Coconut water with coconut water ice cubes
and a lychee garnish. Photo © Deasy
Setiawati Widjaja | DRM.

If you enjoy coconut water—or the flavor of coconut in general—you can add a subtle touch of it to your favorite beverages via coconut water ice cubes.

Use them in juice, iced tea, ginger ale and lemon-lime sodas (and of course, in coconut water itself). It’s an easy way to add a little something-something while cooling your drink.

Or, try them in a cocktail, like this one, which builds on the ingredients of a Mango Margarita:

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE ingredients in a blender. Cover; blend until smooth.

2. ADD coconut water ice cubes; blend until smooth. Pour into glasses; garnish with mango or lime slices. Makes 4 drinks.

Simply pour 1-1/2 cups of coconut water into standard ice cube tray and freeze.

For extra fun, buy some silicone ice cube trays in fun summer shapes, and freeze cubes into flowers, stars, suns, trees and sea life.
 
MORE ABOUT COCONUT WATER

 
MORE TASTY ICE CUBES

Make tea ice cubes, coffee ice cubes, lemonade ice cubes, etc.

When they melt, they don’t dilute your drink.
  

Every drink made with vodka is not a Martini, every drink made with Tequila is not a Margarita. Yet, each week we are sent a mis-named recipe that only serves to misinform.

Capricious cooks and mixologists, professionals and amateurs alike, give names to their recipes through ignorance or selfishness; for example, “We need a cocktail for St. Patrick’s Day. Let’s call this drink an Irish Kir.”

An omelet is not a frittata. Both are beaten eggs with mix-ins. But for an omelet, the egg is cooked and then folded over the filling, while a frittata blends the mix-ins with the egg and cooks it like a crustless quiche, on the stove top or in the oven.

Since much of our mission is education that you can imagine the consternation this causes.

Here’s that “Irish Kir” story. Why didn’t we publish it around St. Patrick’s Day? We wanted to take a moment to note that regular or “royale,” it’s a delightful summer drink.

So, let’s start at the beginning:

A Kir is a combination of blackcurrant liqueur and white wine or sparkling white wine. The color is red. Photo courtesy Wikimedia.

Kir is a drink that was created by a major of Dijon, in France’s Burgundy region. For an apéritif, Félix Kir (1876-1968) added a splash of cassis (blackcurrant liqueur, a specialty of Burgundy) to Aligote, a local white wine.

The “Kir,” as it was known, became very popular and led to eight different variations, the best known of which, the Kir Royale, substitutes Champagne for the still wine.

We received a pitch from Benjamin Steakhouse Westchester for a St. Patrick’s Day cocktail called the “Shamrock Kir,” made of Champagne and Apple Pucker. Huh?

It’s a recipe for a Champagne cocktail, but has nothing to do with Kir, the distinguishing feature of which is blackcurrant liqueur.

Not to mention, a kir made with Champagne is a Kir Royale—so mis-name your cocktail an Irish Kir Royale, at least! Would any responsible person argue the facts otherwise?

Said the email:

“Add ½ oz of Apple Pucker or other apple schnapps to a Champagne flute and top of with Champagne or another sparkling wine. Those of you going to Benjamin Steakhouse Westchester and ordering the drink should be sure you’re getting authentic Champagne and not a less expensive sparkling wine.”

Those of you going to Benjamin Steakhouse Westchester should ask why they call this drink a Kir of any kind, instead of a “Sparkling Shamrock,” for example.

The teaching moment:

The publicist who sent this pitch, her client, and all supervisors involved, clearly don’t fully grasp what they’re writing about. Would they call a yellow cake with chocolate frosting a chocolate cake?

Ignorance isn’t bliss: It’s aggravating! To all those involved: You have the Internet at your fingertips. There’s no excuse not to do your research.

If Dad is the king on Father’s Day, how about a box of these chocolate heraldic shields, filled with salted caramel?

Any celebrant who appreciates fine chocolate will roar when he receives a box of such luscious chocolates, embossed with kingly lions.

The heraldic shields are crafted in extra dark chocolate by El Rey and filled with vanilla bean cream caramel and sea salt. As a finishing touch, the chocolate is brushed with edible gold.

We’re fans of Maggie Louise, who combines design flare with terrific taste and beautiful packaging.
A 6-piece gift box is $13.50.

Get yours at MaggieLouiseConfections.com.

And browse the website for more wonderful chocolate creations.

On the brunch menu at Ruschmeyer’s Hotel in Montauk, New York, is an egg sandwich.

It’s not a humble egg sandwich, but a variation of Eggs Benedict.

One side of the toasted English muffin contains a sunnyside-up egg over melted Emmental cheese; the other side has lightly dressed baby arugula topped with poached lobster.

We’ll have two, please.

Or more likely, we’ll be heading out to buy some lobster, making be making our own version for Father’s Day, along with a garnish of salmon caviar.

The menu also features another seaside version of Eggs Benedict: poached egg, hollandaise, and chives, but replacing the Canadian bacon with blue-claw crab.

If you’re nowhere near the hotel, consider making a special brunch by whipping up your own version of both dishes.

June 4th is National Frozen Yogurt Day. Treat yourself to a pint of Oikos Greek frozen yogurt. You can print a $1.00 coupon online.

The brand recently launched a frozen yogurt line in:

 
We received pints of chocolate, strawberry and vanilla to taste. The strawberry and vanilla didn’t do much for us. There are other brands with better strawberry and vanilla flavor.

But the chocolate was most satisfactory, especially given that it’s 150 calories per four-ounce serving—a nice break from, say, Häagen-Dazs chocolate ice cream at 260 calories. It may be an apples-and-oranges comparison, but we’d go for the lower calorie option.

And the lower fat option: Frozen yogurt also has more than half the fat of regular ice cream: 2.5g versus 7g per half-cup serving, according to Dannon. Since much of that fat is saturated (cholesterol), that’s a good thing.

Finally, if you’re lactose-sensitive, the Oikos frozen yogurt line is made from lactose-reduced nonfat milk.

The line is certified kosher by OU.