30 Days of Beverages - Day 14 - Cheers!

I'm a few days behind. Sorry, but I'm on the first vacation I've taken in a LONG time so I'm not really prone to busting out the laptop and blogging. Sorry. However, there IS a lot of drinking going on, so I'm keeping up with my task of tackling beverages for 30 days. Also, I had a few cocktails at home that I haven't shared with you yet. Trust me, there's lots of good stuff coming up!

So, now on to the task at hand...the 14th drink. You may remember that a few days ago I posted a photo of a jar of booze....it looked a bit like a little jar of moonshine. It was a gift, of sorts, from my friend Sherri. I had been at her house to drop off a couple of Astro's tickets and we got to chatting about her recent trip to Napa and a particular vineyard that they really loved, Domaine Chandon. They had purchased this great little book of drink recipes while they were there and they're planning a cocktail party (that I really hope to get an invite to, hint, hint!) using some of these great drinks.

So I used this book....

...and busted out some champagne. Now, I've got to tell you that opening a bottle of champagne is scary for me. I don't know why exactly. I've never had a big problem with it, but it still scares me. If you want to make me happy and you're at my house, grab the champagne and open it for me. =) It's the little things in life that make and keep me happy.

With the help of a little simple syrup, and some fresh mint and that moonshine (which was pear brandy, by the way) I made a heavenly little champagne cocktail. I think if I make this again I will add a bit more pear brandy or try apple brandy next time, but this is a refreshing and tasty little treat.

Champagne Julep

from Tiny Bubbles by Kate Simon

1/2 ounce simple syrup

2 sprigs fresh mint

Dash of apple or pear brandy

5 ounces Champagne brut or sparkling wine brut, chilled

Fresh berries or thin slices of apple or pear for garnish

In a 10 ounce highball glass, muddle the simple syrup and mint. Dash with the brandy. Fill the glass one-third full with cracked ice. Top slowly with Champagne. Stir gently. Garnish with fresh berries. Serves 1.

Cheers!

30 Days of Beverages - Day 13 - Skinny Girls Need a Drink, Too!

The rise of the skinny girl cocktail over the past year or two has been fueled by a couple of things. Number one - booze and cocktails in general have a LOT of calories a lot of the time and number two - Bethany Frankel from The Real Housewives of New York gave girls nationwide hope for a good drink by talking about her "skinny girl margarita" incessantly on her show. She's rail thin and obsessed with low cal drinks.

So, when my friend Sherri handed me a magazine tear out with a whole host of "skinny girl" type cocktails, I felt it was my duty to make a few and test them for the masses. 6 beautiful cocktails are featured and none has more than 155 calories per drink. Quite a bit less than the 1000 calorie margaritas we all succumb to from time to time.

These drinks required me to do a little shopping at my favorite liquor store, Spec's.

The first I wanted to try was something the magazine attributes to Anne Hathaway - cutie that she is- and is called a SkinnyGirl Frangelini. Now, I've never been the type to keep Frangelico on hand, so it was one of my many booze purchases this month. I'm SO glad that I did!!! Several drinks over the coming days will include it and so far not one has been a disappointment. I may have just discovered myself as a fan of this great hazelnut liqueur.

SkinnyGirl Frangelini

155 calories / drink

1/2 ounce Frangelico

2 ounces Vanilla Vodka

1 1/2 ounces club soda

Shake all ingredients in a cocktail shaker full of ice, then strain into a martini glass.

YUMMMMMMMM.....this one will be a great fall drink. I can just picture myself humming "Chesnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at my nose...." with this drink in one hand and Christmas ornaments in the other. Cheers!

30 Days of Beverages - Day 12 - Girls Night Out

Wednesday night was our regularly scheduled "Girls Night Out". There are a group of about 12 of us who live in my neighborhood (or a surrounding 'hood) and we have all been getting together to play this silly game called Pokeno for about 3 or 4 years. Well, 6 months ago we finally blew off the game and now it's just girl's night. We got to someone's house for dinner, drinks and lots of talk - about LOTs of stuff. The conversations that this group has would make a sailor blush. We don't hold back, pull any punches or spare anyone's fragile egos....it's hilarious! The more we drink the more outrageous the convo gets and on more than one occasion I've had to excuse myself to get another drink just to take a break!

Well, our regularly scheduled night was cancelled in large part due to final vacations of summer, kids heading back to school and just general "sorry, but I can't come" replies. But never fear, the hard-core are here! Staci, Sarah, Sarah's mom ( who's a way cool mom, by the way!) and I headed off to our fave new neighborhood wine bar...Plonk! So for the 12th day...all I did was order. Sometimes it's the best you can do....

30 Days of Beverages - Day 11 - A little lemon, a little lime, a little WINE!

Yesterday afternoon I got a call from my friend, Staci. Her 3 kids are all home with her this week and making her a bit nuts...I think we could all relate to that one! She made me an offer I couldn't refuse. I'd meet her at the swimming pool with my drink in tow and she'd bring dinner to the pool for the whole gang - herself and her 3 kiddos as well as for me and the weeone! How can a mom who hasn't planned for dinner turn that one down!

With this in mind I started thinking about what would be a great cocktail poolside as well as what could I travel with pretty easily and survive? SANGRIA!!!

Now, I completely cheated and did NOT make this sangria from scratch, although I've been known to - in fact I make a pretty killer white wine sangria that I might share with you later in the month if you're really, really lucky! I had some sangria mini wine cubes on hand from Target. If your Target sells booze, you're in luck! If you mix it with a little Diet Sprite or Gingerale and add some fresh fruit you're in business....

This is a tasty summer cocktail that is completely at home hanging out on a diving board by the pool! But be careful...don't drink and dive. =)

30 Days of Beverages - Day 10 - 1/3 of the way through...

...and yet I'm not even close to 1/3 of the way through all the drink possibilities there are, that's for sure. A friend told me the other day that I have a future as a bartender when this is all over, so I suppose if the recession rears its ugly head again, we'll call that my fall-back job. =)

Tonight we're rushing a bit. I have a PTA Budget Meeting (yes, they let mom's like me on the PTA board...I think they keep me around for Happy Hour!) and the weeone wanted to choose her own dinner. Fair enough since she'll be bored out of her mind for 2 hours while a bunch of parents hammer out this year's budget.

Her dinner of choice....crabcakes and apple sauce. Never keep fresh lump crabmeat within eyeshot of the weeone - she'll be asking for crabcakes immediately! I've never tried the recipe on the side of the Old Bay container and today seemed like the day to to it. So, tonight you get a simple drink and Crab Cake recipe to boot!

Old Bay Seasoning Crab Cakes

2 slices bread, crusts removed

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

2 teaspoons Old Bay ( we use WAY more than that....Momma like's 'em hot!)

2 teaspoons parsley flakes

1/2 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard

1 egg, beaten

1 lb. crabmeat

Break bread into small pieces. Mix in mayonnaise, Old Bay, parsley, mustard and egg. Stir in crabmeat. Shape mixture into patties. Broil 10 minutes or fry until golden brown.

The weeone was the Chef tonight - she mixed, she measured, she shaped into cakes. All I did was the fryin'...so she would not do the cryin' - if you know what I mean!

Hooray! A great dinner....served with....a Pomegranate Margarita. 3 parts mix to 1 part tequila - this is GREAT stuff. You should run, not walk, but RUN to your local liquor store and buy it. I could chug this it's sooo yum!

30 Days of Beverages - Day 9 -KISS

KISS - It was a great 70's rock band. It's a sweet thing between a parent and child. It can be a pretty hot thing between the right man and woman. But today...it's just Keep It Simple Stupid! It was a crazy weekend and I needed a simple end. There was NO WAY I was touching another beer on Sunday....

Friday night was a silly fun night of lots of girl talk and baby Coronas...yum! Saturday was the George Strait concert with a friend...lots of beer. So when Sunday rolled around and I hadn't had much sleep was in desperate need of detox and at a loss of what to do for my 30 Days drink....I visited the beer fridge in the garage...and found this. Hard Apple Cider, a sweet little hair of the dog that actually help me sleep better...have you tried it?

First you have to have a cool and pseudo-antique bottle opener...that's key! (a gift from Staci last year- thanks dear!)

Then....prop your feet up on a deck after a light rain and enjoy...sweet and refreshing when that's what you're craving -

30 Days of Beverages - Day 8 - Back to Where I Came From...

I talked about it once before, but many of you may not know that I was born in Kentucky, home to the world's greatest horse race as well as a whole lot of gold. I didn't really live there long. I was born at Fort Knox and I wasn't very far into the world before we left that state and moved along in life. But, a Kentuckian I was born. Is that a word?

Today's cocktail is an ode to my state of birth - no, not nudity, although if you drink enough of any of these you just might end up that way- Kentucky.

Kentucky is known for things I mentioned before, the derby and gold, but it is also known for Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. Yum! I fell in love with it many moons ago and over the years have honed my loyalty to one brand - Knob Creek. Good stuff, I tell you, good stuff.

So, I went onto Knob Creek's website thinking they'd have the best drink recipes made with their own brand and stumbled across a recipe for a Side Car. Sounded interesting enough for me!

This is a bold drink for those who love Straight Bourbon Whiskey...those who don't, need not apply. A great cocktail to end the day with - shake the cobwebs outta your head and forget about work, or anything else that ails ya'! Cheers!

Side Car

www.knobcreek.com

1 part Knob Creek Bourbon

1/2 part lemon juice

1/2 part triple sec

You know what to do with it!

_____________________________________________________________

A taste of what's to come - My friend Sherri gave me a jar of something today.....

Yep, it looks like a little jar of moonshine, but it's not. It's a tasty treat that I'm going to be using in an upcoming drink this week - a tribute to Sherri's trip to Napa and to the good ole bubbly....stay tuned!