It was the winter of 2020, and I held my new Christmas present, the late Sasha Petraske’s book, Regarding Cocktails. I flipped through the pages and found a recipe that looked interesting, and I happened to have everything on hand for it. The Bee’s Knees, a Prohibition era cocktail that calls for just 3 simple ingredients, gin, lemon juice and honey syrup. I mixed up a couple … [Read more...]
Black-Eyed Peas 3 Ways
Happy New Year! Eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day is a Southern tradition that’s believed to bring good luck and prosperity in the new year. Plus, you might have good luck with all the healthy amounts of fiber and protein, making them incredibly nutrient-dense. Black-eyed peas also include a variety of important micronutrients, including thiamine, folate, zinc, copper, … [Read more...]
Gimlet
It’s a question I get asked often…how did you get into this? And the answer is actually pretty simple…Gimlets. A classic cocktail I fell in love with many years ago. Its origin and namesake, like many old cocktails, is up for debate. Perhaps named after ‘the gimlet’ a tool that was used to bore holes into barrels of spirits aboard naval ships, or the more widely accepted story … [Read more...]
Shortbread Sweethearts
When I was 7 years old I decided to enter a cookie in the West Texas Fair. I knew I wanted to do something that adult judges might really like, so I made almond thumbprint cookies with raspberry preserves and an almond glaze - and I won 2nd place! When I made these again later for a bake sale one February, I decided to make them heart-shaped, and "Shortbread Sweethearts" were … [Read more...]
Christmas Cocktails and Mocktails
What’s more festive than sitting around a freshly decorated home with a fun cocktail or mocktail in your hand and telling stories of Christmases past? Christmas cocktails and mocktails are a great to celebrate the season. Blended Cranberry Cosmo INGREDIENTS • 1 ½ ounces vodka • ½ ounce Cointreau • ½ ounce lime juice • ¼ cup cranberry sauce PREPARATION 1. … [Read more...]