My bartending style tends to run less towards the carefully measured, tried-and-true recipes and more towards the “What’s in my fridge right now?” trial-and-error method. I rarely use actual measures, because what is “good” depends on how many people are drinking, how liquored up they want to be, and how well they hold all that liquor. That being said, I have a few favorite drinks that do really well in cold weather.

Peppermint Hot Chocolate:
This ain’t your grandma’s hot cocoa. (Or maybe it is…) I like to add a few drops (or shots) of Peppermint Schnapps to hot chocolate for an immediate warm-up. Make the cocoa with milk if you like it creamier.

Cinnamon Vanilla Cream:
One day my love of Starbuck’s and alcohol collided, and this drink was born. I just poured some Cinnamon Schnapps into my Vanilla Crème, and - voilà - an innocuous looking brew. Yes, I did keep it all in the Starbucks container. You can make your own Vanilla crème by warming up milk, adding a drop or two of vanilla extract, sugar to taste, and topping it off with whipped cream.

Hot (Spiked) Apple Cider:
First, you need to find some alcoholic apple cider. It’s probably somewhere between the beer and wine sections. Two bottles is a good amount to start with. On the stove, get it simmering with two cinnamon sticks, a tablespoon of cloves, a little bit of sugar and some nutmeg. What really makes it piping hot though, is the addition of either rum or apple brandy. Be generous, ladies - the apple cider has lost most of its alcoholic content in the heating process. Read More »

Thanksgiving is probably one of my favorite holidays. The food, the family, the festivities…the food.

Normally, I go home to visit my family for Thanksgiving. But they are all the way in California and I’m in New York. With the economy in the dumps and hardly any money in my pocket, going home for a couple days wasn’t worth the trip.

So this year, I’m spending Thanksgiving on my own. My brother will be visiting me from Boston (he’s also too broke to fly home) and we will be having a lovely low key Thanksgiving meal together.

There are just a couple problems…1) I’m broke, remember? 2) how the eff do you prepare a Thanksgiving meal?!?!

Well, I did some research and here’s what I found on how to make a d’lish Turkey Day meal without throwing away too much money:

1) Campbell’s Kitchen — so we already know Campbell’s soups are ‘M’m M’m Good’ but they are also M’m M’m cheap. If you check out their website, it’s full of great Thanksgiving recipes that definitely won’t burn a hole in your pocket. Like green bean casserole, and creamy mashed potatoes! *yum*

2) DIY — you may THINK that buying already made pies and desserts and other T-day goodies is cheaper, but doing it yourself may actually save you a couple bucks. Sure it’s a little more work, but hey, it’ll be fun! Here are some savory pumpkin pie recipes to get you started.

3) Get your turkey from the supermarket — there are a ton of grocery stores that have ready-to-make, and sometimes ready-to-eat birds available. Some stores, like this one, have the entire meal, fixings and all, ready for pick up. And it’s not as pricey as you think!

Enjoy!

If you’re as addicted to caffeine as I am, you are probably broke (not to mention a real gem in the early morning hours). But, like any good junkie, you’re more than willing to flip the couch cushions in search of a few quarters, or sell your kidney to pay for a grande White Chocolate Mocha on your way to school.

I have to admit, I’m a huge Starbucks fan, and am usually fine with shelling out a few extra dollars to indulge in something tastier than Folgers. Still, I need a new winter wardrobe… so I’m weaning myself off of overpriced coffee drinks (that taste like dessert) and makin’ my coffee at home.

I know it’s a bold move, but after playing around a bit I have learned a few things: 1) Making your own coffee can save you billions, and 2) It is really, really easy. Here are a few tips:

1. Flavor it Up.
Whenever I make my own coffee, no matter how good the brand, or how carefully I measure the coffee-to-water ratio, it always seems to taste like dirt. My solution? Flavor, flavor, flavor. Syrup, syrup, Equal, syrup. Seriously, who just gets a latte from Starbucks? Everyone has their signature: the Pumpkin Latte, Caramel Macchiato, White Chocolate Mocha…what do they have in common? Manufactured taste. Instead of shelling out $4-$5 a day for Starbucks, buy a bottle of Torani Syrups. This brand is used in tons of coffee shops across the country, so you might not even taste the difference. Read More »

Chocolate and Peanut Butter. Seriously, is there anything better? These cookies are flourless (gluten free!), fabulous, and perfect for a quick pick-me-up for yourself and friends when everyone is in need of some serious sugar therapy.

What You Need:
1 cup chunky peanut butter
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
1/2 cup chocolate chunks
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1 small bag of mini peanut butter cups Read More »

The most elaborate meal most college students cook consists of adding water to some noodles and microwaving on high for 2 minutes. Except maybe the weird stuff we all put together after a long night of drinking (Cheez Wiz and frozen spinach? Mmmmm!).

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Eli and Max Sussman, two lovely boys who are as talented in the kitchen as they are witty, have recently published, Freshman in the Kitchen.

This cookbook is made for us - college students - and teaches everything we need to know about cooking, including making things that don’t require a flavor packet or a microwave.

Freshman in the Kitchen proves that cooking a real meal can be as easy as Easy Mac, with much better results. The boys will be sharing their expertise and recipes with us, so look out.

And buy their book. Your roommates will thank you.

I have posted what seems like a million small-batch recipes here at CC, and I’ve adapted the vast majority of them from this book. If you live by yourself or with only one other person, you like good food, you don’t mind cooking, and you can only have one cookbook, buy this one. You will NOT regret it.

There’s absolutely everything in here, from general small-batch advice to a lowdown on ingredients to winning recipes of all kinds. And every recipe in here is truly excellent. I can’t stand fat cookbooks full of thousands of recipes that obviously were never tested, meaning you have to dig through the whole book to handpick the recipes that may have the potential to be edible.

Not so with Cooking for Two. The authors, Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough, have really tweaked every recipe, and it’s obvious. The ingredient amounts are right on, and you can expect fantastic taste with everything you make from here.

I can’t say anything specific about the seafood section since I don’t eat seafood, but the casserole and poultry sections really shine. Also, many of the recipes can be adapted for slow cookers to make them even easier! Read More »

We are kicking off CollegeCandy’s expert series in a huge way. Today’s guest blogger is the one and only Hungry Girl, the expert in making fatty foods in a not so fatty way. We love this woman and are super excited to bring her awesome ideas to you.

She’ll be posting later today, so look out!

Eating is fun.
And eating is even MORE fun when you’re smashed.
That’s right. They tell us that alcohol impairs your judgment and ‘they’ are absolutely right.

How else do I explain the empty jar of peanut butter I found this morning next to my bed?

Ah, peanut butter.
You know, you don’t have to eat a jar of it when you’re drunk to savor its goodness (which I seemed to have forgotten…)

One of my favorite drunk snacks involves a little PB, a little fat and a whole lot of delicious:

1 Rice Cake with Skippy Reduced Fat Peanut Butter smeared on it with Light Chocolate syrup poured over it. Oh. My. God. It’s so delicious, you’ll cry.

Read More »