Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Thanksgiving Round Up

Thanksgiving cocktails, fall cocktail, autumn cocktail



Happy Thanksgiving Eve!  

Our oldest did not have school today......yet had Basketball practice at 7:30 this morning.  

Our second oldest only had a half day of school.....woot woot!!  

We are officially on Thanksgiving break and I couldn't be happier!  

From here on out we have nothing but FUN stuff planned.  

From family to friend get togethers, to walking through neighborhoods filled with Christmas lights while sipping our hot beverages.  

We have planned to take all four kids to the movies to see the new movie Frozen sometime in the near future.  

This will be our girls Very First Time EVER going to a movie theater.......I just need to get our oldest daughter to STOP ASKING QUESTIONS EVERY FIVE MINUTES when we watch a movie at home first, then we can bring her to the movie theaters, ha.

With Thanksgiving being tomorrow (still in denial, but totally excited that it is here), I wanted to give you a short but sweet round up of Thanksgiving cocktails to try.  

Here they are:



1.  Butterball





I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with love and laughter........not to mention good food and cocktails!!

Cheers!!

The Cocktail Lady

Monday, November 25, 2013

Arctic Chill Muddler

**Some links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you follow the link and make a purchase.


Arctic Chill Muddler



I was contacted by Arctic Chill and asked if I would like to review their Arctic Chill Muddler **.  They sent me this for free so that I would give an honest review on this item.  All views are my own.  I was not compensated for them in any way.


I own a wooden muddler (haven't used it yet) and never thought of a muddler being anything but wood, let alone stainless steel with a nylon head.  



When I received the initial email and it said "It's way better than your traditional wooden muddler as these can often start to degrade and leave residue in your cocktails" I thought, EEEWWWW!  



It had never crossed my mind that a wooden muddler could/would do that over time.....but of course it could and that does NOT sound appealing at all.



I recently used this muddler to make my mojito and I must say that the smooth stainless steel grip on this muddler is nice.  


It has a nice sleek design and I like that the nylon head is not smooth like my wooden muddler, but is grooved which helps in breaking apart the leaves or fruit you are trying to muddle.  



Here is a close up of what the Arctic Chill ** muddler looks like:






If you are in the market for a muddler, I would say that this is a good muddler to purchase.  Did I mention that it comes with a lifetime guarantee?

Thank You Rizzi for sending me this amazing muddler!!

I think this would be a great gift ** idea for a cocktail enthusiast on your holiday list!


Cheers!

The Cocktail Lady



**Some links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you follow the link and make a purchase.

Mojito



The Monday of Thanksgiving week is finally here......or should I say, "Is it here ALREADY?!?!".  


This year we are heading to my uncles for Thanksgiving and we are bringing vegetables (trying out a new recipe tonight to see if it's a winner for Turkey Day).  The next day we are doing to my Mother-in-laws house to celebrate Thanksgiving with her and and my Sister-in-law and our nieces and nephew.  



We are bringing my mashed potatoes (awesome recipe, email me if you want it!!) and our artichoke dip.....oh and our deep fryer so that we can deep fry the turkey!  



Honestly I love splitting up Thanksgiving into two days, it gives us quality time with each side of the family and we don't have that "rushed" feeling of having to be somewhere else.


I received a muddler in the mail from Arctic Chill (stay tuned for a review coming up shortly) and decided what better way put it to use then to make a Mojito.......plus it was the only muddled cocktail I could think of off the top of my head.


I have had a mojito before.......wasn't a big fan.  


I have tried a raspberry mojito quite a few years back and remember liking it though......so maybe I need a flavor in my mojito for me to really enjoy it.  



I was on a mission to find a mojito recipe......wow there are quite a few different ones out there so I decided to have a go at it myself.  



I made one......didn't like it.......dumped it.  



I made another one and thought it was OK.  



Then I put it aside and started doing a couple things, sat back down here to blog about it, tried it again and I have to say now that it has been sitting here for a little bit (getting a "little" watered down by the ice), it's not bad!  I like it more now.



Here is a photo of the end result:

Mojito, mint leaves, lime wedges, lime juice, simple syrup, white rum, club soda


Here is a photo of the ingredients:

Mojito, mint leaves, lime wedges, lime juice, simple syrup, white rum, club soda



Here is my recipe for a mojito:

  • 4 mint leaves
  • 2 lime wedges
  • 1/2 ounce simple syrup
  • 1 1/2 ounces white rum
  • 1 ounce club soda

In a cocktail glass, drop in your 4 mint leaves and 1 of your lime wedges.  Muddle them up well.  Next put in the simple syrup and muddle that all together again.  Pour in the rum and stir everything together then fill the glass with ice.  Top it off with the club soda and give it a quick stir.



Here is to a new muddler and a mojito!

Cheers!!

The Cocktail Lady

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Creme Brulee Martini




It's here, it's here!  

Our 4 of 4 is officially three years old today!  

Happy Birthday sweet baby girl.  

Oh this girl has been looking forward to her birthday for a while now.  She is very excited.  

We are having a small family dinner to celebrate this weekend, which I have been instructed that I need to cook the pizzas and not order them, grandma must get her a cake and I MUST buy balloons.  

OK little one, if that's all you want, you got it!

Even though I wasn't crazy about yesterday's cocktail, Golden Cadillac, I still wanted to try that Creme Brulee Martini.  

Bad decision.  

Grrrrr.  

I really don't like it when I try two bad cocktails in a row!  

The Frangelico was a bit too much.  Now the recipe called for an ounce of Frangelico, so I decided to use a little less to try to take some of its flavor away.  

Didn't matter, it still tasted like too much was in there.  

I also don't think that the Cointreau added anything good to this cocktail either.  

Oh well, good news is that I will be celebrating my little one's birthday tonight and that will make it all better.



Here is a photo of the end result:



Here is a photo of the ingredients:



Here is my modified version of Creme Brulee Martini:

  • 1 1/2 ounces vanilla vodka
  • 3/4 ounce hazelnut liqueur
  • 1/2 ounce cointreau
  • 1 ounce half and half

In a shaker, add ice and all of the ingredients above.  Shake and strain into a cocktail glass.



Happy Happy Birthday to my little girl.  Our lives are complete with you in them.  Mama loves you!

Cheers!!

The Cocktail Lady

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Golden Cadillac




Happy Wednesday everyone!  

Today is a hot one.  

Yes it is November 13th, but it sure is a hot one.  

It seems that flowers, allergies and our poor wardrobes don't know what to do these past few weeks.  

I have already packed away the girls tank tops and shorts, am still arguing with the boys that we need to pack away theirs until Spring (I think I am loosing that battle) and want nothing more then to bundle up with my big jacket, gloves and scarf when I go out.........but the weather just doesn't seem to want to allow me to.

All of that seems like a good enough excuse to make a cocktail, right?  

Right.  

I have had a pin on my Cocktail board for a Creme Brulee Martini that I have wanted to try and just haven't yet.  

I went to the site that had it posted, Science of Drink and found that there were actually two cocktails posted there.  Being the good Cocktail Lady I am, I decided to try them both in the order they are listed.  

Today, I make the Golden Cadillac.  

Next will be the Creme Brulee Martini.

The first, foremost and really only flavor that I am really tasting right now is the Galliano.  

Galliano has a flavor all of it's own, but it is one that I would prefer to take a back seat in the flavoring of my cocktails.  

That being said, I will not be making this cocktail again.....unless I used 1/3 - 1/2 the amount of Galliano.  

I would like to taste a bit more of the creme de cacao personally.



Here is a photo of the end result:


Here is a photo of the ingredients:



Here is the recipe for a Golden Cadillac:

  • 1 ounce Galliano
  • 1 ounce white creme de cacao
  • 1 ounce cream

In a cocktail shaker, add ice and all of the ingredients above.  Shake and strain into a cocktail glass.



Here is to the week being half over and our 4/4 turning 3 years old tomorrow!!

Cheers!!

The Cocktail Lady

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Caramel Apple Pie




I am inspired.  

I wanted to make another apple pie liqueur cocktail.  

Why not, I mean it IS Thursty Thursday is it not?  

This week is on it's way out and the weekend is all but a day and a half away!  

I have a photo shoot scheduled for this Saturday with one of my most favoritest families which I am excited for!  

Other then that I think we get to spend some quiet (well not quiet with four kids, but you know what I mean) hours at home without having to rush off to practices or parties.  

Good clean family time is what I have been missing lately with our busy schedules.

I had another crack at creating a cocktail with my newly found liqueur.  

I call this one Caramel Apple Pie.  

I had only pulled out the first two ingredient when I was creating this cocktail, but then saw the cinnamon stick on the front of the apple pie liqueur bottle and decided to pull out the Fireball as well!  

Saying that, this cocktail has a bit more of a kick to it then yesterday's Apple Pie & Coffee cocktail I created.  

I like this one a little bit more, I must say!


Here is a photo of the end result:

caramel apple pie cocktail, caramel vodka, apple pie liqueur, fireball whisky, cinnamon whisky


Here is a photo of the ingredients:

caramel apple pie cocktail, caramel vodka, apple pie liqueur, fireball whisky, cinnamon whisky


Here is my recipe for a Caramel Apple Pie:

  • 2 ounces caramel vodka
  • 1 ounce apple pie liqueur
  • 1/2 ounce Fireball Whiskey
  • whipped cream
  • ground cinnamon

In a cocktail shaker, add ice and all of the ingredients except for the ground cinnamon.  Shake and strain into a cocktail glass and top with whipped cream and ground cinnnamon.



I hope you try this one, I am liking it more and more every sip I take!

Cheers!!

The Cocktail Lady

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Apple Pie & Coffee



We are well into November now.  

It is only the 5th you say?  

Oh well don't blink because tomorrow will be the 20th the way my calendar seems to fly by!  

I always say that once Halloween is here, the year is over.  I may as well start planning for New Years.  

I am a busy mom of four.......but I am aware that when my kids are grown and out of the house, the time between Halloween and New Years will be slower then molasses.......so I embrace these crazy insane last few months of the year to the fullest.

I was at my local Target yesterday and I found something new!  

Fulton's now makes Apple Pie Liqueur.  

Since their Pumpkin Pie Liqueur is AH-MAZE-ING, I thought I would give the Apple Pie Liqueur a try (not a huge apple pie fan, but hey that's what I said about gin right?).  

I searched online and only found pictures of the bottle along with 2 recipes........2!  Well that allows me to be one of the very first to post some of my own recipes online, yeawhoo!

This liqueur is creamy just like their pumpkin pie version which is nice.  

Not being a huge apple pie fan, I have to admit this cocktail is pretty darn good.  This bottle sells somewhere around $10 each, so for that price I figure I can make a good amount of cocktails using it.  If you are an apple pie fan I suggest you buy a bottle and try it along with me!



Here is a photo of the end result:



Here is a photo of the ingredients:



Here is my recipe for Apple Pie & Coffee:

  • 1 1/2 ounces whipped cream vodka
  • 1 ounce apple pie liqueur
  • 3/4 ouce Kahlua

In a shaker, add ice and all of the ingredients above.  Shake and strain into a cocktail glass and enjoy!



Here is to my very first cocktail with Fulton's Apple Pie Liqueur.

Cheers!!

The Cocktail Lady

Friday, November 1, 2013

Pumpkin Latta Martini




Happy day after Halloween!  

Happy Anniversary to my husband too!  

Last night seems to have gone by so fast.....too fast actually.  

We had a fun day yesterday which started off with our second son's (now I get why bloggers give their children code names in their posts, it's much easier to type SS for second son or SC for second child or whatever code you want instead of  typing out the entire words each and every time you want to mention them) Halloween parade at school.  

The girls got all dressed up to walk him to school and watch the parade.  

After school we came home and made these witch hat treats which the kids enjoyed making.

Our SS (just trying it out to see how it feels.......yup, feels good) has decided that in his 9 years of age, he is officially too old to dress up and go trick or treating.  

Period.  

End of story.  

He did however allow me to spray paint his hair and wore an eye mask as well, but that is as far as it went.  

A couple friends (Mike & Angie) came over to have dinner and celebrate with us.  

Angie passed out candy with SS and her husband hit the pavement with my husband  the girls and I.  

The girls totally scored with way too much candy and were knocked out as their heads hit their pillows.  All in all, it was a great night.

Before we ate I decided to make my Oh So Yummy Pumpkin Cake Martini's for Angie and I to enjoy.  Only problem was that I didn't have enough cake vodka (gasp, what is wrong with The Cocktail Lady??).  Instead I grabbed another vodka and gave it a shake.  

Let me warn you, your very first sip will taste pumpkin pie spicy for sure....maybe a bit too much for your taste, but DO NOT let that stop you!  

These martinis are a little TOO good, they go down a little TOO easy, wow......just wow.  

As we were sipping them we decided that the name had to reflect the cocktail and since they tasted a whole lot like pumpkin pie spices, we decided to add latta in the name.  

I do know that these cocktails will be made many, upon many more times in this household.  

Here is a photo of the end result:

pumpkin latta martini, thanksgiving cocktail, fall cocktail, autumn cocktail, pumpkin pie vodka, pumpkin pie liqueur, milk


Here is a photo of the ingredients:

pumpkin latta martini, thanksgiving cocktail, fall cocktail, autumn cocktail, pumpkin pie vodka, pumpkin pie liqueur, milk


Here is my own recipe for a Pumpkin Latta Martini:

  • 1 1/2 ounces pumpkin pie vodka
  • 1 1/2 ounces pumpkin pie liqueur
  • 3/4 ounces milk

In a shaker, add ice and all of the ingredients above.  Shake and strain into a martini glass.


I hope you all had a safe but fun Halloween.

Cheers!

The Cocktail Lady