Cucumber and dill give a subtle, delightful
flavor to a carafe of water. Photo © Maxim
Shebeko | Dreamstime.

It’s not easy to find Ayala’s where we live, but we do the next best thing: We add herbs and spices to pitchers of water. We don’t get the same flavor extraction that Ayala’s does, but we do get a subtle note of flavor that turns plain water into something special.

Turn that pitcher of ordinary water into something special with herbs and spices. You may already add lemon or lime slices, berries or cucumber your water pitcher. But try some new flavorings with sweet herbs or spices—in addition to the fruits or by themselves.

Herbs For Flavoring

Before adding herbs to the water, crush them slightly in your hand to release the aromatic oils. Let the flavor infuse for 15 minutes or more. The longer you infuse, the more flavor is extracted.

Spices For Flavoring

You can also start with spices, such as:

 
Then, try combinations such as ginger-cardamom and mint-clove—and whatever sounds good to you. One of our favorite combinations is cucumber-dill.

FOOD TRIVIA: LAVENDER

Lavender derives from the Latin word lavare, to wash. The Romans used it to scent their bathwater.

The Roman Legion brought the plant to Britain, where it later became popular in homeopathy: to ease stiff joints, battle infections, provide a calming influence and other remedies. Lavender was used for repelling insects, masking odors (potpourri) and was carried in nosegays to try to ward off the plague and pestilence.

Today, we know that a far better purpose is in baking, condiments, ice cream, iced tea and other recipes—like flavored water.

It’s personal taste, but try it. The Food Holiday Gods won’t be upset that we switched crusts (here’s the scoop on conventional pie crusts.

The only baking in this recipe is of the pie shell or tart crust. The pie is served chilled—mighty refreshing on a hot day.

You can substitute any berry. We also enjoy a strawberry cream pie, blueberry cream pie, or mixed berries. You can get very artistic arranging the colors and textures.

> Check out the different types of pies in our Pie & Pastry Glossary.
 
 
RECIPE RASPBERRY CREAM PIE OR TART

This recipe is for a tart crust. For a pie, use your favorite crust recipe or a store-bought crust.

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE. In the top of a double boiler, mix sugar, flour and salt. Stir in milk. Cook 15 minutes over hot water, stirring constantly until thick. Add egg yolks, stir and cook 3 minutes.

2. ADD. Add butter and allow mixture to cool. Stir in vanilla. Add to pie shell and let set in the fridge for a half hour or more.

3. VARIATION. You can also add raspberries to the cream filling, for a double raspberry cream pie. Add the raspberry purée along with the vanilla to the cooled cream mixture.

3. GARNISH. Cover the top of the pie with the raspberries. It’s best to begin at the edges and work your way in. In this way, if you run out of berries, the ungarnished center will look “normal,” not a mistake.
 
 
CREAM PIE VS. CREAM PIE

What’s the difference between cream and creme? Just the spelling.

Creme is an Americanization of the French word for cream, crème? (pronounced KREHM), most likely adapted to make the dish sound more special. But why mispronounce another language’s word for cream?

Unless it’s a French recipe, such as Coeur à la Crème, stick to cream.

[2] Prefer a creamy raspberry pie? Here’s the recipe from Driscoll’s (photo © Driscoll’s).

[3] Even creamier: a raspberry mousse pie (photo © Dole).

We made a raspberry cream tart instead of a pie. What’s the difference between a pie and a tart?

It’s interesting enough that we created an article about it. Check it out!
  

Create a tasting menu with numerous small
courses. Photo courtesy Pollen Restaurant |
Singapore.

How can someone eat 12 courses? It’s easy if the courses are small—just a taste of everything, with artistic garnishes.

Consider creating your own tasting menu: Everyone will have a great time. The small bites may seem like “not enough food” at first; but over the course of the dinner, everyone will be nicely full.

Make anything you like. Here’s what we had, but your course can be anything:

It’s not as much work as you’d think: We made everything 2-3 days in advance except last-minute touches like whipped cream.

Where Do You Get All The Plates?

We’ve been collecting lunch, salad and dessert plates for years—six to eight inches in diameter—when we see them on sale (garage sales are a great source of inexpensive plates).

You don’t want full-size dinner plates because the portions are small. But we place the smaller plates on chargers, so there’s a large plate footprint in front of everyone.

The plates don’t have to match. In fact, an array of different designs/shapes will enliven the table.

You can borrow plates from your guests; and you can also purchase reusable quality plastic plates. We like these square plates.

Let us know about the favorite courses you serve.
 
  

This healthful cooking ingredient enhances the flavor of many everyday dishes, and is waiting to be your new best friend in the kitchen. The basic recipe combines carrots, celery, garlic, onions, salt and sometimes a splash of white wine vinegar.

You can make your own soffritto and store it in the fridge (we’ve included the recipe in the full review). Or you can buy a jar of Nonna Iole’s Soffritto. It’s a quick, easy and delicious solution to amping up your food. It’s also a nice party favor, stocking stuffer and small ”thank you” gift.

In fact, you can buy boxed gift sets as well as individual jars on the company website. You’ll also find a store locator.

Check out the full review.

Many recipes call for minced vegetables and herbs. Unless you’re a committed chopper, it can be annoying to cut things so small.

Yet, there’s an easy way to create those tiny pieces—the way professional chefs do.

Here, chef Jim Davis shows us the correct way to mincing onions. It’s well worth your time to watch the video: You’ll use the technique for the rest of your life!