Beverages

Caipiroska

Published: Aug 19, 2018 · Last updated: Aug 19, 2018 by Marissa

Similar to the caipirinha, a caipiroska is a popular Brazilian drink made with vodka, sugar, and limes. It’s a refreshing summer cocktail that makes lime the star (and it’s best made with a high-quality vodka).

Hello, hello!

Can we talk about how August is almost over for a hot sec? I am not happy about this. I’ve barely had a chance to really enjoy the summer and it’s almost September! I’ve got some priorities to straighten out over the next few weeks.

Actually, I am taking treating myself to a staycation very soon, so I’ll get some quality beach time in then. Followed by all of the lobster rolls, oysters, fried clams, margaritas, caipirinhas, and caipiroskas.

Yes, caipiroskas! …

Blood Orange Ginger Martini

Published: May 28, 2018 · Last updated: Jul 12, 2018 by Marissa

This blood orange ginger martini is a simple and refreshing cocktail made with three ingredients: freshly squeezed blood orange juice, ginger liqueur, and your choice of gin or vodka.

You know when you make a plan to do something and you’re really excited about it, but then that plan sort of falls apart? You then become slightly frustrated before thinking of ways to fix it, exhaust all options to try and fix it, and immediately become even MORE frustrated because there’s no fixing that plan?

That’s the tl;dr version of how I ended up making this blog post….

Celebrating Cinco de Mayo with Pitcher Margaritas

Published: Apr 25, 2017 · Last updated: Oct 5, 2018 by Marissa

This post is paid for by Sauza® Tequila. All opinions are my own!

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with great friends, food, and pitcher margaritas! Made with 100 percent blue weber agave, Sauza® Signature Blue Silver Tequila is an excellent choice for delicious and authentic pitcher-style margaritas.

Happy day to you, friends!

The month of May is almost here and it’s exciting for a couple of reasons.

Warmer weather is coming.
Cinco de Mayo is coming!

In the off-chance you don’t know, Cinco de Mayo is celebrated on May 5th and commemorates the Mexican Army’s victory over France at the Battle of Puebla in 1862.

It’s a relatively minor holiday in Mexico and has evolved into a celebration of Mexican culture and heritage in the United States. Traditions include parades, mariachi music performances, and street festivals in cities and towns across both countries.

I love getting together with friends to celebrate the holiday every year. This year, I teamed up with Sauza® to put together a tasty fiesta complete with Mexican-inspired snacks and tequila.

Yay, tequila!…

Strawberry Kiss

Published: Feb 9, 2017 · Last updated: Oct 5, 2018 by Marissa

This strawberry kiss is a simple and delicious cocktail made with fig vodka, champagne, and strawberries. It’s a perfect beverage for a romantic night in and also makes a great excuse for a treat just because. Treat yourself.

Fun fact: I accidentally got drunk while taking photos for this blog post. “Accidentally.” Lololol.

No, but really. I was sampling the drink while working on the photos the other day (you know, to make sure it tasted good and stuff) and before I knew it, it hit me pretty hard and the rest of the day was a wash. Oops! Also, it tasted very good. I give it two thumbs up.

Valentine’s Day is around the corner, you guys! Are you into this holiday? I kind of am, I think. I tend to always do something small at home for me and Jason to enjoy, but I don’t care to go out of my way to celebrate. For example, there are a few comedy shows coming up next week and we got tickets to go. We had the option of going on Valentine’s Day and discussed it briefly.

I said something along the lines of: “Oh! We could be like one of those couples who go out on Valentine’s Day! That could be fun.” And I immediately followed up with: “No, no. Let’s not do that.” So we picked a date for later in the week instead and we have no regrets.

It’s not that I think going out on Valentine’s Day is silly. I’m a firm believer in “treat yo self,” as you know. It’s just never been our thing. We like having a night in on V-Day. Sometimes we make a nice dinner together and other times we order take-out. Dessert and drinks are always part of the deal though and I usually make us chocolate covered strawberries to keep it a little traditional….

Mandarin Orange Tequila Smash

Published: May 13, 2016 · Last updated: Jan 7, 2018 by Marissa

This mandarin orange tequila smash is made with fresh mandarins, silver tequila, and ginger liqueur and topped with club soda and a splash of tropical juice. Serve it straight up or on the rocks. Drinker’s choice!

It’s Friday, Friyay!

Did you have an awesome week? Or maybe your week was meh and you’re ridiculously glad the weekend is here? Either way, I got what you need, my friend, and you’re looking at it.

I was supposed to bake a cake today. I didn’t have a plan for today’s blog post until I was in bed on Wednesday night and the thought randomly came to me: “I’m gonna bake a mother f*cking cake! YAS.”

I knew exactly which cake I wanted to go with too, so I got up yesterday morning to work on my responsible adult things (i.e. look for a job that will pay me monies) and ran a couple of errands, including picking up some cold medicine for Jason because the new theme in this house the last couple of months is EVERYBODY GET SICK. …

Mediterranean Mule

Published: Mar 13, 2016 · Last updated: Jan 7, 2018 by Marissa

Hello, you gorgeous people!

It’s been too long, hasn’t it? By that, I don’t mean since I last wrote to you. That was last week, silly! I’m saying it’s been too long since I shared a damn good cocktail recipe with you. And you know what? I’m super thrilled to finally share this recipe with you today.

Behold: THE MEDITERRANEAN MULE! *choir starts singing, sun shines brightly, dogs are BFFs with cats, cats are BFFs with mice*

This delicious beverage is made with fig vodka, limoncello, and ginger beer. I first had one in Disney Springs when I was down there for vacation a couple months back and I was hooked. The sweetness from the fig vodka, the zest from the limoncello, and the spice from the ginger beer was an amazing combination. I couldn’t wait until I made it myself when I got home!…

42 Super Tasty Summer Cocktails

Published: Aug 23, 2015 · Last updated: Oct 23, 2018 by Marissa

August is almost over, but that doesn’t mean that summer has to be! I don’t know about you, but when it comes to lounging outside during this season, I love to have a good cocktail within reach.

My more recent obsession is the blueberry basil bourbon smash, which I’ve made a few times now with fresh Greek basil from my garden. Sweet basil can also be used; there isn’t really a taste difference when used in the cocktail. Either way, it’s a great, refreshing drink!…

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

Published: Aug 16, 2015 · Last updated: Jan 7, 2018 by Marissa

Updated on August 16th 2015: I first posted this strawberry banana smoothie on April 2nd, 2014, which was a couple of months after I started this blog. I’m slowly going through older posts to update them with new photos, content, and recipes (if necessary)! 🙂

Yay for smoothies! I made a strawberry banana smoothie this past Saturday for the first time in months! I’ve been on a huge blueberry kick lately, so I’ve been making lots of smoothies with blueberries! Sometimes, a blueberry oatmeal smoothie and sometimes I’d mix it up with other fruits and juices depending what was in my fridge.

When I decided to make the classic strawberry banana smoothie, I came to look at this old blog post from April ’14 and I decided it was time to update this post. For one, the photo was very plain, but I was very new at food photography at the time, so that was to be expected. I also had a boring blurb going on about how I was cheating on paleo by having a bowl of cereal. Definitely not paleo anymore, so yeah. Time to update this post and make it prettier!

…

Blueberry Basil Bourbon Smash

Published: Aug 13, 2015 · Last updated: Jan 7, 2018 by Marissa

I love bourbon. I do. <3

I recently went on a cocktail-making shopping spree on Amazon and it was the best decision I’ve made in forever, I’m pretty sure! I’ve been wanting to make more cocktails at home for a while now. Especially when I have one I really enjoyed at a bar somewhere, but I just didn’t have the proper tools and I almost always made a mess using two drinking glasses as my cocktail shaker.

Well, no more messes! And yes to more delicious cocktails! My recent obsession? The one you see here today: blueberry basil bourbon smash.

You might say I’ve been on a huge blueberry kick lately, between the blueberry oatmeal smoothie I shared with you a couple weeks back and the blueberry mascarpone pie just last week, I just can’t help it. I love blueberries! So why not continue making delicious things with these blueberries, right!?…

Blueberry Oatmeal Smoothie

Published: Jul 24, 2015 · Last updated: Jan 7, 2018 by Marissa

I’m going to be honest with you. I don’t actually love the photos I took for this post. I kinda want to retake them. I’m learning more about photography as I go and I don’t exactly see what’s wrong with the photos until the photo session is way over. But I’m starting to notice composition issues and how I could have fixed them, how to balance the light better, etc. and I know now what I could have done to make these photos look even better! Though there are lots of photos from older posts that look way worse that are on my radar to fix first. I’m a bit nit-picky when it comes to my own work.

Okay, that’s all! Thanks for letting me share that with you. I feel much better now.

Jason and I are really bad about having breakfast during the week. It almost never happens. It’s something we’re trying to work on and one step we’ve taken to get towards that is having smoothies!

We don’t have a good reason as to why we don’t do the breakfast thing. It’s straight up laziness. We pretty much stay in bed until we have to get up most days. And making smoothies only takes a quick couple of minutes and we can just have it on the way to work!

I’ve been making green smoothies, strawberry banana smoothies, my favorite: chocolate peanut butter banana smoothie, and as of recently, my latest obsession: blueberry oatmeal smoothies!…

Sweet Iced Tea

Published: Jul 13, 2015 · Last updated: Jan 7, 2018 by Marissa

It was 90+ degrees all weekend in Boston. I went to the beach yesterday.

I love the beach, especially in hot weather like this. Wherever I end up living for the rest of my life, I have to be near the coast with no more than an hour drive to the ocean. It’s one of the only places I can go to completely (and I mean completely) relax. And somehow, everything makes sense there. Any troubles I may have just wash away. It’s an amazing feeling.

That got a little too poetic for a minute, but I’m just saying. I love the beach.

Something else I love in 90 degree weather? An ice-cold beverage! For example: sweet iced tea!

It almost seems ridiculous to call this a recipe because of how easy this is? I mean, you’re brewing tea, right? It’s not complicated. But there are still ingredients and steps to make the sweet tea, so…yeah. Recipe! So glad we got that cleared up….

Caipirinha

Published: Jul 8, 2015 · Last updated: Aug 1, 2018 by Marissa

It’s hump day! You know what’s good for hump day? Booze. You know what I like to recommend for hump days in the summer? Caipirinhas (which is also booze)!

Caipirinhas are delicious cocktails that are usually made with cachaça (a Brazilian distilled beverage made from sugar cane juice), fresh lime, and sugar, though there are other variations using different fruits. This is the “popular” cocktail you will find at most bars and such.

I had my first taste of a caipirinha at Fogo de Chão on my birthday last year and I was instantly in love. It was sweet and full of citrus flavor. Since then, it has become one of my go-to cocktails to make at home, though I make mine less sweet because I like to watch how much sugar I put in my food and drinks (sometimes).

Speaking of sweet, I believe this is the first recipe on the blog where I list sugar as an ingredient instead of maple syrup, coconut sugar, or honey! Granted, it’s cane/turbinado sugar, but that’s still sugar! And that’s all I have to say about that….

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

Published: Jan 19, 2015 · Last updated: Jan 7, 2018 by Marissa

Chocolate and peanut butter, amirite? The best!

This smoothie has been my recent go-to when I either want a quick breakfast or a treat after a meal. Depending what I have in my fridge at the time, I go back and forth between whole, grass-fed milk and almond milk. It’s tasty no matter which I go with and I barely notice a difference between the two….

Strawberry Basil Water

Published: Apr 30, 2014 · Last updated: Jan 7, 2018 by Marissa

Updated 11-26-14: This post was originally written for a Whole30 program I was unable to complete on the blog due to technical issues that prevented me from making new posts at the time.

Everybody’s eating Cheetos but me. I don’t even want Cheetos? But also, I do.

I posted this on Facebook earlier today, but if you haven’t seen it yet, it’s a pretty accurate Whole30 timeline on what to expect for the 30 days you’re on this adventure. Me? I’ve got the hangover like whoa as of this morning!

This morning was so rough, I decided I did not need to get fancy for work (and by that I mean wear jeans and some sort of top because that’s my usual attire). I put on my gym clothes even though the gym itself had no involvement in my schedule today what-so-ever and I trekked to work. I got plenty of sleep, but it doesn’t really matter just yet. I was pretty exhausted all day. I kept the hood on my hoodie up for most of the day and a couple co-workers looked at me as if they were scared for me. Like, I’m dying maybe! Nope, not dying, people. Just having some sugar withdrawals! Nothing to see here.

The next few days are going to be brutal!…

Chocolate Avocado “Milkshake”

Published: Mar 5, 2014 · Last updated: Jan 7, 2018 by Marissa

Chocolate Avocado "Milkshake"

OMGCHOCOLATE. This chocolate avocado “milkshake” is more of a smoothie (there’s no dairy in it), but the avocado adds a delicious, creamy texture; it reminds me of having a healthier milkshake.

Are you weirded out by chocolate and avocado being in the same sentence and food? If so, that’s okay; I thought it was weird at first, too! If someone came to me five years ago and said, “Someday, you will have an avocado smoothie and LIKE IT,” I think I would have laughed? Maybe? Okay, probably not. I’m always up for trying new things, but I was not about eating “healthy” for a very long time. These days? I embrace it!

As long as it also tastes good, that is….