[1] Mojito milkshake, a boozy, luscious snack or dessert (photo © Rachel Gurk | Milk Means More).

[2] Add your favorite vanilla ice cream (photo © Talenti | Facebook).

[3] Add as much rum as you like (photo © Kōloa Rum Co.).

[4] Get authentic Mojito flavor from fresh lime juice and lime zest (photo © Hanna Balan | Unsplash).

July 11th is National Mojito, and we’re happy to serve up some Mojito cocktail recipes. But first, how about a Mojito Milkshake?

The recipe below (photo #1), by Rachel Gurk of Rachel Cooks, was sent to us Milk Means More (the United Dairy Industry of Michigan).

It takes just five minutes to prepare. The boozy shake is so delicious, you may want more than one!

You can also mark your calendar for these milkshake holidays:

> May 16th is National Strawberry Milkshake Day.

> June 10th is National Vanilla Milkshake Day.

> July 20th is National Milkshake Day (Australia).

> July 26th is National Coffee Milkshake Day.

> August 1st is National Milkshake Day.

> September 12th is National Chocolate Milkshake Day.
 
 
Next, take a look at:

> 15 more boozy milkshake recipes below.

> The history of the milkshake.

> The history of the Mojito.

> Recipes for the classic Mojito plus 18 fruit-flavored Mojitos.
 
 
RECIPE: MOJITO MILKSHAKE, A BOOZY SHAKE

 
Ingredients Per Shake

 
Preparation

1. BLEND all ingredients except garnishes in a blender until smooth.

2. ADD more ice cream or milk as needed to achieve desired consistency (more ice cream if it’s too thin, more milk (or rum!) if it’s too thick).

2. TOP as desired with whipped cream, lime zest, and a fresh mint leaf. Serve immediately.
 
 
15 MORE BOOZY MILKSHAKE RECIPES

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

If you’re a coconut lover who enjoys a good cup of coffee, there’s a limited-edition flavor that hits the spot: Starbucks Toasted Coconut Mocha.

Available in ground coffee and K-cups, it’s flavored naturally and delivers a rounded, toasty coconut flavor.

It’s delicious hot or iced, and the iced coffee makes a delicious float with a scoop of chocolate, coffee, or vanilla ice cream.

If you can’t find it locally, check Amazon.
 
 
> The different types of coffee: a glossary.

> The history of coffee.

> The history of coconuts.

Toasted Coconut Mocha K-Cups. Ground beans are also available (photo © Starbucks).

[1] Something different for National Piña Colada Day: a Beer Piña Colada (all photos © Radeberger Grupper USA).

[2] When you’re having guests, chill some Juicy Pineapple Hefeweizen and its sibling Hefeweizens: Grapefruit, Passionfruit, Pomegranate, and Wild Cherry.

[3] Even if you can’t get to a tropical beach, have a Juicy Pineapple Hefeweizen in your yard and close your eyes.

July 10th is National Piña Colada Day, one of our favorite drinks. But here’s an interesting take on it: a Beer Piña Colada.

It’s made with pineapple beer, specifically, Schöfferhofer Juicy Pineapple Hefeweizen, a 50/50 combination of lager beer and pineapple juice.

The beer is a refreshing blend of tropical sweet and tart flavors, and we enjoy drinking it right from the bottle. (There are also grapefruit and pomegranate flavors.)

But for National Piña Colada Day this year, we went “juicy” with pineapple beer.

Thanks to Schöfferhofer’s for the inspired recipe.

> The history of the Piña Colada and the original recipe.

> The history of beer.

> The different types of beer: a glossary.

More beer cocktails, a.k.a. beertails:

> Beer Mimosa and Michelada.

> Beer Bloody Mary.
 
 
RECIPE: BEER PIÑA COLADA

A classic Piña Colada is typically a blender drink: 2 ounces white rum, 1 ounce of coconut cream, 1 ounce of heavy cream, 6 ounces of fresh pineapple juice, and ½ cup crushed ice, pulsed for 15 seconds and garnished with a fresh pineapple wedge and a maraschino cherry.

This recipe substitutes Juicy Pineapple Hefeweizen for the pineapple juice and uses evaporated milk instead of heavy cream (but you can use cream if it’s easier).

If you can’t find Schöfferhofer Juicy Pineapple Hefeweizen, you can make your own with a 50/50 mix of lager or wheat beer and pineapple juice.
 
Ingredients Per Drink

 
Preparation

1. PLACE the ice cubes in a blender with the coconut cream, rum, and evaporated milk. Pulse or blend to a smooth consistency or as desired. Pour into a tall glass.

2. TOP off the glass with the Pineapple Hefeweizen and stir. Garnish and serve.
 
 
GET YOUR JUICY PINEAPPLE HEFEWEIZEN

> Here’s a store locator.

> You can also buy it online.

*Note that coconut cream is not the same product as cream of coconut. Cream of coconut is blended with sugar, and is similar in sweetness and thickness to sweetened condensed milk.

Forgot to buy the beef? No problem. Forgot to thaw the meat? No problem. Only need a small amount? No problem. Pound Of Ground Crumbles® is here to solve the dinner dilemma. No worries!

Pound of Ground was created by a working mom to help ease the dinner dilemmas of moms everywhere.

Pound of Ground eliminates the need to thaw or plan ahead. The ground beef Crumbles sit snug in the freezer until you need them. Then, they go straight from the freezer to the stovetop and cook for 7-8 minutes.

Why does it cook so quickly? Because small pieces cook faster.

There’s zero thaw time. You just pour out the amount you need, and return the remainder to the freezer.

A great feature of Pound of Ground Crumbles is that you can use as much or as little as you want. The remainder goes back to the freezer in a sealed bag.

With Pound Of Ground Crumbles, there’s no:

 
Why has no one thought of this before?

There are three varieties:

 
 
WHAT KIND OF BEEF IS POUND OF GROUND?

Pound Of Ground is 100% pure all-natural (minimally processed, no artificial ingredients) frozen uncooked ground beef.

Raw beef is ground and flash-frozen at peak quality. The beef comes from American cattle, harvested and produced in a single USDA-inspected facility in Michigan for product traceability.

The brand was created to bring high-quality ground beef to consumers in a convenient form without sacrificing quality.

A box or two in your freezer will make dinner a breeze.
 
 
WAYS TO USE POUND OF GROUND CRUMBLES

Pound of Ground was designed for favorite dishes that use crumbled meat like:

 
> Check out these recipes.
 
 
GET YOUR POUND OF GROUND CRUMBLES

> Here’s the store locator (look in in the frozen meat section).

> Check out the company website.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF BEEF

Humankind has been eating beef since prehistoric times. The ancestor of today’s cattle is the now-extinct auroch (images #5 and #6), the wild ox of Europe, a primitive bovine that is pictured in the earliest cave paintings.

Aurochs were black in color, six feet high at the shoulder, and had forward-curving horns. They inhabited Asia, Europe, and North Africa

The auroch was domesticated around 10,500 years ago, around 8000 B.C.E. Domesticated cattle were in demand not only for beef but for milk and leather.

Wild aurochs were a popular beast to battle in the Roman arenas. They lived for many centuries beyond Roman times. However, they were overhunted and by the 13th century, the once widespread aurochs existed only in small numbers in Eastern Europe.

The last recorded aurochs died in 1627.

While the ancient ancestor of bovines is extinct, its DNA lives on in today’s domesticated cattle [source].

Fast-forward to the beginnings of America. Spanish explorers likely introduced the first longhorn cattle to America, roughly around 1534. Around 1623, British colonists brought Devon cattle.

French and English colonists brought many new breeds across the pond, including Aberdeen Angus, Ayrshire, Charolais, Herefords, and Shorthorns, to name a few. Some of them were sought for dairying, others for their meat.

Beef wasn’t a significant part of the American diet until after the Civil War.

Prior to the Civil War, poultry and wild game were the main meats on American tables. Cattle were more widely used for dairy, butter, hides, and as draft animals.

After the Civil War, cattle began to move further west with the population. Cattlemen discovered that many Spanish missions had already amassed large herds.

[1] Pound Of Ground Crumbles are available in three varieties: Original, With Onion, and Hearty-Sized Pieces (all photos © JBS Foods Group).

[2] From freezer to pan: Just pour out what you need.

[3] It’s easy to make family favorites.

[4] You can also discover new recipes on the company website, like this Beef Stroganoff.

[5] Detail of ancient man with an auroch. See the full illustration here (photo © José María Galán El Pais).

[6] An auroch depicted in the famous Lascaux cave paintings. Julius Caesar, in describing its size and strength, compared it to an elephant. Read the fascinating article (photo © Creation).

Fattened cattle were transported by train to the midwest, where they were slaughtered and shipped via refrigerator cars to the East, where most of the American population lived.

The Industrial Age saw the mechanization of the beef industry, in the raising, slaughtering, and processing of beef.

The production line emerged, beginning with feedlots that were densely packed with cattle.

As the feedlots became overcrowded, the need for heavy antibiotic usage* spiked to keep cattle healthy. Advances in bioengineering created synthetically grown hormones as well as steroids that could be used to increase beef output as well as dairy.

Post-World War II, advances in bioengineering created synthetically grown hormones as well as steroids that could be used to increase beef and dairy output.

But awareness of the means by which cattle were raised and handled led to the beginning of consumer demand for natural and organic beef.

The incipient demand for organic beef by health-aware consumers began in the 1950s in response to ranchers giving growth hormones to cattle. It led to the modern awareness of the benefits of USDA-certified organic beef.

In addition, the demand for better treatment of animals, for the health benefits of grass-fed as opposed to grain-fed beef, and for eco-friendly and environmentally conscious farming has grown as we learn more and more about our relationship with the ecosystem [source].

Grass-grazing, free-range cattle now live as the ancient aurochs lived. For those who can afford organic beef, it somewhat closes the loop to the healthier diets our ancestors knew.
 
 
________________

*The first antibiotic, arsphenamine, also known as Salvarsan, was introduced at the beginning of the 1910s. It was the first modern antimicrobial agent. Penicillin did not appear until 1941.

†There is no USDA definition of “natural” as regards food products, including cattle. On the other hand, USDA Organic certification is highly regulated. It verifies that livestock are raised according to the USDA organic regulations throughout their lives. These include: (1) Unborn animals must be managed organically from the last third of gestation (mammals) or the second day of life (poultry). (2) Animals must be allowed year-round access to the outdoors except under specific conditions (e.g., inclement weather). (3) They must be raised on certified organic land meeting all organic crop production standards. (4) They must be raised per animal health and welfare standards. (5) They must be fed 100% certified organic feed. (6) They must be managed without antibiotics, added growth hormones, mammalian or avian byproducts, or other prohibited feed ingredients.

[1] Bake a Lemon Blueberry Icebox Cake for National Blueberry Month. The recipe is below (photos #1, #2, and #5 © C&H Sugar).

[2] Cool from the fridge, icebox cake is a treat on a warm summer day.

[3] It’s blueberry season, and it’s easy to make fresh blueberry jam for the recipe (photo © Burpee).

[4] Buy lemon curd and use the rest of the jar on toast (photo © Bonne Maman).

[5] Thanks to C&H sugar for the recipe.

July is National Blueberry Month, and July 8th is National Blueberry Day. That calls for something special—and easy to make, like this Lemon Blueberry Icebox Cake.

You don’t need an oven to make a great dessert. Made with fresh blueberries, lemon curd, and sugar, Lemon Blueberry Icebox Cake is a no-bake treat everyone will love.

Thanks to C&H Sugar for the recipe.

Is it icebox cake or ice box cake? The compound noun, icebox, is the preferred usage in dictionaries.

> The history of icebox cake is below.

> More icebox cake recipes.

> More blueberry recipes.
 
 
RECIPE: LEMON BLUEBERRY ICEBOX CAKE

Prep time is 35 minutes, and chill time is 4 hours. Because the cookies need time to absorb the moisture from the whipped cream, you need to prepare the cake at least 4 hours in advance. You can make this cake the night before and let it set up in the refrigerator overnight.

Stored in the fridge, icebox cake should last 2-3 days. But if you want the cake to last more than a day, use stabilized whipped cream.

You can make this a red, white, and blue cake for Memorial Day and July 4th by mixing blueberries and raspberries.
 
Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. PREPARE the blueberry jam. In a small saucepan, place 2 cups of blueberries, granulated sugar, lemon juice, and salt. Cook the mixture over medium heat, stirring occasionally until thickened, about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow the mixture to cool down. Once the jam is at room temperature, mix in ½ cup of fresh blueberries. Place in the refrigerator while you prepare the cream.

2. USING the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat at medium-high speed the cream cheese, baker’s sugar, and lemon zest until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape the bowl. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the cream. Increase the speed and beat the mixture until stiff peaks form. Reserve one-third of the mixture in the refrigerator to finish the cake after the chill time.

3. LINE a 10 x 5-inch loaf pan with plastic wrap. Place a layer of graham crackers onto the bottom of the pan. If needed, break crackers to fit. Evenly spread one-third of the cream over the graham crackers. Dollop 1/4 of the prepared jam over the cream. Dollop 1/3 of the lemon curd over the jam, evenly spreading both layers. Repeat the layering process. Finish with a layer of cream and graham crackers.

4. COVER with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for at least 4 hours. When ready to serve, invert the cake over a serving plate, remove the plastic wrap, and cover the cake with the reserved cream cheese cream. Top the cake with the reserved blueberry jam. The cake can be stored in the refrigerator prior to serving.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF ICEBOX CAKE

The concept of the icebox cake is simple yet ingenious. It typically consists of layers of cookies such as chocolate wafers or graham crackers, alternated with layers of whipped cream or pudding. The cake is then chilled in the refrigerator (the “icebox” of yore), allowing the ingredients to meld together to create a moist, creamy, no-bake dessert.

It is a no-bake descendant of the French charlotte and the English trifle.

In the days before air conditioning, it was a welcome summer alternative to turning on the oven.

Icebox cake (also known as refrigerator cake) is an American invention. Recipes for icebox cakes began to appear in the 1930s when most households had an icebox (an insulated box that held a block of ice). The electric refrigerator was just beginning to gain traction†.

The Famous Chocolate Refrigerator Roll recipe, printed on the back of the Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers box, instructed home cooks to layer the chocolate wafers with sweetened whipped cream and let it set in the refrigerator overnight. The moisture of the whipped cream penetrated the cookies, turning them into cake-like layers.

Nabisco Chocolate Wafers were the most commonly used cookies for icebox cake but home cooks all over the world have experimented and come up with endless variations. That’s good news, because in 2023, Mondelez, the owner of the brand, quietly discontinued Nabisco Chocolate Wafers (boo! hiss!).

Here’s a recipe to bake your own.

The icebox cake quickly became a hit. The recipe was widely shared and variations emerged using different ingredients, including different cookies, flavors of pudding (à la trifle) instead of whipped cream and added fruit (sliced banana, pineapple, etc.).

Today, icebox cakes continue to be a popular dessert, although they may have evolved with modern variations and creative twists. For example:

 
 
________________

*You can pulse granulated sugar (table sugar) into ultrafine sugar in a food processor.
 
†At the beginning of the 1930s, only 8% of American homes had a refrigerator.: By the end of the decade, that number had jumped to 44%. By the end of the 1940s, they were a common feature of American homes [source].