How you doin’? Independence Day is just around the corner. Ever wonder how the Founding Father’s celebrated this momentous event?

Per Military.com, “they celebrated the signing of the U.S. Constitution with an epic party that resulted in one of history's greatest bar tabs.

​The 55 members of the Constitutional Convention imbibed 54 bottles of Madeira, 60 bottles of claret, eight bottles of whiskey, 22 bottles of porter, eight bottles of hard cider, 12 bottles of beer and seven bowls of alcoholic punch.

That adds up to more than $17,253 in today's money, with each delegate consuming more than $313 worth of the hard stuff.”

Times have changed and we’re no longer partying like it’s 1776 (though Congress is still spending like drunken soldiers), but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t celebrate with gusto. My fun, layered, patriotic and shimmery cocktail drink is the best. It’s really glittery!
 
A quick fun fact that will help get you started, the liquid with the highest sugar content needs to be at the bottom of the drink, then layered in order of its sugar content.
 
There is also a secret to gently pouring each layer so they stay separated—read on. Start with grenadine at the bottom, then fill the glass with ice. Check out the picture and get started!
 
Ingredients 
1 ounce grenadine
3 ounces lemonade
1 ounce vodka
1 ounce blue curacao
Red, White & Blue beverage glitter (Brew Glitter is found on Amazon & Walmart)

Directions

1. Add the grenadine to a glass then fill with ice
2. In a cocktail shaker, shake the lemonade and vodka then gently pour the mixture over the back of a spoon into the glass creating the white layer of the drink.
3. Cascade blue curacao over the back of a spoon to make the final blue layer.
4. Decorate your cocktail with a colorful festive 4th of July shimmer. 

ChefSecret:  Brew Glitter® gives a glittery and shimmery, Red White and Blue effect in your beverage.

Quip of the Day:  Since 1776, America has been sipping on liber-tea. May God bless our nation!
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Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. 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, be positive, stay well and stay safe. Have a fantastic Happy Hour and Independence Day!

#Cocktail #HappyHour #GlitterCocktail #4thOfJulyGlitterCocktail #Vodka #BlueCuracao #HappyIndependenceDay #Cheers #2023 #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #RedCross #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup 

                                                                                                ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2023

How you doin”? If you are helping to get ready for an after Easter service brunch, my Wicked Wabbit recipe is so easy and refreshing. Sooo, Ready, Set, Get the punch bowl!
 
Almost everyone wants to know what’s in this benign tasting yet wicked punch, and where they can get the recipe! Well, here it is. I originally got it from a bartender who dubbed it as the “3-2-1-1” punch, as this is the ratio of ingredients.
 
Here are the not so secret 3-2-1-1 ingredients that are easy to get and easy to transport to the party location.
 
You can use Simply Raspberry Lemonade as the base flavor. Simply Lemonade has the perfect flavor for this recipe and is the best option.
 
The best part is, set aside a shelf in the frig where you can have all the ingredients for brunch punch cooling until after church—then just pour them all together, in the punch bowl over some large chunks of ice.
 
Look at the ChefSecret for a kid’s non-alcohol version below.
 
Prep time:  Allow 10 minutes--that’s all folks
Yield: 30 4-ounce servings
 
Ingredients 
1 59-ounce bottle raspberry lemonade, Simply brand
34 ounces ginger ale
1 750 ml bottle Bombay Sapphire Gin
24 ounces club soda
Garnish with raspberries, mint leaves and lemon slices
 
Directions

1. Chill all the ingredients prior to serving.
2. Mix all ingredients together in a large punch bowl. You can adjust the beverage amounts to suit your tastes. (Essentially, it's 3 parts raspberry lemonade, 2 parts ginger ale, and one part club soda.
3. Garnish with fresh raspberries and mint leaves.
4. You may also float an ice ring to keep it chilled during the party.

ChefSecret:  Make it a bit less wicked for young people by leaving out the gin.  It’s still a great punch without the wicked buzz.

Quip of the Day:  What do rabbits say before they eat? “Lettuce pray.”
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Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. 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, be positive, stay well and stay safe. 

To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be 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 and/or American Red Cross.

#Cocktail #HappyHour #WickedWabbitBrunchPunch #EasterPunch #Gin #BombaySapphire #GingerAle #RaspberryLemonade #Cheers #2023 #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #RedCross #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup 
 
                                                                             ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2023

How you doin’? Who is Mrs. Adler? Lea Adler was non-other than Steven Spielberg’s mother. Before she passed, Lea owned the Milky Way kosher restaurant on Pico Boulevard in West Los Angeles. Here was a lady in her 80s and 90s who loved to “work the floor” at the restaurant. We became great friends and from time-to-time Perspectives helped her and her husband with new recipes.
 
Although Lea closed the restaurant during Passover when she and the family checked into a resort hotel where the food was kosher for Passover, she had a killer matzo ball soup. It starts by long-cooking a great, rich chicken soup. After simmering for 2 hours remove the chicken to cool and strain the soup.  Next separate the chicken meat from the bones and skin (discard) add the chicken and the remaining carrots and celery and cook for another hour. That way you can enjoy perfectly cooked vegetables with your matzo balls.
 
Prep time:  45 minutes (soup and matzo balls)
Cook time:  3 hours
Yield:  6 to 8 servings
 
Ingredients 
1 whole 3-pound+ chicken, cut into pieces
2 medium yellow onions, quartered
4 celery stalks, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
4 fresh parsley sprigs
1 teaspoon kosher salt
 
Additionally
2 celery stalks, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
 
Directions

1. Place the first six ingredients into a pot and cover with cold water.
2. Bring the water to a boil, skim off residue that rises to the surface of the soup.
3. Simmer the soup, partially covered, for 2 hours.
4. Add salt to taste.
5. Strain the soup, separate the cooked chicken to cool, then place the soup back in the pot.
6. Remove meat from the bones, discarding the skin and bones; place the chicken meat back in the soup.
7. Add the remaining celery and carrots; simmer for 1 hour.

                                                              Matzo Balls
                                     Make, cook and cool the matzo balls while the soup is cooking.
 
Ingredients 
1-1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil (or chicken schmaltz—that’s cooked chicken fat)
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
1-1/2 cups matzo meal
1/2 ounce kosher salt
2 tablespoons chicken stock
 
Directions

1. Blend the vegetable oil with the eggs.
2. Mix matzo meal and salt together.
3. Add matzo meal and salt to the egg mixture and blend.
4. Add the chicken stock and mix, but don’t overmix.
5. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
6. Remove from the refrigerator and roll into 1/2-inch diameter balls.
7. Drop matzo balls in 1-1/2 quarts of slightly boiling salted water. 
8. Cook for 30 to 40 minutes.
9. Remove from heat and let cool.
10. Now you’re ready for the soup.

Putting all together—Place 2 or 3 matzo balls in a soup bowl and pour hot chicken soup over them.  Serve hot.
ChefSecret:  What is chicken schmaltz? After cooking chicken, whether roasting or boiling, you’ll see a yellow tinged thick layer of fat rising to the top. Skim this off and let it cool until ready to use. You can also take the raw fat off the chicken and simmer it for an hour or so. Some stores make it easy and sell prepared chicken schmaltz.

Quip of the Day:  The IRS Assigns an Agent to Audit a Synagogue. The agent sits down with the rabbi and starts asking his interview questions.

"What do you do with the crumbs left from the matzos?" The rabbi replies, "we save them up and when we have enough, we send them to the matzo factory and they send us back a free matzo ball."

"Ok, then, what do with all the candle drippings?" The rabbi replies "well, we save them up and when we have enough we send them to the candle factory and they send us back a free candle."

At this point the agent is getting a little frustrated. "Well, then, what do you do with all the foreskins from the circumcisions?" The rabbi replies "The foreskins? We save them up and when we have enough, we send them to the IRS and they send us back a little prick like you."
                                                                                                                                     Lea would have loved this joke!
 
Alternative Matzo Quip 
One day Joe Biden went out to dinner with a Jewish friend. The friend recommended a kosher place nearby.

They arrived and Joe’s friend ordered them both the house specialty—matzo ball soup. The waiter brought the bowls and Joe looked at the soup suspiciously, but his friend urged him to try at least one taste.

​So, he took a bite of matzo ball and slurped some soup and clearly liked it.
After Joe was finished, he said, “Mmmmm, that was good! But tell me, do you Jewish folks eat other parts of the matzo, or just the balls?”
 
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Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. 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, be 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 and/or American Red Cross.
 
#Soup #MatzoBallSoup #ChickenSoup #Passover #LeadAdler #Spielberg  #2023Recipes #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #RedCross #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup  

                                                                            ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2023

How you doin’? I am always searching for special desserts for upcoming holidays and here’s one that made the cut. It is made with chopped cashews and crushed graham crackers. It is reminiscent of a carrot cake yet unique especially for celebrating Easter and welcoming in spring.
 
Where were tortes invented? They are classically European, whereas cakes are far more American. The word torte is indeed European. In many Indo-European languages, the word for cake is a variant on "torte": torte (German), or torta (Spanish/Italian).
 
I apprenticed at Hotel Sacher's in Vienna where the "Original Sacher Torte" was invented by Franz Sacher. During my term there I made hundreds of Sacher Tortes, but that is for another day… another blog.
 
Yields:  6-8 servings
Prep time:  15 minutes
Bake time:  50 minutes
 
Ingredients 
For the torte
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
3/4 cup flake coconut (sweetened or unsweetened both work), divided
1/2 cup chopped dry roasted and salted cashews
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
4 large egg whites
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
 
For the topping
1 cup whipping cream
4 tablespoons powdered sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
 
Directions
To make the torte

1. Preheat an oven to 325⁰ F.
2. Combine the graham crackers, 1/2 cup of the coconut and all of the cashews and set aside.
3. Whip the egg whites with the salt to stiff peaks, and gradually add the granulated sugar. Continue beating until stiff peaks are formed.
4. Add the vanilla.
5. Fold in the graham cracker-coconut mixture.
6. Pour the batter into a 9-inch springform pan and bake 45 to 50 minutes until lightly golden.
7. Cool completely before topping; then release the torte from the sides of the pan.

To make the topping

1. Whip the cream, adding the powdered sugar and lemon zest as you go. Be careful not to overwhip.
2. Spread over the top of the torte.
3. Sprinkle the top with the remaining coconut.
4. Cut and serve.

ChefSecret:  A traditional cake is made with ingredients mainly consisting of sugar, eggs, butter and flour. A torte, however, calls for little to no flour, with ground nuts, graham crackers or breadcrumbs in its place. This change of ingredients causes the torte to be much heavier in both texture and taste.

Quip of the Day:  Do not mix up your tortes with your torts or you may find yourself in court defending a cake.
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Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. 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, be 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 and/or American Red Cross.

#Baking #CashewCoconutTorte #Coconut #Cashews #Easter #Dessert  #2023Recipes #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #RedCross #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup  

                                                                               ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, LLC, 2023