Coffee Break at CoffeeandTeaTime.com

I confess that I love my slow cooker,  I use it at least once a week. The best part is that clean up is easy and you don’t have to watch over the food. Throw ingredients in the crock pot, turn it on and come back when it’s done. Whether it’s a whole complete meal in the pot or just the main dish cooking is a breeze.

My kids love spare ribs but I am not a fan of the mess and time involved in making them. When you have children in the house, it is very easy to over cook the ribs with all the distractions. The result is dry or burnt ribs.  Although I prefer my ribs well done, most everyone else doesn’t. Making barbecue ribs in a slow cooker is the perfect answer. Extremely easy to make and never dry or overcooked.

Ingredients for Slow Cooker Barbecue Ribs

• 4-5 pounds pork ribs
• 2 onions
• 1 1/2 cups barbecue sauce

Directions for Slow Cooker Barbecue Ribs

For easier clean up, lightly spray inside of crock pot with a no stick cooking spray.

Thinly slice onions and place in bottom of crock pot. Place the ribs on top of onions, try not to let ribs touch the sides of pot. Pour barbecue sauce over ribs, making sure they are completely covered. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or until ribs are tender. The ribs will be perfect but because I like a little crisp to mine I pop a few under the broiler for a couple minutes.

I serve the ribs with a tossed salad, corn on the cob and some home made cole slaw or potato salad. Using a slow cooker to make ribs is a perfect way to have a summer barbecue even if there is snow on the ground.

I went to the supermarket and they had apples on sale. Originally planning to make apple pie or apple crumble, I bought two bags. When my children got home from school and saw the apples, they asked for baked apples. They are very easy to make and I was happy to do it. The children also really enjoy helping to mix the stuffing. The ingredients are found in most kitchens.

Ingredients for Baked Apples

• 6 apples
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 1/3 cup chopped peanuts or chopped pecans or chopped walnuts
• about 1 cup shredded cheddar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash and core apples. Place apples on a baking dish. Make a couple small slits in skin of apples. In small bowl mix orange juice, cinnamon and brown sugar. Pour over each apple.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes for medium size apple, 30 minutes for small apples. Every 10 minutes carefully baste apples with the juice mix. While apples are baking, mix the stuffing.  In a small bowl mix raisins, chopped nuts and cheddar cheese. Remove apples from oven and turn oven off. Using small spoon carefully stuff center of warmed apples with the cheese-nut-raisin mix. Let them sit a couple of minutes until cheese softens or put the dish back into the oven for a couple of minutes (do not turn oven on!).

Serve apples in small bowl. Spoon a little of the juice, cinnamon and brown sugar from baking dish over each apple.

Here in New York, most of the leaves have fallen off the trees but there always seems to be more to rake up. After an hour or two out in the cold air raking and sweeping a warm beverage is a great way to warm up. If you are tired of coffee, tea or hot chocolate here is a great recipe for spiced apple cider. To serve as an after dinner drink add brandy or apple brandy after heated.

Ingredients for Spiced Apple Cider

• 1 quart apple cider
• ground allspice
• ground ginger
• optional – brandy or apple brandy

Pour the apple cider into a small or medium sized pot. Add 1 pinch of allspice and about 4 pinches of ginger. Stir to mix then heat using a low or medium flame. Stir it occasionally. Do not let it boil, just heat until very warm.

When warm pour into four mugs. We like to use glass mugs. If desired you can add 1 jigger (1.5 ounces) of apple brandy or brandy to each mug.

Spiced apple cider, with or without the brandy, makes a nice after dinner drink when entertaining. If entertaining, spiced apple cider is best served with a simple cookie. Try serving with a plain butter cookie or biscotti.

Thanks to some good sales at the supermarket and some coupons about ready to expire, I had several bottles of Caesar salad dressing in my cabinet. Last night I made up a batch of Caesar Dip and served it with dinner. It was a big hit with my children and my husband. I made up another batch so everyone could take some for lunch today.

Ingredients for Caesar Dip

• 1/2 cup Miracle Whip or mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup Caesar dressing (creamy)
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• about 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• assorted raw vegetables – carrots, green pepper, cucumber, tomato and celery

Mix Miracle Whip, Caesar dressing, sour cream and Parmesan in a medium size bowl. Refrigerate at least one hour. Stir again before serving. Serve with plenty of fresh raw vegetables

For variety, after chilling for one hour, I split the dip in half and add some fresh finely chopped onion to one half.

Shish kabobs are easy to make, taste great and mean very little clean up which is a big plus during the summer. I just finished getting my shish kabobs ready so that later all I have to do is fire up the barbecue.  This is a very simple recipe for shish kabobs that everyone loves from picky kids to meat loving husband.

Ingredients for Shish Kabobs

• beef cubes (about 1″ squares)
• white meat chicken (about 1″ squares)
• fresh cherry tomatoes
• fresh onion sliced thick
• green or red pepper (about 1″ squares)
• canned whole potatoes, drained and large potatoes cut in half
• teriyaki marinade or other marinade

Marinate chicken and beef in marinade overnight or for minimum of 2 hours. The longer you let it soak the stronger the flavor.

About a half hour before you are ready to assemble your shish kabobs soak the wooden skewers in water. This will help to prevent them from burning during grilling.

On each skewer place tomato, beef or chicken, onion, pepper in repeating pattern. Don’t cram everything together, leave a little loose to help cook evenly and completely.

Skewer potatoes on separate skewer and sprinkle potatoes with a little seasoning such as  garlic herb. Either wrap skewer in foil or skip the skewer and place potatoes in tin for easy grilling. I keep the potatoes separate because I find they have a tendency to fall apart. It’s also why I wrap them in foil or use a tin. I use canned potatoes because I don’t have to peel them and raw potatoes never seem to keep properly.

Place all on barbecue and grill until cooked through.

When done serve immediately. I serve with some raw fresh baby carrots.

Everyone loves shish kabob night. Never any left overs and never a mess to clean up.

As much as I love a hot cup of coffee, I have to admit that some days it is just too hot for coffee. Days like that are perfect for iced coffee. It is not hard to learn how to make iced coffee. This simple recipe for iced coffee allows you to brew a glass in just a few minutes.

Brew a pot of coffee a little stronger than usual; for example use around 6 or 7 tablespoons coffee to 1 1/2 cups water. After it has finished brewing allow it to cool a bit and simply pour it into a glass filled with ice. Add a little milk or cream and sweeten to taste. I prefer to use a little whipped cream instead.

When making iced coffee it is important that the coffee be brewed stronger especially with this recipe since it will dilute when poured over ice. If you find your iced coffee is too strong, just add a little cool water to your glass.

If you are looking to save a little money, try using your leftover coffee. If you have coffee left over in the morning, pour it into a pitcher and refrigerate. When you are ready for a glass of iced coffee simply pour it into a glass with a little ice and milk. Since the coffee is chilled it will not dilute as much and will still have a nice flavor.

With summer fast approaching it’s time to start thinking about iced tea. Iced tea is no longer only tea with lemon flavoring. Many variations are possible. As we mentioned in How to Make Iced Tea freshly brewed iced tea is better than store bought. Iced tea with sparkling water is easy to make at home or in the office.

This sparkling raspberry iced tea recipe is a refreshing change of pace on a hot summer day. Use freshly brewed tea which has cooled to room temp or is chilled. As with most iced teas, it is best to use only chilled ingredients to prevent excessive dilution when pouring over ice. This raspberry tea recipe uses sparkling water. Since the ingredients are in proportion, our sparkling raspberry iced tea recipe can easily be doubled or halved.

Ingredients for Sparkling Raspberry Ice Tea

• 2 cups chilled sparkling water
• 2 cups chilled raspberry juice
• 2 cups of freshly brewed tea (room temp or chilled)

In large pitcher mix all ingredients. Pour into glasses filled with ice. If desired you can garnish with slice of lime or lemon, a raspberry or sprig of fresh mint.

Cool nights and Viennese coffee are a perfect match. Perfect for after dinner, it is a nice change of pace and simple to prepare. Impress your guests and serve Viennese coffee or just treat yourself. We present two versions both of which can be made with regular or decaffeinated coffee. Viennese coffee, like any after dinner coffee drink adds style and finesse to any meal whether formal or casual. Viennese coffee and Viennese Coffee with brandy are both elegant and a charming way to end an evening. Whether you choose the Viennese coffee with brandy or the non alcoholic viennese coffee, your guest will be impressed.

Viennese Coffee Recipe

• 11-12 tablespoons coffee
• heaping teaspoon cinnamon
• 46-48 ounces water
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• heavy cream or milk

Place coffee in filter basket and sprinkle cinnamon on top. Brew coffee as usual. While coffee is brewing place sugar in your coffee carafe. If you do not have a carafe or insulated serving container you can put the sugar in the coffee pot before brewing or simply add sugar to taste during service. When brewing has finished pour coffee into carafe and stir. Serve. To each cup add heavy cream or milk to taste and add additional sugar if desired.

Viennese Coffee with Brandy

• One pot freshly brewed coffee
• Brandy
• Whipped Cream
• Chocolate Shavings
• Sugar (optional)

Brew one pot of coffee. Be sure to see How to Brew A Perfect Pot of Coffee for proper brewing techniques. After brewing pour into serving cups. To each cup add 1 jigger brandy (~ 1 1/2 oz) and a generous dollop of whipped cream. Sprinkle with chocolate shavings. If desired add sugar.

Our slow cooker pot roast recipe is delicious. This is one of our favorite crock pot recipes, adults and children love it. It is very easy to adjust this recipe to suit your tastes. Serve with mashed potatoes, rice or broad egg noodles. Also try with 1-2-3 Biscuits Recipe. Slow cooker pot roast even tastes great when made with chuck roast because the cooking will tenderize and flavor the beef. Like most slow cooker recipe little supervision is required. See Slow Cookers and Crock Pots for more information on selecting and using a slow cooker. Start the pot roast in the in morning, then forget about it and it’s done for dinner. The finished beef will equal that of the best quality roast, no one will be able to tell it was a less expensive cut. Freeze leftover meat for a second meal or use sliced meat the next day for hot or cold sandwiches.

Shopping list for Slow Cooker Pot Roast

• 3-4 pound chuck roast
• 4-5 cubed fresh potatoes
• 5-6 sliced carrots
• 1 envelope dry onion soup mix
• 1-10¾ ounce can cream of mushroom OR cream of celery soup
• ¼ cup water
• 3-4tablespoons flour (to thicken gravy)

Directions for Crockpot Pot Roast

Brown meat in skillet in small amount of oil.
Place potatoes and carrots in bottom of slow cooker. Add meat. Sprinkle onion soup mix on top of meat. Pour the chosen can of cream soup on top of meat and vegetables. Add 1/4cup water.
Cover. Cook on low 8-9 hours, do not remove cover during cooking.

Once meat is cooked remove meat and potatoes and carrots, cover and set aside. To make gravy take about 3 tablespoons flour and mix with small amount of cold water until paste forms. Mix in the remaining liquid from the slow cooker. Heat in small saucepan, stirring until smooth.

You can substitute 2 beef bouillon cubes and a thinly sliced onion in place of the dry onion soup mix. Also try adding a can of diced tomatoes in place of canned soup. Many other variations are possible, so experiment.

This quick and easy orange smoothie recipe is a favorite of both adults and children. It uses frozen orange juice so when you see that on sale buy a few extra to store in the freezer. You can use either regular, low fat or no fat ice cream or frozen yogurt and whole or low fat milk. We found it tastes equally good so the lower fat option will be the way to go if you are watching calories. An orange smoothie is a nutritious and healthy snack. It is a healthy drink that is also a filling healthy snack, great for after school treat.

Ingredients and Directions for Orange Smoothie

• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
• 1 quart vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt

Place all ingredients in blender. Cover and blend at medium speed for about one minute. You will need to stop blending once or twice to scrape sides of blender to ensure even blending. If desired we found it easier to thaw the frozen orange juice concentrate a little before using, it is easier to blend.

For a great variation on this, you can use frozen fruits such as strawberries or blueberries. Substitute the frozen orange juice concentrate with about 3/4 cup frozen fruit.