Thirsty Thursday, call a cab edition!



Yeah, don't take it in the face!

I know, I've been going back and forth with drink recipes that may or may not contain alcohol, that way all of my friends and colleagues who may not want to partake (for any reason from preference to pregnancy) can feel included.  Well, sorry guys and gals, but this week is probably not going to be the best week for you.  You can fake out some of these ingredients, but I can't imagine the essence of goodness that is this beverage can really be enjoyed without some of the fully leaded liquids!

Behold - the Raspberry Tequila Sangria! Okay, you know how it goes, at least it's the ingredients for it.

Do you see that Ultimate Mandolin in the shot? Oh yeah, I totally busted it out for some uber-thin slices.  I'll admit, my orange was almost too big to use easily, but it fit and I totally made it work.

Check the difference between when I used a knife to thinly slice my lime, and when I used the mandolin.  Freaky, right?

In the spirit of a real sangria, I put all of the ingredients (minus the "champagne" and Sprite) in the pitcher to soak up some of the alcohol.  I had this sitting about an hour as I waited for Thomas to come home for the day, and as soon as he walked in, I added the bubbly ingredients.

It only took two glasses a piece and we were out for the count.  We were so sleepy after dinner that we retired at a ridiculously early hour.  It was totally worth it, however, and was a great way to spend an evening after a long day of work.  Oh, and it was the day I learned that I was being laid off, so in the long run, completely necessary!

Drink up, kids, it's almost Friday.  Cheers!

Happy Thirsty Thursday, everyone!

Work week got you down?  Thinking that the three day weekend we had only three days ago is now just a figment of your imagination?  Ready to kick off the weekend grad school style?  (I have to say grad school instead of college, since I think the college weekend began on Wednesday.)

Well, have no fear: Thirsty Thursday is here!!  It's almost time to kick off from work for the day (although you lucky East Coasters may already be on your way), so let's have a virtual sip with an awesome summer beverage that is easy to make, and quite simply refreshing...

The Sparkling Sangria!

Ingredients for fun!

I have to admit, this recipe took me a little longer to make than necessary, because I was trying to preserve my manicure, which made peeling the fruits difficult.  However, the fruits of my labor (haha) were well worth it.

The recipe calls for non-alcoholic red wine.  I went fully loaded (the Barefoot Sweet Red is on sale at the Jewels/Albertsons), and threw in an extra orange for good measure.  I also used the Splenda Sugar Blend equivalent (2 TBS) instead of sugar (1/4 C), and Sprite Zero.  This doesn't make this a diet drink by any stretch of the imagination, especially when two people drink the whole batch, but I have to imagine that it helps a little.

Also, you're supposed to let the fruit sit in the alcohol for 3-4 hours, but dinner only took an hour to create.  I'm sure it would be even more impressive if I didn't have the patience of a two year old crack baby.

That's all I have for this week, but I have a few other drink recipes I'm dying to try out.  Until then,

Cheers!