March Musings: 2016

Holy April Batman!

Wow. My break went super-duper fast. Gone in the blink of an eye. I needed it badly. Truth be told, my expectations surrounding my back injury have really sent me straight through the ringer, and right back again. Back in January, I thought I'd be running by April. The timeline has not gone that smoothly in reality, and I'm in a bit of a holding pattern. I have no news to share on that front, and that's the problem. Right now, it feels like there is no light at the end of the tunnel, and that's been a hard thing to accept.

Lucky Mules

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

Break out the green drinks, food, clothes, etc. and let's celebrate! I've always enjoyed St. Paddy's day. Granted, St. Paddy's day in college and the short time after graduating basically means you drink until you drop. This is not so much the point of the holiday as you get older, but it still holds a special place in my heart.  I may only have one green cocktail and one Thin Mint cupcake, but I'll be toasting my 21-year-old self who loved to come no earlier than dawn with green glitter in my hair and shamrocks painted on my face. Days long gone, but not forgotten. 

25 Fruity Recipes

Hello from snowy Kentucky!

Actually, not so snowy now. Yesterday it got up to 50º and much of the snow has melted, much to my relief and those Chihuahuas. I opened the living room windows this morning and was shocked to see that at least 3 inches of snow melted overnight. This has to make my birds happy. The homestead has been overrun the last couple of days, complete with birds that never come to the feeders or yard. I had a large flock of starlings pass through yesterday, and a few days ago a foursome of Eastern Meadowlarks foraged the yard. Us birders get the biggest kick out of seeing new birds in our yards. 

Pomegranate Lime Cosmos

I'm so excited to be posting today. And not just because I'm posting a cocktail, ha ha. Today's post is brought to you by my Christmas present! 

No, I didn't get a bottle of vodka or a pomegranate for Christmas. I besieged my family for Amazon gift cards for Christmas, all so I could pool them together and buy myself something I would use for years to come. Any guesses?

Hard Root Beer Floats

You got me.

You figured out the real reason I wanted to post my 5-Ingredient Vanilla Ice Cream on Tuesday. I wanted to post it so I could gift you all with this recipe for root beer floats. Mwhahahaha.

Ah, root beer. I can honestly say that I had not had a root beer in many, many moons. I can't remember the last time I had root beer. I usually choose cream soda, but I digress. The hubby and I were at his cousin's baby reveal party back in September. The party was winding down, and there were just a handful of us relatives sitting around the pool at the cousin's mother-in-law's house. I don't know how the subject came up, but we started talking about root beer. To be more specific, we started talking about hard root beer. I'd never even heard of hard root beer, let alone tried one. I do remember thinking it was an excellent idea though... As luck would have it, the cousin's brother-in-law had brought a 6-pack of hard root beer that he was willing to share. Needless to say, I tried the frothy beverage.

Blackberry Mojitos

Cocktail time!

This might seem like a summery drink to you. I say, what better time to remind myself of summer than when the remnants of Hurricane Patricia are passing over our parts? Our weather has rapidly changed from a mild, sunny Indian summer to a soggy, gray, dreary mess. Our leaves had turned the most beautiful colors, and now the wind has selfishly knocked most of them to the ground. Luckily, the hubby and I went out the day before the weather hit and took tons of fall pictures around the area. I took a lot of photos, so I'm hoping to edit them and post about fall leaves this weekend. Maybe I'll edit them tonight with a Blackberry Mojito in my hand? Hehe :-)

25 Things You May Not Know About Me: October 2015

Happy Wednesday friends!

I was all set to post a roundup of 25 chocolate recipes. Yummy, right? Then, I had a change of heart. We can get to those chocolate recipes at anytime. I decided to do something fun instead. Everyone likes to get to know the blogger behind the blog. I actually haven't done a post like this since June 28, 2013. I really tried to dig deep this time. So, enjoy! I'll be back with a new recipe on Friday :-)

Citrusy Cantaloupe Cocktails

True fact: It's Friday.

True fact: It may or may not be 5 o'clock somewhere.

Actually, it probably is 5 o'clock somewhere. I'm not sure where, but it probably is. And if you are there, I recommend whipping up a batch of these frosty bad boys. Stat. Tart lemon and sweetly delicious cantaloupe juice mixed with vodka. They are so good. 

Watermelon Moscato Slushies

Happy Monday!

I don't make a lot of adult beverages for the blog, and right now I'm wondering why. They are, quite honestly, one of my favorite things to make for chatting about. Why, you might ask? Because I get to drink my subjects when I'm done shooting photos of them!

Homemade Raspberry Lemonade

I love lemonade. Really, and truly. It's a strong love affair. Pink lemonade and vodka were my drink of choice all through college (minus that hazy first year of crazy Zima love). Before I turned 21, Red Robin's Speckled Lemonade was my favorite thing on Earth. And when I discovered Raspberry Lemonade? Fughetaboutit. I was toast.

"Mangling" Margaritas

Maybe I should have saved this post for a Friday? Perhaps :)

This post is brought to you by happy accident. Happy accidents are actually a part of my process. When you are still learning all there is to know about food, mistakes happen. A lot. Sometimes the mistakes are really, really bad- like my incursion into French Onion Soup. The soup wasn't even edible. It literally tasted like feet. But sometimes, sometimes the mistakes are good. Like when I accidentally grabbed mango margarita mix at the grocery store this weekend instead of my go-to original mix. 

You see, we had our fantasy football draft over the weekend. The hubby and I had invited our couple friends over who participate in the league with us. By sheer luck (for Jessica, mwhahaha!), our agreed upon menu had a decidedly Mexican flair. Taco dip with salsa, jalapeño poppers, and sliders. I thought margaritas would go gang-busters with the food. And margaritas are something I have down to a science. In fact, when the hubby and I first started dating (maybe even just before we started dating) he learned just how good at making margaritas I am. Before there was ever an "us", he was rooming with one of my college friends. I just happened to be at my friends house that weekend for "Girl's Night". Aka batches of margaritas and horror movies all night. The hubby was supposed to be out with his friends, when he came home in the middle of our inebriated terror-fest. Always one to be polite, I offered him a margarita. To my shock and horror, he downed it in a couple of gulps. Uh, my marg's are pretty strong. Really strong. You don't mess with a sorority girl and her tequila. Well, that margarita went down the hatch. And then another. And then another. Not long after that, they really caught up with him. He spent the entire night sleeping with his head on the toilet. Lesson learned.

Returning from my tangent, I could make a margarita in my sleep. Lots of tequila, a shot of Cointreau, one lager-style beer, and just enough margarita mix to give some color. And, oh yes, lots of ice and salt. I'm an on-the-rocks girl. So here I am, mixing drinks for our guests, when I do the first taste test. That first spoonful I put in my mouth shocked the hell out of me. Instead of tasting like something I've been making for many years, I was gifted with a sweet, fruity flavor. Once I got over my consternation with the exotic flavor, I realized I liked it. I liked it a lot. A quick read of the bottle I bought solved the conundrum. I bought mango mix. 

If you're like me, you're probably thinking that mango mix and lager beer have no business going together. You would be wrong. If you've never added beer to your margarita, I recommend trying it immediately. Adding a beer really mellows out the overly sweet quality of a margarita mix. Once the sweet is turned down, you can taste the tequila. You can taste the hint of orange from the Cointreau. And more importantly, you can drink more than one without getting a sour stomach. And surprisingly (or maybe not surprisingly) the beer helped tone down the sugary sweetness of the mango mix. The margarita ended up being sweet, but not sickeningly so. It's precisely that saccharine quality that usually turns me off from mango cocktails. Problem solved! I used Yuengling lager for this batch, but my go-to's for margaritas are anything light. Coors Light, Bud Light, Miller Light, PBR, etc. Obviously a stronger beer will add more flavor to your cocktail, and that's not always what I'm after. 

And speaking of football, the season kicks off tonight! The hubby and I are ready, I'm making pizza and- dare I say? Margaritas! :)

Happy Thursday friends!

Ingredients (makes a 60-oz pitcher):

3 cups ice

2 1/2 cups tequila

4 oz Cointreau

1 1/2 cups mango margarita mix

1 (12 oz) Yuengling lager

lime wedges and coarse salt (garnish)

Directions:

1. Fill a large pitcher with ice. Add tequila, Cointreau, mango mix, and Yuengling. Stir to mix. Taste test, and adjust to taste.

2. Run lime wedge around rim of glass. Dip glass in coarse salt. Fill glass with ice, and pour margarita over ice. Garnish with lime, and serve immediately. 

Printable Recipe

Love this recipe? Try these!

Fresh Mint Lemonade

Raspberry Peach Lime-Lemonade

Strawberry Lime Basil Sparklers

Linked to: Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday, Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party, Treasure Box Tuesdays

Strawberry Lime Basil Sparklers

The day I thought would never come has come. The day that I feature a non-alcoholic cocktail on my blog. Oh, how college-age Jessica would have rolled her eyes and let out a snort of derision. Then she would have smacked me upside the head and said, "Where the vodka?".

There's no vodka in these.

I will concede that vodka would be a nice addition to these mocktails, I just wasn't in the mood. I made these last week one day after the hubby had gone to work, and I was settling in for an evening of reading my book (I'm currently in the middle of "The Secret of Nightingale Palace"). I love to sit down with my book and a big glass of ice tea. Or a glass of wine. Or now, a glass of this!

It's not hard to make your own much healthier soda. It's not necessarily the carbonation that's bad for you in commercial soda. It's the chemicals. And the preservatives. I've read articles that say commercial soda is basically like drinking battery acid. I like my Diet Pepsi and Diet Coke probably more than the normal person, but I make a serious effort to limit my consumption. 

So there I was. Home alone. A couple handfuls of freshly harvested basil sat on the counter by my kitchen sink. One sad lime, leftover from Cinco de Mayo, laid on top of my fruit bowl. I had strawberries and soda water in the fridge, and suddenly, I had an idea. An idea to make my own beverage. I ended up taking a pestle and muddling the strawberry and basil in the bottom of my cup. Every time I brought my pestle down on the fruit and herbs, I released more juice to be combined with soda. If you wanted to make a big pitcher of this beverage, I would suggest muddling the strawberry and basil right in the pitcher. Since I was making an individual drink, I just muddled right in my glass. Add some soda water, a splash of lime juice, some ice, and you are set! 

I recommend letting these sparklers chill for 30 minutes before consumption. The flavors really meld together with a quick chill. You won't believe how much you can taste the basil in these. I've never had basil in a beverage before, so I was pleasantly surprised. Paired with lime and strawberries, the basil really shines. If your palette is bored and you're looking for something new, try this!

So. This post was brought to you today by my kitchen errors. The recipe I was wanting to post today was screwed up yesterday. The hubby has been having a lot of stomach and digestive-related issues lately, mainly related to acid reflux. I've been trying to make tummy-taming meals, and indeed, I had to alter my planned recipe of Eggplant Parmesan yesterday. I feared the marinara would have been too much for the hubby. I decided to batter my eggplant and bake it in the oven till it was browned and crispy. I was then going to make a lightened up Alfredo sauce with almond milk to pour over the eggplant. A little parsley and a side salad would make the perfect light dinner for the hubs. My eggplant came out beautifully, but my sauce? Not so much. I must have been off on my butter and flour ratios, because the sauce never thickened and even seemed to separate. Kitchen fail. The hubby and I both loved the flavors though, so I won't be giving up on this one. You'll be seeing it soon, especially with so much eggplant at the store right now. In the meantime, I was glad I had this recipe in my back pocket to post today!

Kitchen fails. They happen to the best of us :)

Happy Wednesday!

Ingredients (makes 1 beverage):

1/2 cup strawberries, diced

1 handful of basil leaves

1 1/2 cups soda water

1-2 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice

ice

garnish- lime wedges, strawberry halves, basil leaves (optional)

Directions:

1. In a glass, combine diced strawberries and basil leaves. Using a pestle, begin "smushing" strawberries and basil at the bottom of the cup. Continue until you have a pulp at the bottom of your cup. 

2. Add soda water and lime juice. Stir. Add more lime juice to taste. Add ice, stir. Garnish with lime wedges, strawberry halves, and basil leaves, if using. Serve immediately with straws. 

Printable Recipe

Helpful links:

Why You Should Stop Drinking Diet Soda

Soda and Illegal Drugs Cause Similar Damage to Teeth

Linked to: Weekend Potluck, Foodie Fridays, Feature Fridays