Life Laid Bear

The best frozen margarita

I can honestly say that this is the best frozen margarita recipe that I have ever tried! And I am a margarita girl through and through. It is easy, natural, and so tasty. I have this crazy obsession with Mexican food, I could eat it everyday if needed. So when I became old enough to drink, margaritas were the first thing I fell in love with of course. This recipe will not give you traditional green/yellowish margaritas.  (I have no beef with green margaritas, they are all great. I promise).

the mister whipped these up last Saturday and I think this might just be a new tradition in our house come summertime. Saturday's are now margarita days! Who agrees? This recipe will serve 3 large margaritas.

4 ounces (1/2 cup) tequila

2 ounces (1/4 cup) Orange Patron (You can use Triple Sec or Cointreau)

2 1/2 ounces fresh lime juice

4 ounces (1/2 cup) honey (You can use simple syrup if you don't have honey)

12 ounces of ice. 

We have this really cute little blender that we bought to make smoothies in. Well, we haven't made smoothies but as a small margarita blender.... it ROCKS! We had to split the recipe in two to fit it in the blender but it worked great. 

If you can't tell, we love these glasses. We use them for everything. They have been around the block a lot, but most recently here. Purchased at Marshall's.

Public Service Announcement: Saturday is National Margarita Day! This holiday is special in my book, so I hope you celebrate. If you try this recipe this weekend, let me know what you think. 

Honey Whiskey Sours

I have never been a whiskey girl. If it isn't sweet, I don't drink it. Whiskey has always just tasted a little too boozy for me so I stayed away from it. So when I mentioned to Kyle that I wanted to try to substitute honey whiskey he was all for it. My guy loves a good whiskey sour.  

The weather was warmer this weekend so I decided to make a batch of our own sour mix.The bottled kind is fine, but it tastes very sugary and artificial. I prefer to get my sugar coma from something a little more cupcake-y. 

Sour mix could not be any simpler to make. This makes a large container. 

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

1 cup lemon

1 cup lime

I stirred the sugar and water together until the sugar dissolved. Then I added the lemon and lime. That's it!

I added two ounces of honey whiskey and four ounces of our sour mix. It is fun and simple to make! 

 We spent the rest of the day outside with the pups and family. It is almost time to get back outside and in our pool! Almost is a little too strong a word considering we are being hit by another cold front, but we savor those nice sunny weekend days while we have them. 

 

Guest cocktail recipe - White rose hot tea cocktail

I am so excited to have Ella from Paper Umbrella back today to guest post about a new cocktail recipe. You may remember her from here. If not, head over and read a little more about her. She is absolutely adorable and her blog is so inspiring to read.

When Jessica asked me to do a guest post I thought this would be a great opportunity to experiment with some hot cocktail recipes for Fall/Winter. I love me some G+Ts, but they just aren’t going to cut it in this cold, rainy Portland weather. Of course, hot coco + peppermint schnapps, cider + bourbon, or coffee + bailey’s are all great boozy winter drink options, but I wanted to try something a little different.

Recently, I went to a teahouse nearby that makes tea cocktails, including a few hot ones. I was a little skeptical at first, but I actually loved all of their drinks! Here is my take on one of their rose drinks – this can be served hot or cold and is great either way. 

You will need: 1 cup of white tea (I used a rose peony tea, but any kind of white tea will do – the rose in mine wasn’t a very strong flavor), ¾ to 1 oz of gin (you might want to add a little more if you plan on drinking this cold), ½ oz St. Germain liquor (or a cheaper alternative would be elderflower syrup), and ¾ oz rose water simple syrup (heat 1 part rose water, one part sugar in a pan until all of the sugar has dissolved).

Mix all of these ingredients together and drink hot or cold. This drink is a sweet treat, so it would be fun to serve in lieu of dessert next time you have friends over for dinner!

I cannot wait to try this recipe out this month as the weather cools down in our neck of the woods. Jump over to Ella's blog to read more of her cocktail recipes. She is a cocktail genius. 

 

 

Guest Blogging with PoP

I am guest blogging for the beautiful Brighid over at Postpositions on Prepositions today. I am chatting about the perfect cocktail, or more often the lack of! Head over and check out her fantastic blog. She is amazingly talented with words and too cute, I mean look at that great hair!

Guava - St. Germain - Champagne

St. Germaine is hard to find in our neck of the woods. We ended up having to buy it from out of town. The only question I had after I jumped up and down in the store was "what in the world are we going to make with it"?

We are not master cocktail creators, we are not even close. But I have had this on hand for a while and we decided to try to find something to go with it. 

You will need...

A shaker

1 part Guava juice (We used Goya brand)

1 part St. Germain

Dry or extra dry champagne

This was so easy to make, and is too perfect for summer nights. We mixed 1 part guava juice and 1 part St. Germain to the shaker with ice. We then topped the glass with extra dry champagne. You can use any kind that you like. 

So very sweet, and so pretty in color. Give it a try, and let me know what you think!

Dark "N" Stormy

Kyle has been going on and on about a new drink that he likes. It is called a Dark "N" Stormy. Now, if you know my husband, he is not a huge drinker. So for him to talk about a drink, it must be amazing. This is super simple and a huge hit in our family. Kyle likes to use the Gosling brand for all ingredients, but I made him one a couple nights ago and he still thought it was pretty great. 

This drink uses the 1:3 ratio

1 part black rum (Kyle likes Gosling Black Rum)

3 parts Gosling's Ginger Beer

A splash of lime and one for garnish

Let me know what you think, and of course enjoy!

Sneaky Tequila (Or not so much)

I found this recipe on HGTV, they did a great article on 14 quick and easy cocktails found here. So I thought why not, I already have all of the ingredients! The article was only right on one account.... it was easy, but it was not sneaky at all. In fact, I had to add extra pineapple and cranberry it was so strong. But then again, I am a wimp. I like my alcohol to be hidden in fruity flavors. Here is my adaptation on the HGTV recipe for a Sneaky Tequila. 

4 ounces tequila 
4 ounces coconut rum 
2 ounce peach schnapps 
6 ounces pineapple juice 
4 ounces cranberry juice

Let's just say if you are a tequila person who likes a drink that packs a punch, this is right up your alley!

 

fish bowl drink

This drink is one of my favorites for when it gets toasty outside. We made it for the first time last August when we were sitting by the pool, and it is one that we have kept around. I made this for the 90's themed party that we had this past weekend. This drink is meant to be served in a fish bowl and then shared but I thought it looked cute in mason jars instead. Here is how you make it. 

The fish bowl drink serves 2 in half pint mason jars

1/2 cup nerds
5 oz vodka
5 oz dark rum 
3 oz blue curacao
6 oz sweet and sour
16 oz pineapple juice
16 oz sprite
two swedish fish in each glass
   - This recipe calls for coconut rum, but I feel like this makes it too sweet. If you like your drinks sweet, give it a try.

In a large container mix the vodka, rum, blue curacao, sweet and sour, pineapple juice and sprite. In the mason jar, add the nerds to the bottom and then the two swedish fish to the side of the jar. Add your ice and then pour your misture over the nerds. I always add a couple slices of lemon and lime to the top for garnish.

• For those that do not drink or kids, just take the alcohol out and add more sprite. 

 

 

Summer margaritas in the fall

I am naturally a fall person, I despise the humidity and feel the need to take a shower every 5 minutes in the summer. but I can’t stop thinking about the summery margaritas. So I asked my mother in law to come over and we would test out some I have been dying to try since May! Of course, you mention margaritas and me and my mother in law come running. They were wonderful! All homemade and boy does it make a difference, my favorites are the pineapple and tropical so far.