Kitchen Ranch

Fancy a Pineapple-Mint Mojito?

When there are four pies to be made, one needs a great drink (or two) to sip on the side.  I think I have mentioned before, that my idea of a good time is hanging out in the kitchen with friends cooking and drinking.... for hours on end.  So, when a friend mentioned that she might be keen to open a pie shop in town and wanted to spend some time making pies and trying recipes-I said, Yes please!   

So yes, four pies were made: Carrot Pie, Carmelized onion and blue cheese galette with walnuts, potato and squash quiche and a coconut cream pie (not yet assembled in the photo below).

The pineapple-mint mojitos served us well and all the pies were top notch delicious.  The kids went nuts over the carrot pie and the grown ups all agreed that the galette was pretty divine.

It was agreed that the meal felt like a Thanksgiving dinner.  

Thanks for the recipe Bon Appetit! 

Pineapple-Mint Mojito

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup (packed) fresh mint leaves
• 1/4 pineapple, peeled, cored, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 4 limes, each cut into 8 wedges
• 1/2 cup (packed) fresh mint leaves
• 2 cups light rum
• Club soda (for serving)

Pineapple-Mint Purée

Bring sugar and 1 cup water to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring to disolve sugar. Remove from heat, add mint, and let cool completely.

Meanwhile, place pineapple in a blender and purée until smooth. Strain mint syrup through a fine-mesh sieve into pineapple purée and pulse to combine. Transfer to a jar, cover, and chill.

For each cocktail, muddle 2 pieces of pineapple, 3 lime wedges, and 1 tablespoon mint leaves in a cocktail shaker until lightly crushed. Add 2 ounces rum and 2 ounces pineapple-mint purée to cocktail shaker, fill with ice, cover, and shake until outside of shaker is frosty, about 30 seconds.

Pour drink into a highball glass (do not strain) and top off with club soda. Garnish with a lime wedge and serve with a straw.

DO AHEAD: Pineapple-mint purée can be made 3 days ahead. Keep chilled.

These days,

From this sky to downpour in mere moments!

Riding horses.

Making pickles.

Volunteer work at the kid's school.  Along with two other very cool ladies, built this herb spiral which is an example of permaculture.

Planting an herb garden at home.

Swim team.

Chocolate making from local ingredients (more on this subject when I nail a recipe down).

Meet the cat we have been adopted by- we call her Pinto Bean. 

Make and Do

I often find inspiration from (the very creative and super fun) Desi over at Law of Attraction blog. When she recently posted about tie-dying adventures, I felt inspired to have a go.

Living here in rural Costa Rica means there is not an art store within reach and receiving a package of dyes by mail might take over a month.  I started researching the how to make natural fabric dyes and I am happy to report it was easy and very satisfying.  

Pixel and I chose the spice turmeric to make our our first batch of dye.  Now I cannot wait to try making dye from beets, black beans, plums...the list goes on.  

We started by boiling the white cotton in a vinegar and water bath (4 parts water to 1 part vinegar) for one hour.

Rinse your fabric and boil the chosen spice (or other) in water.  I think we used about 4 tablespoons of spice to 8 cups of water.  Bring to a boil, add fabric and cut the heat.  Allow to soak. What determines the color is how long you leave the fabric in to soak. 

We chose to tie dye the fabric and recycled rubber bands we had around the house.

Remove rubber bands and rinse.  As much fun as unwrapping a surprise gift.