Technology Burn...

I'm so frustrated! Every time I try and attach a picture to my blog my whole Chrome browser crashes and burns! I now remember why I haven't blogged for a while... Sorry folks! I want to post pics from our Europe trip and some pics from Halloween and probably some pics of our kitty because he's cute. I'll have my tech guy work on this problem tonight! I really am trying, I swear!

xoxo,
Lisa

Cocktail Anyone?!?

This is random but I found my old cocktail cheat sheet from my LA restaurant days! It is a list of the most commonly ordered cocktails. You may notice that there aren't any measurement and that is because ever glass is a different size and everyone likes drinks mixed the way they like drinks mixed... But I can give you these tips: 1. For a cocktail on the rocks, fill the glass with ice first and pack it! That way the drink won't fall short and that's just how the pro's do it! 2. Most cocktails are 1.5 oz or 2 oz of liquor and the rest filled with mixer. So for the first drink on the list Madras (for example), you'd fill your collins glass with ice, add 1.5 oz vodka and equal parts Cranberry and Orange Juice to almost fill the glass. Easy! 3. If you want to be exact just fill your martini glass, collins glass or whatever glass you have with water (and ice) and pour out an ounce at a time to see how many ounces it holds! 4. There are NO RULES, just go for it! Enjoy!

Basic Cocktail List ('On The Rocks'): 

Madras: Vodka, Cranberry Juice, Orange Juice

Bay Breeze: Vodka, Cranberry Juice, Pineapple Juice

Sea Breeze: Vodka, Cranberry Juice, Grapefruit Juice

Cape Cod: Vodka, Cranberry Juice, Lime Wedge

Greyhound: Vodka, Grapefruit Juice

Cuba Libre: Rum & Coke with a Lime Wedge

Fuzzy Navel: Vodka, Peach Schnapps, OJ

Mai Tai: White Rum, Pineapple Juice, OJ, Grenadine, Float of Dark Rum

Tom Collins: Gin or Vodka, Sweet & Sour Mix, Soda Water

Sex on the Beach: Vodka, Peach Schnapps, Pineapple Juice, Cranberry Juice

Screwdriver: Vodka, OJ

Tequila Sunrise: Tequila, OJ, Grenadine

7 and 7: Seagrams 7 (Whiskey) and 7up, Lemon Wedge

Gimlet: Gin or Vodka and Lime Juice (Roses Lime or Fresh squeezed  or both)

Kamikaze: 3/4 oz of each: Vodka, Triple Sec, Lime Juice (Rose's or Fresh Squeezed or a little of both)

Margarita: 1.5oz Tequila, 3/4oz Triple Sec, Fresh Lime Juice, fill with Sweet & Sour

Side Car: 2oz Brandy, 1/2oz Triple Sec, 1/2oz Lemon Juice

White Russian: Vodka, Kahlua, fill with cream

Black Russian: Vodka, Kahlua

Negroni: Equal parts Compari, Gin, & Sweet Vermouth

French Connection: Courvosier, Grand Marnier

Rusty Nail: Scotch, Drambuie

Melon Ball: Vodka, Midori, OJ

Scooby Snack: Malibu Rum, Midori, Pineapple Juice, Cream (on the rocks or a shot)

Colorado Bulldog: Vodka, Kahlua, Cream, Coke

Irish Car Bomb: Half Pint of Guinness, shot of Irish Cream & Irish Whisky dropped in & chugged.

Highball drinks (Basically they have more mixer in them so they need to be in a bigger glass)

Long Island Iced Tea: Vodka, Tequila, White Rum, Triple Sec, Gin, Sweet & Sour Mix, & Coke with a cherry & Lemon Wedge

Bloody Mary: Vodka, Tomato Juice or Mary Mix, dash of Worcester Sauce, dash of Tabasco, dash of fresh Lemon Juice, pepper, Salt rim on glass, garnish with celery and/or olives, lemon or lime, cheese, onions, whatever you like to eat in your drink!

Coffee Cocktails (Served Hot):

Keoke Coffee: Kahlua, Brandy, Coffee

Mexican Coffee: Tequila Kahlua, Coffee

Irish Coffee: Bushmills, Baileys, Coffee

Martini's (Served 'Up' in a Martini Glass):

Traditional Martini: Can be made with Gin or Vodka. Can be served 'Up' = in a chilled martini glass or 'On The Rocks' = over ice. It's usually garnished with olives but can be served with a twist of lemon, or cocktail onions (which is called a 'Gibson'), Dirty = adding some brine juice from the olive jar, Dry = little or no vermouth.  

Cosmopolitan: Vodka, Triple Sec, Cranberry Juice, Lime Juice with Lime Wedge

Lemon Drop: Vodka, Lemon Juice, Sugar cube, Triple Sec with Lemon Twist (Shake until sugar dissolves) (Can be a shot too)

Mojito: White Rum, Fresh Lime Juice or wedges, fresh mint, sugar (muddle all but the rum until sugar is mostly dissolved then add rum & ice, shake, strain into a martini glass lined with sugar, add wedge of lime, sprig of mint! (Can be served on the rocks too, just pour mix over ice, muddled mint included and top with Club Soda, garnish is the same.)

Manhattan: Whiskey, Sweet Vermouth, Bitters, garnish with a cherry

French 75: Gin, Champagne, Lemon Juice, Sugar, twist of lemon. (Can be on the rocks too)

Appeltini or Apple Martini: Vodka with (usually) Apple Puckers and a cherry (Or you can use apple juice, cider, brandy or other apple liqueurs)

Nut's & Berries: Frangelico (Hazelnut Liquor), Chambord (Raspberry Liquor) and Cream shaken up in a Chocolate rimmed glass

Sparkling Drinks (Served in a Flute): 

Bellini: Pureed Peaches, Prosecco OR (in real life) Prosecco & Peaches Schnapps

Champagne Cocktail: Cube of Sugar, Bitters poured over sugar and topped with Champagne or Sparking Wine

Flirtini: Vodka, Champagne, Lime Juice, & Pineapple Juice

Kir Royal: Creme de Cassis topped with Champagne

Mimosa: Champagne and chilled OJ

*I did not include drinks in which all the ingredients are listed in the name (i.e. Rum & Coke, Vodka Soda, Gin & Tonic, Whiskey Sour, Jack n' Ginger, if you must Vodka & Redbull). 

* Feel free to turn martini's into cocktails and cocktails into martini's, shots can make good martini's too (Scooby Snack Martini, why not!?!).

Ciao Bellas!


We are home from Europe and it was a wonderful trip! I'm sorry we weren't able to blog during our journey but we had some technical difficulties as well as some Internet connection difficulties! But not to worry, I plan on doing a blog per country! We are working on pictures now! Anyway, it was an awesome trip, some of the highlights include The Tower of London, Oktoberfest in Munich, Relaxing on the beach in Cinque Terre, Italy! Stories and pictures to come!

Hello Friends!

Depending on where we find some free wifi in Europe we hope to blog post while we are over seas! We will be in London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Munich, Venice, Cinque Terre, and Rome over the next 25 days! Yes, I think that makes us Jet Setters! We will keep you posted...

Here's us leaving for the airport.

I'll be back ASAP! I sure do miss the Interwebs..... :(

Our Internet is down for the next week! We lost our 'cable' cable in a big storm on Monday and they said they couldn't come for 10 days...sigh! Anyway, I'm at a coffee shop now but I'm hungry and cheap so I'm going home to eat. I have a few post in the queue that will be ready soon... Just wanted you (the few of you) to know I'm still on the blog track! We leave for our Europe/Honeymoon trip in about 5 weeks and I'm researching and booking things! We hope to blog from Europe and we hope you will journey along with us!!

See you soon,

Lisa

CSA Summer Part 2

We are well into week 5 of our CSA/La Finca adventure! And it's been going pretty smoothly so far, if I do say so myself! We started out receiving mostly salad greens but as the weeks progress so has the diversity of our boxes! I think salad greens are a good way to start. There are so many combinations of salad dressing and ingredients that you just can't go wrong! And frankly, it's been too hot to cook the last couple of weeks so salads keep your kitchen cool! But we've also made stir fry dishes, soups, cakes, and chips! Here are a few pictures to inspire you! If you'd like recipes for anything you see, just ask and I'll forward them on to you! And please feel free to forward me any veggie based dishes that you love! I'm very open to suggestions!

Stir Fry Veggies w/ Eggs & Garden Herbs!

Stir Fry w/out Eggs

Berry Themed Dinner Night!

Parmesan Kale Chips!

(50% Garden Kale 50% Farm Kale)

Strawberry Pecan Salad

Strawberry Chilled Soup

Sweet Potato & Kohlrabi Pancakes

The Raw Ingredients!

Orange, Hazelnut, & Bread Salad

Bok Choy & Tofu Noodles

I heart Public Broadcasting!!

I don't think it's fair or right that public broadcasting is in jeopardy of losing it's federal funding AGAIN! So, I'm ready to fight back (again). Are you? If the answer is Yes and you haven't already visited 170MillionAmericans.org then please do so now, sign their petition and spread the word! Just trying to do my part for what I believe is an important part of our American life.

Thanks.

Lisa


Public radio and television stations could be lost in the 2012 federal budget! Get involved at 170MillionAmericans.org. – or – Did you know that 170 million people – more than half of all Americans – use public broadcasting each month? Help me protect this amazing public service at 170MillionAmericans.org.