Kraft Foods umbrella (and they are legion, after mergers with General Foods in 1989 and Nabisco in 2000). One of my favorite treats as a kid was Philadelphia Cream Cheese on Ritz Crackers, and my Aunt Stasia made outstanding lemonade by adding Tang to her fresh lemon juice and sugar. While we didn't eat Oscar Meyer hotdogs (Grampa's employer, Esskay, was the only brand allowed in my house) we almost always bought Oscar Meyer bacon.

While I've graduated to freshly grated Parmesan on my pasta, home-made mac & cheese, and real cheese in my grilled cheese sammies, I still consume my fair share of Oreos, Nutter Butters, and Grey Poupon. Crystal Light Pink Lemonade replaced Tang in my diet sometime in the mid-80s and it's still a favorite summertime beverage of mine. And I love Triscuits but I never buy them because I'd eat the whole box in one sitting (and then pay the price).

Recently I received a selection of complimentary Kraft Foods products, new-on-the-market items, and I'm here to tell you exactly what I think about them.

• New KRAFT HOMESTYLE DELUXE Macaroni & Cheese Dinner: My late Uncle Frankie loved Kraft Mac & Cheese and I'd eat it when Grandma made it for his dinner (two boxes). Mr Minx was partial to the stuff as well, but I've broken him of the habit.

I'm not sure why this new Homestyle Deluxe version exists. It involves packets of "seasoning" and breadcrumbs, plus a packet of Velveeta-like ooze. One has to not only cook the pasta, but also to cook the seasoning with milk in a separate pan, then mix it and the cheese and some butter with the drained pasta. Sorry, but home-made mac and cheese involves one fewer pot. And it tastes better. This stuff was too salty, too gooey. Twice as much macaroni probably would have worked better with the amount of cheese provided. The bread crumbs were far too uniform in texture and served only to add a granularity.

I suppose people who already buy Kraft Mac & Cheese products will buy this one too, but I don't think it has anything to offer the new customer. Stick to the blue box.

• New KOOL-AID FUN FIZZ Drink Drops: I drank Kool-Aid all the time and preferred when Mom used the sugar-added version because I never felt she added enough sugar to the unsweetened version. However, these Fun Fizz Drink Drops are quite sweet. The directions call for adding one tablet to 8 oz of water. Grown-ups don't drink 8 oz of anything, so I first tested it in 16 oz of water and produced a beverage that was puh-lenty sweet. The good news - the sweetness does not come from either sugar or HFCS. The maybe not-as-good news - it comes from a battalion of artificial sweetners including Aspartame, Sucralose, and Acesulfame K. Hey, but it has only 5 calories per serving!

• RITZ CRACKERFULS Filled Crackers: When I was a kid, I thought that Ritz Crackers were the only kind of cracker in the world, because that's all my Mom ever bought. Then a box of Chicken in a Biskit surreptitiously arrived in my Grandma's kitchen and ruined me for Ritz.

As for the Crackerfuls: I guess the cheese was Cheddar-y, it was cheesy at least. And the crackers were not Ritz-like at all, but crisper, less-flaky. Pretty good. Made a nice mid-afternoon snack with a glass of Kool-Aid.

• New DIGIORNO Pizza & Breadsticks: I don't understand the concept of eating pizza AND breadsticks in the same meal. Isn't the crust enough starch? I'm sure there was tons of marketing research done to produce this product, so what do I know? Anyhoo...I was a DiGiorno virgin before I tried this pizza, and I haven't eaten frozen pizza in decades because the stuff is usually so nasty. However, I think this one was pretty darn good. The crust got nice and crisp, even though I cooked it on a baking sheet rather than putting it directly on the oven grate, as directed. It had a biscuit-y quality to it, which I much prefer over the doughy mess found on most delivery pizzas. The breadsticks may have been the same dough, but they were a bit thicker and seemed breadier. The accompanying marinara dipping sauce was a bit too sweet for me though.

• OSCAR MAYER Deli Fresh Shaved Meats: We used our coupon for the roast beef. It tasted like supermarket deli roast beef. I'm not a supermarket deli meat kinda gal, so that's really all I have to say about this product.

• New KRAFT 100 CALORIE PACKS CHEESE BITES: I used my coupon for the Mozz/Parm/Cheddar combo. 100 calories worth of cheese isn't much, you know? But it's a fine size for a snack. And you all know what cheese tastes like. Cheese.

So basically everything tasted just fine. It was all pretty much of the quality expected from Kraft. My biggest beef with these products was the shameful amount of landfill-ready garbage it produced. Both the Kool-Aid and the cheese came in a plastic pouch full of other small pouches. The Crackerfuls were individually wrapped and each pack included a waxed cardboard insert. The Mac and Cheese comes in a bag rather than a box, and there were three foil-lined pouches inside. I hate that "convenience" means "bad for the environment."

If you've read this far, you're probably thinking, "ok, now where's the giveaway? You mentioned a giveaway in the title and I want free stuff, dammit!"

The Giveaway Portion of This Post

In addition to my lovely selection of samples, Kraft Foods has generously provided one gift basket filled with samples of New KOOL-AID FUN FIZZ Drink Drops, New KRAFT HOMESTYLE DELUXE Macaroni & Cheese, and RITZ CRACKERFULS Filled Crackers, along with free coupons for New DIGIORNO Pizza & Breadsticks, OSCAR MAYER Deli Fresh Shaved Meats, and New KRAFT 100 CALORIE PACKS CHEESE BITES.

To win, please leave a comment and tell me what is your favorite Kraft product. (You can find an alphabetical listing here.) I will choose a winner via random drawing (putting all of the names in a mixing bowl and picking just one). Please make sure to leave your e-mail address in your comment so I may contact you if you are a winner.

The fine print: This promotion is not linked to Kraft Foods, and Kraft Foods is not responsible for conducting the promotion or for selecting the recipient. All opinions expressed in this post are that of the author and not of Kraft Foods.

Entrants must be 18 or older and located in the US or Canada only.

Contest ends Saturday June 26th.

Will Blog for Food

Last week, The Baltimore Sun's Laura Vozzella commented in her "Dining@Large" column that she has been receiving invitations to dine for free at local restaurants. This started a discussion between the D@L peanut gallery and a few bloggers, including me. While reading the rather contentious comments, I was astonished to find out that there are bloggers who solicit free meals from restaurants in exchange for writing about the food.

While I find that outrageous and unethical, I don't really have a problem with attending blogger dinners. From what I can tell, these are usually held by brand-new restaurants with a handsome PR budget who wisely understand that word-of-mouth via teh Innerwebs is the fastest and easiest way to tell the world that their food is all that. And as long as the blogger discloses that they have eaten for free at a publicity event, I see nothing wrong with it. The fact that it is a PR event should let the reader know that the food for that occasion may well be of a higher standard than on other nights, and they should feel free to take the write-up as seriously or un-seriously as they like.

I have only been to two PR meals, one of which was a sushi tour of Towson, and the other was at Phillips. The first event was a way to attract people to Towson by touting the area as a sushi-eater's destination. (Being such a noob in the world of PR dining, I brought a bunch of money in case I had to pay for my sushi. Silly me!) I was not only happy to promote my town, but I was also pleased to be presented with the opportunity to taste a sampling from the area's sushi restaurants. Mr Minx and I are always on the lookout for a restaurant to become our go-to, and after tasting the tuna tartare and squid salad at Kyodai, we've found it. The sushi being free was really just a bonus. As for Phillips, I understood that dinner to be a way for the restaurant to shed its unappealing tourist-only label and attract some local diners. While I don't know how successful the ploy was, considering few bloggers showed up, I can appreciate the effort. And apart from the amateurish attempt at tuna tartare, the food was good.

This practice of feeding bloggers is much more agreeable than merely sending out press releases and expecting us to blindly post the information. If I haven't eaten at your restaurant, why on earth would I want to promote it? Suppose someone sees my post about XYZ restaurant, eats there, and finds a hair or bug in the food? Or has some other unpleasant experience? Wanna bet I'd be hearing about it? It's bad enough I risk these things when I talk about a restaurant I've visited, but I promise that I'm honest in my observations and if you've had a different experience, I would like to hear about it. (And I'd like to hear if you have similar experiences as well.)

Likewise with products. PR firms do solicit me to mention various things on my Web site, and I do so only if I can honestly support the product. I drink vitaminwater and use True Lemon. I talk about Starbucks because I go there every day. And my "Product of the Week" postings are mine alone, prompted only by my love of the item in question, be it Sriracha or Utz potato chips.

Despite being around for nearly 5 years, MinxEats still seems to slip below the radar of many local PR firms, so it's hard to tell if I ever will have free food in my future. If I do, however, you can rest assured that I will provide full disclosure, and if I find any dish to be particularly worth mentioning, good or bad, you'll read it here.

Thanks for your continued readership. Please tell your friends about MinxEats (shameless plug).