How you doin’? It’s beginning to look a lot like Easter. The Intoxicated Pink Bunny is a cute and relevant Easter cocktail because of the bunny theme surrounding Easter. It's essentially a twist on the classic gin and tonic, with a touch of frozen pink lemonade to give it a brightness and sweetness that is to die for. Of course, adding pink sugar and an adorable pink marshmallow Peep bunny on top makes it even more festive.

Warning: drink too many of these and you'll be seeing pink bunnies for real! And be sure to steer the kiddos clear of this fun and festive ADULT BEVERAGE! 
 
May the Peeps be with you. 
 
Prep time:  3 minutes
Yield:  3 cocktails
 
Ingredients 
2 tablespoons pink decorating sugar
1 can (12 Ounces) of frozen pink lemonade (I prefer Minute Maid brand)
6 ounces of gin
12 ounces of tonic water
3 pink Peeps bunnies
 
Directions

1. For the sugar rim on your glasses, rub water around the edges of the glasses and gently press the top of the glasses into the decorating sugar until sufficiently covered.
2. In a pitcher, pour your gin, tonic water and your frozen pink lemonade.
3. Mix all ingredients together well and serve.
4. Wishing you Peeps and happiness this Easter. 

​ChefSecret:  This recipe fills exactly 3 full martini glasses, if you would like more, this recipe can easily be doubled or tripled. If pink is not your color, change it up a bit with blue or yellow Peeps and the coordinating color decorating sugar.

Quip of the Day:  For Peep’s sake, that’s all there is for today.
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Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to [email protected]. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide.
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To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to  Feeding America, Tunnel to Towers, Union Rescue Mission and/or American Red Cross.

#Cocktail  #IntoxicatedBunny #Gin #PinkLemonade #MinuteMaid #Peeps #EasterCocktail #Cheers #HappyHour #2024 #T2T #URM #FeedingAmerica #RedCross #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup 
 
                                                                              ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2024

How you doin’? I don’t know about you, but I like my French Toast to be creamy and custard like. I use a lot more egg and cream than most recipes call for. You can finish-cook it two ways—in a fry pan or in a large rectangular baking dish that finishes more like bread pudding than traditional French toast.
 
With my recipe you can either use fresh or stale bread. There are so many great uses for stale bread. Panzanella, the rustic Italian bread salad, is a versatile way to use it up. Another great use for stale bread is to make it the base of a savory or a sweet breakfast casserole bread pudding. The stale bread works well in these recipes because the moisture in the wet ingredients rehydrates the stale bread.
 
The quickest way you can make French toast is to dip the bread in an enriched egg and cream mixture and fried in a fry pan in butter. It is as delicious as any breakfast or brunch can be and it is an excellent vehicle for carrying maple syrup, cinnamon and sugar, berry compote and/or whipped cream.
 
Some people suggest you should use dry or toasted bread for making French toast. The question is, though, does toasting really make a big difference and is that difference better? I‘ve pan-fried them both ways in butter. I saw no difference in texture. The extra step seemed unnecessary.
 
Prep time:  10 minutes
Cook time:  10 minutes
Yield:  2-4 servings, depending on serving size
 
Ingredients 
5 large eggs
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar, plus 1 tablespoon for garnish
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond or orange extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 thick cut slices Texas toast loaf bread, cut in half
2 ounces of unsalted butter
Confectioners’ sugar for garnish
3 ounces of warm real maple syrup
 
Directions

1. Set your oven to warm and place the serving plates in the oven.
2. Mix eggs, cream, baking powder, sugar, extracts and cinnamon the ingredients in a blender jar and whirl into foamy.
3. Place the bread pieces in a baking dish and pour the custard mix over the bread.
4. Turn the bread to evenly soak the pieces.
5. Melt the butter in a medium size pan on medium heat until it sizzles.
6. Transfer the soaked bread to frying pan.
7. Pour over any remaining custard and separate the slices with a spatula.
8. Cook until golden brown; 3 to 5 minutes.
9. Turn the slices over and cook for another 4 minutes
10. Place the finished French toast on warm serving plates.
11. Garnish with sifted confectioners’ sugar.
12. Serve with warm maple syrup.

ChefSecret:  If you like your French toast with a little crunch, sprinkle the tops with some Frosted Flakes before cooking.

Quip of the Day:  Brexit fallout: My French Toast has just surrendered to my English Muffins. Germany is sending in the Luft-waffle... these events could engulf the entire continental breakfast and my Irish coffee is drunk once again.
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Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to [email protected]. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide.
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To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to  Feeding America, Tunnel to Towers, Union Rescue Mission and/or American Red Cross.

#Entree #CustardyFrenchToast #FrenchToast #Breakfast #Brunch #2024Recipes #URM #T2T #FeedingAmerica #RedCross #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup  
 
                                                ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2024

How you doin’? These simple pork chops are cooked to perfection in a cast iron or heavy bottom pan. Make sure you get the best quality pork chops. You will only need a handful of simple ingredients to create restaurant-quality pork chops.
 
With the skyrocketing cost of beef, seafood and chicken, I still find pork to be the best bargain protein.
 
Prep time:  5 minutes
Cook time:  10 to 15 minutes
Stand Time:  3-5 minutes
Yield:  4 servings
 
Ingredients 
4 bone-in pork chops (1-1/2-inch thick / 6 to 8 ounces each)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 thinly cloves garlic, sliced
4 sprigs fresh rosemary, 1 tablespoon plus chopped fresh rosemary for garnish
 
Directions

1. Gather all the ingredients. Take the chops out of the refrigerator and let them stand at room temperature for 60 minutes before cooking.
2. If there is a fat cap on the sides of the chops, make a few vertical slits through them, so the chops will not curl as they cook and some of the fat will render out.
3. Blot chops dry with paper towels, and sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.
4. Heat a 12-inch cast iron skillet over medium-high heat for 3 minutes. Add the oil.
5. Add the chops and cook for 2 minutes.
6. Turn and cook 2 minutes more.
7. Add the butter and garlic to the skillet.
8. Place the rosemary sprigs atop each chop. Tilt the skillet to allow the melted butter and oil to pool on one side.
9. Spoon the butter and garlic mixture over chops occasionally while cooking for 2 minutes. Remove rosemary, turn the chops, replace rosemary and cook, basting chops occasionally, cooking 2 to 3 minutes more or until chops are 140⁰ F in the center when tested with an instant-read thermometer.
10. Remove the chops from skillet and place on a cutting board or serving platter.
11. Tent the chops with foil and let them stand 5 minutes before serving. Temperature will rise to 145 F while standing.
12. Garnish with chopped rosemary.
13. Drizzle the pan juices over each of the chops.

​ChefSecret:  For most pork chop preparations, look for bone-in pork chops about 1.5-inches thick. The bone actually slows the cooking time and adds flavor. We're not talking long, just a few minutes. But even a few minutes can spell the difference between moist, tender pork chops with tasty sear marks and dry, tight-textured chops. Look for center-cut loin chops with a T-shaped bone; the loin is on one side of the bone, the tenderloin on the other.

Quip of the Day:  As a butcher is shooing away a dog from his shop, he sees a $25 bill and a note in his mouth, reading: “10 pork chops, please.” Amazed, he takes the money, puts a bag of pork chops in the dog’s mouth, and quickly closes the shop. He follows the dog and watches him wait for a green light, look both ways, and trot across the road to a bus stop. The dog checks the timetable and sits on the bench. When a bus arrives, he walks around to the front and looks at the number, then boards the bus.
The butcher follows, dumbstruck. As the bus travels out into the suburbs, the dog takes in the scenery. After a while he stands on his back paws to push the “stop” bell, then the butcher follows him off.
The dog runs up to a house and drops his bag on the step. He goes back down the path, takes a big run, and throws himself -WHAP!- against the door. He does this again and again. No answer. So, he jumps on a wall, walks around the garden, beats his head against a window, jumps off, and waits at the front door.
A big guy opens it and starts cursing and shouting at the dog. The butcher runs up and screams at the guy: “What in hell are you doing? This dog’s a genius!”
The owner responds, “Genius, my ass… It’s the second time this week he’s forgotten his keys!”
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Do you have a question or comment? Send your favorite recipes, pictures or thoughts to [email protected]. Recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide.
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To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to  Feeding America, Tunnel to Towers, Union Rescue Mission and/or American Red Cross.

#Entree #BestPorkChops #Dinner #2024Recipes #URM #T2T #FeedingAmerica #RedCross #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup  
 
                                                                                    ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2024 

How you doin’? It’s Spring!... and time for spring break on a lovely island.  So I offer A Lonely Island Lost in the Middle of a Foggy Sea cocktail served in a Collins glass, with foamy top, garnished with coffee beans and pineapple fronds.
 
The best cocktails taste good and look pleasing to the eye, but a well-conceived name can be the difference between a drink that fades into the night and one with centuries of staying power. It’s yet to be determined whether we’ll still be drinking the 11-word cocktail decades into the future, but with a memorable name and tasty blend of ingredients, it could happen.
 
This cocktail combines three types of rum (I love rum) with pineapple and lime juices, demerara syrup and cold brew coffee. The first rum is an unaged rhum Agricole, which is distilled from fresh sugarcane juice rather than the more common molasses, and sports a grassy, earthy flavor.

Then there’s Blackstrap rum which is characterized more by its dark color than by any actual regulations. The category often features young distillates that get their inky hue from caramel coloring, not lengthy barrel aging. But those rums can be intensely flavorful and fun to work with, and blackstrap rums are used in cocktails like the Jungle Bird and Corn ’n’ Oil. Lastly, the recipe calls for Old Port Deluxe rum, which is made in Bangalore, India, using 100% local sugarcane.
 
The rums are sweetened with demerara syrup, a type of simple syrup made with demerara sugar, which has a coarse grain and light tan color. With notes of molasses, toffee and coffee, it provides a richer, deeper flavor than traditional simple syrup, so it pairs well with dark spirits and is a staple in many Tiki-style cocktails.
 
Pineapple lends sweet, tropical notes, while fresh lime juice provides citrusy/acidy balance. Finally, the cocktail is topped with a small pour of cold brew coffee before it’s garnished with coffee beans and pineapple leaves.
 
A Lonely Island Lost in the Middle of a Foggy Sea may sound weird, but with a trio of rums, bright fruits and coffee, it’s a fun, complex cocktail to be enjoyed on spring break or whenever the mood strikes.
 
Ingredients 
1-1/2 ounces Rhum J.M Agricole Blanc
1/2 ounce Cruzan blackstrap rum
1/2 ounce Old Port Deluxe matured rum
1 ounce pineapple juice
3/4 ounce demerara syrup (1 part demerara sugar, 1 part water/boiled)
3/4 ounce lime juice, freshly squeezed
1/4 ounce La Colombe cold brew coffee
Garnish: roasted coffee beans
Garnish: pineapple fronds
 
Directions

1. Add the Rhum Agricole, Blackstrap Rum, Old Port Rum, pineapple juice, demerara syrup, lime juice and cold brew coffee to a shaker with ice and shake it like you mean it until well-chilled.
2. Strain into a Tiki mug or Collins glass filled with crushed ice.
3. Garnish with coffee beans and pineapple fronds.

ChefSecret:  Inventing a cocktail is like having a kid. Conceiving it is the easy part. The challenges come later. And many bartenders will attest that one of the hardest parts of cocktail creation is conjuring the right name. This is, after all, the first interaction drinkers will have with the cocktail, and can impact whether or not the drink will sell well.

Quip of the Day:  Q: What do you call it when it rains chickens and ducks during spring break?  A: FOUL weather.
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Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to [email protected]. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide.
-------------------------------------------
To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to  Feeding America, Tunnel to Towers, Union Rescue Mission and/or American Red Cross.

#Cocktail #FoggySeaCocktail #Rum #Coffee #CruzanRum #Rhum #Cheers #HappyHour #2024 #T2T #URM #FeedingAmerica #RedCross #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup 
 
                                                                                         ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2024

How you doin’? If you’re a chocoholic here’s a treat to keep your craving at bay. Deep, dark, chocolate infused with liqueur and whipped into a mousse that is at once lush and decadent and unbelievably light. And it is ready to serve in about 2-1/2 hours!
 
Chocolate Pots are one of life’s sublime delights and though you may choose not to share it—it is the perfect dessert for celebrating the people you love because it looks just as fancy and splendid as it tastes—but  it’s very easy to make.
 
We serve ours with a little pile of raspberries on the top. They provide a fresh sweet-tart note to complement all that dreamy creaminess and they look so pretty on top of the chocolate.
 
Prep time:  10 minutes
Cook time:  10 minutes
Chill time:  2+ hours
Yield:  4 servings
 
Ingredients 
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped (I prefer Guittard chocolate)
1 large egg
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons Chambord Black Raspberry Liqueur
3/4 cup nonfat milk
1 pint fresh raspberries
 
Directions

1. In the work bowl of a food processor combine the chocolate, egg, sugar and Chambord. Pulse a few times to mix.
2. Heat the milk in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. When little bubbles form around the edge of the pot, remove it from the heat.
3. While the food processor is running, carefully pour the hot milk over the other ingredients and blend for 1 minute, until chocolate is melted, and little bubbles are present near the surface.
4. Divide the mixture among four 1/2-cup ramekins.
5. Refrigerate at least 2 hours, until set, before serving.
6. Garnish with fresh raspberries and serve.

ChefSecret:  This simple chocolate pot can be made with boysenberries, strawberries or even pitted cherries.

Quip of the Day:  All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.
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Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to [email protected]. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide.
-------------------------------------------
To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to  Feeding America, Tunnel to Towers, Union Rescue Mission and/or American Red Cross.

#Dessert #RaspberryChocolatePots #GuittardChocolate #ChambordBlackRaspberryLiqueur #ChocolateDessert #2024 #T2T #URM #FeedingAmerica #RedCross #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup  
 
                                                                        ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2024