Blood Orange Cinnamon Lassi

Medically reviewed by Christiana George Updated Date: June 8, 2023

My college town was THE college town. I mean it. A lot of people owe Berkeley, California, for flinging them into a culturalpoliticalacademicculinary hodgepodge of straight-up bewilderingspectacularkaleidoscopic sights and sounds. It was and still is THE proverbial melting pot, a beacon calling in people of all patterns: stripes, spots, solids, Pollock-esque splatters. It was uniquely welcoming. Once you’d been asked for spare change by a homeless person, you were IN.

See, California’s incredibly diverse, yeah? But it’s also enormous, the size of a small country or thereabouts, and the thing about ethnic groups is that they like to stick together. A lot. Case in point: my high school was approximately 70% Asian. Like dark chocolate, except far less exceptional. (Well, technically, we were exceptional, but in that highest-SAT-scores-in-the-nation-blah-blah-bland-yawn kind of way.)

The reason I’m mentioning this is because it relates to my first experience eating Indian food, which coincided with the first month of being off to college. My friend picked out the restaurant, a mere five minute walk away from the dorms, on Telegraph Avenue.

For the uninitiated, Telegraph Avenue, even only a decade back (I swear I’m not as old as I sound!), was a veritable bazaar of hole-in-the-wall. It had this timeless quality to it: an ancient Rexall’s featured prominently across the street from campus, tourist shops still capitalizing off of Berkeley’s 60′s heyday (free speech anyone?), smoke dens, forgettable sports bars, and establishments like Blondie’s (pizza), Amoeba (records), and Moe’s (books!). Everything was a little scrummy, a little unsavory; you’d catch the occasional whiff of psychedelic substances all along its way. It was what I loved so much about Berkeley actually, the unpolished, the imperfect.

And the Indian restaurant was no exception. Not fine dining by any stretch of the word, the memory of that meal is still tinged with the rose-tinted gloss of Life-Changing Dining Experience. Why so important? From my vantage point now, the food would probably have been deemed mediocre at best.

Because there I was, still green around the collar, fresh out of the nest—a nest, mind you, where I’d dutifully eaten Chinese food nearly every single day of my life (rounded out with mostly fast food)—trying to make sense of a menu full of aloo this’s and vindaloo that’s. It was exhilarating.

Since then, I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing many echelons of south Asian food. But it all started with that meal. In the heart of Berkeley.

I actually didn’t try mango lassi until a few meals later, but it was a bit of an “oh my god, what the F is this?!” experience in its own right. Not life-altering, but a smaller explosion. I don’t order it very often, but it’s a treat I try not to deprive myself of too often.

This blood orange cinnamon lassi is probably the best alternative I’ve ever tried to its more popular counterpart (although this sounds, well, absolutely stunning actually). It’s sexier, if you can imagine a sexy yogurt beverage. It’s understated. Mere suggestion, fathomless depths. I like it a lot, and I think the cinnamon and orange play very nicely off each other, a seamless union. But, just like Berkeley, you’ll have to try it for yourself to see what I mean.

BLOOD ORANGE CINNAMON LASSI

Makes 1 serving

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

1 blood orange
1 cup plain yogurt
1 Tbsp honey
pinch cinnamon

Directions:

Peel blood oranges and separate segments from membranes, dropping segments in a blender (or cup, if using immersion blender). Blend with the rest of the ingredients and pour contents in a cup. Feel free to garnish with more cinnamon if desired. I am doing a public service by not enabling any breaking of weight loss resolutions (don’t want that on my shoulders!), so ENJOY!

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Maple Bacon Rice Krispie Treats

Recipes

Christiana George

Updated Date:
January 6, 2026

So I missed the bandwagon when maple bacon treats came around. ThenI must have dozed off when chocolate bacon treats were making the rounds. So I thought I’d make up for it by throwing it all together. This is by far my craziest Rice Krispie treat yet. It has cinnamon, maple syrup, bacon, chocolate and sea salt. If you think all these don’t belong together, then you will just have to make some for yourself to see that oh yeah baby, it does and you can’t each just one.

Yes that is a jug of wine in the picture. No it is not filled with wine, it’s my dad’s maple syrup. It’s just a convenient container. If you can’t find the Cinnamon Bun marshmallows, you can use 5 cups of regular mini marshmallows. Do try to get a good bacon though. Skip the turkey bacon, go for the real stuff.

Cook your bacon till crispy, not burnt. Otherwise you will have to pick out the burnt parts like I had to on a few pieces. Perhaps it would have been helpful if the kids had found a better place to play than in the kitchen between my legs. We have so many rooms, but they always choose the one I am in. “Sigh”

I used both pure maple syrup and maple essence. I wanted to make sure there was a good maple presence without adding too much liquid and making the bars to soft to hold together.

At this point it smelled like I was making french toast sprinkled with cinnamon along with a slice of bacon and drizzled it all with maple syrup. It smelled like Sunday morning breakfast.

Just look at all those little bits of bacon. You can go ahead and cut yourself a slice of this now or be wild and crazy like me and slather it with some chocolate.

I was trying to decide between dark chocolate and semi sweet, but the dark side always prevails.

This is my very fancy double boiler. Don’t mind the scratches on my Pyrex bowl. It’s had a lot of use over the past 13 years.

My husband did give me some weird looks when I was pouring chocolate over my treats. He still didn’t understand the bacon part. I told him, don’t worry, it will all work out.

He did believe me when he finally got to try a piece. The bacon does not overwhelm, it just blends in with the cinnamon and maple flavors to give a nice salty sweet combo. The chocolate and sea salt on top also add to the overall salty sweet taste. This is one treat to keep on the books. People may look at you funny when you tell them what is in it, but they will come back for more after they have tried it.

Maple Bacon Rice Krispie Treats

by The Sweet Chick

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Keywords: no bake stove top dessert snack maple syrup bacon cinnamon chocolate bars rice krispie treats American

Ingredients (24 bars)

For the Rice Krispies

3 tablespoons butter
5 cups Jet Puffed Cinnamon Bun marshmallows
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon maple essence
1/2 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled into small pieces
6 cups Rice Krispie cereal

For the topping

1 bag (12 oz.) Hershey’s Special Dark chocolate chips

Optional topping

1 teaspoon sea salt

Instructions

For the Rice Krispies

In a large sauce pan, melt butter and marshmallows over low heat. Stir until completely melted.

Remove from heat and add cinnamon, maple syrup, maple essence, and bacon pieces. Stir until completely mixed.

Then add the Rice Krispie cereal. Mix until all is well incorporated.

Then pour the mixture into a greased 9 x 13 pan or a cookie sheet and spread it evenly with a piece of waxed paper.

Place in fridge to cool and set.

For the chocolate topping

Place chocolate chips in a double boiler (or a glass bowl that fits snugly over your pot) filled with water.

Bring water to a simmer on medium heat. Once chocolate starts melting, stir constantly with a rubber spatula until all chocolate is melted and had a smooth consistency.

Remove from heat and pour the chocolate over the cooled Rice Krispies and spread evenly with the spatula.

Allow the chocolate to cool a bit, then sprinkle lightly with sea salt if desired.

Place treats back in fridge to set completely.

Once the chocolate has solidified, cut into squares and enjoy!