Mojito Time!

It’s the best day ever! Emily showed up with rum and made delicious mojitos.  I guess there are some perks to having a bartender for a sister… Maybe a lot of perks, like, drinking-is-acceptable-any-time-of-day perks.  I can’t complain.  

She makes a pretty basic mojito, which is exactly how I feel they should be made… Each mojito has…

• 2 shots rum (or more!)
• Juice of 1/2 lime
• Big handful fresh mint leaves (muddled with lime)
• 1/2 tsp sugar (or less)
• A few splashes Sprite

1. Combine first 4 ingredients (AND ICE!) in shaker (make sure to muddle mint and lime first)
2. Pour everything in a glass
3. Put some Sprite in shaker to get rest of lime out, then pour into glass
4. DRINK!

After photographing the delicious mojitos, Stella (One of 4 cats…) decided to pose for a photo shoot.  Lovin’ the seductive poses:

Even Olivia got in on the photo shoot:

Hope you’re all enjoying this gorgeous weather, I know I am (which isn’t hard with a mojito in hand and cute cats everywhere)

FYI: I don’t plan on becoming a crazy cat lady (yet).

Happy Guaca-Memorial Day!

Pardon the corny title, but I couldn’t resist, it’s Memorial Day Weekend! I love holidays like this one because the only thing that I’m expected to do is eat, drink, and find somewhere to float.  I can check off the eating and drinking (a few times), but I still haven’t gotten my float on.  I think that today is the day! I meant to make guacamole yesterday, but my Saturday shenanigans got in the way of that plan.  I spent the day unpacking (STILL), driving (with no help from my GPS), and celebrating another graduation!  About 50 cute baby pictures later, I decided to venture to our camp and pass out for a good 12 hours.  Woke up today inspired to make some guac, and I would like to pat myself on the back for a job well done.  If my sole purpose in life was to make guacamole, I would die a happy well-fed woman.  Well, before I move on to floating, I’ll let you in on my recipe…

First, get the usual suspects out:

Ingredients:

• 2 avocados
• 2 tomatoes
• Juice of 2 limes
• Some chopped up onion (I usually use about a half)
• 2-3 chopped up garlic cloves (if you’re a garlic lover, add more, go crazy)
• 1-2 diced up jalapeños (I just used 1 because it was huuge)

*You’ll probably want a little bit of salt and pepper too

Mix it all up:

Then, let it sit for a little while (teasing you with it’s deliciousness)

Finally, and most importantly, eat it!

Try your hardest to share with friends.  It makes a lot of guac!

On that note, it’s time for me to float (with some chips, guacamole, and cocktails in tote).  Hope you’re all having a great holiday! 

Look at how Talented I am!

Just got home from Vermont yesterday… Had a fleeting thought that I could go raw for a week (HA!).  It lasted about an hour, and resulted in me giving in to my grumbling stomach.  FYI: an apple for breakfast should be considered a cruel punishment! I need eggs! and toast! and coffee! Obviously…  Well, despite the inability to go raw for the majority of my day, I went semi-raw for dinner.  Was feeling Greek (no clue why) and decided that I NEEDED to make a Greek salad.  Wish I could give you the exact measurements of everything I added to the mix, but I was feeling like a chef at the time (A.K.A. randomly tossing things into a bowl with a big/evil grin on my face).  Anywho, heres the recipe, or, the parts of the recipe I can remember from my semi-drunken, chef-obsessed state.

Greek Salad

• 1 can chick-peas
• 1 little can of sliced black olives
• 1 cucumber- peeled & chopped
• Half-ish can seasoned artichoke hearts- chopped
• Handful grape tomatoes- cut in half
• Handful baby spinach- chopped
• 1/4 red onion- chopped
• Feta (as much as you want… I added about half a tub)
• 1 clove garlic- diced up
• Half of a lemon- all juiced up (add some zest if you’re feeling zesty!)
• Black pepper- to taste (I added A LOT)
• Roughly 1/4 cup dressing (I used Ken’s Balsamic with Honey because it’s so damn delicious)

Combine everything and let the flavors marinate for an hour or two in the fridge.  Or just eat as is (no one would judge, it’s delicious). Makes 4 big servings, or 2 really really big servings, so choose who you share with wisely. Finally, ENJOY!

Time to eat! I’m thinking one big serving (for me). Ha! No shame!

P.S. Credit for the photo has to go to mom for this one, I’m still learnin’! Thanks mom, you da best roomie! 

P.P.S. My dad just said “golly-day” in reference to the food we’re eating for dinner. Think it’s a sign we’ve done well?

P.P.P.S. We really liked it…

What Now?

Okay, so, graduation happened.  It was teary, emotional, sweaty, and a serious reality check.  I’m supposed to do things with my life now! Make grown up decisions, find a real job, start saving money!  In an effort to (continue to) avoid this realization, I drank a LOT, procrastinated on packing up my little apartment, and ate solely take-out.  Seemed like a healthy way to distract myself (at the time)…

Now that I’ve come to the end of this absurdly long bender, I’m craving healthy food, good sleep, and new adventures.  Though these adventures may take place with my parent’s house as the home base, I’m excited.  Mom and pops are great roomies! They have free parking, a washer & dryer, and a yard; all the things that I missed while living in good ol’ Vermont.  Plus, they’re pretty great company.

I’m thinking that this summer will be prime time to actually get to the nitty gritty of planning for all of these adventures I’ve been ranting about.  I don’t want to settle in one place for too long.  Too many places to see, people to meet, pictures to take and food to eat to stay put in one place!  The nitty gritty mostly involves money, which was to be expected, but I’ve heard being risky and creative will get you the farthest.  Not eat-from-trash-cans risky, but more like explore-without-a-set-plan risky. The risky moves might be hard, because I’ve always been such a planner, but the creative part is what I’m excited for. As I come up with new ways to travel for cheap, I’ll be sure to keep track and share. 

Next post will most likely be after the journey back to New Hampshire, and it will (hopefully) include some good eats or healthy treats.

I've Arrived!

With graduation less than a week away, I figured it was time to do something productive… Like start a cooking/confession blog?  With no job lined up and my only big plans including moving back in with the ‘rents, starting a blog to chronicle my cooking feats and post-college escapades seemed appropriate.  

Welp, I’m hoping that I’ll be posting exquisite recipes and fancy plans, but it will probably be something more along the lines of kinda-good tasting food and semi-exciting stories. I’ll take it.  Hey, I can’t afford to be picky (literally can’t afford it, my wallet never has more than $7 in ones).  

Anyway, wish me luck! Hope you enjoy!