Recipes

The winter months call for dessert recipes that are comforting while warming the soul from the wintery weather outside. Seattle-based food blogger and author Ashley Rodriguez is a pro at creating meals that nourish the mind, body, and soul. During her latest season of Kitchen Unnecessary, Ashley and her crew traveled to a small town near the mouth of the Copper River called Cordova, which is known for its local fishing industry. While there, Ashley spent time with a local named Raven to find the freshest ingredients to craft a delicious meal with local ingredients. Ashley shared her Wild Berry Spritz recipe with us as a holiday cocktail option. Today Ashley is sharing a delicious dessert that is perfect for enjoying during the frigid winter months while using the Stanley Cookware.  A Note from Ashley: I grew up never knowing what “rice pudding” was. In our family it was called “milk rice” and we served it for dinner. Now I know and still, sometimes it’s dinner. Here it is the perfect end to a wild feast. In this version of my wild rice pudding recipe, I used wild rice in place of white rice and gently simmer the sweet creamy rice over a low flame and serve with a simple sauce of Nagooneberry. It’s warming, satisfying and so simple to make. Substitute blackberries, marionberries, strawberries, or raspberries for the Nagooneberries. Wild Rice Pudding With Nagooneberry Sauce INGREDIENTS: 2 tablespoons butter 1½  cups wild rice Salt ½ cup brown sugar 3 cups of milk 1 cup cream 1 vanilla bean, split 1 cinnamon stick 1 ½ cups Nagooneberries ¼ cup of sugar Directions To Make Wid Rice Pudding With Nagoonberry Sauce Set a small stockpot (The 3.7 QT pot in our Base Camp Cook Set is perfect for this) on a grill grate set over coals or low flame. Add butter to the pot and melt. Stir in the rice and sauté until completely coated in the butter and it smells lightly toasted. Add a hefty pinch of salt. Carefully stir in the sugar, milk, cream, vanilla bean, and cinnamon stick. Bring to a simmer then cover. Gently simmer until the rice is tender and the pudding has thickened, this will usually take about 1 hour. In a small skillet add the Nagooneberries, sugar, and cinnamon stick. Bring to a simmer over a low flame and cook until the sugar dissolves and the sauce thickens just slightly about 10 minutes. Serve over the rice pudding.

Everyone needs a little boost now and then and Bulletproof Coffee finds the perfect balance of caffeine with healthy fats and oils to get you supercharged. A quick blend of a few ingredients and you’re ready to take anything on, whether you’re getting ready for a day hike or a day at the office. This powerful brew needs a bulletproof mug, and the Classic Camp Mug does the trick for coffee purists and on-the-go caffeinators alike.   BULLETPROOF COFFEE Ingredients 2 tablespoons high quality unsalted grass-fed butter 2 tablespoons Bulletproof Brain Octane 14 – 16 oz of coffee Don’t have Bulletproof Brain Octane? No worries, you can still get this supercharged beverage with pantry staples. Here’s How: 2 tablespoons high quality unsalted grass-fed butter 2 tablespoons coconut oil (or MCT oil) 1 tablespoon instant creamer, cream, or half and half (can be flavored) 14 – 16 oz of coffee Instructions In a blender, blend all ingredients until it reaches a smooth, creamy, frothy texture like a latte. Enjoy!  

Chef Adam shares how to cook up Butternut Squash Fall Stuffing and Spiked Apple Cider in his outdoor kitchen using the durable, outdoor-kitchen ready Stanley Even-Heat Camp Pro Cook Set and Everyday Tumbler, taking us on a journey from farm stand to table.

With the holidays just around the corner—our thoughts have turned to fireside chats on crisp, cold nights. After a day spent exploring the outdoors or working on projects around the house, there’s nothing like kicking back with a friend and a toasty cocktail.

For the cocktail connoisseurs, beer buffs, and passionate party hosts on your gifting list, we have just the thing: sleek, durable, easy-care barware from Stanley. As you’d expect, every item in our collection is constructed of rugged stainless steel for a lifetime of fireside chats, backyard barbecues, and camping under the stars. Here are some of our bestselling barware gifts to inspire your holiday shopping:  Master Unbreakable Hip Flask: The New York Times notes the solid Master Flask has "the pleasing heft of a heavy-bottomed cocktail glass." Sleek design meets superior, unbreakable construction in our toughest flask yet. Classic Easy Fill Wide Mouth Flask: Our Classic flask conjures "can-do campfires," according to The New York Times. The retro look, portable size, and slim silhouette means that it can slip seamlessly into any fireside gathering. Adventure Happy Hour Cocktail Shaker Set: Comes complete with a shaker, strainer lid, citrus reamer, jigger cap, and two double-wall rock glasses. Adventure Nesting Shot Glass Set: Features four 2-oz shot glasses that nest neatly inside each other, along with a stainless-steel carrying case. Classic Outdoor Growler Gift Set: We paired our 64-oz growler—designed to keep beer frosty all day—with four stacking tumblers. Classic Bottle Opener Beer Stein: This smart 24-oz beer stein has a bottle opener built right in, a flip-up lid, and a heavy-duty handle. For more gifting ideas, check out Gifts For The Mixologist and Gifts For The Beer Enthusiast. Or browse Stanley’s complete Holiday Gift Guide. HIGH MAINTENANCE COCKTAIL Great barware calls for a great cocktail recipe. This delicious whiskey libation for two comes from Miranda in the Wild, who describes it as “a personal favorite of mine.” Ingredients: 4 oz whiskey 1½ oz sweet vermouth ½ oz orange juice (fresh-squeezed makes all the difference) 1-3 dashes of bitters 1 spoonful of maraschino cherries with juice (Luxardo is recommended) Instructions: Combine all ingredients, shake and sip merry.

Not everyone is a barista, and that’s OK. Let us help you become your own coffee connoisseur for those times when the café feels so far away. Don’t let its size intimidate you, the 48 oz Classic Stay Hot French Press is perfect for caffeinating your whole crew, or as your trusty work from home sidekick. Stanley’s own Daniel Hill, Head of Creative, uses it every day and has shared his seven step process to make it perfect every time. FRENCH PRESS IN 7 STEPS By Daniel Hill STEP 1: Get your water boiling, measure it out to make sure of the ratio of grounds to water. For the 48 oz Stay Hot French Press, we recommend 40 oz / 1200mL of water. Your water should be just under boiling temperature at 195F / 90.5C. Tip: Do not use distilled water, the minerals in the water are what is being stained by the coffee. This is why coffee in Italy and Seattle tastes the best as they have similar soil. STEP 2: Measure out your beans; this can be done by volume or weight. For mild to medium smooth coffee, use a ratio of around 10:1, or ½ cup of whole beans. If you like stronger coffee, try ¾ cups. STEP 3: Coarse grind your beans using a burr grinder, but don’t let them sit for too long. The longer the grounds sit, the more they oxidize, affecting the flavor of your coffee. Tip: Burr grinders do not transfer heat into the beans like blade grinders, keeping the flavor of your coffee as it was intended by the roaster. STEP 4: Pour the grounds into the press, then add your 195F water. STEP 5: Stir to make sure the grounds are properly soaked. STEP 6: Place the plunger on top of the brewing coffee, do not press yet. Set a timer for 4 minutes. STEP 7: Push down the plunger and pour into your favorite Stanley mug. Even More Tips To Brew Like A Pro: The main thing that really make coffee taste bad is old beans. Anyone that says they love the smell of coffee but don’t like the taste simply hasn’t found their perfect brew. How To Fix Bad Coffee: -My coffee tastes bitter- Water temperature is too high Grounds are too fine Coffee beans are old (ideal time to use is one day to two weeks after roasting) -My coffee is too strong- Steep for less time Use less beans After plunging, transfer from your press into an insulated bottle to stop the brewing process -My coffee is too weak- Steep for more time Increase the amount of beans Switch to a finer grind     ABOUT STANLEY The Stanley brand has a rich 100+ year history. Born from inventor William Stanley Jr. who forever changed the way hot drinks were consumed, in 1913 he fused vacuum insulation and the strength of steel in one portable bottle, inventing the all-steel vacuum bottle we know and love today.

Now that you’ve made your very own Coffee Liqueur, it’s time to turn it into a tasty libation. Stanley brings you the classic White Russian, but with a dairy-free twist. Vodka and rich vanilla coffee liqueur are chilled to perfection using the Stanley Adventure Happy Hour Cocktail Shaker and layered with creamy non-dairy milk, they’re easy on the eyes and delicious to the palate.  VEGAN WHITE RUSSIAN Ingredients: 2 oz. Vodka 1 oz. Coffee Liqueur 1 oz. Non-Dairy Milk Nutmeg Ice Instructions: Put vodka, coffee liqueur, and ice into cocktail shaker. Shake for 45 seconds. In a cup, add ice and strain chilled vodka and coffee liqueur through cocktail shaker top. Pour non-dairy milk over the back of a spoon to layer the cocktail. Sprinkle with a dash of nutmeg and enjoy.     ABOUT STANLEY The Stanley brand has a rich 100+ year history. Born from inventor William Stanley Jr. who forever changed the way hot drinks were consumed, in 1913 he fused vacuum insulation and the strength of steel in one portable bottle, inventing the all-steel vacuum bottle we know and love today.  

Looking to amp up your liquor cabinet but can’t get to the store? Coffee liqueur is a staple that enhances cocktails with rich, deep notes of coffee and vanilla. Try it in a classic like this Vegan White Russian or simply sip it solo and enjoy your caffeinated creation. All you need is some Stanley gear and a few ingredients to get started. This infusion is so fast and easy to make yourself, you may never go store bought again.  DIY COFFEE LIQUEUR Ingredients 1 Cup Sugar 2 Cups Strong French Press Coffee 2 Cups Vodka 2 Tablespoons Vanilla Instructions Brew your coffee. (Try it in the Classic French Press) In a sauce pan or pot, make a simple syrup by mixing the sugar and coffee. Slowly heat and stir until dissolved, be sure not to boil. Remove from heat and cool in refrigerator. Slowly stir in vodka and vanilla to the coffee and sugar mixture. Pour liqueur into air tight container. Store sealed liqueur in a cool place and let infuse for one week.  Note: Homemade Coffee Liqueur will keep for three months in a sealed container.     ABOUT STANLEY The Stanley brand has a rich 100+ year history. Born from inventor William Stanley Jr. who forever changed the way hot drinks were consumed, in 1913 he fused vacuum insulation and the strength of steel in one portable bottle, inventing the all-steel vacuum bottle we know and love today.  

Wait! To make sourdough, you must begin with a Starter. Luckily, we’ve got just the recipe to get you going, and it’s made in our Adventure Crock. Okay, now that you’ve spent some time getting to know your Sourdough Starter (does it have a name?), you’re ready to bake some bread!  How To Make Sourdough Bread First, you must make leaven from your starter. This is the agent that will cause the bread to rise and give it that delicious defining sour flavor. FOR THE LEAVEN: Ingredients 1 tablespoon starter ½ cup all-purpose flour 1/3 cup water In a large bowl, mix it until it forms a paste and let it sit overnight (at least 12 hours) to form another bubbly starter. To test if its ready, do the float test, scoop a teaspoon out and put it in a cup of water. If it floats it’s ready, if not, leave it to rest a few more hours, it may also need to be put in a warmer place. After your leaven is ready, it’s finally time to bake and be the envy of your friends on social media. SOURDOUGH DOUGH: 2 ¼ cups of water (divided) 1 tablespoon of salt 5 1/2 cups of all purpose or bread flour Directions: Take ¼ cup of water and add the salt. Stir until salt dissolves. Set aside for later. With your leaven in a large bowl, add 2 cups of warm water (80 F degrees) to the leaven and stir. Add 5 1/2 cups of flour to the leaven+water mixture. Mix with a spoon until it forms a shaggy dough. Do not over mix. Let the dough rest 1 – 1 ½ hours. This is the autolyse phase. It’s the resting period where the water starts to absorb to fully hydrate the flour and allows fermentation to continue to give it that great sour flavor, and the gluten to bond to cut down on kneading time. After dough has rested, add the fully dissolved salt water to the dough. With clean hands, mix the dough, squeezing the salt water in, making it a loose, slippery dough. Let rest 30 minutes. Knead the dough, in the bowl, folding it over itself about 4 times and let it rest another 30 minutes. Dump dough onto a floured surface and turn it, folding it over itself about 6 times. Put it back in the bowl to rest another 30 minutes. Repeat Step 8 three more times. After the last folding, leave the dough to rest and rise for a little over an hour. It won’t quite double in size but it will puff up like a mushroom cap. Turn the dough on a floured surface and divide in half. Knead each half for a few minutes and shape the dough into rounds, place each into separate floured bowls and cover them with a clean towel. Let them rise about 1 ½ hours, or until nice and puffed up, almost double in size. Toward the end of the rise time, preheat oven. If baking in Dutch ovens, preheat to 500 F degrees and place them in the oven during preheating. If you’re using a baking sheet, loaf pan, or casserole dish, preheat oven to 450 F degrees. Once the oven is preheated: Remove the Dutch ovens, placing the dough rounds inside. Add a dusting of sifted flour on top of the rounds and then carefully score with 3 quick slashes using a sharp knife. Top with Dutch oven lids and bake for 20 minutes. If using a baking sheet, loaf pan, or casserole dish, shape dough, dusting with sifted flower on top, and make 3 quick slashes using a sharp knife. Bake at 450 F degrees for 30 minutes until internal temp is 200 F degrees. Remove from oven and allow to cool. To finish baking in Dutch ovens, lower the oven temperature to 450 F, remove the lids, and bake the loaves for another 10 minutes until internal temperature is 200 F degrees. In the end, you should have a beautiful golden loaf with a crunchy crust and a dense, yet somewhat airy, chewy texture with a perfect, and not overly pungent, sour flavor.  Let it cool, slice, and serve! Make your favorite sandwich or simply slather it with butter. And get started on another round of loaves, this one is sure to go fast.  

Some of us are finding ourselves with more free time these days. And with more time, many people are challenging themselves master skills once found intimidating with a newfound adventurous spirit. Enter: the sourdough starter. Michelle Fleming, Stanley Marketing Manager and resident culinary expert, tells her story of the tackling the fabled sourdough starter using the Stay Hot Camp Crock. 7 Days To SourdoughBy Michelle Fleming, Stanley Tzar Of Food I’ve been baking bread nearly my whole life. Focaccia, French baguettes, Classic White Bread, Filipino Pandesol, and they all have one thing in common: A packet of Active Dry Yeast. But sourdough bread is a whole other time consuming process. First, we have to create the Levain, or the Starter. This is the process where you are creating a living, breathing fungus called Wild Yeast. It grows by feeding on sugar in flour over time. If this process was going to work, I needed consistent temperature and a way to safely release the carbon dioxide gas that the process creates. I decided to use the Stanley Adventure 3 quart Crock. It’s an unsung hero and a workhorse in the Stanley family of vacuum insulated food jars. It keeps things hot or cold for 12 hours and for this purpose, will keep things room temp for up to 24. It has a tab at the top that you lift up to release the pressure from built up heat, or in this case, the carbon dioxide gas. DAY 1: It is important to note that starters are typically made in glass or plastic – not metal. It’s said that the acid reacts to metal and can make a funky taste. For my first starter, I wasn’t going to mess with that logic. Before making the starter, I pre-heated the crock with warm water, about 100 F degrees, and put the lid on a locked it down. Prepare The Starter: In a bowl, mix ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons of flour with warm water. Stir the water with the flour until it’s fully combined and makes a sticky paste. A digital thermometer is important to get the right water temperature. If it’s too hot, it will kill off the good bacteria. My water was always around 80 F degrees. Next, scoop the paste out of the bowl and place it in a large plastic zip top bag. Empty and dry your preheated crock and place the starter in its plastic bag into the crock. I made sure to keep the bag slightly open and folded over before I put the lid on and locked it down. I got the lid on, made sure that the tab was closed, left it on the kitchen counter, walked away and hoped for the best. DAY 2: I lifted the tab at the top to let out the gas before opening the crock up. This was going to be the first sign that something is working. Sure enough, it made a poof sound as I pulled the tab open. I carefully unlocked the lid and lifted it to the sweet smell of yeast working on the sugars of the flour. I looked into the plastic bag and it was no longer a paste, but creamy looking and bubbly. Remove the bag with the starter and fill the crock with 100 F degree water, seal the lid, and set aside. Now It’s Time To Feed The Yeast: Add ¾ cups + 2 tablespoons of flour and ½ cup of warm (80 F degrees) water. Stir the mixture inside the bag and set aside. Empty and dry the crock, and place the starter bag back inside, lock that lid down for the rest of the day. This step will be repeated daily until the starter is ready to use. DAY 3: When I lifted the tab it made a louder poof and a bit of squeal – a happy one! I looked in the bag and it was bubbling up! I was very excited, the process was working and my house was so cold that day. I was pleased with my decision to use the crock to maintain a consistent temperature. Again, Feed The Yeast: Remove the bag, fill the crock with hot water. Add another ¾ cups + 2 tablespoons of flour and ½ cup of warm water to the starter dough. Mix it until combined. Empty and dry the crock, place the bag inside, and seal it up. DAY 4: Another day, another feeding. There was a little less off-gas today, but when I opened up the lid I could start to smell the sour along with the sweet. It looked like it was going to plan. I checked for gray or pink streaks throughout, and there were not. Gray or pink streaks indicate that the starter has bad bacteria in there and you have to start the process all over. Since mine was still in good shape, I went about my process. Feeding Time: Fill the crock with hot water. Add ¾ cups + 2 tablespoons of flour and ½ cup warm water to the bag, thoroughly mixing it to form a paste. Quick note, it wasn’t overly pasty because as the days had gone by the starter was more of a loose, slightly smooth, paste. By this time, it had grown quite a bit. Not to worry though – it’s supposed to be this way. DAY 5: This is where I start to take my learning and go my own way. Most references said that the starter should be ready on Day 5. I had opened it up and it seemed like it stabilized, but it wasn’t sour like I was hoping for. It was still bubbling and there were no gray or pink streaks so I repeated the feeding routine to give it one more day for good measure. I decided that it’s OK if it wasn’t ready. And for all I know, it might have been ready – but I wanted it to smell SOUR so it would really come through in the flavoring of the bread. DAY 6: It was disappointing to open it up and not seeing it bubbling up enough, but the smell was coming around. It was still sweet but really starting to pick up that sour smell, like a nice sweet, fermenting wine! Time To Test If It’s Ready: Fill a small glass bowl with cool water and add 2 tablespoons of the starter mix to the water. If it floats it’s ready, if it doesn’t, it’s not. The 2 tablespoons sank to the bottom. Boo! Not to worry. I took another ½ cup of the starter and threw it out. I could see that it was bubbling, so I knew it was still alive. I fed it again, but I decreased it to ½ cup + 2 tablespoons of flour and a 1/3 cup of water. Stirred it up in the bag and sealed it back up in the crock. DAY 7: Much improvement. I’ve read that you’re supposed to take ½ of the starter out and discard it, maybe I needed to do that on Day 5. Day 7 was much better. I pulled the tab up and it let off a happy poof and I could smell the wild yeast immediately. I opened up the lid and it was nice big bubbles, like little mounds rising on the surface. It had to be ready! I took 2 tablespoons out and added it to my bowl of cool water and sure enough, it floats! I scraped out half of the starter and put in a glass bowl and the other half I put in glass Mason jar and placed it in the refrigerator to give to my friend at a later date. Now to bake some bread!

This recipe and story was written by Patrick Campbell, Credit Manager at PMI-Stanley. Every St. Patrick’s Day, Patrick makes his family’s Irish Soda Bread and delivers to his coworkers dressed as a leprechaun (pictured at the end of this post.) My good fortune in life began on Long Island having been born to an Irish immigrant mother. Every St. Paddy’s we’d wear “the green”, listen to Irish tunes, eat corned beef & cabbage, and my mom would make her Irish Soda Bread. She’d bake loaf after loaf for the family, neighbors, work, and each child’s classroom at school. It was a family favorite and for years we thought it was a special treat that she brought with her from the home country.  Turns out she found the recipe in the New York Daily News years ago and tweaked it to suit our tastes – adding more sugar, more butter, more eggs, more raisins and dropping the caraway seeds. In my mind this only makes the tradition better and I’ve gone on to do the same for my family, my children’s classrooms and of course the entire PMI Stanley family. One further embellishment that I’ve added is that I deliver the bread dressed in full leprechaun costume for the day. Yes, this version is a far cry from the simple Irish Soda bread traditionally found in Ireland, but for me the transformation is also an edible history lesson of the immigrant story, how people of humble means were able to make their way to America and find prosperity. Irish Soda Bread Ingredients: 4 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup sugar 2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 2 cups raisins (plumped in warm water – possibly a dash of whiskey for good measure) 1 stick butter (4oz.), softened and cut into pieces 1.5 cups buttermilk 2 eggs Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in large bowl and cut in butter. Add plump raisins. Beat buttermilk and 2 eggs together. Combine all dry ingredients until dough is formed. Pour into 2 nonstick pans. Cut a cross into them to release the devil and put them in the oven. Bake approximately 50 minutes. Remove from oven only when knife comes out clean. Enjoy with your favorite Irish beer in our Adventure Stacking Beer Pint.

You don’t have to be in New Orleans to celebrate like you’re on Bourbon Street. Tropical fruit juices and smooth dark rum make this cocktail dangerously delicious and may have your pals calling you Doc before the night is over. You know Stanley likes to go big, so this tasty libation is adapted to fit the 64oz Classic Easy-Pour Growler. That’s a lot of happy friends. THE PAINKILLER, BATCH DRINK EDITION Ingredients: 20oz orange juice 10oz pineapple juice 10oz Coco Lopez (or coconut cream) 20oz Dark Rum Instructions:          Put it all in your growler and gently shake. Commence with drinking the pain away.