Gin

Cooking With Sin 2014 Calendar – April

Posted on: March 30th, 2014 by Carla Johnson No Comments

Each month in 2014, I am sharing a calendar page that includes a CWS recipe. Here is April’s!

Click to open up the large version of the calendar page, then right click and save or copy it for yourself. Print it off for your fridge, share it with a friend, post it at your office… etc.

I just ask, if you use it in a document, please use the entire image, so Cooking With Sin gets the credit. Thank you. It is yours to enjoy!

Carla Johnson Cooking With Sin Calendar 2014

CWS Calendar 2014-04

Check out the story from the original recipe “Wedding Pudding” Dutch Advokaat.

Carla Johnson Cooking With Sin

Carla Johnson Cooking With Sin

“Hand Made” Egg Nog

Posted on: December 7th, 2011 by Carla Johnson No Comments
If you see a fat man who is jolly and cute,
Wearing a beard and a red flannel suit,
And if he is chuckling and laughing away,
While flying around in a miniature sleigh
With eight tiny reindeer to pull him along,
then lets face it… your eggnog’s too strong!!

Just in time for the Holiday Season! Two wonderful drinks you can serve your guests.

When my husband’s Aunt Susan was a young child, she emigrated with her family – and her 9 siblings! – from the Netherlands, more specifically, Friesland.

By her early 20’s, Susan was well-settled into Canadian life when she met Robert Hogeboom. They fell in love, married and had two beautiful children. Sadly, while the children were still young and Bob was only in his 40’s, he succumbed to cancer. He passed away too quickly and too young.

Susan was energetic and creative and watched her children grow up to marry and have grandchildren, but in her late 50’s, she too succumbed to cancer.

It is an honour to remember Bob and Susan here on the blog. There were very special people who left us wanting so much more of them.

Bob and Susan loved to entertain and Bob always made his own eggnog at Christmas time. Interestingly, he always made it by hand. He said the key was to mix it all with your bare fingers. I think it was his way of adding love. All great cooks know good food needs love. So, roll up your sleeves, scrub your hands really well and let’s get to work.

 

Uncle Bob’s “Hand Made” Egg Nog

 

6 egg yolks
1 cup granular sugar
2 cups cognac
1 cup white rum
8 cups (2 quarts) 15% cream
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
6 egg whites

1. Beat egg yolks until thick.

2. Gradually add granular sugar until it becomes light in colour.

3. Slowly stir in the alcohol, cognac and rum.

4. Add add the cream and 3 of the egg whites. Stir until mixed thoroughly.

5. In a separate bowl, beat remaining egg whites until thick, then gradually add the confectioner’s sugar.

6. Beat the egg whites and sugar until soft peaks form.

7. Gently stir the egg whites and sugar mixture into the egg yolk mixture.

8. Serve in glasses and garnish.

*By the way, Bob’s egg nog recipe remains popular with many of their relatives & friends. They have all made his egg nog over the years, but none of them make it by hand. 😉

Raise a glass of Christmas Cheer!

Susan was very musical and she often sang with her sisters. They all have great sense of humour and call themselves “The Sour Lemon Sisters.” One of her sisters, Maaike, whips up a very “sin”ful drink she calls Northern Slush. She once served it at a company gathering where it was a hit. One of the people at the party asked for the recipe and as Maaike was writing out the recipe, she realized she had accidentally doubled the liquor in the party batch. That night, a good time was had by all! :-)

 

“The Sour Lemon Sisters” Northern Slush

 

1 – 48 ounce can pineapple juice
1 – 12 ounce can frozen orange juice thawed
1 – 6.5 ounce can frozen lemonade thawed
26 ounces of gin or liquor of choice. Maaike recommends Peach Schnapps.
1 cup strong tea, cooled to room temperature

1. Mix all the ingredients together and freeze for 48 hours. It will become a slush.

2. To serve, scoop the slush into glasses and top with clear soda like 7-Up or Sprite.

 

Wassail! Wassail all over the town!
Our toast it is white and our ale it is brown;
Our bowl it is made of the white maple tree;
With the wassailing-bowl, we’ll drink to thee!
~ Traditional
 

Happy Holidays!

 

Old Tyme Temperance Tune

Posted on: December 28th, 2010 by Carla Johnson No Comments

Here’s a little something off-beat to ring in the new year. :) One of my friends gave a copy of “Cooking With Sin” to someone who liked it so much they sent them these lyrics to an old Salvation Army Temperance Song. I can’t find the original source, but thought it would be fun to share with you anyway.

And remember to donate to the Salvation Army or any other great charity you like to support, especially at this season.

Enjoy!

Salvation Army Song

We’re coming, we’re coming our brave little band,
On the right side of temperance we now take our stand;
We don’t use tobacco because we do think,
The use of tobacco will lead to drink.

CHORUS:
Away, away, with rum, by gum,
With rum, by gum, with rum, by gum,
Away, away, with rum, by gum,
It’s the song of the Salvation Army.

We never eat fruit cake for fruit cake has rum,
And one little bite turns a man to a bum,
Oh can you imagine a sorrier sight,
Than a man eating fruit cake until he gets tight.

(chorus)

We never eat cookies because they have yeast,
And one little bite turns a man to a beast,
Oh, can you imagine a man more disgraced,
Than a man in the gutter with crumbs on his face.

(chorus)

We never eat peaches for peaches ferment,
And a peach will ferment at the least little dent,
Oh can you imagine a thought more obscene,
Than a man getting tight on peaches and cream.

(chorus)

We never drink water, they put it in gin,
And one little sip and a man starts to grin,
Oh, can you imagine a sorrier plight,
Than a man drinking water until he gets tight?

(chorus)

We never drink tea, they mix it with wine,
And one little drink turns a man to a swine,
Oh, can you imagine a sorrier sight,
Than a man drinking tea and singing all night?

I hope you “Like” Cooking With Sin on Facebook

Follow me, Carla Johnson, on Twitter @Carla_Johnson


What a Great Gift for Mom!

Posted on: December 24th, 2010 by Carla Johnson No Comments
Chris Steingart is a good friend of mine and the designer of my website. He recently bought a few copies of “Cooking With Sin” and I love how he made one of them into a great gift for his mom.
Chris, thank you for sharing this!
(Spoiler alert for Mrs. Steingart!) 😉
Hey Carla,
We were having some fun with the gift for my mom today. With a $50 gift limit I bought the book for $30 then two cans of Guinness and a bottle each of gin and brandy to go with. While I know that she’s got beer and wine a plenty I tried to buy some things that weren’t already in her cupboard so that she could start trying the recipes right away. The LCBO small sizes are great because many of your recipes don’t call for more than 3/4 of a cup of spirits anyways! So you’re not breaking the bank buying a big bottle just to try out a recipe. Attached to each bottle I put a little note referring her to the page that the ingredient is used on just as a little reminder to actually make the recipe instead of drinking it away first. :)
Anyways, we were wrapping the gift and couldn’t resist taking a little photo of our $50 gift collection. I know the Christmas shopping season is over shortly but I thought you might want to use this picture to inspire people to go out and “accessorize” their book for the perfect gift!
I hope you and your family have a very Merry Christmas!
chris steingart
website designer and online marketing consultant
QT web designs

You can “Like” Cooking With Sin on Facebook

Follow me, Carla Johnson, on Twitter

@Carla_Johnson

“Wedding Pudding” Dutch Advokaat

Posted on: May 30th, 2010 by Carla Johnson 2 Comments

spoon My greatest wish for the two of you is that through the years your love for each other will so deepen and grow, that years from now you will look back on this day, your wedding day, as the day you loved each other the least.  ~ Unknown

In a culture full of in-law jokes, I am proud to say I love and adore my in-laws dearly. Jack and Helen Roorda have been in my life for over 20 years and have never over-stayed their welcome. They raised 5 children, 2 refugee teenagers and over 20 foster children. Helen is an extraordinary cook and her dinners are legendary. She makes a great soup with mini meatballs and if you show up in time for a meal, she’ll joke that the soup was actually spaghetti and she just added water to make it stretch further.

Jack_Helen_2009

Helen enjoys making new and interesting dishes and is always looking for unique and obscure ingredients. Every dish she has ever prepared has been absolutely delicious… except for one. Of all the meals she has prepared for her family over the years, there is only one dish that went awry and they never let her live down. Her family loves her food and they are all adventurous eaters, but with a family of constant joksters, the tomato aspic dinner (with all due respect to tomato aspic fans!) – which was over 25 years ago – was tough to “stomach” and continues to be something they hold over her just for fun.

Margriet cookbook

friesland-flag-sJack Roorda and Helen Idsinga both emigrated from The Netherlands to Canada in 1952 when they were both 14 years old. Their hometowns had been only a couple of miles apart in Friesland, but they had never met until their families both settled in the same small town of Clinton, Ontario.Cookbook paperback

Anyone who emigrated from Europe in those days came by boat and went through the customs at the harbour in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Jack’s Dutch name was Jappie and Helen’s birth name was Hiltje. They were both given new English names by family members (cousins).

This summer, Jack and Helen are gathering the whole family together to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. They are renting a large chalet to host their brood of 21 – children, spouses, grandchildren and their special great-granddaughter. It will be a time of great fun and great food. We just know it!

Wedding-pic

In 1960, Jack and Helen married in their Christian Reformed church. Friends and family from all over were invited. They are both the eldest of 10 children in their families, so they were not short of “hands” preparing the occasion.

Advokaat is a special Dutch treat that was traditionally served at weddings and Christmas. When it is prepared authentically, it is more like a pudding than a drink, though you can buy it as a drink today.

Preparing it is a both a science and an art and not for the faint of heart. Traditionally it is served in small fancy glass bowls and eaten with very small Dutch silver spoons.

A devout Baptist woman attended Jack and Helen’s wedding and she was strict about not drinking. The Advokaat at their wedding had been made by Helen’s mom and sisters. It was especially creamy and delicious. When the Baptist woman tasted the “pudding” she happily went back for 2nd and 3rds, not knowing it was spiked. No one knows if she figured it out, but she got tipsy enough for it to be chuckled over many years later.

glass-w-flower

Helen’s Advokaat

This is Helen’s original recipe from her Dutch cookbook. For “Cooking With Sin” the book, she reworked it. The Advokaat recipe in the book is much easier to make, yet tastes just as delicious.

8 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
375 ml bottle of brandy or gin

Eggs 2

1. Beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla with a beater in a double boiler unti the mixture is lukewarm.

2. Take the mixture off the heat.

3. Continue beating the mixture while off the heat for another 10 minutes. It will rise and become quite frothy. It should be a light yellow-cream colour.

For Helen and I, the mixture started off with large bubbles.

Beating-egg-mix

As we beat our mixture, it rose quite significantly in height, so we transferred it to a larger bowl where it became smoother and lighter in colour.

beating-egg-mix-2

double-boiler 4. Slowly stir in the bottle of brandy, folding it in gently. You can use any kind of liquor you like. It is common to make Advokaat with straight alcohol.

5. Place the mixture back on the double broiler, stirring it constantly until it thickens. It will take several minutes. Be very careful not to let it get too warm or it will separate. It may be better to keep the stove off and just stir it over the warm water.

Allow to cool and serve in small fancy drinking glasses or small dessert bowls. Eat with small Dutch silver spoons.

3-glasses-3-soons

NOTE: For the book, Helen reworked this recipe so it is just as smooth and delicious, but much easier and virtually fool proof to make. I also took fresh new photos for the book too!

If you love this recipe, you will also love “Pretending to be Tipsy” German Eierlikor http://cookingwithsin.com/2011/03/27/%e2%80%9cpretending-to-be-tipsy%e2%80%9d-german-eierlikor/