All posts filed under: cocktails

Mango Banana Daiquiris

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This Sunday, we are inviting our mothers to join us at our home for a barbecue; and when I say barbecue, I mean pulled pork that’s been slowly smoked for hours, barbecued chicken, baked beans, corn-on-the cob, and coleslaw! At first, I had planned on making more traditional (and more ladylike) brunch fare–perhaps a quiche, a cake, finger sandwiches…but then it hit me that my mother has been wanting me to make pulled pork for quite some time and I simply haven’t had the time to make it–it takes about 4 to 6 hours to smoke.  Now that our propane grill has been converted to natural gas, it’s easier and more convenient to smoke a large roast without worrying that I’ll run out of propane before the meat is done. So, now that there aren’t any excuses, I’ll be smoking that pork shoulder roast all day tomorrow!  At this moment, the pork shoulder roast is marinating in a spice rub.  I’ll be posting the recipes and the how-tos throughout the weekend! To get things off …

The Cesar Ritz Martini

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It’s Friday and it’s cocktail time!  I was thumbing through one of our cocktail books this afternoon,  “The Modern Mixologist”, by Tony Abou-Ganim.  Normally what happens when I’m looking for cocktail inspiration, I come upon a drink that looks absolutely mouthwatering, but then I find that it requires me to either buy an exotic ingredient, or what happens more often, requires an infusion that takes one to two weeks to prepare.  So, you can imagine my excitement when the book fell open to reveal a cocktail that was not only easy to prepare, but included everything that I already had in my pantry and refrigerator. I made a small substitution–the recipe called for English cucumber and I only had a good, old-fashioned regular cucumber, but I think the only difference it made was the final presentation.  In short, it was tasty and refreshing and perfect for a Friday evening after a long work week. The drink is called the Cesar Ritz Martini and the author created it as a signature drink when he was working …

Kiwi Strawberry Caipiroska

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If you thought I was going to go another week without posting a delightfully potent, yet pretty cocktail, then you would be wrong!  I’ve been foraging for new cocktail recipes to try and I stumbled upon a recipe for a caipiroska.  The drink is similar to the Brazilian caipirinha, but instead of using cachaca, it is prepared with vodka, which I had on hand.  There seem to be many different versions of the drink, but the common denominator seems to be lime, sugar and vodka.  During a particularly fruitful forage on Pinterest, I stumbled across this kiwi caipiroska recipe.  The picture was so very pretty and the drink looked so refreshing; perfect for a hot day like today (it was 95 degrees)!  So, off the the grocery store I went and since both kiwi fruit and strawberries were on sale, it seemed like a match made in cocktail heaven. By the way, I am drinking the caipiroska as I write, which is, once again, proving quite difficult!  I should call myself The Tipsy Blogger! For each …

Farro Tabbouleh Salad with a side of Margarita!

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Parsley and mint are growing exceptionally well in the garden right now and the parsley was starting to get overgrown; so, I wanted to make a dish that allowed me to use it before it flowered.  I find that once it gets to that stage, the flavor is very pungent and I like it a little on the milder side.  Tabbouleh is a classic Middle Eastern salad that is traditionally made with bulgur wheat, chopped parsley and mint, but I wanted to try it using farro, which I have dubbed my Favorite Whole Grain of 2013. The cooked texture of farro reminds me of barley–it’s a little chewy and nutty, and it’s great in salads or cooked into soups.  I’ve even seen it made into a risotto, or, “farrotto”, more accurately.  I usually cook it in chicken or vegetable stock, which gives it even more flavor.  This was a very simple, healthy salad and can be made vegan by simply using vegetable stock or water to cook the grains in.  Let me just say that …

Framboise 75

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This was a rough week for the garden, as we had a huge windstorm on Sunday that left almost everything bruised and battered.  This is one more challenge that we tend to have in Southern Nevada that I may have failed to tell you about.  The wind whipped through on Sunday night with gusts up to 50 mph that lasted through Monday.  By Tuesday, just about everything was bruised, bent or battered. I  sadly had to prune some tomato stalks that were full of flowers, but I’m trying not to let it get me down.  I think everything will recover nicely; it just looks a little sad right now.  So, with that, it’s finally Friday and time for a drink! This drink was inspired by a traditional French 75, which is a cocktail I fell in love with last summer; but I wanted to add a summery, flowery twist to the traditional drink.  This week, I discovered St. Germain liqueur, which is a liqueur made with handpicked Elderflower blossoms.   The flavor is sweet and …

Happy Friday: Ginger Rogers

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I love ginger in major way. It’s funny but I have an actual memory of the first time I tasted it.  My family and I were on vacation and spent a day at Epcot Center in Disney World and we had lunch in Japan Land (this was 1983, by the way). The entree we ordered came with a little dish of almost fuschia-colored pickled ginger.  I can’t remember the entree we had, but I remember the ginger and ever since then, I’ve been known to eat all of the pickled ginger condiment that you get at the sushi bar.  So, that being said, this drink is right up my alley.  This is another gin based drink, similar to the Welcome Back, Cocktail that I posted last week. I think that gin drinks can be so fresh and summery.  The herbal notes in the gin really compliment fresh herbs like basil, thyme and mint. This is a perfect cocktail to celebrate the beginning of the weekend!

Welcome Back Cocktail!

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Mmmm…it’s 5 o’clock somewhere! The Man of the House is on his way home from a business trip.  I think I’ll surprise him with this great cocktail that I found in the book “MixShakeStir”.  I made a few changes to the original recipe to suit my taste.