mash up monday -- recipe highlights

mash-up monday: some of the best combos ::::

(Obligatory photo of glowing green tomatoes — though I do not mention them in any recipes in this post.)

I occasionally go through my blog’s recipe file and highlight archived favorites in various formats. Sometimes it’s a menu plan. Sometimes it’s recitation of failures. Sometimes it’s a visual homage to colorful favorites. I even did a post about making a rainbow with food. (Bonus: My obsession with purple food is discussed and highlighted with a Diner en Pourpre daydream.)

Today, I gather food together, humble marriages of two or cadres of similars or complementaries, to give you ideas of doubling your story recipes at one go.

Lemongrass-basil sherbet + ginger soda: Long ago, I made ginger syrup, diluted it with seltzer, and adorned it with vanilla ice cream. Take it a step farther with a scoop of lemongrass-basil sherbet.

Perfect popovers + apricot compote: One could argue this is like a Dutch baby with apricot compote. Just like my photo of a Dutch baby. This is kind of a half mash up.

Creamy lime oat bars + Mirror Pond Pale Ale from Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Oregon: Beer and cookies. Yes. Just try it.

Raspberry lemonade bars + coconut diplomat cream: Take that amazing coconut filler in my coconut cream puffs recipe and dollop it on those tart raspberry lemonade bars. Niiiiiiice.

Giant ginger cookies + oatmeal raisin ice cream: These are grown up ice cream sandwiches. (I devoted another post to ice cream sandwiches when I made my black cocoa cookies with coffee ice cream sandwiched between. Those are also incredible. Definitely not for the kids.)

Scallops with Mexican corn salad + Allagash White beer and/or a one-eyed chihuahua cocktail:

The tart green + kombucha: This is for all you who believe in “detox” …whatever the hell that means.

Pumpkin liqueur (mixed with chilled apple cider and seltzer water or mixed with warm cider) + spice cake with orange buttercream: These are the essence of the holidays, sweet and spice all around.

Jelly candy immersion: Try my lemon-lime gummies, apricot pâté de fruit, violet jellies, passion fruit pâté de fruit, and grapefruit-Campari pâté de fruit. Because jellies are THE MEANING OF LIFE.

Want a macaron immersion instead? I’ve got it: peppermint macarons, vanilla violet macarons, black sesame peanut butter macarons, hazelnut-coffee macarons, pandan coconut macarons, and upcoming tricolor orange flavored macarons…

Ice cream! Ice cream! Ice cream! Try my favorite custard based vanilla recipe with raspberries and cream. My raspberry sorbet is light and tart. Be wooed by my dark and creamy black cocoa and coffee-almond ice cream sandwiches. Watermelon granita: yay! Waitstop (yes, that’s one word): I have maple walnut ice cream. Oh, and oatmeal raisin ice cream. Toasted coconut with dulce de leche. Fresh mint. Coconut with nut butters and chocolate.

Smoky popcorn + smoky popcorn: This isn’t really a mash up. Why did I add smoky popcorn to itself? It’s because this popcorn is so addictive. With the exception of some picky kids, every person I have made it for loves it. I’ve made it for friends at work, I made it for family, I have made it for events for Peach’s school, we have made it for play dates. It is always something that sparks conversation. I have people track me down who are strangers at events asking me where I got the recipe. Smoky popcorn + smoky popcorn means if you make this recipe, you really should make double what you think you will eat. If you think you will you just eat one big bowl, you will not. You will eat two. And possibly even three.