Mardi Gras drinks

This is just a small sampling of traditional drinks enjoyed in the big easy.

Mint Juleps

3 oz. Bourbon
1 tsp. simple syrup or 1 tsp. refined sugar
10-15 large fresh mint leaves
Crushed ice

In a Collins glass, put in all but 2 of the mint leaves. Then add the simple syrup. (If you choose to use refined sugar, add a splash of water in the glass as well). Next, muddle the sugar and mint leaves in the bottom of the glass. Fill the glass with crushed ice and then add the bourbon. Gently stir the drink and then garnish with the left over mint leaves. Serves 1.

The Mint Julep is a powerful yet refreshing drink that is often enjoyed during the daytime or early evening in the hot summer months of New Orleans.
Mint Juleps are also served as a specialty at the Kentucky Derby.


Pimms Cup

2 oz. Pimms
3 oz. Leomonade or Sour mix
7 Up
Cucumber

Fill a Collins glass with ice and add the Pimms and the lemonade. Then top off with 7up and garnish with a cucumber. Serves 1.

A Pimms Cup is a mild-tasting summertime drink made with Pimms liqueur, sometimes described as a cross between Vodka Collins and a mint julep. The Pimms Cup is a very sweet and refreshing drink that is very popular in New Orleans, especially during the hot summer months.


Source: Mardigrasday.com

Happy New Year - Twenty Ten

Gingerbread Cookie Martini

Stolen from Outback:

(minus the measurements)


Monin Gingerbread syrup,
Absolute Vodka,
Kahlua & Bailey's Irish Cream,
Crushed Cookie along rim of glass,
topped with a gingerbread cookie.

Sounds yummy!

Merry Christmas

Here's a cute Christmas website for children -http://northpole.com/

Tracking Santa: http://noradsanta.org/

Midori Sour

2 oz. Midori liqueur

1 oz. lemon juice

1 tsp. sugar syrup

2 dashes grenadine


Combine all ingredients, except for grenadine, shake with ice and strain over ice in a chilled sour glass. Add grenadine

Midori is a green liqeur with melon flavoring. Enthusiasts often mix it with juices and white (clear) spirits. Midori came to the United States in 1978 and was launched worldwide in the 1980s.

Veterans Day

Happy Halloween

Some facts about Halloween:

The Fantasy and Folklore of All Hallows From the American Folklife Center

Jack Santino

Halloween had its beginnings in an ancient, pre-Christian Celtic festival of the dead. The Celtic peoples, who were once found all over Europe, divided the year by four major holidays. According to their calendar, the year began on a day corresponding to November 1st on our present calendar. The date marked the beginning of winter. Since they were pastoral people, it was a time when cattle and sheep had to be moved to closer pastures and all livestock had to be secured for the winter months. Crops were harvested and stored. The date marked both an ending and a beginning in an eternal cycle.

http://www.loc.gov/folklife/halloween.html

Message found in a bottle

A nice and light piece of news.


September 10, 2009

Bottle message found after 5 years

A British man who discovered a message in a bottle on a beach said he tracked down the U.S. teenager who dropped it from a cruise ship five years ago.

Tony Hoskings, a retired electrician, said he found the bottle in July while walking his dog in Goonhavern and discovered a message inside from cruise ship passenger Daniel Knopp.

"I noticed paper and could just see that it said Grandeur of the Seas, which I recognized as a cruise ship belonging to the company that my wife and I took a cruise with on their liner Song of America," Hoskings said.The message, which bore the date June 21, 2004, reads: "Hello, my name is Daniel Knopp. I am on a cruise ship. I hope whoever reads this finds great joy. God bless."

The note also identified Knopp's home as Baltimore, Md. Hoskings said his local paper, The West Briton, contacted the Baltimore Sun for help in locating Knopp. He was found after a seven-week search and discovered to be a 19-year-old political science student at the University of Maryland."

I was 14 when I threw the message off the ship in Freeport, in the Bahamas," Knopp said. "I thought it would be unreal if it were ever to be found, and I figured it would be destroyed by the ocean environment.""I was astounded by it not only being found, but the message still being legible -- it's almost story-like that it was located," he said.

Bottle_message_found_after_five_years

Ellie's drink

This is a great summer drink.

1/4 part Rico Bay (or other Caribbean made dark rum)
1/2 part Triple Sec
1/4 part lemon/sour mix

Mix three ingredients with ice in blender.

Simple as that. Tastes delicious too!

US obesity rates ballooning

US obesity rates ballooning, says report

American obesity rates have increased in 23 states over the past year and decreased in none, according to a new report from the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

US_obesity_rates_ballooning