Annie's Brandy Ice (Dairy Free)

This recipe is a long time coming and one I’ve wanted to develop for a while. If you know me or have been around the blog for a bit, you know my love of Brandy ices. I even wrote a post devoted to the best one in OKC! Brandy Ices are a steakhouse staple in Oklahoma that makes for the perfect “after-dinner drink.” The most well known, and thought by many as “the best” can be found at Juniors.

Outside of Oklahoma, I’ve come to find that brandy ices are near extinct. Brandy Alexanders can be found here and there and espresso martinis are on about every menu these days, but no brandy ices. They barely exist on google I came to find out when I was doing recipe research. Who here has never heard of a brandy ice? You poor things.

A brandy ice is essentially a spiked milkshake. Need I say more. When testing the recipe, I knew I wanted to dry it with dairy-free ice cream. I’ve had many o’ nights at Junior’s that led to a few too many brandy ices. That amount of dairy + alcohol isn’t good for anyone. Much to my surprise, the dairy-free ice cream held up great in the blender. However, use your favorite brand of vanilla ice cream and it will be just as great!

Annie’s Brandy Ice
yields ~6-8 drinks

Ingredients:
1/2 gallon of your favorite vanilla ice cream (for dairy-free I use Nada Moo)
1/2 cup dark creme de cocoa (light is fine too)
1/2 cup brandy
fresh nutmeg

Directions:
In a blender, blend ice cream, creme de cocoa, and brandy until combined. If you have a high-powered blender, blend on it’s lower speeds. If you happen to over-blend and it turns out too thin, pop the mixture back in the freezer for a few minutes to thicken to your desire.

Pour into brandy glasses or martini glasses and top with freshly grated nutmeg.

*If you are making in advance, you can simply blend everything together, pour the mixture back into the pint containers and pop in the freezer. The alcohol will prevent the mixture from fully freezing, so when it’s time to serve, simply pour into glasses.

*This recipe doubles easily for a crowd by

Annie

Bites of My Life

Holiday food, events, movies etc filled last week. Zero complaints here! The same is on this week’s agenda. Only a few days until I’m home for the holidays!!

-Freezer foraging for dinner is my favorite little challenge and something I’ve gotten pretty good at. Frozen Trader Joes turkey burger over greens, with goat cheese sprinkled over the top, and a side of Trader Joes frozen rainbow cauliflower roasted with grainy mustard on the side to dip in!
-Recipe post #1 from last week: Ginger Cookies!
-Recipe post #2: Wintergreen Salad!
-Sugar cookie prep! Did you know an ice cream cone cookie turned upside down makes for the cutest Santa?
-Brought my annual Christmas cookie decorating party to Dallas this year for it’s the third year!
-Lots of holiday fun last week, but a highlight was Olivia’s ornament exchange feat. her Chinese food spread.
-Foxtrot #2 opened in Dallas on Wednesday and this location is even more convenient for me. Foxtrot is a modern market that came from Chicago to Dallas and it’s one of my favorite places to meet for coffee and get work done. I tried their avocado toast for the first time and it was so good.
-A hint at tomorrow’s recipe post ;))))
-Love love loooooved Drake’s! Dallas’ new hot spot dining destination! The food, the vibe, the service, everything was 100!
-Our London girl was in town so sushi and tons of girl talk were necessary!
-Found the real Santacon in a University Park’s neighbor’s front yard! If you are in Dallas you have to do a drive-by! We went after dinner Saturday and there were 4+ party buses with groups of people driving by looking at lights!
-Ended the week with a cooking class at Tre Wilcox school. Instead of a traditional cooking class, it was a Chopped style competition, something I’ve always wanted to do. We were split into 4 groups, had to create a salmon and steak dish and include snap peas, fingerling potatoes, ketchup and jalapeño in each dish. My team won!!

Wintergreen Salad

I got the inspiration to make this salad from an airport. Yes, an airport. It’s based on a salad from Modern Market I had in the Denver Airport a few months ago. I had never heard of Modern Market, but after an indulgent weekend in Vail for my friend Trinian’s bachelorette party, it was an airport restaurant with salads on the menu, and a salad was necessary.

The salad exceeded expectations, I knew I had to recreate it. With the name Wintergreen Salad, I’ve been waiting until the holidays to get this post together. It’s hearty with the roasted fingerlings, but light with the citrus basil vinegarette. It also includes one of my favorite salad ingredients - dates!

Make it for lunch, make it for dinner, make it as a side for your Christmas dinner, I love love love this salad!

Wintergreen Salad adapted from Modern Market
Yields 6-8 for a side salad, 3-4 as an entree

Ingredients:
5 oz pre-washed box of mixed greens
3/4 lb. fingerling potatoes
1/4 cup green onions, chopped on a bias (2 stems)
1/2 cup dates, pitted and chopped (about 8 large dates)
1/2 cup walnut pieces, toasted
4 oz. goat cheese, crumbled
2 medium Granny Smith apples, thinly sliced

Dressing:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed orange juice
1 bunch of fresh basil
large pinch of salt and pepper

Directions:
Start by roasting your potatoes. Slice them in half lengthwise and widthwise. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until they tender.

While the potatoes are roasting, toast your walnuts in a saute pan over medium heat. Shake the nuts around in the pan to toast evenly, about 5 minutes. Don’t take your eye off of then, nuts can burn very quickly. Take off the heat and set aside.

Then, make the dressing. Combine all of the ingredients in a small food processor or blender until the basil is finely chopped. Add more salt and pepper to taste if needed.

To assemble, toss the greens with the goat cheese, walnuts, dates, apples, roasted potatoes and enough dressing to your liking. There will likely be leftover dressing! Top with chopped green onion and some fresh cracked black pepper.

*would be great with chicken or roasted salmon if serving as an entree

Annie

Ginger Cookies

Ginger Cookies are one of my most favorite Tucker family recipes. They are up there with my mom’s chili and hashbrown quiche. Hashbrown quiche needs to make it’s way to the blog soon now that I think about it.

Growing up, the first batch of ginger cookies signified the start of fall or the holiday season. I have vivid memories of coming home from school to my mom making ginger cookies and being genuinely so happy. Sneaking more bites of dough than the actual cookies.

The original recipe makes almost 7 dozen cookies. I am giving you half the ingredients because having 7 dozen cookies around isn’t good for anyone. I say that because you will make them and then realize you just ate 84 cookies, they are that good. However, if you are attending a holiday cookie swap, these are your cookies!!

The recipe couldn’t be simpler. No wet and dry ingredient separation. All the ingredients go into a mixer at once and you’re done!

Ginger Cookies
yields 30-32 cookies

Ingredients:
3/4 cup shortening, room temperature
1 cup of sugar
¼ cup molasses
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground cloves
½ tsp. ground ginger
sugar

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease with cooking spray or line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Place the first 9 ingredients in a stand mixer fixed with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until the dough comes together, about 1 minute. Pour about 1/2 to 1 cup of sugar in a low dish or bowl. Roll dough into tablespoon-size balls, then roll in sugar. Place on a cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Using the bottom of a drinking glass, flatten each ball of dough lightly.

Bake for 7-9 minutes. As usual, I stress not to over-bake cookies. These are ginger cookies, not gingersnaps meaning they are to be soft and chewy, not crisp and crunchy. Mine are perfectly done at 8 minutes.

Annie

Bites of My Life

Christmas season has been kicked into gear! After a somewhat unexpected busy week, I’m feeling the business of this time of year and trying real hard to enjoy each moment. A Christmas happy hour, coffee date, nd my first holiday party in the books this past week. Wild to think I’ll be heading home for the holiday in just two weeks. More holiday events on deck this week and two new recipe posts coming this week.

-I bought this rose quartz jade roller and gua sha kit on black Friday. My insta crush @melissawoodhealth uses a gua sha, so I bought a gua sha.
-Haven’t take off this headband off! Thanks to all who entered my giveaway with The Avenue last week!
-Tini date with my bff Jordan! I’m really trying to become a martini girl. This extra dirty vodka martini with blue cheese olives and blue cheese salt from Hudson House did the trick!
-Baking from Tucker Time. Can’t wait to share a family favorite recipe on TAB this week!
-Smashed avo on GG crackers for the easiest and satisfying lunch.
-I can’t get over this Christmas coffee shop pop-up at Fiction Coffee. Served as the best remote workspace for Friday afternoon.
-First Christmas party via my friend Jess! I met Jess through working at The Slate. She was welcoming even before day 1 at my workspace, and she’s one of my favorites in Dallas.
-When your big sister and pretend sister are in town for the Jonas Brother’s concert (yes I said big sister and Jonas Brothers in the same sentence), and you get to sneak in breakfast before they headed back to OKC!
-Just a bunch of really happy OU fans!!!!!!!! Big 12 champs!

Annie

Breakfast bite: Did you catch my updated post for the Best Breakfast Casserole last week??