Thursday, August 12, 2010

Meteor Showers = stars = star fruit drink

Tonight and Tomorrow there will be the Perseid Meteor Shower. Essentially, 100+ meteors per hours will light our skies. If you can find a dark location free from the busy city lights you can enjoy this spectacular phenomena with a bevvie and good company.

I hope to take my hubby and perhaps even the kiddo up to a local park where there is no hustle and bustle of lights and people.

"Can we pretend that airplanes, in the night sky are like shooting stars, I could really use a wish right now, wish right now..."

Now you can wish on REAL "shooting stars"

You can read more about the showers here but what I want to talk about is what I enjoy most...

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Speaking of stars, Star fruit is the cutest way to garnish any drink. Slice is in it's star shape and place on the rim of a glass or even floating in the drink so when you take a sip you see the star shaped fruit.


Here is what you need to know:
Best to buy
Star fruit, or carambola, is available all year long.

Cut & clean
Star fruit does not need to be peeled. Simply rinse under cool water and slice.

The star of your next salad
When sliced, star fruit’s unique shape adds beauty, style, and a sweet, tangy flavor to cocktails, and fruit or vegetable salads. They make a great, edible garnish as well.

Power food
Star fruit is an excellent source of vitamin C.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Spiked Watermelon

This summer treat is my most favourite thing....


It's simple enough... Let me explain....

First, find the perfect watermelon... I get a big one and use half as "Mommy's Treat" and half for the family to enjoy sans booze.

Here's how to pick the best watermelon:

So how do you pick the perfect melon? Some people try their luck with a pick-and-go method. It’s like a drive by watermelon-napping. Picking one up and shaking it never works. Some people just lack the confidence to pick a good one and go for the pre-cut, pre-packaged watermelon. Pitiful, to say the least.

Next time you find yourself on a watermelon hunt, refer to the following tips to nab a sweet one.

When picking the right melon one should:

First check its shape. Symmetry is the key.

Pay attention to its weight. Watermelons are mostly water so a heavier melon means a juicier melon.

Press the skin of the watermelon in various places of its surface. A good melon will not have any soft spots. Get one that’s as hard as a rock.

Notice the color. A darker green color outside offers a sweeter melon inside.

To check for ripeness, look for the sweet spot. Search for a yellow spot on the melon. This is where it sat during its growth period. The yellowish color indicates ripeness.

Lastly, smack it like it’s a bongo drum. Listen for an empty drum-like sound. Like a “Toom-Toom” sound. If it just makes a dense thud sound, set it down and test another one.

That’s it, simple enough. You can now confidently pick out a delicious watermelon for all to enjoy, perfect for the summer heat.

Bring your watermelon home and chop up what you need.

I cut just the edible part to marinade (why waste booze in the rind)

Put in a tupperware container with a few shots of booze and some water (enough to submerge the melon, I usually do a quarter of the container in alcohol and the rest water for a fresh taste that isn't too overwhelming)

Put lid on and refridgerate for an hour or so. (Sometimes I eat right away but the longer you leave it the more saturated the melon is in boozey deliciousness)

Note - Do not leave more than a day, it gets soggy and starts to go bad in my experience.

Eat!!!


I personally love Snirinoff Green Apple Vodka as my alcohol of choice, the apple tastes great with the melon.

You can add more alcohol than water if you wish but I did all booze the first time and it was too potent to enjoy (but got me hammered pretty quickly)

If you are just wanting a refreshing snack, use more water than alcohol.

Mix it up and try different flavours.

This is my own version of spiked watermelon after too many wasted and messy whole watermelons spiked (with the hole cut in the melon and the booze dripping in it over night)

My way is faster and more of a marinade :)

The best on a hot day - delicious, sweet, refreshing!

Just keep it away from the kids (lke jello shots, I always keep the boozey ones out of kids reach and ensure the children have their own alcohol free versions!!)

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Green Apple-Pear Martini

I went to a friends last week and brought my usual "booze travel bag" with my mini-martini shaker and all the ingredients for that night's specific drink feature.

-sliced green apples
-grey goose vodka
-green apple smirinoff
-pear absolut
-apple juice
-ice

I mixed an oz. of grey goose an oz. of smirinoff and an oz. of absolut and an oz. of apple juice over ice in the shaker.

Served in a chilled martini glass with a green apple slice garnish - delish!

Busy Lives

I have let real life take over, and although it has involved plenty of drinking, I haven't posted about it.

That will soon change.

Stay tuned for lot's of boozey-delicious posts

Cheers