Valentine's Day Drink

Happy Valentine's Day and Thirsty Thursday!  

Ingredients:

- 2 frozen strawberries and 2 fresh

- half a frozen banana

- 1/4 cup orange juice

- 2 tablespoons of vanilla flavored syrup

- 1 tablespoon of whipped cream

- 1 shot of dark rum

Directions:

Blend the strawberries, banana, and orange juice together.  Add the vanilla, whipped cream, and rum, blend, and serve.  

I don't know about you ladies, but if my husband woke me up with this (minus the rum) in a glass I would be mightily impressed.  I'm not even sure my husband knows we have a blender, little less where we keep it.  So it would be additionally astonishing.  

Though Aaron might not know where I keep the blender, he's a fantastic hubby.  He tries really hard, and that's what counts.  As long as we both are trying our hardest, then I couldn't ask for more.  

Oh, and by the way this drink is Yummy!  The banana helps cut the tartness of the orange juice and strawberries, yet without overpowering it.  This drink is the prefect blend of all the flavors.  It mostly tastes of strawberry, but you can taste the orange juice, banana, and whipped cream.  They all make up an important supporting cast of flavors.  

Again Happy Valentine's Day and Happy Thirsty Thursday, chris!!!

Strawberry Daiquiri

Happy Thirsty Thursday! Today I have a Strawberry Daiquiri for ya'll.  

Ingredients:

- 6 frozen strawberries

- 3 tablespoons of orange juice

- 3 tablespoons of ginger ale

- 1 shot of Crown Royal Whiskey

- 1 tablespoon of vanilla flavored syrup

Directions:

Blend the frozen strawberries, orange juice and ginger ale together.  Test the flavor, if satisfied add the whiskey and syrup.  Blend for a few more seconds, and serve.  

I garnished with a fresh strawberry.  

The Crown Royal flavor works really well with the strawberry flavor.  The ginger ale and orange juice are definitely bottom notes, and almost barely detectable.  Well I want to enjoy more of this yumminess, so I will be on my way.  Again Happy Thirsty Thursday, chris!

Cream Soda

I saw a recipe for Homemade Italian Cream Soda on Butter With A Side Of Bread last week, and I've been dreaming of it ever since.  So today I went on a hunt for flavored syrups. We tried a store called Kitchen Kapers, no luck, we tried a local coffee shop, a super market, and then we found some at Starbucks.  We were able to buy a vanilla and a hazelnut.  Her recipe calls for vanilla and raspberry syrups, but I'm not the biggest fan of raspberry flavored things.  Besides not being able to find any.  So here is how I made my cream soda.

Ingredients:

- 1/2 cup club soda

- 2 tablespoons of vanilla syrup

- 2 tablespoons of grenadine

- 1 tablespoon of half and half

- whip cream and a maraschino cherry to garnish

Directions:

Add ice to a glass, and pour the club soda over it.  Add the vanilla and grenadine, and stir.  Pour the half and half over the top.  Top with the whip cream and cherry.  Pause for a photo.

Then give it a good stir, and enjoy.  This taste just like cream soda, which is my favorite type of soda.  I'm going to be making these all the time now.  I'll have to learn how to make my how syrups, and experiment with more flavors.  

Happy Thirsty Thursday, chris!

Chocolate Banana Smoothie

Happy Thirsty Thursday!  Today I was in the mood for chocolate so I whipped up a Chocolate Banana Smoothie.  

Ingredients:

- 1/3 cup of vanilla yogurt

- 2 tablespoons of honey

- 2 tablespoons of nutella

- a handful of chocolate chips

- a heaping teaspoon of toffee chips

- half a frozen banana

Directions:

Slice up the banana, and place all the ingredients in a blender.  

Blend and enjoy.  I garnished with some maraschino cherries, but they are definitely not a necessity.  Though they did taste awesome when dipped into the smoothie.  

This smoothie was decadent, and yummy!  It fulfilled my chocolate desires, and then some.

Hope your week is going well, and again Happy Thirsty Thursday, chris!

Cordial Cherry Banana Smoothie

Happy Thirsty Thursday!!  I love Cordial Cherries, and I always seem to get my hands on a box or two around this time of year.  I was eyeballing my box earlier today, and to keep myself from eating a whole tray of cherries in one sitting I came up with this idea.  I'm sure glad I did, this Cordial Cherry Banana Smoothie is delicious.  

Ingredients:

- 3/4 cup vanilla yogurt

- 1/2 a frozen banana

- 2 cordial cherries

- 2 tablespoons of milk

Directions:

Fill a blender with the yogurt, frozen banana, cordial cherries, and milk.  Blend until everything is throughly combined.  Pour into a glass and enjoy!  

Not to pat myself on the back, but this is yummy!  I will definitely be making this again before this box of cherries disappears.  I need to freeze some more bananas!  

Happy Thirsty Thursday, chris!

Hot Milk Punch

Happy Thirsty Thursday!!  Today's recipe is Hot Milk Punch!  

Ingredients:

- a small shot of dark rum

- a tablespoon of honey

- a half tablespoon of powdered sugar

- milk

- ground nutmeg

Directions:

Begin by heating the milk in a small saucepan, add the honey to the warm milk.  Be sure to stir occasionally, and keep the milk from boiling or burning.  In a mug pour in the dark rum, powdered sugar, and ground nutmeg. When the milk is warm pour it into the mug, stir, and enjoy!  

This is a great night cap.  So yummy!!!  The only way this could get better would be if I had some peanut butter pillows leftover to dunk in.  

Hope ya'll are having a great night, and happy thirsty thursday, chris!!!!

Hot Buttered Rum

Ingredients:

- a shot of dark rum (high quality is recommended)

- 2 tablespoons of honey

- 1/2 tablespoon of butter (unsalted)

- hot water

- optional ground nutmeg

Directions:

Boil the water, and while you're waiting on that combine the other ingredients in a mug. 

Once the water is boiling pour into the mug.  Stir until the butter dissolves.

Add the nutmeg if you'd like, and enjoy.  This is a great drink for a cold night.  Definitely warms me up!  A great night cap, but you definitely want to use a great tasting rum, otherwise this wont taste all that great.  

Happy Thirsty Thursday, chris!

Mexican Hot Chocolate

Happy Thirsty Thursday!  Today I'm mixing up some Mexican Hot Chocolate.  

Ingredients:

- 2 triangles of Nestle's Abuelita Chocolate Drink Mix

- 1 1/2 cups of milk

- 1 tablespoon of honey

- 1 heaping tablespoon of peanut butter

Directions:

Begin by breaking off the triangles of authentic mexican chocolate drink mix, and pour the milk into a small saucepan.  Heat the pan on medium to low heat, stirring regularly.  Add the honey and peanut butter once most of the chocolate has dissolved. 

It takes about five minutes for all the chocolate to dissolve into the mixture.  Once everything has completely melted together you can pour into a mug, and enjoy.  This is the first time I tried adding peanut butter, and it was amazing.  I think I might be adding peanut butter from now on.

Hope ya'll are having a great week, and happy DIYing, chris!  

Hot Apple Cider Toddy

For today's Thirsty Thursday I will be sharing my recipe for a Hot Apple Cider Toddy.  Traditionally this is made with warm milk instead of Apple Cider, and in the past people would drink this before bed, or to help remedy a cold.  Nowadays we know that alcohol doesn't do much for helping ward off an infection, because it dehydrates our bodies too much.  So I thought making this with Apple Cider instead would make this a great drink for the cold winter months ahead.  

Ingredients:

- a shot of whiskey

- Apple Cider

- a Cinnamon stick 

- 2 -3 whole cloves

- a dash of ground nutmeg

- a tablespoon of honey

Directions:

Heat enough apple cider for one drink in a small sauce pan, and add the cinnamon stick, whole cloves, and ground nutmeg.  

In a glass (an irish coffee glass would be nice, but I don't own any) coat the bottom with the honey, and then pour the shot of whiskey over it.  Once the apple cider has warmed to the desired temperature, about 3 -5 minutes, pour into the glass.  You can keep the cloves, and cinnamon stick for in for garnish.  Stir and enjoy.  

Happy Thirsty Thursday, chris!  

Tequila Juice

Ingredients:

- a shot of high quality blanco Tequila

- a splash of grenadine

- a bit of lemon juice, and a lemon wedge for garnish

- 1/2 cup pineapple juice

- club soda

- maraschino cherry for garnish

Directions:

Pour the Tequila, grenadine, lemon and pineapple juice into a glass.  Add ice then fill the cup with club soda.  

Stir, and add the lemon wedge and maraschino cherry.  

Enjoy.  Happy Thirsty Thirsday, chris!

John Collins

Today I wanted to try another whiskey cocktail, and I found a recipe for a John Collins.  Closely related to the Tom Collins but with whiskey instead of gin.  

Ingredients:

- 1 1/2 shots of whiskey

- 1 shot of simple syrup

- the juice of half a small lemon

- club soda

- tangerine wedge

Directions:

In a glass pour in the whiskey, syrup, and squeeze in the lemon juice.  Drop a few ice cubes in, and pour the club soda in.  Top with an orange wedge or tangerine, because those are in seasonish.  I squeezed a little orange juice in there too for an extra citrus note.

Stir and enjoy.  Great flavor.  Not sure if it would be more fitting as a spring/summer drink, but it works as a summer into fall transition drink fo' sure.  Though it's been cold the past few days, so I guess fall is in full effect, and I'll have to start thinking about winter!  Well have a good night, and enjoy your Thirsty Thursday, chris.  

Cherry Apple

Today I made a cocktail I named the Cherry Apple.  

Ingredients:

- a shot of blanco tequila

- a splash of grenadine

- apple juice

Directions:

Pour a shot of good blanco tequila into a glass.  i used Herradura, which is super smooth, and has a great flavor.  Then a splash of grenadine.  A little goes a long way.  At this point you could add ice, but since we don't have any ice trays yet I had to skip this step.  So I filled the glass with apple juice, and enjoyed.  

As simple and maybe wrong as this might sound, it's really good.  I totally love the flavor of this drink.  It definitely tastes just like it sounds, Cherry Apple.  Yumm!  Hope you enjoy, and happy DIYing, chris!  

Old Fashioned Cocktail

I've been wanting to try an old fashioned for some time, but for some reason whenever I go to a bar I forget to order one.  This past weekend Aaron received some Maker's Mark 46 as a groom's men gift.  So what better time to try it out for myself?  I had all the ingredients but the bitters.  I more or less followed this recipe on Snackish. 

Ingredients:

- 1 teaspoon sugar

- 1 teaspoon water

- a couple dashes of bitters

- ice cubes

- 2 shots of whisky

- lemon rind

- maraschino cherries

Directions:

Measure out the sugar, water, and bitters into a tumbler.  Stir together until there is no tomorrow.  Make sure the sugar is completely dissolved.  Add ice.  Pour in the whisky. 

Arrange the cherries and lemon rind on a toothpick, and stir the drink.  Enjoy.  

Now to be honest I went a little crazy with the bitters, and I also added some lemon juice, so it was rather sour.  Next time I would barely add any bitters, it's a weird flavor.  A bit strong for my taste.  Definitely glad I tried this out, since it's one of the oldest cocktails out there.  This cocktail is pretty much what all others were spawned out of.  Or so I heard on the internet somewhere.  :)  

Have a great night, and happy DIYing, chris!

Lemon Watermelon Tequila

Happy Thirsty Thursday!  Today I have a recipe for a Lemon Watermelon Tequila.

Ingredients:

- a shot of tequila

- juice of half a lemon & a slice for garnish

- watermelon soda

Directions:

Pour the tequila into the glass.  Squeeze the lemon juice into the tequila.  Drop some ice cubes into the glass, and fill with watermelon soda.  Garnish with a lemon wedge or two.  

Stir and enjoy.  Simple drink, that doesn't overwhelm the tequila flavor, but is a nice spin off of the classic lemon and club soda with tequila cocktail.  

Have a lovely night, and happy DIYing, chris!