Lisa's Kitchen Blog

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I love coffee, and I love going to the coffee shop. I don’t love driving clear to town to get a yummy coffee drink and then spending $5 on it, however. One of my favorite coffee treats is a gingerbread latte. 

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For most flavored coffee drinks, the barista uses flavored syrup. These syrups come in dozens of flavors, and many are sugar-free. The syrups are often for sale at the coffee shop, or you can find them online or at your local grocery store. They’re expensive, though, and I’ve yet to see gingerbread at the supermarket.

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Fortunately, there’s an easy way to make gingerbread syrup at home, for less. Here’s how!

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2 cups water

1 1/2 cups sugar or granulated artificial sweetener

2 1/2 teaspoons ginger (I bought a small sprig of fresh ginger, peeled and grated it finely)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

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Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Let cool and store in an airtight container.

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I had a glass bottle meant for making vinaigrette, and it worked perfectly for my ginger syrup. I used artificial sweetener to make the syrup basically calorie-free. The consistency wasn’t thick like maple syrup, but it was slightly thicker than water. 

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I filled my cup about 2/3 full of coffee and added a little milk and a splash of the gingerbread syrup. It was delicious. It definitely had a gingerbread flavor, and I made it for next to nothing and didn’t have to leave my house. Yay! The boys want to try it, but of course I don’t let them drink coffee (they’re wired enough), so they’re having a dash in their hot chocolate later. I have some adorable gingerbread-flavored marshmallows in the shape of little gingerbread men, which will be perfect with their ginger hot chocolate!

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I’m thinking some homemade ginger syrup in a pretty bottle with a ribbon around it would make a nice hostess gift. I know I’d like it!

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Is there anything better than coming in from the cold to a nice, hot mug of hot chocolate? Sometimes the promise of hot cocoa is the only thing that will convince my boys (including Luke, above) to come in from playing in the cold.

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Homemade hot chocolate is so good, but sometimes a mix really comes in handy. Like when you have three little boys who are freezing and need a warm drink, and fast! I put together an easy mix for them so nobody has to wait.

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Combine 3 cups dry milk, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup baking cocoa, and a dash of salt in a large bowl. Stir well to combine, and store in a tin or sealed plastic container. Spoon 1/4 cup or so into the bottom of a mug and ad a cup of boiling water. Stir, add marshmallows, and serve.

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We like gingerbread-flavored marshmallows for a change of pace, or hooking a candy cane over the edge of the mug so it melts into the hot chocolate and makes it all pepperminty. Or add a little cinnamon to the mix for Mexican hot chocolate. A mix like this would also make a nice gift. Put some of the mix in a glass jar, make a fabric topper, and attach a handmade tag with some pretty ribbon, and you’re set!

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I love making cheesecake. It’s really not that difficult, but it always gets rave reviews. I was charged with bringing a dessert to the Prater family Christmas last weekend, and wanted to make a cheesecake. I also made my Aunt Dollie’s macaroons.

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I was looking through my recipes, and came across a brownie crust for cheesecake. I like brownies. A brownie topped with cheesecake sounded like a good idea to me. Besides, it’s quicker and much less messy to whip up a brownie batter and pour it into the bottom of a pan than to run graham crackers through the food processor, mix butter into them, and press them into the pan. So I decided to go with the brownie base, and a plain cheesecake top with chocolate swirls.

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1/3 cup cocoa

1/3 cup butter

3/4 cup flour

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

2 eggs

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Melt butter and cocoa together, mixing every few seconds. Combine all of the above ingredients into a bowl, mix well, and pour into a 9″ springform pan that has been buttered and floured. (I simply sprayed my non-stick pan with non-stick spray, but it still stuck a bit. I think buttering and flouring the pan would help.) Bake the crust at 350 degrees F. for 15 minutes. If you want, there’s no reason you couldn’t just use a brownie mix for the crust.

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While the crust is baking, prepare the cheesecake batter:

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2 8-ounce packages of cream cheese, softened

2 eggs, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup milk chocolate chips, melted

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Beat the softened cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla with a hand mixer until well combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, blending well after each. Pour the batter on top of the baked brownie crust, reserving about 3/4 cup of the batter.

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Stir the melted chocolate chips into the reserved batter, and spoon it on top of the cheesecake batter in the pan, in stripes. Run a butter knife through the batter, perpendicular to the stripes, going back and forth to create a swirl pattern.

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Bake at 350 degrees F. for 40 minutes or until the edges are a light golden brown and the middle is set. Loosen the cake from the edge of the pan but leave the rim in place. Cool to room temperature and refrigerate for several hours. Remove the rim just before serving.

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The cheesecake was yummy, and the brownie base added a nice touch. It seems fancier and more complicated to have a brownie crust rather than simple graham crackers, but it’s actually much easier. And adding a little extra chocolate to the dish doesn’t hurt either.

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I try to plan our meals ahead, but sometimes that just doesn’t happen. Yesterday, I was in town all day and hadn’t thawed any meat out at home before I left. We were low on groceries and I was short on time, so I had to go to the store and pick up something easy to take home and fix quickly. Kids love pizza, but I was in the mood for something a little different, so I decided to make a shortcut stromboli.

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I picked up two tubes of refrigerated pizza dough (no time for homemade!), a pound of good Italian sausage, a pack of pepperoni, some shredded pizza cheese, and a can of our favorite sauce. That was quick!

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When I got home, I browned the sausage, rolled out the dough, and topped it with the sausage, cheese, and pepperoni. Then, starting with one of the long sides of the dough rectangle, I rolled the dough onto itself and kept rolling, jelly-roll style. Then I put it on a greased cookie sheet, seam-side down, and repeated the process with the other tube of dough, giving me two big pizza rolls. I baked the rolls according to the package directions on the pizza dough. Of course you can use whatever pizza toppings you like. Or go with taco meat and cheese, or barbecue pork. Whatever you have on hand!

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Once the rolls were golden brown, I let them cool a bit and cut them into sandwich-sized slices. I served them with a cup of warm marinara for dipping, and it was a hit! Even my husband, who doesn’t love dough-in-a-tube, had seconds. I reserved three small slices to send in the boys’ lunch the next day. They eat cold pizza … why not cold stromboli? (Or “tromboney,” as my five-year-old called it.)

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These are ingredients that can be kept on hand, so you can avoid that “Oh no, what’s for dinner” sense of panic. Give this one a try … enjoy!