Alyson Lewis

I post roughly one recipe on this blog every month, depending on how I’m feeling, but I felt like posting a little more this month because obviously, I have time to do it. As everyone’s focusing more heavily on cooking at home, I’ll probably keep posting these a little more frequently over the next month or so. We’ll see what happens.

No one asked me to do this. I didn’t need to do it for any specific reason, except I was preparing to be in my house for a long, indeterminable amount of time and decided to make it interesting. I tried these 7 energy drinks over the course of the last 7 days. I’ve never had any of them before this, so here are my first impressions of each, along with a rating out of 10. Enjoy!

I’m holed up in the house with a few varieties of sesame milk, so this week I have two recipes using two of the flavors. I’m really impressed with the Hope&Sesame sesame milk. This was my first time trying or using sesame milk in any capacity whatsoever. It has a little deeper of a flavor than I was expecting. It’s not quite a nutty flavor, but it’s distinctly different from any other milk I’ve tried. This is my new favorite milk. I know that when another milk comes out, I WILL try it. I won’t deny that. I’m human. But I’ve found sesame milk to be really versatile so far. I’ve used it in a few different ways by now, and I WILL be returning with more recipes (probably next week) don’t worry. I have nothing but time. Both of these recipes serve one. OK, this far into typing this, I said “Hope&Sesame out loud and realized it sounds like that magic phrase...is the phrase “open sesame” or “open says me”??? Or neither??? Mods?????

I recently did a review of Mint Chocolate Soylent, where I raked it over the coals for being an inadequate beverage overall. One of the main points I made was that no drink can be a substitute for a meal, no matter what it’s fortified with, and that the body needs fuel from real food. A lot of people reached out to ask me to find a plant-based alternative to Soylent, and Après was one of the drinks I found. In addition to this being a normal review, I’ll do a side by side comparison of Après and Soylent according to different categories and draw some conclusions from that. I want to note again that these are not the kinds of drinks I reach for on a regular basis, because I do have the time and ability to just eat regular food when I’m hungry, but I received a lot of requests for this, so I had no problem looking for an alternative.

New forms of coffee seem to crop up nearly every day, boasting convenience or better caffeine or a smoother taste. Vietnamese coffee isn’t new, but what makes Copper Cow interesting is the ability to make a smooth coffee that is travel friendly and doesn’t skimp on quality. I love Vietnamese coffee. I have to be careful with my dairy consumption, but I will always--I mean ALWAYS drink a Vietnamese coffee when I have the chance. As I’ve embarked on my coffee journey, I’ve tried any variety I could get my hands on. I can taste differences among different brewing methods, and I can sort of discern what is supposed to be “bad” coffee. This doesn’t stop me from drinking it, because I am indiscriminate when it comes to certain things, but I like being able to tell the difference. It shows I’m learning something about it.

I’m trying my hardest to enjoy hot drinks. I generally don’t reach for them or crave them, but I like to open up horizons to myself and delve into things I wouldn’t normally try. I have some other ideas I’m working on executing, but for now, I have this cranberry clementine cider. It’s great for holiday time, and has that clove warming sensation that feels perfect going down while there’s a snowstorm outside. As I’m writing this, it’s 60 degrees despite the fact that it’s January, but I have no control over global warming and can only speak from a seasonal perspective. This recipe makes enough servings for a small group of people--about 4 to 5--or a lot of servings for two people. That’s up to you. This works well hot or cold, but I surprisingly enjoyed it most straight out of the crockpot when it was finished. The recipe and instructions are straightforward, but it is time consuming. I simmered this for about 10 hours, and I know that’s a long time, but I needed to make sure I could really gauge the process correctly. I made this cider three separate times trying to get the measurements correct, and it took 10 hours to simmer each time, so it is what it is. You could probably get away with cooking this in 6 hours, possibly 5, but I wouldn’t rush it along any more than that. Just follow the visual cues I give below and you will be fine. The ingredients will tell you when it’s ready. Don’t force it though.