Bjorn Bites & Booze

Berries and cream Dessert Cups | Wild West Viking

Berries & Cream Dessert Cups

January 24, 2022

Berries & Cream Dessert Wontons | Wild West Viking

Berries & Cream Dessert Cups

These delicate little dessert cups have all the sweet tastes and textures everyone will love! The cinnamon-sugar dusted crispy wonton cups are filled with a creamy filling topped with fresh red berries and a little kiss of citrus!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30

Course Dessert

Ingredients

16 wonton wrappers
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup cream cheese
1 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp sugar
1 cup fresh berries (I used raspberries and strawberries)
1 lemon strips of lemon zest

Instructions

Prepare Wontons

Preheat oven to 350°.
Prepare muffin tin, lightly spray with cooking spray.
Mix 2 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp of cinnamon in a small bowl.
On a baking sheet, layout wonton wrappers and lightly spray wontons with cooking spray, then sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Turn over wontons and repeat process on the other side.
Place each prepared wonton into muffin tin and press down lightly to form a cup.
Bake for 6-8 minutes until crispy. Set aside to cool

Prepare Filling

Combine cream cheese, yogurt, vanilla extract and sugar in a bowl. Mix with electric hand mixer until smooth.

Fill Wontons

Fill cooled wonton cups with cream filling, top with fresh berries, and a lemon zest or two. (Serve immediately, or fill cups just before serving to avoid them getting soggy)

Keyword Dessert Wonton Cups, Desserts, Sweet Treats, Wonton

by Bjorn Bites & Booze

Christmas, Drinks, Holiday, Recipes

Italian Eggnogtini

January 1, 2022

Italian Eggnogtini

It's time to toast 2021 goodbye and welcome in 2022! This Italian Eggnogtini is one of those warm, delicious and elegant cocktails perfect for our small party of two this year! Maybe these little New Years cocktails will help? These martinis are a blend of Amaretto, vanilla vodka and eggnog and a dash of nutmeg. I rimmed the martini glasses with chocolate and crushed peppermint giving a little minty bit with every delicious sip!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10

Course Drinks

Ingredients

2 oz Disaronno
2 oz Vanilla Vodka
4 oz Eggnog
melted chocolate for rimming glasses
crushed candy cane for rimming glasses
nutmeg, and candy cane for garnish

Instructions

Rimmed glasses with melted chocolate and then dip in crushed candy canes. Set to the side
In a shaker full of ice, add eggnog, vanilla vodka and Disaronno. Shake well for about a minute.
Strain contents from shaker into each glass, and sprinkle with nutmeg. Garnish with a candy cane.

Keyword Christmas Cocktails, Eggnog, Eggnog Cocktails, Eggnogtini, Holiday Cocktails, Italian Cocktail, Italian Martini, New Years Eve Cocktail

by Bjorn Bites & Booze

Christmas, Drinks, Holiday, Recipes

Grinch Mimosa

December 22, 2021

Grinch Mimosa

WHO wants a holiday drink this year to spread some Christmas cheer? You will feel all warm and fuzzy while sipping this tasty Grinch Mimosa Cocktail! This holiday cocktail is updated for my taste with a combination of Midori, Creme de Banana, orange juice, pineapple juice, run, and then topped off with Prosecco! Every Who in your Whoville will certainly fell all toasty inside with this Christmas drink!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10

Course Drinks

Servings 2 cocktails

Ingredients

½ cup Midori (melon liqueur)
½ cup Creme de Banana
½ cup Pineapple Juice
½ cup Orange Juice
½ cup Rum
Prosecco
red sanding sugar for rimming glasses

Instructions

Add Midori, Creme de Banana, pineapple juice, orange juice and rum in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake to mix.
Rim cocktail glasses with red sanding sugar.
Add crushed ice to cocktail glasses, and fill evenly with mixture from cocktail shaker. Top off with Prosecco, and enjoy!

Keyword Apple Cider Mimosas, Christmas Cocktail, Christmas Drinks, Christmas Mimosa, Grinch Mimosa

by Bjorn Bites & Booze

Christmas, Dessert, Holiday, Recipes

Santa Gnome Treats

December 19, 2021

Santa Gnome Treats

These little treats have got to be the most delicious and cutest edible Christmas Santa Gnomes! I made these using sugar cookie bottoms, filled them with chocolate mousse, and topped with whipped frosting, a strawberry for a hat, and red M&M for the nose. These will definitely give you a sugar high, but seriously, who could resist?

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 25

Cook Time 20

Course Dessert

Ingredients

1 pkg Refrigerated Sugar Cookie Dough (break apart kind)
24 oz White Frosting (I used the whipped white frosting)
24 strawberries
24 red M&M's

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F
Spray a mini-muffin pan with cooking spray (or use mini liners)
Place one cookie into each muffin cup (don't flatten)
Bake cookies for about 18 minutes, and place on wire rack to cool
While cookies are still warm, take a small spoon and gently press cookies into a cup shape.
Cool completely before filling.
Make your favorite Chocolate Mousse recipe or alternately, you can completely fill the bottoms with whipped frosting, vanilla pudding or other yummy filling.
Wash strawberries, and cut out the crown into a "V" shape (where the leaves are)
Take one of the cookie cups, and fill with chocolate mousse, or whatever you are going to filling them with, and be generous.
Then push the strawberry into the filling, cut side down, and add a red M&M for the nose, just under the "V" of the strawberry.
Add a little of the white frosting, just below the 'nose' on the cookie cup and draw a beard and make some lines for the beard with a toothpick.
Enjoy!

Keyword Chocolate Mousse, Christmas Treats, Gnome Cookies, Santa Gnome Treats, Sugar Cookie

by Bjorn Bites & Booze

Christmas, Danish Traditions, Holiday

Danish Christmas Traditions

December 2, 2021

It’s the first day of December and Christmas has arrived! This is undoubtedly my favorite time of year. The twinkling lights, the smell of fresh evergreens, spiced cookies, flickering of candles and of course the little nisse (elf-like creatures) and above all . . . the hygge!!

Throughout this season, I will be adding my 24-day countdown, just like we have on our advent calendar! Only this will be a countdown of my favorite Christmas traditions!

1st Day of December

On the 1st of December Christmas brings us . . . .the mischievous elf-like creatures called ‘julenisse’ or ‘nisse’.

These somewhat temperamental little troublemakers must be treated with respect and kept in good spirits throughout the season. To the right is a photo of my daughter’s “nissepige” (nisse-girl). She’s made by Birgitte Frigast. This little nisse appears every 1st of December bringing little gifts on the advent calendar, one for each day leading up to Christmas Eve.

In the “old” days, nisse were considered the protectors of a household or farmstead and help the farmers with small chores around the farm. There are different variations of nisser, some old, some young, all with pointed red hats, some are grumpy and some are happy, Luckily we have always had the happy ones in our house!

In our family, we make sure to keep the nisser happy as we do want them making any naughty problems, so we give them a little bowl of “risengrød” (rice porridge), with a little sprinkle of cinnamon sugar and a pat of butter on top. This all happens on the 23rd of December (stay tuned)!

2nd Day of December

The 2nd day of December brings the Countdown Candle (or as we call it in Danish . . . Kalenderlys). These candles typically have some kind of Christmas design on them and adorned with numbers from 1-24.

This is such a fun and cozy tradition that brings joy on those dark December mornings in anticipation of Christmas Eve/Day. It’s typical for Danes to have a breakfast candle to soothe their souls on hectic mornings.

As you will soon find out, towards the end of this adventure, candles are a big thing for Danes, and especially here around Christmastime!

This is a total hygge (cozy) aesthetic tradition that you could also start in your house! There’s nothing more comforting than starting and ending the day by candle light, and it’s such a fun way to count down to Christmas!

I love the design of the Georg Jensen candles, or Holmegaard candles, although there are several other stores and online stores that sell them now also here in United States!

3rd Day of December

The 3rd day of December brings the famous Danish woven Christmas hearts. These are made throughout the holiday season, and hung on the Christmas tree and filled with Christmas candies. The hearts are made out of glazed paper, or sometimes fabric. Colors vary, but traditionally they are made with red and white colors, which are of course, the national colors of Denmark. An interesting note is that the woven hearts were said to be created first by the famous H.C. Andersen. The oldest known braided heart, which is actually yellow and green, is on display at the Hans Christian Andersen museum in Odense.

Over the years, some of the designs have become very intricate with extremely creative designs. They also can be made with different colors such as red and green, gold and green, red and gold, and green and gold. You can purchase templates that have already been cut out for you so all you have to do is weave the paper together. This makes the process a little faster and easier!

This is a fun activity to do for both the young and old, and especially delicious to fill with candies!

4th Day of December

The 4th day of Christmas brings one of my favorite Danish Christmas books – “Peters Jul” (Peters Christmas) by Johan Krohn.

This book is comprised of classic poems about heartwarming tales of Christmas time traditions in Denmark during the 1860’s. These poems described as stories of Christmas spirit and traditions, and lots of Christmas joy!

A favorite memory from my childhood is sitting and having this read to me the night before Christmas. Reading the book really does give you the feeling of what it would be like to experience Christmastime in Denmark in the 1860’s, a simple time, but a time full of those timeless Christmas traditions, with family at the center.

This book is both for the young and old, giving a good insight to Christmastime in the 1860’s both culturally and historically. A true Danish Christmas Classic.

by Bjorn Bites & Booze

Pomegranate Sparkler

November 30, 2021

Pomegranate Sparkler

Holiday's are kicked off this season with this festive Pomegranate Sparkler! The holidays are in full swing here at our house and I love it! Here's a little easy cocktail option for your next holiday get together

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5

Course Drinks

Ingredients

1 bottle Prosecco
8 oz Pomegranate juice
2 Rosemary sprigs for garnish
pomegranate arils for garnish
ice cube filled pomegranate arils

Instructions

Add 1 tbsp pomegranate airls to each champagne flute.
Add 2 oz pomegranate juice to each champagne flute
Top with prosecco by carefully filling the champagne flute glasses on the side of the glass.
Add an ice cube or two to each glass, and top with a sprig of rosemary.

Keyword Apple Cider Mimosas, Christmas Cocktail, Christmas Mimosa, Holiday Cocktails, Pomegranate Mimosa, Pomegranate Sparkler

by Bjorn Bites & Booze

Dessert, Recipes

Boozy Pear Frangipane Tarte

November 21, 2021

Boozy Pear Frangipane Tarte

A perfect fall dessert and an impressive addition to your Thanksgiving dessert table! This French classic dessert has a little boozy twist with an extra shot (or two) of dark rum). The Frangipane comes from the sweet and smooth almond-flavored pastry cream. The tart is topped with fresh slices of pear, with a little apricot-rum glaze. Top the tart with toasted almonds and a little sprinkle of powdered sugar and Enjoy!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 45

Cook Time 55

Course Dessert

Servings 8 servings

Ingredients

1 sweet tart crust
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar (plus more for serving)
1 cup almond flour
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
¼ tsp kosher salt
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 vanilla bean, seeded
2 tbsp dark rum, divided
1 tsp almond extract
3 firm pears (Bartlett works best)
½ lemon, juiced
1 tbsp sliced almonds, toasted½

Instructions

Make Frangipane (Almond Cream filling)

Cream the softened butter in a large bowl, and add powdered sugar until the mixture is well combined, and resembles a coarse meal
Add almond flour, all-purpose flour, salt and mix well.
Add eggs one at a time, and mix well after each addition.
Add vanilla bean (scraped), almond extract and 1 tbsp of the dark rum
Mix well until cream is smooth. (You can keep this refrigerated for up to 5 days)

Assemble

Preheat oven to 375F.
Melt apricot jam with 1 tbsp dark rum, and mix until liquefied.
Apply jam to base of cooled pastry shell to prevent soggy bottom.
Fill tart crust with almond cream, smoothing out to the edges, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to set.
Peel pears, cut each lengthwise, scoop out cores, and cut each half crosswise into ⅛ inch slices. Keep the slices together so you can make a "fan". Squeeze a little lemon juice on top of the pear fans to prevent browning.
Remove tart crust from refrigerator. Gently take each pear half and "fan" it out on the tart crust, making sure to fan out toward the stem/top side. Slide your knufe under the pear half and fan it out over the almond filling, arranging it so the pear fans out to the center.
Bake tart at 375°F until golden brown or filling comes out clean. About 50 minutes.
Let the tart cool on a wire rack.
Brush pears with the leftover apricot/rum mixture. Once tart is cool, unmold the tart.
Sprinkle some of the toasted almonds over the tart, with a little powdered sugar, and ENJOY!

Keyword Fall Desserts, Frangipane, Pear and Almond Tarte, Pear Desserts, Pear Frangipane Tarte, Thanksgiving Desserts

by Bjorn Bites & Booze

Drinks, Recipes

Apple Cider Mimosas

November 15, 2021

Apple Cider Mimosas

A sweet, delicious fall twist on the classic mimosa! These elegant Apple Cider Mimosas are perfect for your next fall gathering, and amazing for a Thanksgiving welcome cocktail! These cocktails are full of autumn flavors, so simple to make, and oh so delicious! Share this cocktail at Thanksgiving with your family and friends!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 50

Course Drinks

Servings 2 cocktails

Ingredients

6 oz Apple Cider
6 oz Prosecco Hi! Prosecco
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 sticks cinnamon (for garnish)
1 sliced apples (for garnish)

Instructions

Cinnamon Sugar Rim

Combine sugar and cinnamon on a small plate. Dip champagne flutes in apple cider to wet the rim, and dip into the cinnamon sugar mixture

Apple Cider Mimosas

Fill champagne flutes with 3 oz apple cider, and 3 oz prosecco (or half and half), Add a cinnamon stick and apple slice for garnish and Skål!

Notes

I used Hi! Prosecco for this cocktail as it has notes of pear and golden apples, harmonious and refreshing and pairs well with the Apple Cider.

Keyword Apple Cider Mimosas, Fall Cocktails, Mimosas, Thanksgiving Cocktails

by Bjorn Bites & Booze

Colorado Real Estate

Sara Frisk, Your Colorado Real Estate Gal

November 11, 2021

Whether you’re selling or buying a home in Colorado, your home is my priority. I offer all of my clients prompt, reliable, and professional real estate services to meet your exact needs. I would love to be your go-to Colorado Real Estate Gal so call me today for a chat or a cup of coffee and let’s talk about how I can help you find your perfect home!

You will find that my website is an easy-to-use, and most up-to-date real estate website in the area. It has the most advanced search technologies that allow you to view listings in the MLS, or to ensure your own home is sold in reasonable time and for top dollar.

You’ll also find my website to be a one-stop resource for your online real estate research. I am eager to tell you what I know about the local market for condos or homes, or pre-construction, or whatever you are interested in at the moment! My aim is to help people succeed in this market, and when my clients come out of the transaction breathing that big sigh of relief, I am just as satisfied as they are.

So please, have a look around, and contact me with any questions you might have about the market or my services. No question is too mundane – I would love the opportunity to help you!

by Bjorn Bites & Booze

Aspen to Crested Butte & Back!

November 11, 2021

October 1-3, 2021

A friend of mine called me up this past summer and said “Save the date! You’re going on a 20+ mile hike in October with me and two other girlfriends”! Without hesitation I said, “Count me in!”

This fall in Colorado has been absolutely amazing! The fall colors, beautiful October blue skies, warm temperatures and even some snow, and lots of leaf peeping! This girls trip started off with a quick stop in Leadville, and an impromptu visit to Melanzana (where we could only shop from the sales rack since we didn’t have an appointment). We all found a hoodie – so lucky for us that we all walked out with a famous Melanzana hoodie! We then kept driving over Independence Pass, over the Continental Divide, where we continued to drool over the nature that was surrounding us, the awe-inspiring and impressive mountains, colorful leaves, gurgling rivers, and even some deer along the way.

We drove into Aspen where we parked at our hotel we would be staying at that evening, and walked into town. We dropped in at Aspen Brewing Company where we enjoyed a couple of the local beers, and delicious pizza!

Next morning we took the shuttle to Maroon Bells and started our 2-day trek across and over the mountain! Starting at 9,580 ft, and outfitted with hiking gear for all seasons, lots of water, trekking poles, spikes, and food. Along the way we passed Maroon Lake, Crater Lake and over West Maroon Pass.

The first leg of the hike was probably the most difficult with an elevation gain of 3,000 ft. Temperatures were sunny, encountered a little mud, then over the pass, some snow, rain and even a little hail. Aspen trees were still showing beautiful shades of yellow, gold, orange, and even still some green!

We spent the night in Crested Butte at the Nordic Inn and celebrated with a chilled glass of beer and a nice soak in the hot tub. The staff, and accommodations, including an extensive breakfast the next morning enticed me to definitely stay here again!

The next day we started off early with a bumpy 4×4 trip back to the trailhead with our awesome driver, Joey. (note: that the shuttle on the Crested Butte side stops as of October 1st).

We started on the trail at 8:30am back up to West Maroon Bells with the hope of getting back to Aspen to make the last shuttle by 5p.m., to avoid the ‘walk of shame’ back to Aspen. (This was strongly ingrained by our shuttle guide the previous morning.) Funny how the trail looks completely different coming from the opposite direction. Through a little bit of snow, a LOT of mud, some anticipation about hiking up and down the summit (due to the muddiness) a little anxiousness making our shuttle back on time, having great conversations and strengthening amazing friendships with strong empowered women… this hike was by far one of the best experiences of our lives!