Cranberry Mojitos

OK....so I know I am waaaay behind in my postings. The holiday/new year got the best of me and I never got around to posting, but I did take plenty of photos. So here I am, sharing with you now.

Here's a cocktail that is a combo of one of my favorite drinks (mojitio!!) and a holiday staple: cranberries. Of course, you can enjoy this any time of the year, but it's perfect for a holiday party too.
Cranberry Mojito (from We Are Not Martha)
8 oz. fresh cranberries
1 C sugar
1 C water
20 mint leaves
2 T lime juice
Ice
4 oz. rum
4-6 oz. soda water

Put cranberries, sugar, and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat.

Then lower the heat a bit to medium-low and continue to cook for about 10 minutes, before your berries start bursting. Remove from heat

Once the berry mixture has cooled, you can strain them.

Put about 10 leaves of mint and a T of lime juice in each glass. With the back of a wooden spoon or a muddler mash the mint up.


Put ice in each glass and pour 2 oz. of the cranberry syrup and 2 oz. rum into each glass.

Top off each glass with soda water. And sprinkle some fresh cranberries in for garnish.

Freezer Smoothie Packs

Well, here is another idea from pinterest! I am trying to come up with quick, healthy foods for me to eat and freezer bag smoothies is so obvious yet nothing I thought of doing until it was placed in front of my eyes. You can buy any fruits and just portion them into baggies then add milk! I actually decided to go with light soy vanilla milk because I heard that it has a creamier consistency. And since a carton of that is good for much longer than regular old milk, you don't have to worry about making these all at once.

I made 8 packs using 30 oz frozen strawberries, 12 oz frozen raspberries and 4 bananas. It equaled out to about 1/4 cup raspberries, 7 strawberries and 1/2 banana per baggie. I added about 1 cup milk and blended until smooth.

I also bought frozen, shredded coconut to add in when I feel like it. These are fun because you can do so many different combos and they are so easy to throw together.

Strawberry Mojitos

The perfect 'red' to add to your 4th of July menu! This will become a popular drink around my house in the summer, especially with so many strawberries on sale this time of year.

Strawberry Mojito (from All Recipes)
3 limes, halved
1/2 bunch mint leaves plus 5 leaves chopped
7 large strawberries, quartered plus 5 slices medium/thin
1 cup white sugar
1 cup white rum
2.25 cup club soda
5 cups ice

Squeeze lime juice into pitcher and reserve skins. Add 1/2 bunch of mint, quartered strawberries and sugar. Muddle until the mint and berries and crushed.

Add rum and club soda and mix until sugar is dissolved. Add additional mint and berries, followed by ice.

Christmas Round 1

Happy Monday! I know that a lot of lucky people are off this week for vacation, and I am just trying to make it through a 3 day work week. I am so excited that it is Christmas week, although I always hate it because I know that on the 26th people will lose all of the Christmas spirit and cheer and return to normal. I wish the holidays lasted longer than 1 month, it just isn't enough time!

Adam and I celebrated Christmas over the weekend, and it was such a fun time! We kicked 'Christmas Eve' off with a surf and turf dinner (I am so upset I didnt photo the grilled lobster that he made because it was truly divine) and Home Alone. You just can't beat that movie! We also decided to open stockings so that we had candy to munch on, and I won $40 in scratch off tickets!

On Saturday morning we woke up, brewed some coffee and put together a breakfast casserole, then got right to the presents that were eagerly awaiting us under the tree. I wish I had some pictures of Adam and his gifts; he got a lot! Since I didn't have a big item idea, I ended up getting him a lot of smaller things. Among them were a food processor, sports t's, scrabble and a new game called 'Battle Drinks' which we proceeded to play that night. I loved everything I got, which included a package of meat and cheese (which I think is so funny because I really do love those things but don't think I ever mentioned it??), a bracelet that I had asked for and that Coach clutch that I was raving about before! I was really very surprised that I got that, and it goes to show that Adam really does pay attention and knows me well. It is something that I would never buy for myself at this point but that I absolutely love. I now find myself even more upset that we have no New Years parties to attend, because this really is a bag to be reserved for such events.

Coach Occasion Collectible Sequin Clutch: I LOVE how sparkly and shiny it is. It reflects all of the surrounding lights and looked especially nice with the Christmas lights beaming off of it. It is actually quite large and roomy inside and the sales girl said that she owns it and that the sequins are sturdy, which you can
tell by touching and moving them that they are.

Hive and Honey Triple Pearl Bracelet, via Piperlime: This was an item that was on my Christmas list, and it is really a pretty bracelet. I was extremely disappointed when all of the crystals started falling out! I was thinking of exchanging it for a new one, but now that it is final sale I would really be screwed it I got another and it had the same problem. I read a review on another Hive and Honey piece that had crystals and they were falling out of that as well. They probably need to find a better way of securing them on. I really wish that I could keep this, as I absolutely love it.

Since Adam's Limoncello is all ready and bottled up, he decided to infuse something else in his jar. We looked through the recipe book and I picked out the Sunny Tomato option. When we were in NC, we went to a restaurant called Bogart's American Grill that has a whole Martini Bar, and Adam got a Tomato infused drink which turned out to be really good, so I am hoping that this will channel the same result.

Sunny Tomato Infused Vodka:

750 mL vodka

8 Sun Dried Tomatoes

3 Sprigs Cilantro

Add all ingredients into your infusion jar and let sit for 3 days.

We also made Cornish Hens for dinner on Saturday, which turned into a fiasco for a bit. We waited to cook until about 8:30, and by what was online and the package we thought it took 1 hour to cook. It ended up being 11 before we ate, but they turned out good in the end. I would blog it if I knew the proper cooking time but at this point I'm not sure!

I am looking forward to the weekend, these work days are going to creep by and I really need to fit 3 workouts in this week. No slacking off for me!!

Hot Chocolate on a Stick

 Last year Hot Chocolate on a Stick was all the rage on a lot of the blogs. I had a difficult time with my first batch, so I retried them tonight and realized my issues came from not reading directions thoroughly. I used a few blogs to create these, including The Novice Chef, Sprinkle Bakes and Giver's Log. Turns out that the first time I used granulated sugar instead of confectioners, although it still melted decently when I stirred it into my hot mug of milk. I used Ghiradelli Luxe Milk Chocolate and also Lindtt 70% Cocoa chocolate bars, and both worked well for me in the melting process.

If you chose to add the decorations, melt white candy wafers (I prefer Wilton Wafers). Freeze your chocolate in the molds and only take out of the freezer when your white chocolate is melted. Pop the hot chocolate out one at a time and quickly dip into the white melted wafers. Place on your chocolate transfer sheet and let it sit until dry, then peel off and your design will be on the bottom.

Hot Chocolate On A Stick
8 oz. chocolate - high quality
1/4 cup cocoa, sifted
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar, sifted
pinch of salt
Wooden Sticks
Ice Cube Tray or Brownie Mold

Prepare your double boiler by simmering a couple inches of water in a pan, then turn down the heat so the water is below a simmer.Place glass or stainless steel bowl over the top to make a double boiler. 

Dump chocolate into the clean, dry bowl and stir as the chocolate melts. Take the chocolate off of the heat when only a few solid pieces remain. Stir until completely melted.

A little at a time, add cocoa, sugar, and salt and continue to stir until combined. The chocolate will be thicker, almost as thick as frosting, but still glossy and smooth.

Place the chocolate into your mold. I used a tablespoon and then tapped the mold on the counter to make sure the chocolate was even on top. Add a stir stick and place in the freezer.

If you want to decorate, see the instructions above. You can always add sprinkles or crushed candy cane instead of using the transfer sheets.

To drink, simply heat up 6oz of milk (this is a time to splurge for 2% instead of skim) and stir in your chocolate. These make great gifts!

Hot Spiked Cider

With apples in season and Thanksgiving on the brain, it's the time of year for cider. While I ran on the treadmill at the gym yesterday I noticed that the commercial spots in between Oprah segments were filled with wintery ads. There was snow, sledding, lights, trees and shopping deals. I am already beginning to feel like the holidays will fly by much too fast this year, so this is a drink that can help you to just relax and take all of it in, if only for a few minutes.

Hot Spiked Cider

6 oz Apple Cider

1 oz Rum

1/4 tsp Ground Cinnamon

In a saucepan, heat the cider on high heat for about 4 minutes, or until hot but not boiling. Add cinnamon and stir, then add rum and heat for another 30 seconds. Pour into your favorite mug and relax!

Limoncello

It may sound strange, but Adam and I have a drink that I would consider 'ours.' We have fond memories of Limoncello, and for a year or so he has thought about making his own. Last week he ordered a big glass container, bought some vodka and lemons and started to make his own. He also has fun with the lemons!

The first steps are simply to add lemon peels (being careful to not include any of the 'white' part) to vodka and let it sit until the yellow color dissolves from the peels. Then, after a lot of time sitting and soaking up the lemon, you add sugar syrup and let it sit some more. It would be a nice gift, to bottle this in smaller portions and give out to family and friends.

Limoncello - amounts depend on how much you want to make

Lemon Peels
Vodka
Sugar Syrup

Skin the lemons of the yellow colored peel; add peel to a large container of vodka. Let the mix sit in a dark place until the yellow color and lemon flavor dissolves into vodka.

Add sugar syrup and let sit until it reaches desired flavor. ( you can start tasting once the sugar syrup is added)

Pumpkin EggNog Coffee

One of my favorite things about the Holidays is all of the great coffees that come out. Unfortunately, here in Orlando we only have Starbucks serving them up. $4.50 everyday is nowhere feasible in my budget, so I limit it to a once every couple weeks treat. I have been hesitant to try the eggnog latte because I know it's just full of fat, and to be honest, I bought eggnog over a month ago and it's been sitting in Adam's fridge waiting to be drank. Last night I decided to attempt my own, slightly alcoholic, version of the eggnog latte and it was really good! Too bad you cant drink it on the way into work, it will have to be reserved for a weekend morning.

Pumpkin EggNog Coffee
makes 1
1 cup of coffee, brewed
1/2 cup eggnog - mine had brandy premixed in
1 tbsp pumpkin spice liquor

Place the eggnog in a saucepan on the stove and heat until just starting to steam. Put pumpkin liquor into mug, followed by the coffee. Fill 3/4 of the way. Once the eggnog is steaming, quickly take off the burner and pour into your coffee.