Tag: Dairy Free (except butter)

Homemade Root Beer

One of the best parts of homemade root beer is the root beer slush that forms after an hour or two of bubbling. It’s not the Fourth of July without it! And it’s also really fun at Halloween for a witch’s brew.

*Note: They stopped making McCormick Root Beer Concentrate in 2020. No! We’ve tried several other kinds of concentrate. Some are okay, some are gross. We know Hires and Watkin’s are not good. We did try Torani root beer syrup and added some extra sugar and vanilla, and it was pretty good, albeit a bit expensive. We tried Zatarain’s concentrate, and it was okay but not great. We may just end up buying two-liters in the future. 😦

And like most drinks, this one is also naturally gluten free.

Homemade Root Beer

  • Servings: 5gallons
  • Difficulty: easy
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Perfect for the 4th of July or witch’s brew on Halloween.

Ingredients

  • 1 bottle McCormick Root Beer Concentrate
  • 5 lb. Sugar
  • 6 – 7 lb. Dry Ice
  • 5 gallons Water (a little less)

Directions

In an Igloo dispenser, stir sugar, some water, and concentrate until sugar is dissolved. Then add ice (being careful not to let it touch your bare hands) and remaining water. Cover loosely with lid and stir occasionally. Ready in 1 hour.


German Adventspunsch

I was introduced to a variation of this on my mission, at a ward Christmas party in Vienna. But it’s in both Germany and Austria. Then I bought Winterzeit tea and brought it back to America to make this at home. We made it every Christmas morning for a few years after my mission while the tea bags lasted, enjoying drinking out of fancy tea cups and a tea pot I bought at a second hand shop in Bayreuth, and eating Lebkuchen or Stollen with it.

And like most drinks, this one is also naturally gluten free.

German Adventspunsch

  • Servings: 8?
  • Difficulty: easy
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A nice, hot punch with the flavors of Christmas.

Ingredients

  • 1 bottle Cherry Juice (or a juice with cherry in its title)
  • 2 Cinnamon Sticks
  • 2 Cloves
  • 1 Lemon (Juice and Peel)
  • 1 Orange (Juice and Peel)
  • 3 Bags Christmas/Wintertime Tea

Directions

Place cherry juice, cinnamon sticks, and cloves in pot on medium heat. Cut peel from lemon and orange into pot (avoid white part or punch will be bitter). Squeeze juice from lemon and orange into the pot. When juice is boiling, place tea bags (tied together) in juice, making sure that strings hang over side of pot. Boil on medium for about 10 minutes. Then remove bags and squeeze out the liquid into punch. Pour punch through strainer into pitcher (to catch cloves, etc.) and serve hot.


Deviled Eggs

Traditional deviled eggs often don’t have pickle relish, but we grew up with these and I find it adds a nice flavor and texture. Deviled eggs are always a crowd pleaser that get gobbled up, but they do take a fair amount of time to make, with boiling the eggs, peeling, slicing, making the filling, and then piping into the whites.

Right now there aren’t specific amounts listed (mostly I’m just listing the ingredients so I remember).

Also, if you’re making these gluten free, they’re naturally gluten free. BUT make sure to use a new jar of mayo or one that’s dedicated to be gluten free, otherwise you could end up with crumbs from double dipping from previous sandwich-making. 

Deviled Eggs

  • Servings: varies
  • Difficulty: medium
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It’s not Easter without deviled eggs!

Ingredients

  • Hard-Boiled Eggs
  • Salt
  • Mayonnaise (or new jar/dedicated gluten free mayo)
  • Sweet Relish
  • Paprika

Directions

Hard-boil eggs for 10 minutes, then cool. Peel eggs and cut in half lengthwise. Place yolks in a bowl and whites on egg plate. Mash the yolks to remove chunks (such as with a pastry cutter), then add a few large spoonfuls of mayo and a few small spoonfuls of relish. Mix together and adjust mayo and relish as desired. Before filling, lightly salt the egg whites. Place the filling in a pastry bag with the largest star tip possible (to prevent clogging). Pipe the filling into the whites. Garnish with a dusting of paprika.


Aunt Josie’s Punch

We make 1 or 2 batches of this punch every Thanksgiving and sometimes on Christmas. The original recipe called for Raspberry Flavor Aid or Kool-Aid instead of cranberry-raspberry juice, but since the Flavor Aid one is no longer available and Kool-Aid only offers blue raspberry (which turns the punch gray), we opted for cranberry-raspberry juice instead. It’s been a delicious change.

And of course most drinks are naturally gluten free–just like this one. 🙂

Aunt Josie's Punch

  • Servings: 8?
  • Difficulty: easy
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A perfect carbonated punch for Thanksgiving or parties.

Ingredients

  • 2 Qt. bottle Cranberry-Raspberry Juice
  • 12 oz. can frozen Pink Lemonade (undiluted)
  • 2 liter bottle Diet Sprite/7 Up
  • Ice

Directions

Mix juice and lemonade. Add soda and ice right before serving.