Saturday, November 2, 2013

Zinfandel Grape Juice


For non-alcoholics only. 

I don't know about you, but I absolutely abstain from buying bottled juice such as Welch's. I just like everything fresh and made from scratch. I prefer to drink juice that I know does not require preservatives to remain fresh. Hence, I blended some Zinfandel (or I think they are, or maybe Merlot or some other cousin... they all look alike!) grapes which are meant for wine, but hey, I haven't gotten interested in wine tasting just yet, and secondly, I want to stay sober for morning breakfast.

Anyhow, here's what I did. I blended on high setting a plate full of grapes. You're probably thinking, there are a bunch of grape seeds and skins blended all together! I purposely kept the seeds and skins because of the high antioxidant content, and I personally believe it's a better choice than grape seed extract. Although the juice had a fair level of crunchy bits of seeds, it was actually quite tolerable when chilled with ice and paired with a snack. Well, cheers to a good morning!

Mini Hubbard Squash [Pumpkin] Pies


Same recipe as the Fresh Hubbard Squash Pie, but I decided to make miniature pies because they are easier to serve (I don't have to eyeball the size of the pie slice while serving, or who gets the bigger piece... equality for the win!) Oh yeah, I decided to eliminate the 1/4 tsp of ginger... too spicy for my liking, and I baked for 25 minutes. Anyways, pie says, "Mini me!"