Ginger Pineapple Rum Punch

Ginger beer.

 






























































How do you guys feel about it? 

I don't think I could drink it straight up, just as a normal everyday drink. But mixed with some rum and pineapple juice? I'm down.

I had bought some at Trader Joe's out of curiosity and needed a reason to use them up. This cocktail seemed like the perfect opportunity. Use some kinda rum... the recipe calls for dark rum but I used Morgan's Spiced Rum which isn't a dark rum but it's what I had on hand, and it's probably why my cocktails are lighter in color than Dara's. Oh well, rummmmmmm. 




Ginger Pineapple Rum Punch
from Cookin Canuck

• 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
• 1 cup ginger beer
• 1 and 1/2 cups Jamaican dark rum
• 2 cups pineapple juice
• Ice

In a pitcher, combine lime juice, ginger beer, rum and pineapple juice. Stir well to combine.

Fill glasses with ice and pour in the punch.

If you prefer to make the punch in advance, mix together all of the ingredients except the ginger beer. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Stir in the ginger beer immediately before serving. You can increase or decrease rum and/or pineapple juice as desired.


Printable Recipe

Depending how you like your drinks, you can add more or less pineapple juice or rum than the recipe calls for.

 






























































Fill er up with plenty of ice + this cocktail and you've got yourself a Friday night.


Peace, and bacon grease!

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Roasted Jalapeno Margarita

Hola, amigos!

It's time to get Cinco de Mayo up in here. And what better way to prepare than with a margarita? There isn't any, is there?

This here margarita is special, you see. It's the perfect blend of sweet, salty, and spicy!

 
Here's the pretty fruits and veggies you'll need. Can we count this as healthy since there's fruits and veggies involved?

Yep, it's a Roasted Jalapeno Margarita! 

Intrigued? 









Ever since I fell in love with this Cilantro Jalapeno Limeade I made last summer, I've been obsessed with the idea of jalapeno in my drinks to add that perfect little bit of spiciness. This margarita, no exception. 
























Roasted Jalapeno Margarita
from Food Network 

• 1 jalapeno
• ice
• 3 ounces Homemade Sour Mix, recipe follows
• 2 ounces tequila
• 1 lime, cut into wedges and/or slices
• salt for rim, if desired

Over a hot grill or stovetop burner, roast the jalapeno until lightly blistered and fragrant. Slice into 1/4 inch thick slices.

In a cocktail shaker, add 2 (or more) slices roasted jalapeno, ice, Homemade Sour Mix, tequila, and juice of 1 lime wedge. Shake. Rim a glass with the wedge of a lime and dip in salt. Serve with ice. Garnish with lime slice and jalapeno slice.

Homemade Sour Mix

*Yields: 3 and 1/2 cups

• 1 and 1/2 cups sugar 
• 1 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup fresh lime juice

Combine the sugar and 1 and 1/2 cups water in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and cool. Add the lemon and lime juice. Chill until ready to use.  

*Note: You will not use all of the Homemade Sour Mix for one margarita, as the recipe for Homemade Sour Mix yields 28 ounces and you only need 3 ounces per margarita. You will have some leftover for more margaritas :) 

Printable Recipe
 





























Don't forget the salt for the rim! What's a margarita without the salt?

More Cinco de Mayo recipes to come this week! Stay tuned :)

Linking up here.  

Peace, and bacon grease!

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Thin Mints Milkshakes

This month is filled with greats!

 















PJ's birthday was March 7th, mine is March 24th, Easter is March 31st, spring arrives this month, AND March 17th is St. Patty's Day. What an awesome month, if I may say so myself.

This week I'm celebrating the upcoming holiday by bringing you some St. Patty's Day treats. All week long! Well, Thursday I'm participating in a challenge so that won't be St. Patty's Day-related. But my other posts will. So if you're looking for some last minute green/mint/Irish goodies, this is the spot to be.

 
















I'm weird for many reasons, I'll admit. I pick at my food. It takes me like an hour to eat dinner. I cry on reality shows, but love to watch UFC fighting and gory scary movies. I don't like to drink after people, even my mom and PJ! 

But the weird thing about me that is relevant for today is that I dislike mint for the most part, except when it comes to York Peppermint Patties, and Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies. So I dislike mint, but I like mint. Whatever kinda sense that makes.


























So yeah, I like Thin Mints. And I like this Thin Mints Milkshake.  I think yall will too!

 






















Thin Mints Milkshake
ever-so-slightly adapted from Your Homebased Mom

• 2 cups vanilla or vanilla bean ice cream 
• 1 cup milk
• 6 Thin Mint cookies + more for garnish 
• Whipped cream for topping

Blend all ingredients in a blender. Top with crushed Thin Mints for garnish.

Printable Recipe  
 
























Nothing says St. Patty's Day like mint-flavored beverages.

Only thing that could make this cooler would be if it were green!! 
 
 























Stay tuned for more St. Patty's Day goodies throughout the week!

Peace, and bacon grease!

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Cilantro Jalapeno Limeade {Eating the Alphabet Series}

I'm joining the Eating the Alphabet challenge this month, and the letters for this month are I or J... and remember?... it's gotta be a fruit, vegetable, or legume/grain. Not many options that I could come up with... j for jicama, but I'm not sure that I like it. I could have been adventurous but in the end, I went with the good ole jalapeno.

So many possibilities! But the one that really intrigued me and won me over was this Cilantro Jalapeno Limeade. Don't give me that look! I figured I would either love it or hate it. The reviews were very good, so I hoped I would think the same. I told PJ that I was making this and he thought it sounded strange, which I expected. But I told you guys that I love an opportunity to change his mind. But would this recipe do that?...

The answer is yes! This limeade was somethin else. That perfect combination of tangy, tart, sweet, refreshing and spicy.

One of the best limeades I've had. 

Cilantro Jalapeno Limeade

ever-so-slightly adapted from Myrecipes

*Yields 2 large servings

• 2 and 1/4 cups water
• 3/8 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup agave nectar
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
• 1/4 cup jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped (and 2 large jalapenos)

• 1 tsbp sugar
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 3 lime wedges, divided
• 3/4 cup fresh lime juice (about 3-4 limes)
• ice

Combine the first 3 ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat; stir in cilantro and jalapeno. Let stand for 30 minutes. Pour jalapeno mixture into a large bowl or leave in pot, cover, and chill for at least 3 hours. I let mine sit overnight.

Combine 1 tbsp sugar and the salt in a shallow dish. Rub rims of 2 glasses with a lime wedge. Dip the rims of the glasses into the sugar/salt mixture.

Strain cilantro and jalapeno mixture through a fine sieve over a bowl, discarding solids. Stir in lime juice. Fill each prepared glass with ice. Add limeade to each glass. Garnish with 2 remaining lime wedges.

Printable Recipe

This drink screams summer!  

So don't let your summer pass by without trying this pleasure. I know we will be making this plenty.

Peace, and bacon grease!

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Dulce de Leche Bacon Milkshake

Whoa, it's been quite some time since I've posted! I've missed it. I wish there were more hours in the day! I've gotta start making more time for this, somehow, cuz I loves it.

I was going to be linking up to the Crazy Cooking Challenge... this month it's all about the smoothies and shakes. Truthfully, I made this shake for that purpose. Then hours before posting time, I re-read the requirements and it has to have fruit. Noooooo! 

Oh well, I can still share this with you guys.

You all know I love my bacon. And caramel. You guys know that, right? Thus, this milkshake seemed like the perfect fit. Yes I'm about to do this.

Dulce de Leche Bacon Milkshakes. 

Bacon lovers, can I get an Amen?! This recipe from Eva is pure heaven for a bacon and caramel lover like myself. And you, of course!

Don't hate. All my bacon and sweet n salty lovers probably feel me. I know you may not be diggin the whole bacon in desserts thing, but just try it and you may be surprised!

I enjoyed the little bits of bacon with each drink. 

Annnnnd technically it's DOUBLE dulce de leche because instead of vanilla ice cream, I used Haagen Dazs' Dulce de Leche Caramel Ice Cream.

Dulce de Bacon Milkshake

slightly adapted from Adventures in Cooking

• 5 slices of center-cut bacon
• 1 cup Haagen Dazs Dulce de Leche Caramel ice cream
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 heaping tbsp dulce de leche (ok, let's be serious here. Let's just make it 2 tbsp)

Cook bacon in a large skillet until done, flipping occasionally. Remove and set aside to cool for 5 minutes. Cut or tear 4 of the bacon slices into small pieces. Reserve extra slice of bacon for garnish.

Place the ice cream, milk, dulce de leche, and chopped bacon in a blender. Put the lid on and blend at high speed for a minute, until mixture is thoroughly combined. Pour the milkshake into a clear serving glass and garnish with the single slice of cooked bacon. Serve immediately.

Printable Recipe

It. Doesn't. Get. Much. Better. Than. That.

Peace, and bacon grease!

Linking up here.

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Salted Caramel Milkshake {Holiday Recipe Club: Cinco de Mayo}

It's almost over but, Happy Cinco de Mayo, amigos!

We didn't do any big celebrating, but I made sure to have a margarita.

Do you guys know one of my favorite things in life?

Salted caramel. 

For reals. I'm all about the sweet and salty if you don't know by now. 

And for this month's Holiday Recipe Club, we had to make a Cinco de Mayo recipe using either chorizo, tomatoes, or dulce de leche... or a combination of any of the three. 

I chose to roll with the dulce de leche because I love all things caramel and have seen those little dulce de leche cans around stores and always wondered what to make with it. Now was the time to find out. While I was in the aisle I saw the canned kind, and some more  dulce de leche squeezable caramel sauce, same brand. So I just got both. I ended up using the pourable caramel sauce. I'll figure out what to do with the other stuff, oh don't you worry.

I opted for something simple yet something that will brighten any day or put a nice end to a rough work day or week. I found this salted caramel milkshake recipe... with some alcohol added in. Oh I'm all on that!

Salted Caramel Milkshake

slightly adapted from Food Network

• 1 cup french vanilla ice cream
• 1/3 cup Nestle La Lechera Dulce de Leche caramel sauce (squeeze bottle)
• 1 shot 1800 silver tequila
• Whipped cream
• Sea salt and/or candied orange peel, for garnish

Blend the ice cream, dulce de leche caramel sauce, tequila and 3 ice cubes in a blender on medium speed until thick and smooth. Pour in glass and top with whipped cream, sea salt and/or candied orange peel. 

Printable Recipe

This recipe made one margarita-glass full.

You can definitely make these without the alcohol too for the young ones. Or for yourself if you're not into the whole alcohol thing. But then we can't be friends. Just kidding, just kidding. That just means more alcohol for me  :)

Check out these other Mexican recipes for other Cinco de Mayo ideas!

Baked Creamy Chicken Flautas
Chicken Taco Lasagna with Cilantro Lime Sauce
Mexican Chicken with Jalapeno Popper Sauce
Southwest Chicken Burritos
White Chicken Enchiladas with Green Chile Sauce
Corn, Avocado, and Tomato Salad
Mexican Sour Cream Rice
Southwestern Deviled Eggs
Hot Fiesta Dip
Jalapeno Poppers
Homemade Taco Mix

Peace, and bacon grease!

Linking up here.

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Bring on the Summer with Cherry Limeade Slushies!! {Eating the Alphabet Series}

Hey there my peeps! 

Have you heard about this fun challenge called Eating the Alphabet? Like I need another challenge, right? But I can't help myself! I love them all so much. And this one is no exception. This is my first time participating. The whole idea is to make a recipe using a fruit or vegetable (or grains or beans) that starts with a specific letter. This month we had the letters C or D. After much thought, I decided on using CHERRIES! (Did you know there aren't very many fruits or vegetables starting with D? Not many that my brain could come up with anyway!!)

Again, whipped up a nice long word document list of some possibilities. I do that. Lists are my thing. They make me feel accomplished when I can cross off even the simplest of tasks. I'm getting off track though... after much consideration I decided on a fun cherry limeade slushie. The weather here has been GORG and so summer-like so I was definitely yearning for these slushies. In March! That's dang near a miracle here in Cincinnati! Temps in the 70s and 80s... in March?!?! Yes, tis true. So slushies are in order. This weather calls for them!

Definitely gonna try this using blueberries, and strawberries. And whatever other fruit I can get my hands on! You should too.

Cherry Limeade Slushies

from Good Life Eats

*makes 2 servings 

• 2 cups Limeade *recipe below
• 1 cup crushed ice
• 1 and 1/2 cups frozen cherries

Limeade:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup of water
• 1 cup fresh lime juice
• 4 cups of cold water

First, prepare limeade by combining sugar and 1 cup of water in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved to make a simple syrup. Let cool. In a pitcher, combine the simple syrup, lime juice, and cold water. Chill

Once limeade is chilled, combine 2 cups of the limeade, crushed ice, and cherries in a blender. Serve immediately.

*Note: You can use 2 cups store-bought limeade if you want the shortcut version.

Printable Recipe

 

Just a note too that the limeade recipe above makes a whole recipe of limeade, not only the 2 cups called for in this recipe. So save that remaining limeade and store it in a jar or pitcher for another hot day!

Linking up here.

Peace, and bacon grease!

My entry into Just Something I Whipped Up sponsored by Appliances Online and the Bosch Washing Machines

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Strawberry Sweethearts Cocoa for Valentine's Day {Holiday Recipe Club}

Here's a delicious Valentine's Day treat for your sweetheart.

It's sweet, it's warm and comforting, and it's pink (though you can't totally tell from the picture).

At first we were suspicious... "Why melt the ice cream?!? Why add water?!" But boy was it worth it.

Don't question it.

Strawberry Sweethearts Cocoa

slightly adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 pint strawberry ice cream
• 2 cups water
• Whipped cream
• 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
• 1 tablespoon chocolate sprinkles

In a medium-sized bowl, melt the chocolate chips and dip the top of four mugs into the chocolate. Set aside, allowing chocolate to harden.

In a medium pot, whisk together the butter, sugar, and ice cream over medium high heat until melted.  Whisk in the water, one cup at a time until your favorite texture/flavor is achieved.  Heat just until steaming.  Pour into chocolate-rimmed mugs.  Garnish with a dollop of whipping cream and a sprinkling of chocolate sprinkles.

*We only made two glasses, and only added in 2 cups of water vs. 4 cups. We used less chocolate chips for the rims since we were only having two glasses, also.

Printable Recipe

Your sweet is sure to think you're sweet if you make this for him or her. What says "I love you" more than chocolate-dipped rims and strawberry ice cream?

It's love in a glass.

I'm participating in Erin's Holiday Recipe Club. Check out all the tasty Valentine treats in the blog hop below. 

Peace, and bacon grease!

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My Mai Tai

Sometimes, we need a little alcohol in our lives! Ok ALOT of alcohol! Though Outback Steakhouse has gone downhill in my opinion (they no longer serve that spinach dip with honey-round toasts!), I have noticed that their Captain Mai Tai is quite delicious, and maybe reason enough to keep going back!

Since alcoholic bevs at restaurants can add up quickly and you can't really generate a buzz unless you plan on spending most of your paycheck there, I decided to investigate the web to find an identical recipe. I was lucky to find the recipe on Yahoo!Answers (someone else was looking for this recipe too, I see! LOL). The best answer given was from someone who got the recipe from their waiter at an actual Outback Steakhouse restaurant. Here is the recipe, according to this mystery Outback waiter....

Outback Steakhouse's Captain's Mai Tai

1 1/2 oz. Captain Morgans
1 oz. Orange Juice
1 oz. Pineapple Juice
1 Tsp. Crushed Pineapple

Put ingredients in a drink mixer and shake.

Put 3/4 - 1oz. Huckleberry Syrup into a glass, strain drink mixture into glass to leave out pineapple pieces.

I personally did not use crushed pineapples, only the pineapple juice. I also could not find any Huckleberry Syrup, and am not very sure what that even is! When I first tasted it, it tasted mainly like orange juice. So I started adding more pineapple juice and rum as needed. So basically I used my own measurements of rum, orange juice, and pineapple juice, and poured in a little juice from the maraschino cherry jar to give it that cool red and orange mix, and topped with some cherries. I must perfect this recipe, because mine didn't taste like the one from Outback. I have GOT to find that huckleberry syrup, hopefully that gives it the specialness of Outback's drink. But mine was still good :) Fill glass with ice if desired.

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