Strawberry Lavender Lemonade
May 27, 2010 by Andrea 
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Filed under Beverages, Grow Your Own
We started growing culinary lavender in our garden two summers ago, then last summer had to move the plants to pots to make room for more vegetables. One of my lavenders didn’t fare well, but the other two were doing splendidly until the uber snow storms of 2010. They look rather spindly now, a mere shell of their glory last spring when the bees played among the purple flowers. So I’m starting over with a few new plants in the garden and hopefully a better location for them, and maybe we will once again harvest some beautiful lavender flowers next summer. At least I had a few buds leftover from last summer. Read more
Pomegranate-Ginger-Chile Nojito Cocktail
December 31, 2009 by Andrea Print This Post
Filed under Beverages, Holidays
Pomegranates are one of the most festive fruits. The deep red color of the arils captures the eye, and the flavor of the juice is a wonder on its own and is very versatile. Though we’ve enjoyed pomegranate juice for a while, this year marks the very first time we ever purchased pomegranates, and as we munched on the arils we wondered how we ever managed without them. Read more
Peppermint Paddy Cocktail
December 30, 2009 by Andrea Print This Post
Filed under Beverages, Holidays
Peppermint and chocolate is one of my all-time flavor combinations, and this hot treat with white hot chocolate, chocolate whipped cream, and minty Altoids is a perfect dessert drink for a cold day. A twist on the classic Hot Peppermint Patty drink, this white hot chocolate cocktail is spiked with brandy, white crème de menthe, and dark rum, making a mug of cheer sure to warm you all over. Read more
Pure Passion Cocktail
December 29, 2009 by Andrea Print This Post
Filed under Beverages, Holidays
New Year’s celebrations just aren’t the same without champagne, and mixing up champagne cocktails is one of our favorite ways to enjoy the bubbly. This cocktail recipe has passion fruit juice, lime juice, triple sec, and a brut cava, and the sugared rim with chili powder gives it a mix of sweet and spicy.
Passion fruit juice may be tricky to track down in some areas, and I hit every single store we regularly shop at to find some. I finally had to give in and buy passion fruit nectar, a sweetened form of passion fruit juice, but I also had to read the labels because almost every brand I could find had high fructose corn syrup. La Fe brand passion fruit nectar was the only one to use regular sugar. Read more
Cider Car Cocktail
December 29, 2009 by Andrea Print This Post
Filed under Beverages, Holidays
As the snow fell and piled up during the now infamous blizzard of December ‘09, I stayed in the kitchen baking cookies and getting ready for Christmas with a mug of hot cider in hand. We like it spiked with spiced rum or cinnamon schnapps with a stick of cinnamon in the mug, but this hot cider cocktail is a variation on the classic sidecar cocktail and has apple brandy and triple sec. The orange flavor from the triple sec works well with the cider and we agreed the cinnamon sugar rimmer is perfect, though we used an orange wedge rather than lime to rim the mug. For a nonalcoholic variation, just add an ounce of orange juice to the hot cider. Read more
Big O Cocktail
December 27, 2009 by Andrea Print This Post
Filed under Beverages, Holidays
Christmas is past, New Year’s Eve is approaching, and whether you host or attend large parties, intimate gatherings, or stay at home with your loved ones, festive drinks are part of the celebration of the new year. We began taste testing new (to us) cocktails over the weekend and will share some of our favorites this week in preparation for New Year’s Eve. Read more
