Book Review: Slushed!: More Than 150 Frozen, Boozy Treats for the Coolest Happy Hour Ever by Jessie Cross; Adams Media

Who says pops are just for kids?
In the sweltering summer heat, you need a quick way to cool down and keep the party going. In this refreshingly spirited volume, you'll find a frosty collection of more than 150 booze-infused frozen desserts, such as:

• Fiery Chili Lime Tequila Pops
• Brown Sugar Bourbon Ice Cream
• Chocolate Martini Pudding Pops
• Amaretto Ice Cream Sandwiches
• Frozen Kahlua Cheesecake
• Vietnamese Coffee Gelato

With full-color photos and unique party tips, Slushed! guarantees you'll have an intoxicatingly cool summer!
Slushed! comes to you from the kitchen of nationally acclaimed blogger Jessie Cross of The Hungry Mouse (thehungrymouse.com). It also includes good, basic instructions for making ice cream, gelato, frozen yogurt--and has a primer for equipment and ingredients.

My Review

Yum, yum, YUM! Frozen Ice Pops, Ice Cream, Gelato, Frozen Yogurt? Why certainly! Mousse, Parfait, Granita, Sorbet, and Sorbet.. Could you make it any better? Ice Cream Sandwiches, Cakes, and Frozen Cocktails.. OMG—YOU did make it better! But wait—there is also Milkshakes AND smoothies to go with that.

Summer has finally arrived… after all the cold, bitter winds, and rain here. I’m pretty sure Mother Nature was trying to make me mad. I do NOT like winter.. I do not like the cold..

I want shorts, tank tops, and sandals, Bonfires, cookouts, lazy days, and swimming. We can’t forget the frozen treats, NOW can we?

The first chapter is “Getting Down to Basics: Technique, Equipment, and Ingredients” that are needed to get the job done. Ice Cream Maker, Blender, Mixer, Candy Thermometer, and Pop Molds. Coffee, Cream, Eggs, Espresso, Fruit Nectar, Yogurt..

I am definitely going to make ALL of these yummy looking Frozen Ice Pops. There are some that I wouldn’t have thought would taste good together—but the ingredients seem to make the right taste. These only require you to have the pop mold and ingredients. Nothing too hard.

Cosmo Pops

Kamikaze Pops

Chocolate Martini Pudding Pops

Blackberry Campari Pops

Mojito pops with fresh mint

Blueberry Basil Martini Pops

Mimosa Pops

………..and more

Chapter 3 is all about the ice cream! They all seem really delicious, but I’m stuck on this one. I can’t make any of these because I don’t have an ice cream maker. Until I do, I’ll be dreaming about the delectable amazingness of:

Death by Double Chocolate Liqueur Ice Cream

Strawberry Daiquiri Ice Cream

Tipsy Barista

Kate’s Brown Sugar Bourbon Ice Cream

Bananas Foster Ice Cream

Mango Sunrise Ice Cream

……….and more

Chapters 4 and 5 are Gelato and Frozen Yogurt. All of the Gelato recipes need an ice cream maker, but there are a few frozen yogurt recipes that don’t. I NEED to seriously get an ice cream maker!

All the recipes are easy to understand. They are in a numerical order with the ingredients listed beside. The pictures are scattered throughout the book—so you may need to search for the picture before you make it..

All of the Frozen Cocktails only require a blender and your ingredients. Some of them are classics frozen just the RIGHT way, then there’s the unique names that make you just want to grab that blender and get to blending!

Frozen Zombie

Frozen Gin Fizz

Artic Scorpion Bowl

Raging Frozen Aztec

Frozen Cosmo

Black Raspberry & Chambord Frappe

Frozen Long Island Iced Tea

I can’t wait to give these a try! ALL of them. There are more than this in this book as well. I love that there are such a variety and combination of frozen desserts to try. No matter what you’re wanting to fix for that Grill Out, Girls Night in, Fourth of July, or whatever.. They have it!

I’m glad to say that all the mousse recipes, semifreddo recipes, granitas, sorbets and parfaits only require freezing after making. I’m all for mixing and freezing the night before or an hour before (depending on what you’re making(.—that way it makes it easy. I can’t wait to get to TESTING! YUM.

Are you having any celebrations or get togethers this summer? What are you planning to make—would you incorporate some of these amazing drinks into it?

Which one?

About the Author

Jessie Cross started her nationally recognized food blog The Hungry Mouse (thehungrymouse.com) in 2008. An avid home cook, her recipes and photography have been featured in O, The Oprah magazine, The Huffington Post, Better Homes & Gardens, Bon Appetit, Saveur, and Gothamist. When she's not shopping for cheese or baking pies, she works as an ad agency creative type. She lives in Salem, Massachusetts with her husband and two dogs.

Buy IT:

Slushed! More than 150 Frozen, Boozy Treats for the Coolest Happy Hour Ever for $11.04

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Jessica Renee

Book Review: The Big Book of Martinis for Moms by Rose Maura Lorre and Mavis Lamb; Adams Media

More than 175 martinis just for moms!

You're at every game, performance, and practice.
You weather colds, flus, and strep throat better than anyone. You can finish a diorama in two hours flat.

Isn't it time you had your own happy hour?

Filled with more than 175 refreshing martini recipes, this collection gives you a reason to take a seat and just unwind. Featuring simple instructions that can be done in a matter of minutes, you will:

• Relax tubside with a Bathtub Gin(ger).
• Relish the view of a spotless bedroom with a Hurricane Martini in hand.
• Savor bedtime with a Relaxing Tea Martini.
• Reward yourself with a Cucumber Martini after getting the kids to eat their veggies.
• Celebrate fitting into your skinny jeans with a Thin Gin.

With The Big Book of Martinis for Moms, you'll always have the perfect answer for every joy and accomplishment motherhood has to offer!

My Review

This is definitely a book that I wish I’d had when my kids were younger. It’s an amazing book for any mom that adores her kids, the milestones, the “baby” and “childhood” feats that she’s mastered and definitely needs to celebrate it when the kids are tucked in for the night.

I love that at the beginning of the book there is (instead of a table of contents) there’s a “FEAT” list. You can skim through—find what feat you’ve successfully mastered and toast to yourself!! GREAT job mom!

The writing is quirky, humorous, and knows how us moms need a pat on the back for the “great job.” Only another parent would understand these tasks that we defeat such as “enjoying a night out with the kid without a meltdown”, “surviving a supermarket meltdown”, and surviving being up all night with a sick kid”.

Each drink starts out with a feat such as “surviving your first ER trip” but at the top they always give it a quirky name—this one’s name is “Panic Free Zone-tini.” Then it goes into the story of how frightening it must have been, but everything was fine. Although you were still WORRIED to death. THEN it shows the reward which is called :The Pain Killer:

They are broken down into different feats such as bedtime feats, food feats, medical feats, bathroom-related feats, transitions/first feats, school feats, chore/discipline feats, mom-specific feats, out-and-about feats, festive feats, kids will be kids feats, and in the great outdoors feats.

The drinks are fun, unique, and seem to be VERY tasty. Not all of them have picture, but the ones that do have pictures—look beautiful! I can’t wait to get to mixing these concoctions for myself.

Although I don’t deserve getting through the year’s class ceremony without crying. When Aidan graduated Kindergarten last Friday- as soon as I walked into his classroom tears welled up in my eyes!! I couldn’t help it, they grow up too fast!

Here are some feats:

  Lulled baby to sleep by driving around

  Managed to get them to sleep all night

  Teaching them to feed themselves

   Baked a cake with your kid

Stayed home with your sick kid

Changed babies diaper in a parking lot

Which feats do you deserve to drink to?

 

About the Authors

Rose Maura Lorre blogtends at FiveOClockCocktails.com, a finalist for the Saveur 2012 Best Food Blog Awards, and is a contributing food writer to St. Louis Magazine. She has tended bar at The Royale Food & Spirits in St. Louis and is a graduate of the Columbia University School of Mixology. Rose has been featured in the New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, Glamour, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, Maxim, the New York Post, and Salon.com, amongst other publications.

Mavis Lamb coaches people on blogging for business, speaks on networking and word-of-mouth marketing, and writes books and plays. As director of Seattle Playwrights Studio, her latest play, Serendipity by Design, was inspired by a conversation with her boyfriend, Dave, a martini bar owner.

Buy It: The Big Book of Martinis for Moms for $12.75

Find more interesting and awesome books at the Adams Media Book Store!

Book Review: Edible Cocktails by Natalie Bovis; Adams Media Publishing

Your favorite food is fresh, local, and homemade—and now your cocktails can be, too!

Whether you're plucking fresh mint from your own garden or buying buckets of juicy blackberries from the farmers' market, taking these inspiring ingredients from garden to glass is what Edible Cocktails is all about. And mixing unique, delicious drinks like a Lavender Gin Sour or a Basil Grass Lemon Drop is easier than you think. Just try the following:

• Plant your own cocktail garden"

• Utilize seasonal, fresh farmers' market finds or pluck tasty treasures in the wild

• Infuse spirits and make homemade liqueurs

• Create homemade syrups, purees, and jams
• Use eggs, dairy, and even meat in your cocktail for modern mixology explorations

With full-color photographs and more than 100 cocktail recipes, you'll be infusing your life—and your cocktails!&151;with wholesome and homegrown ingredients in no time.

 

My Review

The book begins as many others with the chapter Mixology Basics, where learn or re-;earn the basics of mixing cocktails. She explains what to plant in your garden or look for at the farmer’s market next time you go to ensure that your cocktails are fresher than fresh!

The “intro” chapters show in great detail how to mix the drinks the right way, the tools you will need to do so, and the herbs that you need to have on hand. She also shows you how to properly store ingredients that aren’t in season, so you can make that drink even if it isn’t summer!

I truly appreciate her “tools of the trade” where she shows what is needed before you try to mix up all this amazing deliciousness. Although I’m familiar with mixing them up, I’ve never used fresh veggies and herbs in drinks before!

You shouldn’t just ADD this to your collection of cookbooks/ home mixology because the pictures make you drool a little or that it has 150 recipes for drinks, syrups, jams, jellies, and purees but because of how eco-friendly your winding down will now be!!

She thoroughly breaks down all the “know-how” of making the jams, jellies, purees..etc so that even if you’ve never made any before, you’ll be in the mix very quickly.

If you’ve ever wondered what’s in your wine? She explains red, sparkling, white, and fortified. Don’t understand the different cocktail terms such as cobbler, swizzle, or smash (there IS more), she explains. This is definitely more than just a recipe book. This is a cocktail “reference” guide as well!

There are tons of recipes, starting out with the classics like the sidecar, Manhattan, and Pisco Sour. There are a lot of drinks that have a “fresh” exciting twist on them as well. I really want to give all the Sangria’s a try! She’s got the Warm Winter Sangria, Sustainable Summer Sangria, Tropical Sangria, Allegria Sangria, and Seasonal Sparking Sangria!

I love how many “syrup” recipes are in here. She starts out with the Basic Simple Syrup and moves on to the more sophisticated ones that have added herbs and fresh fruits to them!

These recipes are definitely more creative than the other cocktail books out there. I love all the different ingredients she throws in the mix, but she also tells you where they can be located if they are extravagant.

What’s even funnier is that she adds a “meat” section, making drinks with meat such as bacon. I wouldn’t have thought it would be appealing to drink a drink with bacon in it, but the Bacon Cherry Creek Cocktail DOES!

Here are a few unique drinks that I AM going to try!

• Spring Sherry Cobbler
• Sustainable Summer Sangria
• Blueberry Yogurtini
• Violet Hour
• Hot Brazilian Passion
• Espresso Brandy Milk Punch
• Cilantro-Cucumber Vodka Collins
• Watermelon Margarita
• The Sweetest Vice
• VeeVa la Vida
• Mango Nuclear Daiquiri

MUST HAVE BOOK!

Chapter Outline for Edible Cocktails:

• Mixology Basics
• Garden to Glass
• Grape to Glass
• Party with Preserves: Syrup, Jams, Purees, and Shrubs
• Mixing it Up: Infusions, Meat, Dairy, Eggs, Liqueurs, and Bitters
• Mixers, Garnishes, and Ice
• More Cocktail Recipes!

BUY IT: Edible Cocktails by Natalie Bovis for $11.53

Natalie Bovis, aka The Liquid Muse, is a recognized beverage consultant, mixologist, and author of Preggatinis and The Bubbly Bride. She is the spokesperson for Fre Alcohol-Removed wines and is the cocreator of a line of prebottled organic cocktails called O.M. Visit her website,www.theliquidmuse.com.

Jessica Renee