The Cookbook
Here is where I'll keep any recipes I like to make in case anyone wants to try them. Eat well and be merry!
DARK ENTREES
The Perfect Sandwich
I used to make sandwiches as a job. It sucked but it did make me good at making sandwiches. This is one of my favorites lately.
WHAT YOU NEED: Bread, mayonnaise, a brown mustard (dijon or spicy), salami, grated mozzarella, pickled artichoke hearts, baby spinach, salt, pepper
1. Toast your sliced bread, get it crunchy.
2. Spread mayo across evenly, and then add your brown mustard and spread it evenly as well.
3. Lay the salami slices flat along the surface of one of the slices of bread.
4. Lay the spinach flat on top of the salami.
5. Sprinkle the grated cheese.
6. Add preferred amount of artichoke and drizzle a little of the brine over the top.
7. Add salt and pepper, close the sandwich, cut it in half, and serve it forth.
Cucumber Salad
This one is super easy and one of my go-to easy meals. If you can chop up a cucumber, you can make this. Great for fans of dill pickles, and perfect for hot summer days. It’s so cool and refreshing!.
WHAT YOU NEED: Cucumber, salt, sugar, vinegar, dill.
1. Cut up a portions-worth of cucumber. Place in a bowl and salt lightly..
2. Pour vinegar over the bowl of cucumbers. I like red wine but any is fine..
3. Pour in some sugar to taste. I like it on the sweeter side, personally..
4. Sprinkle in some dill weed. Fresh or dry is fine. (OPTIONAL: I like to add crushed mint as well. Can be substituted for dill if needed.).
5. Stir together and toss your salad. Then serve it forth!
Sushi Rice Bowl
I love sushi. It’s seen as kind of fancy and expensive here in the US, so I don’t get to eat it often. Here’s my easy way to satisfy the craving. It’s kind of California roll-leaning, so if you prefer other rolls feel free to substitute the avocado and cucumber for your preferred ingredients. (You can add fish if you have it on hand, but this recipe assumes you don’t)
WHAT YOU NEED: Rice, mayo, sriracha, soy sauce, avocado, cucumber
1. Prepare rice (ideally with a rice cooker). While rice is cooking, dice up some cucumber and avocado.
2. Once rice is finished cooking, put it in a bowl and add a scoop of mayo (I prefer it lighter, so I only add a small scoop so it doesn’t get goopy) and pour sriracha and soy sauce over the top. Stir together until rice grains are evenly coated with the spicy mayo. I also like to add some sugar and vinegar.
3. Add in the cucumber and avocado. Stir together, and serve it forth!
This is a very flexible recipe, so you can add whatever you want if it's on hand. Crunchy onions, imitation crab, teriyaki or eel sauce, lettuce, maybe ginger powder? Anything goes. But it is a great way to feel like you’re having some sweet and delicious sushi when you know you won’t have any in a while.
As a note, the sriracha-mayo mixture is perfect for chicken and worth considering as your next dipping sauce (especially when lemon juice is added!!!)
THE SWEETEST PERFECTION
Unfrench Toast
A.k.a. the lazy version for when you don’t feel like dealing with dipping bread in eggs or turning on the stove.
WHAT YOU NEED: Bread, butter, sugar, cinnamon, chocolate or maple syrup
1. Put desired slices of bread in the toaster and toast for preferred duration.
2. Once toast is ready, slather with butter and sprinkle sugar and cinnamon (or nutmeg) over the top.
3. Drizzle with chocolate syrup and/or maple syrup. If you’ve got any confectioner’s sugar, it also adds to the effect. Then, serve it forth!
What results is a quick and easy sweet treat that tastes very much like french toast! I also like to add peanut butter, or pair with banana, which makes it even yummier!
Graveyard Dirt Cups
My go-to for Halloween movie parties with my girlfriend Laura.
WHAT YOU NEED: Instant chocolate pudding mix, cool whip, oreos, gummy worms
1. Prepare instant chocolate pudding.
2. While the pudding is in process, mash up a box’s-worth of Oreos into a yummy powder (the dirt)
3. Once it is created, combine it with cool whip until a light and fluffy mixture is created.
4. In tall glasses, scoop in some of the pudding and some of the “dirt”, alternating layers.
5. Top each glass with gummy worms and serve it forth!
You can add all sorts of candy to this one like marshmallows, Nerds (the fertilizer!), candy corn, pretzel bits, or whatever you desire. It’s always a treat. It's also yummy to mix in peanut butter cookies with the oreos.
UNHOLY LIBATION
Vampire’s Delight
I have many vampire friends and one of them gave me this recipe. Supposedly this dark red drink quells the bloodthirst temporarily, and as a bonus is rather delicious.
WHAT YOU NEED: A tea steeper, cinnamon apple tea (but any spice-forward tea will do), sugar, cinnamon, crushed mint, cranberry juice, ice
1. Put the tea leaves, some ground cinnamon and a light amount of crushed mint in a steeper and brew your tea.
2. Once the tea has steeped, stir in your sugar to taste and then chill for 15 minutes in the fridge (or as long as it needs to be Not Hot).
3. After the tea has chilled, fill a tall cup with it slightly over half-way (over ice). Then, fill the rest of the cup with cranberry juice, and mix. Sprinkle over the top a spice of your choosing and serve it forth.
It has a delicious and autumnal mulled-wine sort of taste, and it could be very good hot if you’re into hot drinks. It would make a good cocktail if you want to add wine (vampires typically don’t, as you probably know... they never drink wine) and it’s easy to adapt this recipe to make a large pitcher for a party or whatever.
Full Moon Tea
A favorite among my fellow lycanthropes, this tea is a take on Earl Grey that calls to mind the earthy scents of the forests and the milky light of the full moon.
WHAT YOU NEED: A tea steeper, earl grey tea, rosemary, thyme, mint, hazelnut syrup or hazelnut coffee creamer, whipped cream, nutmeg
1. In your steeper, combine Earl Grey tea leaves, rosemary, some thyme, and mint, and brew your tea.
2. Once the tea has steeped, add in sugar to taste, your hazelnut syrup, and enough milk to create an almost-white color when stirred (the “full moon”).
3. Top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of nutmeg over the top and serve it forth!
The whipped cream is optional if you don’t have it, but the sort of nutty, earthy, sweet flavor makes this a perfect choice for any thirsty werewolves yearning for the woods. Feel free to add in more herbs and spices you think would fit the flavor profile!
