Tasty Tools!

My husband and I hosted an Easter brunch on Sunday for 8 of us. Last year I served mimosas but this year I was looking for a little something different. Since I had fewer guests this year than last, I thought it wouldn't hurt to put a little extra time into the featured brunch beverage du jour. After some research, I found a great recipe from Tyler Florence on the Food Network website for Orange Cream Mimosas. It sounded like a fun, easy, and delicious twist on the standard mimosa and it was the perfect opportunity to take part in the Tasty Tools event that Joelen from Joelen's Culinary Adventures is hosting this month.

These two factors combined gave me the perfect excuse to buy the microplane grater I have pined after for so long. It's true, everytime I watched the Food Network and one of the chefs whips out his or her microplane grater, I turned green with envy. So it was an Easter present for myself! I was able to zest the orange for this recipe like a pro. I just love it! While my box grater is still a useful tool, I love the ease of the microplane grater, not to mention I find it neater. I definitely intend on using it often!

Let me just say, these mimosas were Stupendous, despite my horrible choice of where I took the picture. I was scrambling around the kitchen and as you will soon see, I didn't even take a picture of the rest of my Easter meal! (p.s. I love my Keurig Coffee maker!)

Anyway, I digress. They were Stupendous...yes, with a capital S. When we ran out of champagne and still had some of the frozen portion left we switched to ginger ale. Still Stupendous. I almost wished I had doubled the batch - in fact next year I will!

Orange Cream Mimosas
(from FoodNetwork.com)


2 1/2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice (5 to 6 oranges)
1 orange, zested
1 cup half-and-half
1 cup superfine sugar
1 bottle sparkling wine or Champagne*
Strawberries, for garnish
*Non-alcoholic sparkling wine, sparkling cider, or ginger ale can be substituted

Put orange juice, zest, half-and-half, and sugar into a blender and process until the sugar has dissolved, about 30 seconds. Pour this mixture into a shallow pan and freeze until hard, 4 hours or overnight.

Remove the frozen orange mixture from the freezer and let it sit to soften slightly, about 10 minutes. With a scoop or tablespoon, scrape out a small scoop and put it into a Champagne glass. Slowly fill the glass with Champagne and serve garnished with strawberries.