Basil Lemonade I hereby declare this week Basil Week. And when you see what I’ve got in store for the rest of the week you’ll see why. Granted, it was a completely unintentional coincidence. Maybe I was having a subconscious butter rebellion during my first weekend cooking for myself and not for an editor, but basil was the center of my attention. No less than four of my culinary projects involved the bright summer herb. And I’m totally ok with that. So let’s kick off this celebration of ocimum basilicum with a refreshing beverage. Take this opportunity to share YOUR favorite basil recipe! Basil Lemonade Yield: 2 servingsTotal Time: 10 minutes Ingredients:1/4 cup granulated sugar 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 2 large lemons) 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, torn water ice Directions:Combine sugar and 1/4 cup water in a microwave safe bowl or glass measuring cup. You may also like...
Magically Delicious Martini: A Cocktail for St. Patty's Day Magically Delicious Martini 2 oz Vodka 3 oz Light Cream 1 oz Creme De Menthe 1 oz White Creme De Cacao Pour ingredients into shaker filled with ice. Rim the glass with Lucky Charms marshmallows. Now sip and rock out to Dropkick Murphys! Happy St. xo Lizzie
Watermelon Lemonade — Delish This week was my turn to host Project Pastry Queen. Its hard choosing a recipe from a cookbook where every recipe looks and sounds fantastic, especially as we continue to try more recipes and learn that Rebecca’s recipes are in fact just as tasty as they look and sound! There are some caramel brownies in the cookbook that I am dying to make but the end of summer is approaching (wishful thinking?) I honestly didn’t read the recipe until after I picked it out. I served it immediately and ended up loading up my glass with at least 1/2 cup of watermelon and eating/sipping my lemonade with a spoon! Its delicious… a perfect summer beverage!! Watermelon LemonadeYields: 12 servings Sugar Syrup: 2 cups water 2 cups sugar To make sugar syrup: Combine the water and sugar in a medium saucepan. To make the lemonade: Mix 2 cups of sugar syrup, watermelon, lemon juice, and lime juice in a big bowl or pitcher. Source: The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather Tagged as: Drinks, lemon
Summer Pineapple Strawberry Cooler | Tri-Cities | MOM Magazine I am ready for summer! This recipe just puts me in the summer mood. Come-on sunshine! Ingredients 1 12-ounce can frozen pineapple juice concentrate, thawed 1 6-ounce can frozen limeade concentrate, thawed 4 cups cold water * 1 liter club soda, chilled Ice cubes Fresh strawberries (optional) Short (6-inch) wooden skewers Assorted fruits such as halved orange slices, halved lime slices, orange sections, raspberries, strawberries, sliced kiwifruit, and mint sprigs Directions In a large pitcher combine pineapple juice concentrate, limeade, and water. Serve with Fruit Swizzle Sticks, if desired. Fruit Swizzle Sticks: On short (6-inch) wooden skewers, thread assorted fruits and mint sprigs. Sit back, soak up the sunshine sipping a sweet drink and enjoy summer.
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Martini Reese’s Peanut Butter cups happen to be quite a commodity in our household. And, for some very strange reason their value seems to increase exponentially during Halloween. Thanks to my careful and thoughtful planning I invested in a small Reese’s Peanut Butter hedge fund anticipating their upcoming increase. Which has allowed me to prepare such a delightful cocktail during the height of trick-or-treating season. Wether or not Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are a high commodity in your household, past trends have shown that after a week or two post Halloween they seem to come back down to what I would consider “normal” value. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Martini Reese’s Peanut Butter Martini2½ ounces Reese’s Mini Peanut Butter Cup Infused Vodka, recipe below4 ounces milk1 teaspoon Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup4 mini peanut butter Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, for garnishReese’s Peanut Butter Cup Infused Vodka6 ounces good quality vodka (I used Tito’s)¼ cup Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups #version#
Peach Lemonade Coolers Set the table-scape and call me Sandra Lee, because its cocktail time and it's semi-home made. Last week, my husbands sister and her family visited from Vienna. I knew for a short trip, we would not eat at home much, but I had bought plenty of snacks to have on hand for when we were home. Including a ton of Georgia peaches. I may have overbought just a little, because I still had a handful of peaches left when the house emptied out. I saw a post on The Naptime Chef for Roasted Peach Lemonade. So I just improvised. The next night, I used the last peach and forgot to peel it first. Peach Lemonade Coolersinspired by The Naptime Chef 2 medium sized, ripe peaches, peeled, halved and pitted 1/2 cup lemonade 1 ounce vodka of choice Puree the peaches and lemonade in a blender until smooth. Pour vodka over ice in a rocks glass.
Classic Orange Julius Orange Julius’ have been part of my life for forever, really. My older sister made them for us all the time growing up and over the years, we must have consumed gallons and gallons of the frothy, orange, cool and creamy mixture. My kids, thanks to their inherent Orange-Julius-loving genes, also love the classic combination and our entire family’s adoration has been rejuvenated since our newest family member, the Blendtec, came to join us. A popular after-school snack around here, the Orange Julius can be made in any kind of blender, Blendtec or not, and the lovable and classic flavors always seem to please my kids (and of course myself). Enjoyed year round, everyone needs a recipe for the classic Orange Julius in their repertoire, if you ask me! One Year Ago: Mulligatawny SoupTwo Years Ago: Hot Fudge Pudding CakeThree Years Ago: Chicken with Green Curry Sauce Note: our favorite variation (albeit not very original) is to throw a handful of frozen or fresh strawberries into the mix.
cakebatter milkshakes I love using cloth napkins to dress up our dinner table, and through the years I've grown even more fond of their sustainability and cost effectiveness. Though, I'm not sure how cost effective it is if you keep buying more and more cloth napkins each year! This holiday season I thought it would be fun to look at how I could dress up the napkins I already own to give them an extra festive vibe. Ribbon Trimmed Napkin This look is so (no sew) simple! Supplies:-ribbon-heat bond in width of ribbon-cloth napkin (buy mine here)-iron-fabric scissors (not shown above) Step One: Trim pieces of your ribbon to be about 1.5 inches longer than the width of your napkins. Step Two: Fold down the edges of each ribbon segment about 1/4" and iron flat. Step Three: Iron the heat bond to the ribbon (pressing with hot iron for two seconds), then peel off the paper backing. Step Four: Iron the ribbon in place on your napkin front with the heat bond facing down. Pom-Pom Trimmed Napkin That's all there is to it!
Fancy Pink Lemonade Jello Shots Like my cake pops, my fancy jello shots are no stranger to this blog. (Check out my Blood Orange, and Watermelon Jello Shots) They have been so popular and they are so much fun that I had to try a different flavor/color variation for our Southern themed Gold Cup tailgate. Meet the pink lemonade jello shot. 10 lemons, *one box watermelon (or any kind of pink color) jello * 1 cup vodka *1 cup boiling water - 10 lemons makes 40 jello shots - The step by step recipe for these awesome adult treats are posted here (with photos) in my watermelon version. Tips: I've learned so far that you must buy "Jello" brand jello or the shots are way too strong. In addition to our jello shots we had collard greens, blueberry corn muffins, pimento cheese dip, a feta and green apple salad, brown sugar and pecan cookies, deli sandwiches, a cheese and crackers spread, and more. Gold Cup was so much fun that we already have our outfits and menu planned out for next year.
Red & Pink The red and pink color combination has been all over the red carpet for the last year, and I just love the unexpected pairing. Here are a few red and pink things that have made me smile lately! Strawberries pureed and blended with chilled champagne..yes please! Summer fruit basket cookies in strawberry cartons. So fun for Spring/Summer! Festive party hats! Heart-shaped desserts are appropriate year-round! J.Crew scalloped shorts in Chili - I think they would look super cute paired with a pink tee. Gorgeous color combination! Bejeweled Carolyn Quartermine upholstered chairs...beyond chic! Last but not least, perhaps my very favorite red and pink item! The card reads: "Daughter, No one can fill your shoes... After all, you have so many! To my daughter to be, Well, maybe this card is a little early, but I am sure you will take from your Mommy and love shoes always. Happy First Valentine's Day! Loving you Always and Forever, Daddy Sweetest. xoxo