Homemade Holiday Gift Idea: Coffee Liqueur

I love the idea of homemade holiday gifts, but usually I don't get around to them in time. This year, though, I decided to turn my good intentions into great gifts and busted out a recipe I tried a few years ago: homemade coffee liqueur. It's like Kahlúa, but better. I compared it, over ice, to the store-bought stuff, and I had a hard time stomaching how syrupy and artificial the Kahlúa tasted after drinking my homemade version.

Most "homemade Kahlúa" recipes I've found online call for instant coffee, but I don't touch that stuff, so I wasn't about to include it in my labor of coffee-flavored boozy love. I figured a way around it: I made a stock pot of super-strong coffee (more of a coffee sludge) with freshly-ground beans, and manually filtered it. I mixed the filtered coffee with vanilla extract and sugar, then mixed that with an equal amount of vodka, and let it sit for 30 days.

This recipe takes a little work, and a lot of patience, but the result is an amazing, easy-to-sip coffee liqueur that will last indefinitely — I mean, if you don't drink it all right away.

Homemade Coffee Liqueur 
active time: 1 hour 30 minutes
total time: 1 month, 1 hour and 30 minutes
yield: 128 ounces (16 cups)

Ingredients
12 ounces of a quality dark roast, whole bean coffee
9 cups water
3 cups granulated sugar
3 tablespoons vanilla extract (I prefer Madagascar bourbon vanilla)
64 ounces (8 cups) vodka

Grind the coffee (if you have the option to choose the grind, choose the coarsest possible). Add the coffee grounds and water to a large pot, and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. As soon as the coffee begins to boil, reduce the heat to low and let the mixture (the “coffee sludge”) simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, fashion some sort of filter system over a french press or other tall container. I used a ceramic drip cone used for pour overs that I picked up at a thrift store for $2 (you can buy them online and at many box stores and coffee shops). These cones are meant to sit on top of a coffee mug and require paper a paper filter. Since we don’t use paper filters, and I didn't want to go back to the store at 10 pm, I cut an unbleached flour sack towel, and used the pieces as my filter.

Ladle the coffee sludge into the filter. Depending on what you use, it may take a while to filter through, and you'll need to clear or replace your filter a few times before you get through the entire batch. 

You should have muddy grounds stuck in your filter. If not, it's probably getting into your mixture, and you don't want that.

Add the filtered coffee back to the (rinsed!) pot over low heat. Add the sugar and stir until all of the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat, add the vanilla and stir well. At this point, you should have about 8 cups of coffee syrup. Let the syrup cool for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Now, you can do one of two things: 1. Add 8 cups of vodka and the syrup to a large jar or bottle. 2. If you’re adding this to individual bottles for gifts, go ahead and fill each bottle halfway with the coffee syrup, then fill the rest of the way with vodka. Either way, use a funnel.

Let your boozy concoction sit in a cool, dark place for 30 days. In the meantime, make tags or labels for your gifts. Give it a shake every few days, when you remember.

I know what you're thinking: "Hey! There aren't 30 days left until Christmas. Why didn't you post this earlier?"

No problem! Just write "Enjoy After ____" on your label or tag. Believe me, people will be happy to drink this on a cold January night or save it until Valentine's Day.

A word of warning: This homemade coffee liqueur is hard to put down, and pretty strong. I drank it the night Kyle proposed to me, and let's just say I'm really glad there's a video of the whole thing.

Have you made holiday gifts?

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My Morning Smoothie

When it comes down to it, this blog is really just a wordy attempt at getting my shit together. While it starts with a strict commitment to financial responsibility, my hope is that it will encourage me to be more deliberate about all aspects of my life. In fact, I don't really see how I can separate frugality from living deliberately, because gone are the days of grabbing takeout when I haven't planned dinner, or spending $12 on my daily salad (that's $240 a month and the first time I've ever done that math).

This morning, after a quick outdoor run/walk that made me realize just how out of shape I am, and how much work I have to do if I am going to get my ass across the finish line of the October half marathon I signed up for last month (on the half-price registration day, of course) I spent half an hour in the kitchen. Yes, I'm terrible at mornings, but I made the time… and was only 10 minutes late to work today.

Anyway, I made myself some lime water in mason jars and put them in the fridge for the next few mornings, I made a salad with lettuce from my garden, and I made myself a beautiful pink smoothie.

Even before I started this frugality project, I was pretty good about making myself a morning smoothie, at least a few days a week. Now that I'm not making it rain every time I need to eat lunch, it's much more important to eat (or drink) breakfast.

Though the color varies a bit every day depending on the type and quantity of berries I use, this smoothie is my favorite because it's full of nutrients but tastes, well, not like one of those disgusting smoothies that's full of nutrients. I think I'm being a bit more generous with my berries lately since my last berry haul came from Aldi. They're not organic, so I'm probably ingesting some pesticides, but they're affordable and they taste great.

Here's what I put in my morning smoothie (including the pesticide berries):

• 3 kale leaves (with stems) or a handful of spinach (you can freeze your own)
• One apple (with skin), cut into about 8 pieces
• About a half-cup of frozen berries (you can also use fresh berries, but the frozen ones make the smoothie cold) 
• A heaping teaspoon of whatever nut butter you have on hand 
• A cup or so of unsweetened almond milk (I did find organic almond milk at Aldi!) or coconut milk

I blend my morning smoothie in the NutriBullet. (I may or may not have purchased it at target.com last year after seeing the infomercial while lounging on the couch with a bottle of wine around 2 am. It should be noted that unlike the people in the infomercial, the NutriBullet hasn't caused me to lose a bunch of weight or spend more time with my grandchildren, but it pulverizes frozen berries, so I'm happy.) It's great if you're making one or two smoothies, and compared to a VitaMix, the NutriBullet's $99 price tag doesn't seem so bad. It's much better than the $16 individual blender I bought at Target the previous year, and it's super easy to clean.

Maybe NutriBullet should hire me to do its next infomercial. Then I can go back to my organic berries.

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Doing What I Say I Will, or The Best-Ever Pasta Salad

I like to think of myself as a very flexible person, at least when it comes to my schedule. If plans change at the last minute, I just roll with it, whatever "it" is — and especially if something gets canceled. Unexpected free time is always appreciated.

Flexibility is a great trait for the professional world, but as I'm learning, it's not so great when it comes to family time.

Looking back, my family was always making and breaking plans, and no one ever got too upset when it happened. However, as my husband has pointed out on more than one occasion, not all families operate like that, and when he makes plans with me or my family, it's frustrating when things get changed or canceled as we're just about to leave the house.

Growing up with such an elastic sense of commitment has turned me into an adult who doesn't always follow through with things I say I will do. That's not the kind of person I want to be, and I certainly don't want to raise my kids to be that way.

When I decided to do this project, I wanted to also make more of an effort follow through on what I say I will do (I have subtitled it "Belated Lessons in Life and Economy," after all). It might mean committing to fewer things, and doing some things I'm just too tired to do, but I'm going to try to do them nonetheless. Not following through with the things I tell myself I will do — diets, marathon training, writing that novel, keeping my desk organized — is one thing, but when I tell someone else I will do something, I should do it. And if I can get in the habit of keeping my promises to others, maybe I can start keeping the promises I tell myself. 

My first experience with this new way of thinking came when I told my mother-in-law I'd make pasta salad for a cookout she was planning. Her brother and three of his six kids were passing through town on a road trip, and she wanted everyone to help with the menu. I was happy to do it; I love introducing my cheesy, balsamic pasta salad to new people. But a few days before the cookout, I learned that I was going to have family in town that night, too. My first thought was to cancel — Kyle could hang with his family and I could hang with mine — but, at Kyle's suggestion, we found a way to make both work, and I realized I'd still have plenty of time to make food during the day.

Though we ended up arriving a bit late to Kyle's parents' because it was the first day of his summer job at Boulevard Brewing Company, we were able to see both families and I don't feel like I let anyone down. Pasta salad may be a small commitment to keep, but it's a step in the right direction for me.

Here's the recipe.

Ingredients

1 pound of elbow macaroni, cooked to al dente and cooled (I use Ancient Harvest Quinoa pasta)

1 red onion, finely chopped
*
1/4-ish pound of smoked gouda, finely chopped

1/4-ish pound of sharp cheddar, finely chopped*
A few spoonfuls of mayonnaise
*
Balsamic Vinegar

Sea salt

Freshly-ground pepper

Cayenne pepper

Directions


Mix everything together, use the balsamic vinegar and spices to taste (I encourage you to use lots of spices, the cayenne really enhances the flavor of the cheddar). Eat immediately or refrigerate. The next day, if it’s dry, just add some more balsamic vinegar and stir. Enjoy!

*Ingredients I picked up on my trip to Aldi. 

(Not) Recipe: Eggs in Tomato Sauce

This isn't really a recipe, and that's exactly what the person I stole (er, adapted) it from said, too. But it is delicious, and easy, and affordable, so I wanted to share.

I posted yesterday about my failure to plan meals, and got some great tips from my friend Ruth. One was to keep frozen shrimp in the freezer. Always. The other was to make eggs in a quick tomato sauce. Because Ruth is usually right about most things, and because I love eggs and tomato sauce, I tried it.

Here's what I used: 

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

1 large, white onion, chopped

A pinch of crushed red pepper

1 28-oz can of crushed tomatoes

About a teaspoon of honey

A few pinches of dried basil (because I didn't have any fresh basil handy)

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 large, brown eggs

A handful of shredded Parmesan cheese 

Salt and pepper to taste 

Here's what I did: 

I sauteed the onion in the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. When the onions became translucent, I added the tomatoes, garlic, honey and spices, and cooked everything down until what was in the pot resembled a red sauce. I then salted and peppered it to taste and (tried to) gently crack three eggs into sauce. I let the eggs poach for a few minutes — until the whites were cooked and the yolks were still runny. Then, I transferred it all to a bowl and sprinkled some Parmesan cheese on top.

Then, I put it in my mouth. I expected it to be good, but it was even better than I imagined. The white Two Buck Chuck I had in the fridge didn't hurt the situation.

I still had about half of the red sauce left over, and since I bought two cans of tomatoes and a dozen eggs, that makes four easy, affordable meals. Definitely not a great option for when I'm cooking for Kyle and myself, but a wonderful naturally gluten-free dinner for one (or for two who don't require a meat and a starch every night).