Election Day Cocktails: The Bad Hombre and The Nasty Woman

We're all going to need a drink on election day, right? Well, I've got two of them right here.

I'm not getting political, just having fun with some names that seemed perfect for cocktails, Bad Hombre and Nasty Woman.

They sound like drinks you'd find on a trendy bar menu, right? Heck, I'd be surprised if someone isn't already using them.

But these are my versions.

Either of these could be served as mocktails, of course, which is wise to do before you've voted. After voting, however, a cocktail might be appropriate as you watch the votes roll in.

And there's a third drink I've included as a bonus. Possibly for the day after the election. For celebration, to drown your sorrows, or, really, it's just for the fun of it.

And, since it's a party ... and maybe because you didn't cook anything because you were busy voting, I think some snacks make perfect sense. So I've got that, too.

Because I'm a food blogger, I get samples of a lot of stuff to review over on my review blog, but this time I decided to use some of those products to create cocktails and for the election day party.

I mean, they're here. Might as well use 'em, right?

If you're interested in the products, there's more information about them at the end of the post. Meanwhile, let's mix up some tasty drinkies, shall we?

The Bad Hombre

Bad Hombre evokes something a little sinister, spicy, and south-of-the-border, so I decided that peppers and chocolate had to be involved.

A boozy, spicy hot chocolate seemed perfect, but what about the liquor? I considered tequila, but opted for rum, instead.

Rather than adding the heat to the drink itself, I rimmed the glass with a chili-chocolate sugar.

Bad Hombre

Chile-chocolate sugar
1 ounce dark rum
Hot chocolate (your favorite) to fill glass

Wet the rim of the glass with a little bit of water. Dip it in the chili chocolate sugar.

Add the rum to the heatproof glass. Add hot chocolate to fill.

Get it while it's hot.

The Nasty Woman

I decided that this drink should be just a little sweet, but also tart. A little spicy. And not shy about the choice of alcohol. Whisky. 

For a garnish, I chose lemons sprinkled with a bit of flaky salt. Because a nasty woman would be a bit of a salty tart. Or a lot.

I mean, what the heck. Use half of a lemon as a garnish. Because, why not?

The base of the drink is a spiced cranberry and citrus juice.

Nasty Woman

1/2 lemon
Flaky salt
1 ounce Crown Royal (or your favorite)
Hot Ruby cranberry and citrus
Dash of flavored syrup from Cocktail and Sons

Cut a slice in that lemon so you can affix it to the side of the glass in a perky but slightly menacing manner. Sprinkle a little salt on the cut side.

Add the Crown Royal (or other favorite whisky) to the glass, then add a dash of the flavored syrup. I tried both the Demerara and the Honeysuckle and Peppercorn and couldn't decide which I liked better. Fill with the Hot Ruby,

Okay, if you want, you can add ice to the glass. Wimp.

Drink, refill, repeat, as necessary.

The Bigly

If you ask me, one of the best things that has come out of the debates is the word "bigly." Okay, I know it's not a word. Yet. But it will be a word. Or it should be a word. I'm an admitted word nerd, and I want to use that word as a reply to questions like, "Did that brownie recipe work out for you?"

And then I reply with just one word. "Bigly."

It's like Big-Time and Happily rolled into one. The brownies were awesome, it says.

"How did you do on the job interview?"

"Bigly."

"Did you like your birthday present?"

"Bigly"

I mean, seriously, I'm a little in love with it.

The Bigly

Get a BIG glass. Okay, let's be honest. I made this just because I wanted to use the giant glass.

Fill it with whatever you want to fill it with. Tears of joy or angst. Champagne or moonshine.

Party on, dude.

Stuff! I used STUFF!

Chili-Chocolate Sugar from Spiced Up.

They also sent a cute little metal stirrer. It's adorable!

Lemons from Limoneira

These aren't the same as lemons I've bought at the store. More lemon, less bitter.

Flaky Salt from New Zealand

I used the regular salt, but the chipotle or mesquite would have been interesting, too.

Hot Ruby

This is different. It's like a mulled wine, but non-alcoholic, with cranberry and citrus. It can be served warm or chilled. I've been drinking it plain, but it was awesome in a cocktail.

Flavored Syrups from Cocktail and Sons

They sent syrups, switchel, and a ready-to-drink haymaker's punch. I'm sure you'll see more cocktails using these in the future.

Gift Basket from iGourmet

This had some fun stuff in it that would be perfect to dive into and snack on along with the cocktails. This basket had pate, sausage, peppers, little toasts, sweet little peppers ... and it all came in a cute basket. They've got other baskets to choose from, but I loved this. The sausage is already gone.

Proper Crisps and Some Sweets from New Zealand

The same folks who sent me the New Zealand salts also sent me some awesome chips and some sweets using manuka honey as well. If you can find those chips anywhere, I recommend them. The candies are really nice, too. I like having one or two after dinner. Just YUM.

Thanks to all the companies who sent me goodies to sample! This was way more fun than it should have been.

Yum

Cranapple Fizz Cocktail

It might be the season of the pumpkin spice latte, but I like cranberry flavors much better.

Cranberry might not be the best match for your coffee, but it makes a nice cocktail, and it can be used in pie, ice cream, jam, chutney ... so many things.

The perfect friend for cranberry is apple, and Smirnoff combined those two flavors in their new Smirnoff Sourced Cranberry Apple. It's pretty tasty stuff, so you don't need to do a lot with it to make a cocktail.

Which is great.

I like tasty cocktails, but I don't get excited about mixing a ton of different ingredients to make a single cocktail in the evening. Because that's what I usually have. Just one.

Life is just a bowl of ... frozen cranberries?

The clove in this cocktail adds that nice holiday flavor that is so familiar. If you're measuring out one or two cocktails the day before you'll be serving, it's simple enough to count the cloves.

On the other hand, if you're planning on flavoring a lot of cocktails or making drinks by the pitcher, you can just put 1/4 cup of whole cloves in the bottle and let it steep for a day or more. The flavor gets stronger the longer it sits, so it's a good idea to taste it occasionally and remove the cloves when you like the flavor.

I briefly considered using some whole cloves as part of a garnish - stuck into an apple slice, for example. But no one really wants to bite into a whole clove, so I nixed the idea. The cranberries on top are a pretty nice garnish, and they keep the cocktail cool.

If you like super-tart things, you can eat those fresh cranberries used for the garnish. But beware. They're crazy tart.

Cranapple Fizz Cocktail

1 ounce Smirnoff Sourced Cranberry Apple
2 whole cloves
Whole frozen cranberries
Sparking or plain lemonade, chilled, as needed

The night before (or at least a few hours before) you want to make your cocktail, measure out the amount of Smirnoff Sourced you will need and add 2 whole cloves per ounce of the Smirnoff.

You can also make this well in advance and just let it steep in a closed container. Strain the cloves out before using the Smirnoff Sourced.

Put a few frozen cranberries into a martini-sized glass or something similar. Or a few more cranberries. As many as you like. The cranberries make a nice garnish and also help keep the drink chilled.

Add the strained Smirnoff Sourced, then fill with the sparkling lemonade (or plain lemonade, if you prefer).

If you don't happen to have prepared lemonade, you can simply add lemon, to taste, along with plain or sparkling water.

Serve chilled.

This post was sponsored by Smirnoff.

Yum

Pineapple Ginger Blonde Shandy

Do you know what a shandy is?

No, not a shanty. A shandy.

A shandy is a beer cocktail, often made with a fizzy soda or a juice of some sort. It's lighter in alcohol, since it's generally only half beer, and it offers a whole lot of different flavor options.

The nice folks at Guinness challenged me to make a shandy with their Guinness Blonde beer, so I figured I'd give it a whirl. I wanted something that was a little sweet, but not to much. Maybe a little spice. Maybe not orange juice, because that's a pretty common ingredient.

I wanted something refreshing rather than heavy, but not so lightweight that it was watery. Something that would work over ice or not. Something easy to make by the glass.

They sent me (along with some Guinness Blonde) a pretty pitcher and some glasses. But I didn't really want to make a whole pitcher of shandy. I mean, it's just me here. I'm not that thirsty.

One glass at a time was my goal, because I didn't want to lose the fizz.

So I started fiddling around. What could I make?

In the end, I decided that pineapple juice concentrate would add nice flavor. Since I didn't dilute it to drinking consistency, the pineapple held its own against the other ingredients.

Then I wanted something fizzy and chose ginger beer. The non-alcoholic stuff. It has a stronger ginger bite than you'll find in ginger ale. But hey, if you can't find ginger beer, then ginger ale would work, too.

See, I'm making it easy.

Pineapple Ginger Blonde Shandy

Generous spoon of pineapple juice concentrate (about 2 tablespoons)
1/2 bottle Guinness Blonde
1/2 can ginger beer

Put the pineapple juice concentrate into a glass and add the beer and ginger ale. Eyeball it - it's not that critical. Stir and serve. With a straw, if you like.

On a hot day, I'd suggest starting this with a glass full of ice, which means you'll probably be using 1/3 or even 1/4 of the bottle of beer and the can of ginger beer.

See, it's a nice light cocktail. Did I mention refreshing? Yes, I think I did.

Cheers!

Thanks to the nice folks at Guinness for sponsoring this post and providing products as well.

Yum

Tiki Cocktails ... and where have I been?

Tiki glasses on Amazon.

If you are a regular reader of this blog (yes, you over there in the corner), you might have noticed that I've been awfully quiet lately.

It's not that I've given up on blogging. And it's certainly not that I've given up eating. Instead, it's that I've been so busy that I haven't had time to create any new recipes for the blog.

All my deadlines for other publications collided, and I've been cooking and writing and interviewing and being interviewed. I even had a photographer from the Denver Post come to my house to take photos.

I've been juggling projects, with multiple things in multiple pots, many of which don't fit together as an actual meal.

But, really, that's normal for me. I usually have days or weeks when I can cook and write for the blog, and maybe even write a few days or a week ahead. Then come the deadlines for other publications I write for. Pretty soon I have risotto in the one pot and pasta in another. Or three desserts. Or four breads.

So, I should be used to the rush, right? But this time, it's different.

Not only am I slammed with writing work, but I'm also slammed with other work. You see, my mother-in-law decided to move back to Chicago where most of her family is. Since I'm the remaining family member here in Colorado, I helped her with the move. Had her over when her house was being shown. Held her hand when she talked to the real estate agent. Helped her sort. Helped her pack. Talked her down from a couple crisis moments.

She left town with two carry-on bags for the plane trip, and there were three 2-foot-cube cardboard boxes with everything else she wanted to take with her. Think about that. Three boxes that were 24 inches by 24 inches by 24 inches. Three. Boxes. That's it.

The rest of her belongings - furniture, artwork, junk, dishes, cooking equipment, old office equipment (hello, typewriter!), Christmas decorations, more Christmas decorations, blankets, shoes, sheets, towels, (did I mention Christmas decorations?) and even some pretty nice clothes - were left behind.

And now I'm sorting through all of it to get it ready for an estate sale. I've unboxed Christmas and put it on display. I've moved things out of the basement and into the garage. I've moved things from closet to kitchen. I've sorted through boxes and bags and drawers and cabinets.

It's been exhausting and interesting. I've found things I didn't know she had, and I've found a few trinkets that I'm going to keep.

Meanwhile, all of that has kept me away from blogging. Or making any recipes for the blog at all.

Until last night. I got home at a reasonable hour, heated up some leftovers (recipe destined for somewhere other than the blog) and decided that I'd better mow the lawn. But when I went to the garage, I saw that the battery wasn't charged, so I couldn't mow if I wanted to. Oh well.

I cleaned up the kitchen mess and then glared at the bananas that I recently bought. They were weird bananas, I tell ya. Not the normal ones. These were fatter and the skin was thicker. The inside was a little mealier and starchy, and they weren't quite as sweet or banana-y. They weren't plantains, but they certainly weren't the variety of banana that I love. I ate one, but couldn't stand the idea of choking down more of them as-is.

What to do? Banana bread? Banana smoothie? Or ... hmmmm. I felt like I deserved a break. Cocktail time!

So this happened:

Bad Banana

1 banana, peeled
1 cup orange juice
1 tray of ice cubes (Yes, I know this isn't an accurate measure. Use as much ice as you like)
1 1/2 ounces banana rum (or any rum you like - pineapple rum would be good, too.)

Put it all in your blender (I used a Vitamix) and blend until smooth.

If you're in the mood to do so, garnish with an orange slice, some pineapple cubes, or anything that seems tropical and fun. Paper umbrella optional but amusing.

Pour into a glass, insert straw, and relax.

Yum

Black Walnut Extract

Black walnuts are hard to open, expensive, and they have a relatively short shelf life. When I bought a whole lot of black walnuts for an article I was working on a while back, I made a few recipes with the nuts, but then ... I was done.

I had eaten enough black-walnut-flavored baked goods, and I was ready to move on.

I could have frozen the rest of them, of course, but sometimes things that go into the freezer disappear. The big things, sure I know they're there. But a little bag of walnuts could vanish.

So ... I decided to make an extract.

Or it could be a liqueur. It's good for baking or for use in cocktails. Wherever you want to add that black walnut flavor..

Black Walnut Extract

2 cups chopped black walnuts
1/2 cup sugar
Vodka, as needed

Put the walnuts and sugar into a quart jar. Add vodka to fill the jar up to the neck. I used Smirnoff Honey because it's what I had and I figured the honey flavor would be compatible. A plain vodka would be jut as good.

Put the lid on the jar and shake until sugar is dissolved, Or, you know, shake it occasionally, until the sugar is dissolved. You don't need to shake like crazy to get it all dissolved right away.

Stash the jar in your pantry or another out-of-the-way spot and let it sit for at least a month. Or more.

Strain the walnuts from the liquid. You can use the walnuts in baking, if you like, but keep in mind that they've absorbed quite a bit of alcohol and they're pretty potent.

Strain the liquid again through several layers of cheesecloth or a coffee filter for a completely clear liquid. Transfer to a bottle or jar for storage.

Yum

To All the Moms - A Banana Baileys "Milkshake"

Mother's Day has always been a weird one for me. To say that my mom and I didn't get along well is an understatement.

If my mother had been a species of fish, she would have been the type that eats as many of its young as possible, as soon as they are born. It's good for those species in the evolutionary sense, since only the strong survive. The weaker fish, and the unlucky ones, help to nourish mom, I guess.

That comparison isn't much of an exaggeration. My twin, as well as my aborted twin brothers, two years older than I, were not survivors.

Meanwhile, my mother spent a lot of her pregnancy with me trying to deny she was pregnant. At first, I was menopause. The doctor was wrong, she said. She obviously couldn't be pregnant. Or could she?

When it became apparent that I was still hanging on, mom had dreams that my deceased grandmother was trying to hand me to her, but mom didn't want me. In the dreams, she tried to refuse to take me from grandmother, over and over again.

Even though mom tried to refuse to take me from my grandmother's arms, that wasn't enough to stop me from being born. And just like that ... I turned a woman into a mother.

That's not to say that my entire childhood was hell. Mom taught me lots of fun things, like how to play poker for money, how to bet on horses at the race track, and how to pick out the brand of whiskey she liked. I became a regular at the grocery store and drugstore, buying whiskey and cigarettes for mom, long before I was old enough to write my name in cursive.

She taught me many things unintentionally. I learned that fall-down-drunkenness was unattractive and disgusting. I learned that I never wanted to be so dependant on a substance that I would search through filthy ash trays to find a cigarette butt that was long enough to light.

I learned how to block out distractions because of her need to always have noise in the tiny apartment. I learned how to ignore the constant babble of TV and radio when reading or doing homework. I learned how to listen with half my attention while thinking about other things.

Now, I can actually watch television, listen to the dialog, and type completely different words at the same time. The downside to this talent is that sometimes I need the distraction of television when I need to do a lot of writing.

Mom, in her single days.

It could be worse.

I learned that when people tell you things, even if they earnestly believe them, these things are not always true. "They say that ..." is not proof that something is true, and "I don't believe in that!" is not a logical way to refute facts. I learned how to look things up and come to own conclusions.

These days, I spend a lot of time looking things up.

I learned that even if mom trusts someone, that person might not be trustworthy. Some people are pure evil in friendly-neighbor's clothing, and sometimes trusting your gut is best.

I learned that not all bad people go to jail or are even arrested or prosecuted.

Sometimes one has to hope that karma is enough.

I learned that the only person who can keep a secret is the person whose secret it is. Once the first person hears the secret, it is free to spread to neighbors, relatives, and even to the mom of your first-grade crush at a PTA meeting while your first-grade crush hides behind his mom's skirt. Literally.

I learned that liars are not as adept at lying as they think they are, and I learned to spot tells. Sneaky liars seldom get past me. Regular liars are totally transparent.

Speaking of lies, my dad had the good sense to never put me in a position where I would feel stuck between telling the lie my mother told me to tell, or being honest with him. If he knew my mom told me to lie and say we were at the grocery store instead of the bar, he wouldn't ask me.

Mom and Dad. Awwww ... newlyweds.

I learned that telling the truth was the easiest thing to do. Liars have to remember their lies, and which versions they told to which person. If you tell the truth, you only need to remember one thing.

I learned that a lot of people lie when they don't want to answer a question, and I figured out that I didn't have to answer every question asked of me. I didn't have to tell my secrets and let them into the world.

When confronted with questions I didn't want to answer, I grew confident enough to say, "Sorry, but that's private," or "I'm not really comfortable discussing that," or "Now is not a good time to talk about that."

Or, "If my husband didn't tell you, then I'll honor his decision not to reveal those things."

I learned not to rely on other people to make me happy. When, on the evening of my 16th birthday, my mother told me that I was too old for birthdays, I was devastated. I had hoped for a Sweet 16 surprise. Maybe a party. How about a cake after dinner, with candles? As the day wore on, my expectations grew lower. I would have settled for a card. But all I got was the announcement that I was too old for birthdays.

So, I decided that on my birthday from that year forward, I would buy something for myself, or do something for myself that was special. I continued that tradition well into adulthood. Most years, I got cards or presents from others. But I knew I didn't have to count on them to treat me well. I was allowed to do things for myself, because I deserved it.

I learned that I should not give someone money for safekeeping, or loan it to them, if it would bother me that I never saw the money again. Birthday money, spare change collected for carrying the neighbor's groceries, and nickels saved from redeeming soda bottles found on the street was said to be "safely put away" for me in mom's bank account. By now, it should be worth a tidy sum, right?

Because of my mom, I learned how to cook without recipes. When I was an adult and mom refused to give me the recipes I remembered from childhood, I figured them out based on my memory of the flavors. I became confident at creating my own recipes and replicating others that I tasted. I guess you might say that she's at least partly responsible for me becoming a food blogger.

Not quite the same smile after I came along.

I learned about marriage from mom's friends and relatives. Some were married and remarried with frightening regularity. They had ugly divorces in between, and bad relationships with many exes. I knew I didn't want that. Others stayed married even though their husbands were abusive. I knew I didn't want that, either.

I knew, without a doubt, that I didn't want to be like my mother. She was my role model of who not to be.

When mom broke her hip and decided not to do physical therapy or help herself get better, I watched her long decline. I took care of her, and I took care of her dwindling finances. For the first time, I wished that I had siblings to help bear the burden. And then she was gone.

I was sad, mostly for the fact that we never had the sort of relationship other people had with their mothers. She wasn't my friend, my mentor, or my idol. She was the woman who gave birth to me, and who consequently gave me enough care so I could grow up and move out.

This isn't a sad story. I have no regrets. My mom made me strong, inquisitive, skeptical, and independent. She made me a survivor.

But still, when Mother's Day rolls around and my friends talk about how wonderful their mothers are or how sad they are that their mothers are gone ... I feel a bit of loss. Not that she's gone, but that I never had the sort of mother that I would actually miss.

So if you had a mother who was your friend, inspiration, and confidante, be happy that you had her in your life. If your mom is still your best buddy or if she now needs your help and support, enjoy your time with her.

And if your mom was like mine, celebrate that you were one of the strong little fish that grew up to be the person you are today.

Thanks, mom. This one's for you.

Baileys Banana Milkshake
For the record, my mom would have hated this drink. This is all about the flavor. She preferred whiskey and water for maximum kick and minimum fuss.

1 ripe banana
1 generous cup ice cubes
1 1/2 ounces Baileys Irish Cream
2 ounces heavy cream (you could use milk, if you like)
Tiny pinch of salt

Place all the ingredients in a blender (salt is optional, but it enhances the banana flavor), and blend until smooth. In a Vitamix (which is what I used) turn the knob to the frozen/ice cream setting and just let it do its thing.

Serve, slurp, enjoy.

You can make a non-alcoholic version by swapping the Baileys for milk or even water. You could simply eliminate it, but the extra liquid makes blending easier.

Yum

Bourbon-Lime Fajitas - and a cocktail to match!

The Kentucky Derby is approaching, which means bourbon is the liquor of choice for those who like tradition. Of course, there are also foods that are typical, but I decided to something ... less traditional.

I suppose I could have made a Kentucky Hot Brown ... but I was in the mood for fajitas. And bourbon marinated beef sounded awfully good. I used Four Roses Bourbon, which was provided by this post's sponsor.

The longer you marinate, the more flavor the meat will soak up.

Meanwhile, the cocktail has the same flavors, which makes them the perfect pair. Or, you know, make one or the other.

Ginger beer is getting easier to find these days, so use it if you can find it. It's similar to ginger ale, but with a sharper, more ginger-forward flavor. A more adult soda, perhaps. If you can't find ginger beer, of course you can use your favorite ginger ale.

Bourbon-Lime Fajitas

1 pound skirt steak
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon Four Roses Bourbon
1 tablespoon lime juice
Salt, to taste
2 cups mixed sliced bell peppers and onions
Flour tortillas
Sour cream, yogurt, or crema
Sliced avocado

Combine the steak, olive oil, bourbon, lime juice, and salt in a zip-top bag. Massage the bag a bit to get the meat evenly coated. Let the meat sit at room temperature for an hour, or refrigerate up to 24 hours before cooking.

When you're ready to cook, heat a grill pan or cast iron pan on medium-high heat. Cook the skirt steak until done to your liking. Set aside to rest before slicing.

Meanwhile, cook the peppers and onions - you can cook in the same pan - until done to your liking - they're fine cooked crisp-tender, or until they're cooked through.

Serve the fajita ingredients separately, so people can assemble their own. Or serve the fajitas assembled on flour tortillas with meat, peppers and onions, sliced avocado, and a small dollop of sour cream.

Bourbon, Lime and Ginger Cocktail

1 ounce Four Roses Bourbon
1/2 ounce lime juice
Ginger beer, as needed
Mint sprig, to garnish

Fill a glass or mug with ice. Add the bourbon and lime juice. Fill the glass with ginger beer and garnish with a spring of fresh mint.

Thanks to Four Roses Bourbon for sponsoring this post.

Yum

Tropical Slushie

The weather here hasn't made up its mind yet. One day it's sunny and 70, and the next, we have predictions of snow flurries. I waffle between want to make soup and thinking about churning ice cream.

Summer isn't here, winter won't leave, and spring has completely let go of the rudder and is letting this seasonal ship lurch from one temperature range to another.

This cocktail reminds me of summer weather, beaches, tropics ... warm things. But that doesn't mean I have to drink it during warm weather - these flavors are welcome when there's a chill in the air, too. I mean, who doesn't want to think about summer when spring is threatening to spit snow at you?

Thanks to Smirnoff for continuing to support this blog.

Tropical Slushie
Makes 2 drinks

1 ripe banana
1 1/2 cups orange juice (or any orange/tropical blend)
3 ounces Smirnoff Sourced Pineapple flavor
1 generous cup ice

Place all ingredients in your blender and blend until smooth. The drink is likely to separate in layers as it sits, so portion it into two glasses before that happens. Serve with straws.

If you're into garnishing, a wheel of fresh orange or a skewer of fresh pineapple would be lovely.

Products and companies I love:
The FTC says that bloggers should disclose their relationship with companies, including when a blogger has purchased a product from a company where a previous relationship existed. I've worked with a lot of companies in a lot of different ways over the years, (some sponsored posts, and some products sent for review) and I continue to use - and buy - products from these companies because I like the products.

For this post, products from companies I have (or had) a relationship with are liquor from Smirnoff, Ball drinking jars, a Vitamix blender, Casabella ice cube trays, and straws from Bambu.

Yum

Peligroso Orange Margaritas

A while back, I got a free bottle of Peligroso tequila. It's a cinnamon-flavored tequila, which I thought was a little strange when I first heard about it. But it's actually quite good.

Peligroso, by the way, means "dangerous" according to the wonders of online translation.

As much as I liked the tequila as-is over ice, for some reason I had a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of making a cocktail with it. When I think of tequila, I immediately think of lime - for a traditional margarita. But then the cinnamon ... it just didn't seem to match with lime. Not in my head at least.

But then I juiced a couple of oranges while I was testing a gadget I got, and the orange juice was sitting there, staring at me. Oranges go with cinnamon. And it goes just fine with tequila.

Bingo!

The funny thing is that after tasting it, I thought it needed just a little bit of lime juice. But just a little.

I'm not a salted rim sort of gal, but feel free to salt the rim of your glass, if you like. If I had another orange sitting around, I might have garnished this with a slice of orange. But in the end, a straw was actually all I needed.

Peligroso Orange Margarita

3/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
3/4 cup ice cubes
1 1/2 ounces Peligroso Cinnamon Tequila
1 tablespoon lime juice

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Note: I have a Vitamix now, so I got a super-smooth puree with no trouble. I've found that with other blenders, it often works best if you blend the ice first, then add the other ingredients. Otherwise, you can sometimes end up with a chunky, icy drink rather than a smooth one.

Serve.

You can salt the rim or garnish with a slice of orange, if desired.

I received the tequila at no cost to me, but I was not required to make or publish a recipe.

Yum

Chocolate Mint Day! Celebrate with a Homemade Chocolate Mint Liqueur!

Food holidays are certainly amusing, right? There's one or more for every day, plus weekly and monthly holidays. Not to mention that there are foods associated with holiday holidays.

Today is Chocolate Mint Day, which is a combination that I can certainly get behind. I like chocolate, I like mint, and for sure I like them together.

This liqueur is similar to the other cream liqueurs that you can buy, but it's easy and for sure much less inexpensive to make. Stir up a bottle of this and keep it refrigerated. It won't last long.

If you can't find the chocolate sweetened condensed milk, you can use regular sweetened condensed milk, then add chocolate syrup to taste. But I do suggest that you try to find the chocolate sweetened condensed - when you use chocolate syrup, the chocolate tends to settle and you need to shake before serving.

Not a huge problem, but one you won't have with the chocolate sweetened condensed. It tends to stay mixed rather than settling.

Brancamenta, if you're not familiar with it, is a minty-herby liqueur that's not as sweet as some other minty liqueurs, and it has a lovely herbal flavor. It's perfect for this, and lovely with mild-flavored fizzy sodas as well.

Homemade Chocolate Mint Liqueur
Makes about 1 quart

1 14-ounce can chocolate sweetened condensed milk
1 12-ounce can evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups Brancamenta
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients and shake or stir to combine. Serve 3- or 4-ounce servings straight up or on the rocks.

This post was sponsored by the folks who make Brancanmenta.

Yum

Have a Godiva Cocktail for Valentine's Day

Did you know that besides making chocolate, Godiva also makes a chocolate liqueur? What better ingredient could there be for a Valentine's drink, hmmm?

While this stuff is pretty spectacular on its own, straight-up or over ice, it also works well in cocktails. But - I have to say - it really doesn't need much!

The heavy cream here is for presentation - it floats easily to make a pristine white layer on top of the drink.

 If you prefer something less rich and don't care about having a layered presentation, you can add milk to the cocktail to make it less rich, or simply add the syrup for the flavor.

The syrup I used is the same sort that's used to flavor coffee.

If you prefer, you could use a fruity flavor, like raspberry, or any other flavor you like with chocolate. Caramel, rum, or butterscotch would be fun.

Nutty Godiva

1 1/2 ounces Godiva chocolate liqueur, cold
1/2 tablespoon heavy cream
1 teaspoon almond or hazelnut syrup

Pour the Godiva liqueur into a small glass. Mix the cream with the syrup and gently pour over the top. Serve.

I received product for my use in creating this cocktail.

Yum

Choco-Mint Cocktails!

How about a little Friday cocktail to get the weekend rolling?

This time around, my friends at Smirnoff sent me a festive striped bottle of peppermint vodka to slurp up. Er, I mean to have fun with in the kitchen. It's a little sweet, but not syrupy-sweet, which I liked.

Oh, and the bottle is scratch-n-sniff. Heh. I love the scent of peppermint, so that totally amused me.

The first thing I thought of was an adult hot chocolate with mint, but for some reason I kept thinking that it would be even more fun as cold cocktail. Not icy, but ... well, adult chocolate milk.

Yes, sometimes I'm just a big kid. And adding vodka to the glass gave me an excuse to have a glass of chocolate milk while I was watching television. Oh, and this stuff goes GREAT with cookies. You know, in case you want to leave some for Santa.

The perfect garnish for this is a candy cane, if you happen to have some on hand. No matter what chocolate syrup I use, there's always some chocolate that settles to the bottom of the glass, and a candy cane is perfect for stirring.

Unfortunately, the candy canes I had were a little too tall for the reindeer glass. But ... I had to have the reindeer glass for the photos!

You could, if you wanted to, add ice cubes to this, or let it freeze then blend it up to make a slushie cocktail. Or, warm it for that hot chocolate cocktail.

The vanilla extract is optional here, but I like the warm undertone the vanilla gives to the drink, while the peppermint has a more cooling effect.

Choco-Mint Cocktail

Isn't that reindeer mug cute?

1 ounce chocolate syrup (or to taste)
4-8 ounces cold milk (depending on how thirsty you are!)
1 1/2 ounces Smirnoff Peppermint Twist vodka
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Candy cane, for garnish (optional)

Combine the chocolate syrup and milk in a glass, adding the chocolate to taste. Seriously, make it like you're making chocolate milk - and the milk amount - yeah, add enough to fill the glass you choose, with enough room for the vodka. I'm so precise, right?

Stir to combine chocolate with syrup ... add more chocolate if you like. Mmmm. Add the Smirnoff Peppermint Twist vodka and the vanilla extract and give it another little stir.

Garnish with a candy cane, if desired.

Yum.

Thanks to my friends at Smirnoff (and related companies) for supplying me with cocktail ingredients all year long! Cheers!

Yum

Cran-Apple Holiday Punch #FourRoses

I can remember making punch in an actual punch bowl, usually with sherbet or some fruit frozen into an ice ring. These days, I'm more likely to serve punch from a pitcher for less-messy serving.

And the sherbet is gone, too, since I prefer drinks that are less sweet. This one gets its tartness from cranberry juice and its sweetness from frozen apple juice concentrate. Fizziness comes from seltzer water - or you could use club soda or tonic water, if you like them better.

Serve over plenty of ice.

Cran-Apple Holiday Punch

Makes 12 10-ounce servings

2 quarts cranberry juice

12 ounces frozen apple juice concentrate

1 1/2 cup Four Roses Bourbon

1 orange, cut into wedges

1 lemon, sliced into rounds

2 cinnamon sticks

1 quart seltzer water, club soda, or tonic water

Combine the cranberry juice, apple concentrate, Four Roses bourbon, orange wedges, lemon slices, and cinnamon sticks in a large pitcher. Let the punch rest, refrigerated, for at least an hour before serving.

Add the sparkling water just before serving, so you don't lose the fizz. Or, if you prefer, you can add the sparkling water to each glass at serving time.

Serve in glasses, with ice.

This post was sponsored by Four Roses bourbon.

Yum