Coffee Creamer Without the Crap

Update 11/12/2013:  First, I want to say thank you to all of my readers and followers!  This recipe has had over 1000 views in less than a year and hundreds of repins on Pinterest.  I couldn't be happier!  Thank you:-)  I also wanted to add a few holiday recipes to the blog and decided to update this one with Egg Nog Creamer.  I made it this morning, and it was fabulous.  It tasted so much better than the kind at the store.  The recipe variation is at the very bottom of the list..  

Busy Mama Recipes




I was making coffee at my house this morning, wishing I had an espresso machine. Oh well, Santa is forgiven... this year... ;-)

When I worked at Allyson's Kitchen, I drank a ton of coffee each day. I worked long days cooking, catering, cooking classes, etc and we had an espresso machine. So why not? I had the most amazing drinks there. Part of the reason was our house made coffee creamer.

We made different kinds depending on the season. They all turned out great. They are very easy and don't have all of the chemicals that the store bought creamer does.

I always used equal parts dairy and sweetened condensed milk. Working for a restaurant we had access to different sizes of condensed milk. The only ones in the grocery store are 14 ounces, but it works.  Most of the time the other milk was whole milk. But using half and half, 1%, non fat, soy, whatever will also work. Just depends on your preference. Also, some flavored milks or other milk, like coconut milk, can give a very yummy flavor.

I like my coffee not so sweet. If you like sweeter, you can add a sugar or simple syrup to your creamer (or stevia, whatever your preference). You can also buy the bottle of flavored syrup (like the kind they use at coffee shops) and add a little of that to your creamer.

Basic Sweet Cream:
14oz sweetened condensed milk
14oz milk of your choice

Mix together well and store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to a week.

More variations include:

Coconut Creamer: use coconut milk or add 1 teaspoon coconut extract

Vanilla: add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste. You could also use vanilla soy milk.

Mexican Mocha: add cinnamon and a little cocoa powder

Almond Joy: add cocoa powder, almond extract, and use coconut milk (or coconut extract and almond milk)

Cherry Almond: cherry syrup and almond milk

Black Forrest: cocoa powder and cherry syrup

Vanilla Honey: add vanilla bean paste and local honey. Add cinnamon too- this is one of my favorites.

Raspberry White Chocolate: raspberry flavoring and some white chocolate powder or melted white chocolate. I would suggest not adding sugar to this one.

Hazelnut: add hazelnut extract

Snickers: hazelnut extract, caramel or caramel flavor, and cocoa powder

Peppermint mocha: peppermint extract and cocoa powder

Creme de Menthe: add spearmint extract

Salted Caramel: add caramel sauce or flavor and sprinkle sea salt and sugar on top.

French Vanilla: add hazelnut extract and vanilla bean paste

Pumpkin Spice (my favorite): on stove top, heat up 1/8 cup pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling), 14oz sweet condensed milk, 2tbs brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon each cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. Mix well. It will turn out like a thick sauce. Add that sauce to 14oz of milk and mix well. You may choose to add more milk because this is one of the sweeter recipes.

Italian Sweet Creme: add vanilla and almond extract
EggNog: Use eggnog for the milk and add nutmeg to the top

How to Hard Boil an Egg- The Right Way

Busy Mama Recipes



This is another that seems silly to some, but useful to others. (Seriously, one of my friends once tried to hard boil an egg in the microwave... did not work.  Another boiled eggs for 45 minutes to make sure they were done.  Oh boy...)

When I worked at Allyson's Kitchen, I thought I knew how to boil an egg.  Duh.  I mean, it's freaking boiling an egg.  How hard is that?  Unfortunately, I was incorrect:

We had an over abundance of eggs for some reason, and a catering event.  Obviously: Deviled eggs.  So, I began the process to make tons of eggs to get started.  I put eggs in a pot, set them on the stove, and turned the burner on.  My plan was to bring them to a boil, let them boil for 10 minutes, then put them in cold water.

"Okay, but do you really know how to boil an egg?" Allyson asked me.  And of course I'm thinking in my head "Yeah.  Duh."  But she is the best cook I know, and an amazing teacher, so I asked her how, and I'm so glad I did.

She gave me these instructions:

1. Wash the eggs.  (Wow.  I had never done that.  Seriously, it seems so obvious.  I wash produce before using it.  Eggs are worse because they came out of a chicken once... bleh.  I couldn't believe after all those years, this was news to me.)

2. Put the eggs in a pot and fill it with cold water.  (That part seems obvious.  If the water is too hot it can crack the eggs, so make sure it's cold!)

3. Bring the eggs to a boil. (Okay, I was still on the same page there.)

4.  Once they are at a roaring boil, take them off the heat and cover for 12 minutes.  (This is where she lost me).

5. Put them in the fridge and let them cool completely before using them.

I asked her why.  Why was her way better than mine?  They both accomplished the same thing: a boiled egg.  She told me that when it's done this way, there is no gray area, so the eggs are much prettier when they are made into deviled eggs, egg salad, or sliced and served with salads.

This photo is an example of what I mean.  Yellow yolk, no gray:

Pretty huh?  Now here is a photo I found online (credit: sizzleeats.com) that shows the gray area when you keep the egg on the heat for too long:

Weird, huh?

Presentation is important.

*I saw a tip on Pinterest that said if you boiled eggs with baking soda in the water, that the peel comes off easier.  I have never tried it, so I have no idea if it's true.  By the sounds of the comments, it works!

How to Properly Zest an Orange

This probably sounds stupid to some people.  They are thinking, "Duh, grate the orange.  Done."  NO.  It's harder than you think!

Once, when I worked at Allyson's Kitchen, I was making a big batch of soup (probably a few gallons) for the cafe.  It was some sort of Curried Carrot soup- or something very similar.

Anyway, the recipe called for the zest or two oranges, and I only had one.  To problem solve, I just grated that dang orange reeeeaaaaly well.  I thought I was genius- I was wrong.

You know that white stuff underneath the peel?  The stuff that looks like fake snow?  That stuff is called pith, and it's evil.  Well, not evil- it's actually healthy for you and has lots of health benefits- but it's bitter as crap.

From only one orange I ruined the entire batch of soup.  One orange.  No joke.  I learned my lesson big time.  Every cooking class I helped with after, I mentioned this story so people know what NOT to do.

So, to properly zest an orange, use a fine zester (I love my Microplane Zester that I got at Macy's for around $15.  It's "grate" for cheese too... haha) and zest one layer, then pick up the zester and begin in a new spot.  Don't go over spots twice, as if you were grating hard cheese.  There are only a few millimeters between sweet and evil bitterness.  Be careful!

There are a few recipes on my blog that you will need to zest an orange, like Orange Rosemary Shrimp and Pomegranate Cranberry Sauce.  Don't worry.  As long as you are careful, there's no reason to fear ruining anything:-)