We had a nasty surprise when we tried to serve Pastis to our guests and realized that the ice we had in the freezer was about 6 months old...and really stale. Somehow it had taken on all kinds of weird smells from...frozen food?
Entertaining: Ice Cubes
It was then that we realized how important it is to have fresh ice when entertaining. So if people are coming over this weekend, now is the time to assess your ice situation.
If you can't remember when you made it, or if your freezer makes it automatically and you don't normally use it all, then your best bet is to dump it all (it can be fed to your plants a little at a time so it doesn't freeze them) and start fresh. To try something fancier, try coordinating your ice with your drinks. If you're serving Mojitos, freeze a leaf of mint in each ice cube. To spruce up regular water try freezing cranberries or slices of lime in each cube.
For more drink recipes, try Blueprint's berry cocktail, Domino's House Cocktails and Real Simple's drink archive for ideas.
Comments (8)
AT Daily Email
Top House Tours
Top Posts
Links
design
friends
more friends
- craftster.org
- idealbite.com
- kfreshdesigns
- designboner
- fototiller
- design-milk
- allthatanda
- decor8
- miapartamento
- silkfeltsoil
- home rejuvenation
- clothes-pin
- sfgirlbybay
- tyson williams
- Happy mundane
- fabulously green
- charles and hudson
- grass roots modern
- ikeahacker
- eatdrinknbmerry
- covetable
- uberreview
- crunch22
- modernflat
- modcottage
- shelterrific
- this old house
- modern-roost
- pallapalla
- anticssoblonde
- elaine vigneault
- Kitchen Spotlight: Open Storage in Small Kitchens
- Win this Chef's Knife and Sharpening Strap from Vessel!
- The Cook's Guide to an Easy, Elegant Holiday Table
- Win this Dune Oval French Oven from Le Creuset!
- Kitchen Tips from a Project Runway Star, Pies Galore, a Vintage Kitchen and a Scrumptious Turkey Sandwich
Copyright © 2008 Apartment Therapy
luckily my boyfriend is enough of a lush that I'm always having to make fresh ice...
view Qdrophnia's profile
Slightly related note:
I make lemon juice ice cubes to put in my tea (hot or cold). It smells great in my freezer.
view curleesue's profile
Fresh mint in an ice cube? I'd never freeze anything green in an ice cube - it absolutely destroys greens and the resulting slimy mess will be major league unattractive. That and freezing might mess with the oils and turn them bitter.
As for that skunky flavor ice cubes get in the freezer, I use the old rinse trick. Just rinse your cubes a few moments under the tap with some warm water. It will melt away the outer layer of the ice cube, leaving you with the flavor-free interior.
view Dave's profile
Would someone PLEASE tell me the trick to making clear ice cubes? When you're freezing stuff (leaves, berries, whatever) into them, the clarity adds a lot to their appearance, but I haven't a clue about how to accomplish this!
view Aulaire's profile
Nice idea! I'll definitely be putting lime in my ice cubes.
view thejha's profile
Aulaire, I think I read somewhere it is because of the impurities in the water that causes it to turn white. Try using pure, filtered, or distilled water.
view tobefirst's profile
Thanks, tobefirst. I will try this with distilled water, and if it works, I will send you roses.
view Aulaire's profile
Aulaire, look at this instructable:
http://www.instructables.com/id/make-crystal-clear-ice!/
view shastaw2006's profile