Just a Good Old Fashioned Whisky Sour

This cocktail brings back memories of my first drink in a real bar. I wanted to be grown-up and sophisticated (I was 18 years old, legal drinking age back then) so I decided to ask the bartender to make me a whisky sour. It was the late 70's, and this drink was very popular back then.

Island Dream Cocktail

 

My inspiration for this new cocktail creation came from this recipe *here*. I first saw the recipe on Pinterest. I was looking for a good way to use up a banana and some coconut milk. This seemed to be a great way to do that! I didn't have all the ingredients for that recipe, so I improvised! I was very happy with the results!

 

 This is a creamy and light drink that reminds me of the kind of cocktail you would have while on vacation in the tropics!

Handy Dandy Brandy Cocktail!

I love a good cocktail from time to time, but I don't have a large selection of liquors in my liquor cabinet! I'm not a big drinker, I guess!  I do like a good glass of wine with dinner...or while I'm cooking dinner! So I'll always have some sort of wine in the fridge!

When I do want a cocktail it's usually the fruity kind! I came up with this next one while looking through the liquor cabinet. It turned out really well! It's fruity but strong at the same time! If it's too strong for you just swirl the ice around in
the glass and them melt a bit.  

This is a simple cocktail with simple ingredients that you probably have handy...hence the name 'Handy Dandy Brandy Cocktail'...

INGREDIENTS:

2 oz. brandy

1 oz. vodka

2 oz. fresh squeezed orange juice

1 oz. maraschino cherry juice

1 maraschino cherry

ice cubes

DIRECTIONS:

Fill a cocktail shaker half way with ice.

Add all ingredients except the cherry.

Shake, shake, shake and strain into a glass with ice cubes.

Garnish with a maraschino cherry.

Remember what I said...if it's too strong for you, swirl the ice cubes around and let them melt a bit!

Sip and enjoy!

Thai Iced Tea

Me and my hubby...or is it, my hubby and I? Well, we went to a really good Thai restaurant that served iced tea. It's not the iced tea that Americans usually drink here in the U.S. It's a darker, richer kind of tea and they serve it with some sort of sweetened milk. Thai iced tea has such a unique flavor. I asked the waitress how it was made and she said it's just tea with milk! Well this didn't taste like tea with milk, so it must be some special kind of tea and some special kind of milk!

I did a little research recently because I've been wanting to duplicate that Thai iced tea.
I read lots of recipes on the Internet and found that some people like to use  Thai tea bags. And others use black tea like the black tea they serve in Chinese restaurants. Some recipes called for spices like star anise and cardamom. Also many recipes used sweetened condensed milk, sugar and/or coconut milk to sweeten the iced tea. My head was spinning trying to think of how to make Thai iced tea!

Then I just decided to take the plunge and try this

 Thai Iced Tea from a blog called

 Oh Abby Day 

It was very good, but I know it would have been better if I would have used Thai tea bags instead of black tea! I added 6 drops of red food coloring because Thai tea is much more red in color than black tea. I'll be trying this again with the proper tea next time!

 

Ingredients:

4.5 cups of water
4 tea bags of Thai tea (if loose leaf then 4 tablespoons). Must be purchased at Asian supermarket.
4 tablespoons of white sugar
4 tablespoons of sweet condense milk
ice
3-4 tablespoons of coconut milk

Instructions:

Bring water to boil and turn oven off.

Steep tea for 10-15 minutes and remove. (I usually steep for a much longer time because you need this strong!)

While this is still hot, mix in sugar and condense milk. Stir for three minutes until everything dissolve.

Allow tea mix to cool down to room temperature.

Pour mixture over a glass of ice

Topped with 3-4 tablespoon of coconut milk. No need to mix in the coconut milk. Let it sit on top of the drink.

Optional: Can garnish with mint leaves.

 

Recipe courtesy of  'Oh Abby Day'

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Update: February 26, 2013

 

I'm so happy to say that I have an update!

Leftover Champagne? Make a Martini and Some Cookies!

What do you do with leftover champagne? I don't like to just throw it away! It's too expensive to waste! So I went looking for recipes that I could make with it!

The first recipe I found was for a martini! Have I ever mentioned how much I love martinis? Yes, I think I may have mentioned it once, twice or three
times...*here*...*here* and *here*!

I love the idea of a fizzy martini, so this was perfect! This one contained not only champagne but also lemon vodka and orange liquor. I loved the citrus flavors! This was sparkling and refreshing! The name of this martini is

Colored Beer!

 In Honor of the 2013 Super Bowl game between the Baltimore Raven's and the San Francisco 49'ers, I made these colored beers! I found this idea through the McCormick spice company and thought it was cute! My hubby liked it too! Although he didn't call it 'cute'...

Colored Beer

Food Color drops per 12 ounces of any Light Colored Beer: 
• ASSORTED COLORS
Purple = 5 red + 2 blue
Blue = 8 blue + 2 red
Green = 2 green
Orange = 14 yellow + 2 red
Yellow = 4 yellow
Maroon = 20 red + 2 blue
Red = 20 red

...Or for Soda:
Clear Soda (drops Food Color per 8 ounces)
• ASSORTED COLORS
Purple = 3 red + 2 blue
Blue = 6 blue + 1 red
Green = 6 green
Orange = 6 yellow + 2 red
Yellow = 4 yellow
Maroon = 28 red + 2 blue
Red = 28 red

...Or for Dips:
(drops Food Color per 1/2 cup any white based)
• ASSORTED COLORS
Purple = 30 red + 30 blue
Blue = 30 blue + 5 red
Green = 20 green + 3 blue
Orange = 15 yellow + 5 red
Yellow = 10 yellow

**For a black color**...you can buy 'McCormick Black Food Color' or
 mix 5 drops of blue + 1 1/2 teaspoons red & 1 1/2 teaspoons green. It's not as intense as the store bought color though.

I'm not a sports fan AT ALL...gasp!!! But this falls into the food/drink category...which I'm a HUGE fan of!

Serve these at your Super Bowl party

or any color themed party!

I'm sure it will turn heads!

Hot Buttered Cider!

This drink is perfect for those cold winter nights! It just makes you feel all warm and cozy inside...especially if you add a splash of whiskey! I've made this many times with and without the liquor. 

Irish Cream Liquor Made Easy!

I was given a gift of homemade Irish cream liquor one year for Christmas! I never thought to make my own, but after tasting the homemade version I knew this is the only way to drink it! It tastes so much smoother and creamier than the store bought! Plus it costs A LOT less to make than to buy...about half the price! This started my quest for the best and easiest Irish Cream recipe I could find!

A Spontaneous and Perfect Outing!

Don't you just love it when you do something spontaneous and everything works out perfectly! Well that's what happened on this day! The stars were aligned and all was good with the world!

After dinner, my hubby asked me if I wanted to go see the sunset at our favorite beach. We do this often on nice days in the spring and summer. We didn't have much time though because it was 6 pm and we would have to leave the house by 7 pm if we wanted to get there in time to sit and relax as the sun went down! So now the rush was on!