ENTERTAINING: Early Fall Favorites
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New York Deli Style Coleslaw • Frozen Hot Chocolate • Jello
Magic Mousse • DIY Antibacterial Wipes
By Mary Canovas
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New York Deli Style Coleslaw
Video Tutorial in Spanish
Forget KFC coleslaw, this is the real deal straight from my home town (Yes, I am from the New Jersey/New York Metropolitan Area)! Easy to make, great for family or a crowd and for any time of the year.
It´s a great side dish for practically everything: fish, meat, sandwiches … and absolutely essential for a barbecue. Some people even put it on hot dogs. Hope you enjoy.
Ingredients:
> 4 cups shredded cabbage
> 1/2 cup carrot, grated
> 1/4 cup shredded celery
> 1/4 cup grated onion
> 1/8 cup shredded green pepper
> 1 tablespoon sugar
> 1/8 cup chopped parsley
> 1/4 teaspoon mustard
> 3/4 cup mayonnaise
> 1 1/2 tablespoons vinegar
> 2 tablespoons lemon juice
> 1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
> Pinch teaspoon black pepper to taste
OPTIONAL: You can add 2 to 3 tablespoons buttermilk (just add a few drops of lemon to regular milk to make mock buttermilk) to make it thinner if you want or you can add 2 tablespoons mayonnaise to make it thicker.
Preparation:
Mix the cabbage, carrot, celery, onion and grated pepper and chopped parsley in a bowl.
Mix the mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, lemon, sugar, salt and pepper in another bowl.
Add the dressing to cabbage mix stirring gently until everything is well coated.
Marinate in the refrigerator one hour before serving
Frozen Hot Chocolate – Copycat Serendipity 3
Video Tutorial in Spanish
If there is one drink the most famous of celebrities (at least those in the U.S.) have fallen in love with, it has to be Frozen Hot Chocolate, created by the equally famous Serendipity 3 Restaurant in New York. By the way, you can see the actual restaurant in the romantic motion picture “Serendipity”.
From Jackie Kennedy, Andy Warhol, Tennessee Williams to Oprah Winfrey, all have been regulars at the Serendipity specifically for their Frozen Hot Chocolate. Oprah said it was one of her favorite things and Jackie even asked them for the recipe to be served in the White House.
Now I can´t say our version is exactly the same but it does come close. It also has a few added attractions: easy to make, not as expensive as at the restaurant, you can make a whole batch for your family and friends and you just saved a lot of dough on an airline ticket to New York.
Ingredients:
> 1 cup – 240 ml whole milk
> 1/2 cup – 120 ml heavy cream
> 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
> 1/2 cup – 100 gr sugar
> 1/2 cup – 90g dark chocolate chopped – get the best you can afford
> 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
> 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
> 2 to 2.5 cups crushed ice
> Garnish : Whipped cream in a can or homemade
> Garnish: Chocolate shavings
Preparation:
> In a pan heat over medium-high heat milk, heavy cream , cocoa powder, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and dark chocolate stirring constantly until all the chocolate has been incorporated and the mixture is smooth.
> Remove from heat and let cool
> Once at room temperature or cold, pour the chocolate in a blender with crushed ice and beat until well blended like a slurpie frozen daiquiri. (Don´t overbeat)
> Pour into glasses and add a nice dollop of whipped cream on top.
> Sprinkle with chocolate shavings as a garnish.
> Serve with spoon and straw.
Jello Magic Mousse
Video Tutorial in Spanish
A very easy dessert that will delight everyone. Kids love it, but it´s elegant enough to serve as a light and rich (seems impossible, right?) ending to a lunch or dinner for your guests. The name is almost as evocative of something special – Jello Magic Mousse. And it is somewhat magical. You whip it up and it turns into two or three separate layers when cooled – a gelatin layer and a topping of Bavarois or Mousse. The combination of gelatin and mousse is perfect – neither too rich nor too light. Serve with a rosette of whipped cream or Chantilly and maybe a few sprinkles on top for garnish.
Make any flavor you like. The only problem – it must be done 4 hours to 1 day before.
Ingredients for 6:
> 1 cup – 250 ml boiling water
> 1 cup – 250 ml cold water
> 1 small package 3oz – 85 gr. gelatin any flavor like Royal or Jell-O
3 cups heavy cream
Preparation:
> Add boiling water to gelatin mixture and stir well for 2 minutes it is fully incorporated
> Add cold water and mix well.
> Refrigerate until it reaches at least at room temperature – do not let it gel.
> Beat heavy cream adding sugar to taste (3 tablespoons or more) until it becomes whipped cream (careful not to overbeat or you´ll get butter.
> Remove gelatin from the refrigerator, add the gelatin all at once to your whipped cream and beat with mixer until smooth and frothy.
> Pour into glasses and refrigerate from 4 to 8 hours or until it has complete gelled.
> Serve with a rosette of whipped cream and decorate with confetti sprinkles.
DIY Antibacterial Wipes
Video Tutorial in Spanish
You know you should wash your hands as much as possible to get rid of dangerous viruses—especially now that flu season is right around the bend. But sometimes you´re not even near soap and water. What can you do?
Homemade antibacterial wipes. They can´t possibly be effective, right? Wrong! Here is the best tutorial to make your own wipes at a ridiculous price (because it´s less than pennies per wipe), without any extra chemicals which may or may not be dangerous to your health.
Our tutorial comes straight from “The Doctors” American TV program and is recommended by their specialists. It is totally effective—even with the nastiest viruses and you can personalize it with your favorite hand or body lotion or cream. The secret – plain old rubbing alcohol – time tested and used for ages by surgeons and doctors alike when they want to be sure there will be no contamination of any sort.
Great for office, car, work, sick beds, trips…!
PLEASE NOTE: These are hand wipes – not to be used as baby wipes.
Materials:
> Rubbing Alcohol for use on skin
> Your favorite skin lotion or cream
> Kitchen paper towels—the sturdier the better
>A plastic container with a lid
How To:
> Important— No matter how much you make, you must use the proportion of 6 parts alcohol to 4 parts lotion for this wipe to protect against all germs and viruses.
> Put 6 tablespoons alcohol and 4 tablespoons (flat not heaped) of lotion in a bowl and stir until well mixed.
> Have your plastic container ready. (In our video tutorial the container is half the size of the width of the towels.)
> Fold the individual sheets in half – ** see video. Fold at least 15 depending on size of container.
> Since our sheets are twice the size of the container, we cut them in half so they will fit into the container and double the number of wipes.
> You can add more sheets if necessary. Don´t worry if it seems there are too many. When we add the liquid their volume will be approximately half that of the dry sheets.
> Use as much or as little of the prepared liquid. Pour it on top of the towels and wait 5 minutes.
> See if you need more and add liquid. Wait another 10 minutes and the towels will have soaked up all the liquid.
> When you need a towel, just pull and it will separate easily from the other towels at the precut edges. Take care to place those folded edges in the front.
> Close the lid on the container tightly until further use.
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Featured image: Central Park in autumn by Marie-Lan Nguyen, CC BY2.0 via Flickr
