Sizzling Santa!

We hear Santa's enjoying his time off on a sandy beach!  

Happy Christmas in July!   

 

Cheers Santa!

Time to start planning!

Let's Sparkle this New Year!

The holiday's are about family, friends, great food and of course tradition!
For us, New Year's would not be complete without fondu and watching the Times Square ball drop!

This year, we are ready to watch the ball drop with these Times Square ball stirrers!

All it took was small styrofoam balls, glue, big glitter, "Happy New Year" confetti, skewers...and drinks!

Many drinks! 

The best part about making these was when our 4 year old nephew told Uncle Andrew, that he had sparkles on his balls!

5, 4, 3...open sesame.
Happy New Year!!!! 

Raspberry Mojitos!

It is starting to get HOT! Calor! Calor! Calor!!
Cool down with a nice cold glass of booze!
Mint leaves, fresh raspberries, sugar, white rum, setlzer and lime!  
Who'd say no to that?

  
We rimmed our glasses with some raw sugar.  
A classic Cuban mojito is made with sugar cane so the raw sugar gives that traditional feel. 

Muddle 2 teaspoons of sugar, mint leaves, raspberries and a squeeze of lime. 
This will bring out all the flavors.  
You're not making baby food, don't muddle too much.

Add rum, ice, seltzer, more lime and stir! 

Then add flourishes...a couple more raspberries, more mint, a shell stirrer? :) 

Since when are Latin people scared of heat?!?!

Let's get soakin' wet!

It's pride in NYC!
We're flourishing with rainbow gummy bears.
Cocktails and candy!

"Yesterday's struggle is today's heritage."
Just be you!

Killer Cacti Cocktail Stirrers!

Ole` May! 

Celebrate with a cheeky cactus in your cocktail!

We used: Tissue paper, card stock, shish Kebab skewers, mini wooden pots (from Michaels), scisors, glue stick, and a glue gun. 

Fold the white cardstock paper in half and cut out a pair of each cactus.  Each cactus is double sided. 

Cut small fringe strips out of tissue paper.

Starting from the bottom, layer the strips on your cactus cutout.

Trim the edges! 

Make a paper flower if you want! 

Thread the skewer through the bottom of the hole of the pot and hot glue it! 

Glue your cactus together on the skewer. Trim skewer if you need to. Skewer. 

Better watch out for those man-eating jackrabbits and that killer cacti!...Hey Duuuude!

Floating Lucky?

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone!  Lets have a drink and celebrate! 

The perfect St. Patty's Day dessert...or breakfast. 

Coffee ice cream. Guinness. Enjoy! 

Drunk as an Irish Skunk. 

Long Distance Iced Tea!

As most of you know, Dennis is away till June.  We are both pretty used to the on and off distance, but it still sucks. 

This is a spin on a traditional Long Island Iced Tea, it's damn tasty and strong enough to survive a Valentine's day alone! 

  

This drink is tart, sweet and strong!!

1/2 ounce gin
1/2 ounce vodka 
1/2 ounce rum

1 ounce cherry juice
1 once pomegranate juice
1 ounce pineapple juice
1 ounce club soda/any clear soda would work 
Big squeeze of lemon
Lemon peel  

Pour everything into an ice filled shaker and shake that lonely aggression out!  Strain into a glass filled with ice and garnish with a lemon peel.

 Cheers, lovers! 

Minty fresh!

January is stressful...there's resolution pressure, everyones sick, actual winter weather begins...no holidays to look forward to.  

Take a moment to relax with some fresh mint tea. 

It could not be easier.  Place a couple of sprigs of mint inside your cup, then pour in boiled water and steep!  Sugar/honey optional.

Mint helps with stress relief, nausea, stomach pain, cough suppression, cold/flu prevention...

Relax, take it eeeeeasy!

Cheers to a new year!

Where did this year go?!

This past year we wanted to save more and pay off some debt...that didn't happen...so we're starting this year with thrifty crafts for our cocktails!

Shish kebab skewers flourished with tinfoil, pipe cleaners and left over Christmas tinsel! 

Just a simple something to get the party...stirring!

Wrap on your toppers, hot glue and celebrate!

Cheers to a New Year and another chance for us to get it right!

Suga Brim!

Cinnamon brown sugar rim = fall in your mouth.

In a bowl mix together one part cinnamon and two parts light brown sugar.

Get all the lumps out by using the back of a fork!

Mix well and make it a fine as you can.

Wet the rim of your glass with a sliced orange.

If you don't have an orange, water works basically just as well!

Dip your glass into the cinnamon brown sugar.

We love it with a seasonal beer or apple cider with vodka!

Lip smacking good!

Even quicker pumpkin latte.

We love our homemade pumpkin latte but this an easy version that's just as good!!! 
Make this 3 ingredient base in advance then add to your favorite coffee/latte. 

It can all be done to taste, but we like:

In a mason jar add-
1 can condensed milk.
1/3 of a can pumpkin puree.
Pumpkin pie spice 
Shake it all up or stir well! 
Spoon it in!

This mix should last about a week...if you don't eat it all first. 

The best part of waking up, is pumpkin in your cup! 

Traditional Foolproof Sangria!

A little bit of this, a little bit of that...it's best to make sangria by taste.

We don't really measure out any of the ingredients.  

We eyeball everything and taste as we go...lots of tasting.

Use this recipe as a guide, but don't be afraid to stray from the path!

Ingredients
1 bottle of cheap chilled dry red wine
1/2 cup triple sec
1 cup orange juice
2 cups Sprite
cubed apples and oranges

Directions
In a large pitcher, combine wine, triple sec, orange juice and Sprite.
Refrigerate.  The longer it chills the better!
An hour or so before serving add the fruit.

We like to top off each glass with Sprite for a little fizz.

Salute! 

Our favorite Old Fashion night cap.

Dennis introduced me to Old Fashions while we were in Madison Wisconsin with Fiddler on the Roof.  Old Fashions are one of the oldest cocktails in existence!  
There are tons of "correct" ways to make it, but from scouting the internet...this recipe seems to be the closet to the one we had in Madison.

2oz Burbon whiskey
3 dashes of Angostura bitters 
1 tsp sugar
Splash of soda water
1 maraschino 
1 orange slice
Ice cubes

Place sugar inside the glass, wet down with 3 dashes of bitters, add splash of soda water and swirl around or mix till sugar is desolved.  
Add the fruit and muddle with the back of a spoon.

Add whiskey and ice, stir up and enjoy!

Now all we need are some cheese curds!