Green Tea Martinis and Earl Grey Ice cream Cookies

Green Tea Martini

When we took the first sip of this martini we knew it was a winner!  This is a great drink,  its crisp, fresh and addictive, like most martinis. Green tea is full of antioxidants, so don’t feel bad if you have a few!

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 cup,  water

4 green tea bags

4 ounces  mandarin flavored vodka

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Cointreau or Triple Sec

Juice of one blood orange

ice cubes

orange twist for garnish

Place water in a small pot, when boiling, add the sugar and green tea bags. Turn off the heat and steep for 5 minutes. Let cool. Put the rest of the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with the vodka, Cointreau or Triple Sec and some ice cubes. Shake well and strain into 2 Martini glasses. Garnish with an orange twist.

The Cool of Summer

With the long, hot days of summer quickly approaching it’s time to give the stove a rest, dust off  the blender and  wash down the grill. Just a few months ago, happiness was nesting indoors with the family and  cooking comfort foods like stews and soups.  


When the weather heats up, I’d rather be baking on the beach than tooling around the kitchen. Summer gets me yearning for tall icy fruity cocktails, breakfast smoothies, zesty barbeque basting sauces and easy recipes using summer produce.


The farm markets and produce stands on the islands are heaped with exotic fruits, vegetables and hardy herbs such as lemongrass, ginger, mint and basil. At home, our orchards and vegetable gardens are bursting with avocados, papaya, mangoes. The banana patch is loaded  with multiple bunches of bananas enough to feed a few neighborhoods. 


I recently made Banana Ice Cream using just frozen chunks of bananas which I processed in a champion juicer. It was soft and creamy, like a banana mousse. I took it a step further and stuffed the Banana Ice Cream between fresh homemade Earl Grey Tea cookies.  It was a yummy treat.

Homemade Fresh Banana Ice Cream (non dairy)

6 large bananas-peeled and sliced in large 1 inch chunks

Place bananas on a flat tray that will fit in your freezer compartment.  Cover with saran wrap and freeze overnight or until frozen.  Using a champion juicer, press the frozen bananas through the juicer, to extract a golden banana mousse ice cream.  Serve immediately. Makes 4 cups.

 Earl Gray Ice Cream Cookies

This cookie recipe was given to me by my good friend, Melinda. I love this cookie! It’s excellent, just sweet enough and really crispy. I triple the ingredients and store the dough in the fridge, ready for baking. They are especially yummy made into ice cream sandwiches using my Banana Ice Cream Recipe.

½ cup, granulated sugar

2 tablespoons, Earl Grey Tea
½ cup, butter unsalted
¼ teaspoons, Vanilla extract
½ teaspoon, water
1 cup, white flour                                                             
¼ teaspoon, salt
¼ teaspoon, baking soda
24 halved blanched almonds, garnish for cookie tops
Hawaiian Sea Salt - to sprinkle on top of cookies
2 Pints, Homemade Banana Ice Cream, see recipe above

Preheat oven to 350F. Grind sugar with tea in a coffee mill or blender until fine. Place butter in a medium bowl and whip with a hand mixer until softened. Add the vanilla and water and continue to beat for 1 minute. Add the ground sugar tea mixture and whip well to incorporate the sugar, about 3 minutes.  Add flour, salt and baking soda and mix until it forms a smooth dough.

Put cookie dough in a sheet of parchment paper or wax paper and roll into a long cylinder, twist the ends of the paper. Chill in refrigerator for 1 hour or overnight.

Cut cookies into ¼ inch thick and press a halved almond in the center of each cookie, lightly sprinkle with Hawaiian Sea Salt and bake on a lightly buttered cookie sheet for about till slightly puffed, 7 minutes.

Remove from oven, transfer cookies to a rack to cool.  Take two earl gray butter cookies, place a scoop of ice cream between the two cookies. Gently press together and serve.