Irish Cream recipe

I don't know how I found this recipe- it was a last minute effort to use what we had in our pantry/fridge. In the end, my husband went out to buy MORE whiskey, 'just in case' we needed it.
I have to tell you this was absolutely delicious. You have to try it. It's better than what you can buy in the dark brown bottle. We made two batches and stored it in the fridge for about 3 hours. We told our dinner friends to come in and try it. OMG- you should have seen the full glasses my husband poured! In fact, the image ( which was taken the next day) shows what I'm talking about! They went down so smoothly- so easy to have another. And they weren't filling! We all posed for some hysterical pictures afterwards! ( not included)
Homemade Irish Cream
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk (2% works best)
1 can sweetened, condensed milk (14 ounces)
1 2/3 cups Irish whiskey
a pinch of instant coffee granules
1 1/2 tablespoons thick chocolate syrup
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Whisk everything together, making sure that mixture is well combined. Pour into bottles; seal and store in the refrigerator.

Shake cream before serving. Makes a little less than 4 cups.

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Ladies luncheon, near disaster

Ok, so today I catered a ladies luncheon:
Chicken Salad in parmesan cups, shrimp cakes, Raspberry Rave, Scandinavian cucumbers, and Asian Slaw. I made the cups yesterday and decided to heat them up to make them crispier. Well! They were in for about 10 minutes @ 300 and to my surprise this what I saw through my oven window.
Yesterday I timed how long it took me to make a dozen and I knew I was in trouble when I had 50 minutes to remake them and leave for the venue. They turned out good and I guess I just have to keep them @ 140- that would have been the right temp. I am still living, and I'm still learning!

Another 'green' attempt

Last night I tried a new recipe I found on BH&G- not being crazy about many Irish dishes, I loved this one. Love the colors, ingredient combinations so here it is: minty Pork chops with pea puree. Delish
And here is the original picture BH&G posted:

Petrossian's Caviarcubes

The food section today talked about: caviarcubes. These little cubes are shaped into small squares and packed in olive oil. You can get about 18 cubes in a jar which costs $45 at Petrossian.com. The caviar looks like shiny black dice and has a smooth texture. There's a distinct caviar flavor but there's also a briny bitterness. It's an acquired taste. It's often made with damaged eggs. The article suggests using them as a topping for cocktail canape, oysters or 'baked spuds'.
hhhmmm....

GREEN FISH?

There's an interest for chefs and cooks to start using n underused species called 'green fish'. Sometimes it's called 'bycatch' because fisherman do not go out specifically looking for them, they just et caught in the process. Some types of green fish are called sheepshead, tripletail, amberjack, wreckfish( that could fit nicely into a themed dinner! ) and scorpion ( could be nice during November!) and even sardines are are getting a makeover. Americans are often open to trying new kinds of fish, they just need the introduction chefs can provide. The consumer still needs to know the reputation of the provider, should do some research and cope with seasonal swings. Some sites good for checking out these fish are: seafoodwatch.org;blueocean.org;www.nmfs.noaa.gov/fishwatch.
In the Chicago area, I often visit a store just to see what's new- they have so many fish varieties, I'm on my way back to check them out as now, the names might be more familiar. Here is a picture of the fish but my camera couldn't capture the ( at least) 32 varieties