This week’s signature cocktail is a Grapefruit Lolita.
Cuervo Silver Tequila
Cilantro Simple Syrup
Grapefruit Juice
Club Soda
Sea Salt Rim
Thanks to Iron Hill Brewery in Chestnut Hill for whipping this up for me!
Tag Archives: Cocktails
My Friday Favorites 03.25.16
On TV – This week on MTV’s Awkward we found out what really happened to Matty and Jenna during their first semester off in college. Their destiny is not so unrealistic (high school couple decide to stay together but grow apart) but of course it is not this simple – add in 100% of Jenna / Matty drama and you get the real story…which she only reveals to her ex-boyfriend / current hook-up Luke!. Not sure how I feel about enemies Tamara and Sadie becoming besties in New York, but Jake and Lissa staying in their hometown and reuniting is a funny, if not awkward development.
(Full disclosure – was this my favorite? Or only thing I watched? On my DVR I have 4 to 5 episodes of EACH of these shows to watch: Chicago Fire, PD and Med, Law and Order, SVU, How to Get Away With Murder, Scandal, Quantico and Suits!)
On the Page – March’s issue of Better Homes and Gardens is packed from cover to cover. Things that got a post-it note from me: striped manicures, ombre shower curtains, cocktails to party like it’s 1965, clutter patrol, and What Are You Afraid Of? (an article on how to conquer the most common fears.)
On the Web – I don’t know how you feel about it, but I cannot stand when this image pops up on my phone. And it ALWAYS appears right when I want to take a great pic (but apparently never when my students get a hold of my phone and take 50 selfies of themselves.) Good Housekeeping tells us 12 iPhone Storage Tricks That Everyone Should Know.
On Instagram – One account I seem to always hit the like-heart on every picture is @jensfreshvintage This week I heart, heart, heart the aqua wellies she is dreaming about. I went back and forth with what color wellies I wanted this season and ultimately went with a hot pink – but these aqua ones are delicious, too!!
In the Kitchen – Now that the calendar says it’s spring and Easter is this weekend – it seems only fitting to start baking some delicious cakes! Check out 25 Layered Cakes That Are On A Whole Different Level from Buzz Feed’s Community page.
On the Scoreboard – We are in the thick of March Madness which is one of my favorite sporting events to watch. I’m cheering for my alma mater, Villanova University, who has made it to the Elite Eight. As any true Villanova fan will tell you, we have had our share of heartache watching our team over the years. Could this be the first year since I was in seventh grade that ‘Nova actually wins the championship?!?!?! Good luck Villanova Wildcats who take on Kansas tomorrow night. V for Villanova, V for Victory.
Happy Friday! What are you loving this week? Leave me a comment and let me know. Have a great weekend!
Summer Cocktails – Sangria
It’s Thirsty Thursday, so here is a great summer cocktail recipe.
Red Wine Sangria
1 kiwi, 1 orange, 1 mango, 10 strawberries, 20 blueberries
ANY fruit can be used in this drink. To save time, look at the precut and packaged mixed fruit containers in the produce section of the supermarket. Pick the fruit that looks the freshest – and throw it in the pitcher!
1 Dole can pineapple chunks in pineapple juice
1 Dole can tropical fruit in light syrup and passion fruit juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup Cointreau (or any orange liqueur will do)
1/3 cup coconut flavored rum
2 cups orange juice
1 bottle of red wine – I like a shiraz, but any will do! (don’t use the good stuff, cheap is fine!)
1 can frozen pink lemonade concentrate
lemon-lime seltzer water
Slice the orange, kiwi, and strawberries, put in a pitcher. Add the blueberries, can of pineapple chunks with the juice, tropical fruit with juice and sugar. Pour in the orange liqueur, rum, and orange juice. Stir. Let sugar dissolve. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.
Add the red wine and pink lemonade concentrate.
Serve over ice, spoon fruit into each glass and add the chilled lemon-lime seltzer to the top.
The Best Irish Coffee Recipes
St. Patrick’s Day is one of my favorite holidays, partly because I enjoy a good cup of Irish Coffee! Here are a list of my favorite Irish Coffee Recipes.
picture from Liquor.com
picture from She Knows
picture from Pop Sugar
picture from HGTV
I had to include this, even though it is not coffee, but look at these Irish Coffee Cupcakes!
picture from The Cake Blog
Click here for my Irish Coffee Recipe
From our family to yours, wishing you a pot of gold at the end of your rainbow this St. Patrick’s Day!
My Friday Favorites 01.31.14
Better late than never, right? I know it’s Sunday, but here are my favorites from last week anyway!
On TV –
- I needed to be two days late – just to help me catch up on my DVR. I am still not up-to-date on all my shows, but I did watch the season finale of Carrie Diaries and caught up on two weeks worth of Nashville. But my pick this week is…. Parenthood. Julia going home to her parents at the end = tearjerker. Zeke and Camille are not selling that house!
On Demand –
- My husband and I started watching Chicago Fire and now we are hooked. Once we saw Chicago PD was starting and that was a spin-off of both Fire and one of our favs, Law & Order SVU, we knew we had to get on the bandwagon. Dick Wolf – you got us again!
On the Computer –
- A Beautiful Mess a blog by Elsie and Emma – Whiskey Sours Forever – my go to drink on St. Patty’s Day – here is a homemade sour mix recipe. Doesn’t this look delicious?
On the Page –
- This Old House Magazine– March 2014 – 7 Creative Lost-Cost Upgrades. The article isn’t online, but here is a link to a similar one: Trade Secrets for Easy, Low-Cost Upgrades.
On the Sales Rack –
- Vera Bradley sale – aprons, desk organizers, napkins, paper plates, notecards – and more!
In the kitchen –
- Cinnamon Coffee from Better Homes and Gardens – I haver been ordering Dunkin Donuts Brown Sugar Cinnamon lattes lately so when I stumbled upon this recipe I decided to try it at home. I swapped sugar for brown sugar and used regular milk.
On my Pinterest Boards –
- I love this print originally from Flowers in May. I am going to order this to hang in Olivia’s play kitchen once the basement remodeling project is done.
Do you have any favorite things from this past week? Leave me a comment and tell me what things have caught your eye. Decorating? Reading? A good sale? Let me know what you are loving right now. As always, thanks for reading.
Summertime Binder for Barbeque Recipes
This whole idea started when I was flipping through All You magazine and saw this article entitled How to be a Great Griller. I decided to pull it out for my sister who we visit for 4th of July. She has always been the griller in our family. As each summer issue hit my mailbox, there were more and more recipes for the grill. I decided to put together a whole binder for my sister (even though she usually makes fun of my crafty ways. Obviously this is not the sister who makes the handmade bags.) I collected up any article I found on backyard barbeques, summertime cocktails, and inventive ways to make burger and dogs. Here are some pages:
as you can see – I also got a pedicure for this trip!
For the cover of the binder, I affixed backyard BBQ type stickers to a piece of yellow gingham craft paper and used glue dots to keep it in place under the plastic cover.
All of the articles are from Real Simple, Martha Stewart Living, All You, Better Homes and Gardens, and Cooking Light.
Do you have any favorite barbeque recipes? Leave me a comment and let me know. Thanks to my sister and her family for another great 4th of July weekend!
Red Wine Sangria
Usually I like certain drinks during a particular season. Check out my favorite winter and summer cocktails on my At Play tab on my homepage. I always liked sangria in the summer while sitting poolside. But my recipe can be used for all seasons!
Here it is…
RED WINE SANGRIA
Ingredients
- 2 lemons
- 2 limes
- 1 kiwi
- 1 orange
- 10 strawberries
- 1 (20 ounce) can pineapple chunks in pineapple juice (not syrup)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup Cointreau (or any orange liqueur will do)
- 1/3 cup Mailbu rum
- 2 cups orange juice
- 1 bottle of red wine – I like a shiraz, but any will do! (don’t use the good stuff, cheap is fine!)
- 1 can frozen pink lemonade concentrate
- lemon-lime soda
Directions
- Peel and slice the orange, lemons, limes, kiwi, and strawberries, put in pitcher. Add the can of pineapple chunks with the juice, and sugar. Pour in the Cointreau, rum, and orange juice. Stir. Let sugar dissolve. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.
- Add the red wine and pink lemonade concentrate. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
- Serve over ice, adding the chilled lemon-lime soda to the top of each glass. Spoon fruit into each glass. Garnish with any fruit – orange, lemon, lime or cherry.
Do you have a favorite sangria recipe? Share it with me in the comments below!
My Friday Favorites 07/13/12
I have been away for a few weeks and have not done My Friday Favorites in awhile. I have a lot to share this time around since the weeks have piled up – so here we go – here are my favs from the past few weeks.
On TV – I’m watching lots of good stuff, which is ironic since it’s summer. Most people say that all the shows end in spring and there is nothing on TV in the summer. I’m finding it the opposite. Suits has successfully turned the pressure off Mike Ross and his lack of diplomas hanging in his cubicle, to Jessica and Harvey’s future at the firm with the introduction of the previously elusive Daniel Hardman, co-founder and former Managing Partner at Pearson Hardman. Oh woe is Emily. The Bachelorette is down to the final 2 – Jef with one f and Arie (please see My Friday Favorites 05/18/12 when I said after the very first episode that she would pick the race car driver. Arie = race car driver.) Now I’m not so sure – I think the TV edit is trying to lead you to believe she will choose Arie, when in fact she does pick Jef. Dallas continues its spiral of Ewing family members crossing,double crossing, and triple crossing each other all in the name of oil and their Daddys. I digress! My pick for favorite is:
- awkward. – I am Jenna Hamilton is back. Blogging about her confusing relationships with Jake, Matty, and her Mom. Best supporting cast members: Tamara and Ming. If you have to walk down a high school hallway when everyone’s staring – these are the two to have on either side of you!
On the computer –
- Or Until Golden Brown – Blueberry Lime Quick Pie – this looks easy and delicious (and you know that is my favorite cooking combination!)
On the page / In the Kitchen – I decided to combine these two this week to let you know the recipes I found in magazines that I actually tried over my time off:
- ALL YOU – Roasted Strawberries with Ice Cream – I made this with strawberry ice cream because my niece prefers strawberry over vanilla! I also added blueberries. It was yummy!
- Martha Stewart LIVING – Grilled Peach Old Fashioned – I made this for my hubby on our vacation – a nice Don Draper drink to sip by the pool. I enjoyed the Basil Gimlet Fizz.
On the sales rack –
- The Container Store – Happy Organized Home Sale! What could make me happier than a sale of organizational items??
What were your favorite things this week? Leave me a comment and tell me your favorites.
Enjoy the weekend!
