#header-inner {background-position: center !important; width: 100% !important;}
Showing posts with label drink. Show all posts
Showing posts with label drink. Show all posts

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Summer Spiked Lemonade

Memorial Day weekend is finally upon us....that signature 'entrance to summer'. Chances are, you've been invited to at least one cookout or outdoor party this weekend (fingers crossed for cooperative weather!!). Maybe you're hosting this weekend. Maybe you want nothing more than to sit at home and soak up your extra-long weekend. Whatever you end up doing for the next few days, you probably want to involve this drink somehow.

My first taste of this Summer Spiked Lemonade, as we've dubbed it, for lack of a better name, coincided with a big family kickball game one 4th of July weekend. Before heading out into the hot sun, I quickly (and unwisely) gulped down a few glasses of this. Let's put it this way...while some members of the family were getting fired up over a controversial run, my competitive side was completely pushed aside and the Summer Spiked Lemonade gave me a more apathetic view of the game!

Though I don't recommend mixing this drink with family kickball, I assure you it is the perfect drink to sit outside and sip in the company of friends. It's light, it's refreshing, and it remains one of my favorite summer beverages! Enjoy!

One Year Ago: Cereal Mix-In Cookies

Summer Spiked Lemonade


Ingredients:
-6 cups lemonade (we've used both lemonade concentrate or made it fresh squeezed and added sugar! Fresh is best, but much more time consuming--no one will notice if it's made with concentrate!)
-1 1/2 cups vodka
-3 lemons, sliced in wheels
-half a cucumber, sliced
-1/2 cup mint leaves

Directions:
1. In a large pitcher, mix lemonade and vodka. Stir in sliced lemons, cucumber, and mint.
2. Pour into individual glasses filled with ice. Garnish with additional lemon or mint if desired.
Posted by at
Labels:

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Sangria

It was my turn to host book club this month and I tried to stick to a theme I knew most of the ladies in our group would enjoy--Mexican! We had a Mexican-inspired meal (recipes forthcoming) and I of course chose to serve margarita pie for dessert. With margaritas for dessert, I decided serving margaritas to drink as well might be overkill. Instead, my mom suggested sangria.

There is a wealth of sangria recipes on the internet, but my mom remembered that her tried and true recipe include orange juice and sprite. I found an online recipe that sounded similar and followed it...or so I thought. A few hours after book club I realized that I had completely forgotten to add the sugar that was called for. However, it called for a whole cup of sugar which seems like a lot, and I actually think it tasted fine without. Sometimes mistakes turn out for the best! I suppose you could add some (a whole cup probably isn't necessary!) but you get a sweetness from the soda and orange juice anyways. The sangria was easy to prep-I mixed everything but the fruit together the morning of, then added the fruit about two hours before serving.

This is a great cocktail for this Spring or Summer and paired nicely with our Mexican meal!

Sangria Demasiado (Light)
adapted from here

Ingredients:
-2 bottles of cheap red wine
-1 liter lemon/lime soda
-1 cup of orange juice
-1 granny smith apple, peeled, cored, and diced
-1 orange, peeled, seeded, roughly chopped

Directions:
1. Mix all of the ingredients together and refrigerate for at least a few hours ahead of time.
2. At least two hours ahead of time, add your chopped fruit.
Posted by at
Labels:

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Green Monsters

Nope, this isn't an April Fool's joke. That really is a blender full of bright green smoothie and I promise it's edible! The secret? SPINACH! I've told many people the concept of adding spinach to your smoothies but I have yet to post it on the blog. Mark my words, despite it's electrifying (terrifying?!) color, you cannot taste the spinach. These aren't as sweet as your typical smoothie, but I find them refreshing and it's an awesome way to sneak veggies into a meal!

I made these for our most recent girl's dinner, where the theme was breakfast for dinner. These were a nice accompaniment to our waffles, egg cups (I'll be making these soon and posting--they were so good!), and mimosas!

Give these a try, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised! The basic "green monster" recipe is all over the internet, but I based it on one I found here, where you can also find many other variations to the green monster. Enjoy!

Green Monster Smoothies
*makes 2 large or 3 small smoothies

Ingredients:
-4 large handfuls fresh spinach
-2 ripe, frozen bananas
-1 1/2 cups skim milk
-ice (about a handful)

Directions:
1. Place all ingredients into a blender. Mix until completely blended. Add more ice as necessary.

Posted by at
Labels: ,

Friday, March 5, 2010

Baby Blue Party Punch

Here it is...my new template & design!! Thank you to Shay of Dumplin Design. She did a great job coming up with this design and I couldn't be more thrilled. If you're looking to update your blog, I highly recommend Shay. She's affordable, fast (it took 2 days to get a custom design!), and so creative! See her button on my side bar or click the link for more info :)


Last weekend I helped throw a shower for a friend of mine who's expecting a baby boy next month. In addition to cupcakes (recipes coming!) and these cookies for favors (cut out as baby hands & feet), I was also responsible for bringing the punch. Because most punches are pink and this shower was for a boy, I did a little research and found a recipe on allrecipes.com for a blue punch. Perfect! I was a little nervous about how it'd taste and whether people would be afraid of the vibrant blue shade, but it ended up being a hit. By the end of the shower, the punch bowl was empty, which is always a good sign! Next time you're looking for an easy punch recipe that's different from the standard pink sherbet punch, give this one a try!

Baby Blue Party Punch
recipe from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
-1 package blue, berry flavored unsweetened drink mix (ie. Koolaid)
-1 cup sugar
-1 (2 liter) bottle lemon-lime flavored carbonated beverage
-1 (64 fluid ounce) bottle white cranberry juice
-8 scoops vanilla ice cream

Directions:
1. In a large punch bowl, stir together the drink mix, lemon-lime soda, and cranberry juice. Taste and stir in sugar to your liking (I used the full cup and it wasn't too sweet).
2. Float scoops of ice cream on the top of the punch (the ice cream will melt slightly and form a frothy covering).
Posted by at
Labels:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)