Showing posts with label booze. Show all posts
Showing posts with label booze. Show all posts

Friday, June 28, 2013

Cheers to Summer. And Strawberries!

So it's a friend's birthday today. She moved away; I miss her much. She texted that she was drinking strawberry Long Islands, so it was only fair of me to join in from afar. 

Of course, I have nothing for a Long Island. I do, however, have strawberries. And tequila. And limeade. (I may have anticipated something here). 

So here we are. Easiest strawberry margaritas ever.* They'd be even better with sugar rimmed glasses, but I'm too impatient for that sort of thing. 


Quick Strawberry Margaritas 
1 part strawberry purée 
(aka cut a bunch of cleaned/stemmed berries in fourths and then pop them in the food processor/blender til smoothish)
3 parts tequila (or to taste) 
3 parts Limeade
A splash of triple sec

Shake all well with ice in a shaker and pour all into a margarita glass. (Or blend if you're into that sort of thing.)

FYI This came to like a tablespoon of purée and a 1-2-3 count pour of each liquid. 

*or make it a cocktail and top it off with some 7-up.  Or whatever. You're the one drinking it. Cheers. 

Sunday, July 25, 2010

I often have purple teeth.

I like wine. I realize this is probably less than a shock, but I really do. Especially when you partake as a social activity...more specifically, wine tasting. Even when they all start blending together and you can't taste the difference between a Pinot Noir and a Zinfandel, it's just fun. Especially with my parents. When we were in San Diego, Temecula (the So Cal wine country) was almost exactly half way between us, so we'd meet, have lunch, and do a little tasting.

My mom gets giggly and camera happy, my dad and I exchange quips, and we all buy more wine than we intended to. It's great.

So when we decided to head to Paso Robles this weekend for the 311 concert and some wining, I realized my parents had never been to the Central Cali wine country and we were due for some family intoxication. So, we invited them along.

And I'm glad we did...we did some damage. It's completely impossible to hit all the wineries, but we can always try. Hit our usuals, including Rio Seco, Pear Valley, and Falcon Nest, and added a couple new stops, like Eberle (where we got a tour of their "cave"), and Ortman (they pulled an AMAZING 2002 Zin out of reserve and let us try it). Yum.

Speaking of yum...we didn't just pick up wine. At Falcon Nest, the vineyard matriarch is a wonderfully feisty lady named Carol who loves wine and to chat with her patrons, and her husband Francesco, an Italian gentleman with (at least) two talents—wine and food. They only make a few wines—all reds (not super strange for the warm region), but to balance it out, they/he also do Italian food. They serve it, they talk about it, and this time, they sold it.

Puttanesca. Mmmm. Especially when you see this short of an ingredient list...yuhuhuhum. With some fresh pasta, fresh french/sourdough, a nice bottle of red (obviously), and a caesar salad...fantastic.

I was a bit put off by the price tag, to be honest (10.95), but I had a free tasting coupon and the wine is good (and the explanations/company from the owners is better), so I felt ok splurging.

So thanks for driving up, Mama and Daddy...we had fun. We'll drink with you anytime. Just in case our lushness wasn't evident...Love you.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Wino Forever

For those keeping track, the box of wine is still roughly 1/3 full. After 8 days. And I have been trying, let me tell you. I was dead set on having that mofo empty by now.

Let's look at this in practical (nerdy) terms (I went to one of the top academic schools in the country...I feel like I need to use it now and then. Ma, look at this like a Mother's Day present).

Five liters of wine is roughly 170 oz...which is 34 5oz glasses.

For a singular drinker that believes in "moderation," that should last a month.

This drinker, however, sees that I only drank 2/3 of the box. AKA roughly 113oz in 8 days. Which averages out to 14oz, or 2.5ish glasses, a day. (More if you consider I chose champagne over wine last night. Shhh.)

Not bad. All I can do is try. If it's still around by next Thursday, I'm chucking it.

I'm lying, I never toss booze. Come on, now. And yes, I'll still call my mother tomorrow. This was a terrible gift. Maybe if I throw a nice bottle of wine in...

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Coconut Crush

As created-and named-by the hubby. He has no idea the amounts, so play accordingly:

Malibu
Fresh coconut juice
Orange crush
Ice
Fresh coconut shavings to garnish


-posted out of laziness from my iPhone.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

I now have a box of wine in my fridge.

I have a pool going on how long it'll last. I call a week. Anyone else?


Yeah, that's orange soda. (One part soda, two parts boxed wine=ghetto sangria. Try it.) There's also a handle of Malibu. It's like college invaded my fridge...

-posted out of laziness from my iPhone

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Green Monster

Enviable? I like to hope. But fresh and summery, for sure. Introducing my twist on a vodka soda.


No actual recipe for you (sorry), but here's what I did...soaked vodka with thinly sliced, peeled cucumber (maybe an eighth of a cucumber?), added ice, shook well, and strained into a glass with ice. Squeezed in a bunch of lime juice, topped off with club soda, and garnished with a cucumber slice and lime wedge.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

We are so moving back to the beach.

Last night the hubby rather impatiently pointed out that I have yet to write about our excursion last weekend...which tells me he wants to relive it already. And since this trip was more booze based than food based, being hungover from St. Paddy's Day seems the appropriate time to write...so here we go.

During our Snoop-guided drive over, we stopped in Avila Beach at the recommendation of my hair colorist—she promised the seafood at the restaurant at the end of the pier was worth the detour. As we walked to the end of the pier, however, we weren't quite sure what we'd gotten ourselves into...the "restaurant" was disturbingly reminiscent of a huge metal shack. So we looked at each other, got over it, and walked inside.

Nothing spectacular about the inside of the Olde Port Inn...it's the views that matter, and the fact that their tables are basically glass tubes that let you look down into the water below you. Very cool. So after we awwwed about the family of sea otters playing right in front of us, and oooohed about the specials (100% crab meat crab cakes), we sat back and realized vacation had begun.

And what a way to start. The crab cakes were a.maz.ing, as was the mixed seafood grill and the crab and shrimp salad (the bill was not...must begin asking how much specials are instead of immediately ordering out of excitement). We will totally go back there. When we're rich.

Once we checked into the hotel a little later, we somehow came to the conclusion that the best way to hang out in downtown SLO is by bar...so one overpriced cab ride later, the impromptu pub crawl began...at like 2pm.

Pammy H. Pub Crawl Rules:
Must sit at bar.
Must order one drink, but no more than three.
Water is mandatory after two drinks.
Each bar must somehow be documented.

Let me tell you...the hubby and I are troopers. As the night, err, day, progressed, my handwriting got more and more illegible, so here's where I think we went:
Black Sheep Bar & Grill
Bull's Tavern
Downtown Brewing Company (where we convinced the bartender to sell us an empty growler as a souvenir)
Frog & Peach
One World Wines (cause why wouldn't we go wine tasting after 4 bars? Hello, the South American wines came with empanadas.)
Buffalo Bar & Grill
China Buffet (because after 6 bars at 8pm, there was no point in going somewhere good. We did not sit at the bar. But we did have a beer.)
McLintocks
And all was finished off at the hotel bar. Ask nicely and one day I'll show you the flip videos from that stop. The poor bartender didn't know what hit her.

Somehow we managed to get up in the morning (with some help from the Hangover Gods-Bud Light Cheladas are magical), and headed back to Big Sky restaurant for a late breakfast. I was dying to try their pozole, which was gorgeous (the poached egg weirded me out cause I don't really do yolk, but it looked pretty) and deliciously spicy.

After walking around downtown and the San Luis Obispo Mission, we finished our trip in Pismo Beach. We hit up Brad's restaurant for clam chowder...and as we know, I can't pass up shrimp cocktail, so we killed one of those, too. After a long walk on the beach (which ended up with us getting trapped in the RV camping ground...don't ask), our happy tummies and sandy feet reluctantly headed home.

Sigh. Til next time...

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Mr. Luva-luva

I finally got the itch tonight to recreate the Spicy Lover, the spicy-as-hell-with-a-touch-of-sweet cocktail I had in Vegas a few months ago. I knew it was tequila, lime, agave nectar, chili, cucumber, and cilantro...the amounts, I had no clue. So I guessed, and the results were worth sharing.

If you don't like spicy stuff, I'd guess it would still be good without the hot sauce...I'll totally try that next time. But for now, I'm gonna call it the Mr. Boombastic.

Mr. Boombastic
2 oz tequila(I use 1800 silver)
about a tbsp chopped cilantro
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp hot water
about 2 tbsp cucumber (2 medium thick slices, chopped small)
2 dashes hot sauce (tabasco or tapatio work well)
Juice of one lime
4 ice cubes

Mix sugar and hot water in a shaker. Stir til disolved, add remaining ingredients. Mix well. Serve in a Martini glass.
(I don't give calorie info for drinks. It takes all the fun out of it.)

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Leftover Cranberries?

Take a hint from the pro*. Freeze them. And then drink them.

Cranberry Margaritas
Blend:
Frozen cranberries, about a cup or more
About a cup orange juice
3-4 oz tequila
1-2 cups ice cubes
1/4c sugar, or to taste
dash vanilla
dash cinnamon

*I am not claiming to be a pro in the culinary sense. I am, however, an undisputed pro at drinking.