We are all trying to save money. We go out to eat and get a small entrée…. And split it in half in order to have a meal for the next day. Though I am no longer a freshman in college, it was not but last week that I considered cooking a whole bag of black beans ($.40) so I could eat black beans and rice for a few weeks. Gross. I hate saving money… and I really don’t like black beans anymore. Or Ramen. Or Easy Mac. Naturally, I still like pizza. My point being, in this economy, we don’t often spend the big bucks on food. That is, unless your boyfriend/husband is a country music star or CEO of the Cheesecake Factory, and in that case… does he have a brother??
Bottom Line: no matter what the circumstance, wherever we can pinch or save a buck, we will! Recently I met with a bride who is planning a beautiful fall wedding on a budget. Normally, as a wedding caterer, I get nervous around a penny-pinching bride. Its hard to quote a price when I know very well that it is above her budget. But this bride was different! Most of the wedding was DIY and she was supplementing our food with some of her own. She was contracting her friends to serve, instead of hiring our servers and decided that all she needed from us was the food. This may sound mean, but we actually like those the best! We can concentrate all our efforts on the food, and then get out of your hair and let you party! It’s cheaper and much more easily managed! We planned the menu, it looked delicious, and all that was left was the beverage discussion. Since it is a late fall wedding, the lovely bride requested 3 hot drinks to be served alongside the food. This wrecked her budget. After wracking my brains to think of a way to make this happen for her… it occurred to me. It’s a DIY wedding… Why can’t she make the beverages, too? Before you get the image of a bride mixing Cosmo’s in her white dress, let me clarify. The drinks requested were coffee, hot chocolate and apple cider. Besides the coffee, why not create a customized mix of hot chocolate and apple cider and just have the guests add hot water? I mean, cool, right?! Infinitely cheaper and much more creative. Just find a cool jar and measuring cup and let your guests have at it! Here are two sample recipes that would be great at a wedding, or ANY function you might have!
Hot Chocolate Mix
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup cocoa (Dutch-process preferred)
2 1/2 cups powdered milk
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 pinch cayenne pepper, or more to taste (or you could use cinnamon, or both!)
Hot water
Yield 5 ½ c of dry mix
Use 1/3 mix to 2/3 water
I encourage you to run the mix through your food processor to get it as powdery as possible. Naturally, you don’t have to add the cayenne pepper, but it would certainly add a different element to the hot chocolate! The cayenne adds more of a warmth rather than a “kick.” You can also put this mix on top of ice cream or mix some into your morning coffee…. Delicious!!
Spiced Cider:
2 lb. bag (4-1/2 cups) dark brown sugar
2-1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground mace
1 teaspoon ground cloves
OR
2 lb. bag (4-1/2 cups) dark brown sugar
5-1/2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
Hot Apple Cider or any other juice or coffee
Combine all ingredients in your food processor (preferred) or whisk by hand. Add mix to hot drink and let it steep for 5 minutes.
1 c of liquid: 1 Tablespoon mix
Makes 6 cups of mix
Store mix in an air -tight container
The sky is the limit as to which kind of cider or liquid to use! For a traditional Spiced Apple Cider, clearly, you would want to use apple cider. This also works with cranberry juice or orange, or some combination of the two! You can mix this with Hot Chocolate or Coffee, as well. For a real kick, add some spiced rum (yes, please!).
Now I wish it was fall. But until then, I will sit here sweating in the heat of July and writing more hot drink menus. I’ll just have to think of snow….
Happy drinking!
Claire