Friday food

--and it's a holiday two-fer! Two easy-peasy holiday treats.

Let's start with the cranberry slush.

That's it. Four whole ingredients. That you dump into a freezer-friendly container and freeze.

Specifics soon, but first, a Knit Think holiday memory. See that apricot brandy? That stuff is potent--it's 35% alcohol. The first year I made this slush, my father went wild. He rarely drinks alcohol, but he loves cranberry juice. I was watching him chug this stuff, and I kept saying, "Dad, slow down. Dad, that's really strong stuff in there. Dad, you don't drink much. Dad, you really need to slow down."

Did my father listen to me? Of course not. Did he get bombed out of his skull? Why, yes. Later that evening, we were going to drive out and see some Christmas lights (no, we had no plans to let him drive). Our house has a mudroom with a boot bench that opens to store, well, boots. The top was slightly open. My dad reached down, tucked his fingers around the edge of the top, then sat on it, slamming his fingers right into the bench. He still had marks two days later.

My brother pulled me aside and said, "I'm worried about Dad. Do you think there's something wrong with him?"

To which I replied, "Nothing that a good night's sleep and some aspirin and Alka-Seltzer won't fix."

It can't be said that my father doesn't learn from his mistakes. Now he carefully sips his one glass of slush and doesn't ask for seconds.

Like I said, this is about as easy as it gets:

Cranberry Slush

1  48-ounce jar cranapple juice

1 quart 7-Up

1 12-ounce can of frozen lemonade concentrate

1 bottle (fifth) apricot brandy

Combine all ingredients and freeze for 3 days, stirring every 12 hours. Yes--it's called cranberry slush, people, not cranberry slab o' ice. Stir every 12 hours. This is what it looks like:

Pretty!

OK, on to number 2. The Knit Think children are terribly deprived because Mommy just doesn't like to bake. That's a serious hindrance this time of year. But I do have one cookie recipe that's so easy even I can do it.

Again, not so much with the long ingredient list. And one of these ingredients is food coloring, which really doesn't count.

First you beat some egg whites until they're stiff, then add sugar and food coloring. Once those are blended, gently fold in the mint chocolate chips (an ingredient that only seems to be available this time of year).

I used my pretty winter spatula that I got on clearance after Christmas last year from Sur la Table. 

Here's what it looks like, all mixed together and ready to bake.

These have to be made the night before, as you'll see in the recipe instructions.

Mint Meringues

2 egg whites

1/2 cup sugar

Red or green food coloring

1 six-ounce package mint chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400F. Whip egg whites until stiff, about 2 minutes. Slowly beat in sugar on lowest speed, then add food coloring to your preference. Gently stir in chips and spoon onto greased cookie sheets. Put the sheets in the oven, then turn the oven off, and leave cookies in oven overnight. Yields approximately 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

They're odd little cookies--the texture is a bit like styrofoam, but the barely-melted chocolate chips and the mint flavor redeem the texture. They're pretty tasty. And easy. And do-ahead. All of my favorite things.

Comments

[Jenny]

This looks great! Both!

[Sarah R]

I have a recipe for meringue cookies like that (well, no food coloring and just regular chocolate chips but you could certainly play with it) that doesn't have to cook overnight. Let me know if you'd like it. So you could chose between semi-magical cook all night or instant gratification. (Guess which I go for...)

[Susan]

Yum! I love that spatula too.

[lisa D.]

Thanks for the batch of slush.
You are right. It sure is potent. I am halfway through my first glass right now, and I'm already feeling a little bit tipsy. But Oh it's so good. And no, I couldn't wait one more day for my sister to come to share it with her.

Being your neighbor (hiccup) definitely has it's advantages. Thanks for the batch of slush.

[AllyB]

Well that sounds pretty yummy. I'll have to give those a try. Merry Christmas to you and yours!

[Katie]

I love the slush story....wouldn't yoy like to include that in my Skeletons in the Pantry? Huh? Would yah?

[Jeanne]

Hmmm...there is still time to go out and buy slush ingredients, isn't there?

[Celia]

Oooooo! Both recipies look like they would be fun to try. Yum!

[Miss T]

Yum and yum! And I love that spatula.

[bezzie]

I've never made meringues and I've certainly never seen 'em with chocolate chips--yum!

So hey, that's a lot of liquid for the slush--what do you use to contain it all while you freeze it?

[Amy Artisan]

Both sound great!

In fact, someone brought those meringues into the office yesterday. I ventured into meringues this spring - love the "wake up & they're done" aspect. :)

[Chris]

Hee hee - I bet your dad felt like crap the next day... Ouch! Hmm, meringues might be fun to make...

[deb]

Hmmmmmmmm - slushy!

[Connie]

My aunt used to make those cookies! This was back in the day before mint flavored chocolate chips were available so she used mint flavoring and regular chocolate chips - yum! The slush looks delicious! Do you serve this in a cup with a little 7-up or something over the top or just the straight slush?

[Carole]

I love meringues! And that's a really cute story about your dad.

[Jess]

I love meringue cookies. We used to call them "forgotten cookies", since you put them in the oven and forget them for many hours.