Have you ever been unfortunate enough to find the refrigerator’s freezer door has been left ajar, not all the way, but just enough so that the things in the door started to thaw out?  That happened to me a few weeks ago.  Although the items deep inside the freezer were just fine, the door items got quite mushy.

We had peas for lunch, we thawed the popsicles out all the way and refroze them in ice cube trays, but I really didn’t want three pitchers of orange juice.  So, faced with partially thawed orange juice concentrate, I decided to make special drinks.

I made a couple beverages using pretty simple recipes.  For the first one, I just blended together a couple cups of milk, some vanilla ice cream (which was in the back of the freezer, still frozen), and threw in enough of the frozen orange juice concentrate, actually the slightly frozen orange juice concentrate, to make the mix nice and tangy and orange flavor.

Later on that day, I put together what we now call our Poolside Punch.  We put the thawed orange juice concentrate in a big bowl with lots of ice cubes, courtesy of our big freezer in the garage, and just poured some bubbly clear soda pop on top until everything got fizzy.  Everybody got a big cup and drank it right down.  Because we don’t normally keep a lot of soda pop in the house, this was a nice treat, and I liked serving up a little Vitamin C and not just sugar.

What have you used orange juice concentrate for, other than a pitcher of orange juice?  I managed to use mine up, but thought there might be some enterprising people who have great recipes that call for orange juice.  Perhaps a marinade or stir-fry?  I’d love to hear your ideas!

My Grandma always had ginger ale in the house, which is why I always have it in my house, too!  She said it settled upset stomachs and I think it tastes great.  Whatever reason, ginger ale fills a little corner of my pantry all the time.  So, aside from drinking it, is there any other use for ginger ale?

Of course, one of the best uses for ginger ale is to make punch.  Everyone has at least one favorite party punch recipe, and mine just happens to include ginger ale.  It’s so simple I hate to even let people know how to make it, lest my culinary skills, or lack thereof, become exposed for what they are!  Nonetheless, here is the recipe:

1) Make ice cubes out of orange juice, enough to fill a punch bowl about halfway.
2) Chill punch bowl.
3) Wash fresh mint leaves.
4) Fill chilled punch bowl about halfway with orange ice cubes.
5) Pour in ginger ale over orange ice to top of punch bowl.
6) Float mint leaves on top and serve immediately.

See, it’s super simple, pretty, and delicious. Spike it if you like with a splash of vodka in your cup before you fill with punch, stir and sip.

If you have any other ideas for using ginger ale, I’d love to hear from you!

If you’ve got kids, you’ve got apple juice in the house.  Have you ever tried to use it in your cooking?  Because it’s so handy, I thought it would be a good “pantry” item to create dishes around.

I have seen quite a few recipes that use apple juice as a marinade for chicken and seafood, normally in Asian-inspired dishes.  Combining apple juice with ginger and soy is a pretty basic blend that packs quite a bit of flavor. 

How about using apple juice in stir fry dishes?  Again, with soy included, I would imagine that a stir fry would really benefit from the impact of apple juice; perhaps replacing all or some of the chicken broth when creating a cornstarch thickened sauce.

Apple juice could also be used as the sweet part of any sweet and sour dish.  Even Szechwan Beef or Chicken wouldn’t hide or minimize the distinctive flavor and sweetness of apple juice.

You see I’m a little stuck on the Asian inspired dishes that would benefit from a splash of apple juice.  Are there any other uses for apple juice?  How about baking?  Have you ever used apple juice to replace other liquids in bread or muffin recipes?  I’d love to hear from you!

Over the Holidays, I stock my cupboards with a lot of tomato juice.  It’s a great mixer for drinks that our family and guests love.  Tomato juice is better than soft drinks, and it actually can be sweetened up a bit for the youngsters with pineapple or apple juice and served as a fancy “punch” for the kids.  They feel so grown-up when they’ve got their little punch glasses just like the adults. 

My problem is that I always have just enough leftover in my house after the Holidays to cause a bit of “Tomato Juice Fatigue”.  I really can’t drink that much tomato juice, but I’m not going to throw it out.

I’ve seen some recipes using tomato juice as marinades and in sauces for grilled fish.  Has anyone successfully used tomato juice in a recipe like that? How about soups and casseroles?  Can tomato juice be substituted for tomato sauce or paste and taste good?  Will the soup end up tasting like tomato juice? 

Does anyone have experience using tomato juice for cooking?  I’d love to hear your success stories.

We have an abundance of apples in our neck of the woods and, therefore, we have an abundance of wonderful, homemade apple cider.  In fact, I’m considering purchasing a cider press one of these years so I can make my own apple cider.  If you have never tried REAL apple cider, you need to treat yourself to a mug full.  The flavor is a great deal shall we say “deeper” than the store bought stuff.  If you get a chance, try it. 

So, here I am with my jugs of apple cider, enjoying it simply by warming it in a pan on top of the stove and sipping it hot out of my favorite mug.  That is certainly a little bit of Heaven, but I’m wondering what else I can make with apple cider. 

One recipe I saw recently, but of course have lost, is using apple cider as a glaze for ham or turkey.  I think it should be simple enough to figure out.  Has anyone tried that sort of apple cider based glaze?  I wonder if you’d have to add any brown sugar or molasses to cut some of the tartness of the cider.  Or how about using apple cider as a marinade?  Interesting, yes?

Then of course there are the spiced cider drinks to try over the Holidays.  I do have one that I like to make and share with my guests.  I’ll share it here:

1 quart of apple cider
1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
1/2 teaspoon whole allspice
2 inch stick cinnamon
dash ground nutmeg
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon brown sugar (optional)

Put everything in a sauce pan and bring to boil slowly, then turn down and simmer for 15 minutes.  Pour through sieve to remove spices, and serve.  I put a half slice of orange on top of the mug for extra color and sweetness.  Some people add brown sugar during the cooking to sweeten up the cider, but I like mine tart.

So, I put it to you dear readers, what have you used apple cider for other than sipping? Or do you have a more unusual Mulled Cider drink that you could share?  I’ve got a lot of apple cider here and am anxiously awaiting some ideas.

Orange juice is the perfect drink on a hot summer day. It’s full of vitamins for kids, and it mixes well with Malibu Rum for us adults.

What are some of your favorite uses for Orange Juice? Do you bake with it? Have a favorite Orange Chicken recipe? Let’s hear it.