Peach Bellinis

What you'll need for this summery cocktail:
1 lb. Peaches
1/2 c. Sugar
1/2 c. Water
2 T. Lemon Juice
1 c. Ice cubes
Sparkling Wine (or Champagne)*
Blender

Start out by peel the peaches.  Then cut them up into small hunks and drop them in the blender, add lemon juice and ice.  Next boil about 1/2 c. water and stir in 1/2 c. sugar until it is dissolved.  Add the sugar mixture to the blender and pulse until the peaches are pureed nicely.  :)  Taste to make sure it is to your liking of sweetness, etc...  Pour into glasses and top off with some sparkling wine.  I used about 1 c. peach puree to about 1/4 c. sparkling wine.  But you can do whatever proportions you'd like!  :)  They'll look something like this....

Enjoy!  :)

* For a nonalcoholic version you can use Sprite/7-up/Sparkling water in place of the wine. 

Pi Punch

Well, I forgot to blog about my favorite thing I made for the party on Saturday!  Punch.  Pi Punch.  Ever heard of it?  Maybe not exactly huh....  :)  Well, I used the rather standard recipe for punch that was always used at showers and wedding at the church I grew up in.  (In fact it was at my showers, and wedding too!)  It consists of about 1/2 gal. sherbet to 5 liters of 7-up or sprite.  Simple enough huh?  But SO good and refreshing!  It's always a big hit.  :)

I prefer the lime sherbet but I've had it in just about every flavor and they are all good.  I used lime at our party because my hubby is graduating from CSU, where the school colors are green and gold.  :)  And since he's a super genius Electrical Engineer, I got these super cute Pi shaped ice cube trays and made Pi ice cubes for the punch.  Now since I didn't want to water it down with water, I made the pi's out of sprite.  And so that they would be able to bee seen--and photographed--I colored them green.  :)  Pretty clever huh?  Well...I at least thought so.  :)

Make a Frappe at Home

Alright, if you are like me, you probably enjoy a nice frozen coffee drink from time to time.  They sure add up though at $4 a pop.  So, I am experimenting with making them at home.  Today I made one, and it turned out quite delicioso!  So here's the recipe:

Vanilla Frappe:

1 part cool coffee
1 part vanilla ice cream
1 part milk (I used 1%, but any would work just great.)
2 T. sugar
ice

1.  Choose desired cup you'd like to drink your frappe out of.
2.   Then measure how many ounces it holds.  (Easiest way is to fill with water and then pour into measuring cup.)
3.  Measure out the ingredients.  So if it's a 12 ounce cup, do 4 oz coffee, about 4 oz ice cream and 4 oz milk.
4.  Pour those ingredients into the blender.
5.  Then fill the cup up with ice and pour that into the blender as well.
6.  Blend to perfection.  :)

The texture probably won't be as wonderful as Starbucks, McDonalds or where ever else you usually buy them because our home blenders are nothing compared to the professional ones.  But it still will satisfy.   I pretty much promise! :)  Oh, and you will have some extra but it's a bonus, or some to share with someone else!  :)

Fresh Grapefruit Juice

If you like Grapefruit (why do they call it that?  They don't look or taste anything like grapes...) you'll love fresh squeezed grapefruit juice at home!

I just made some this morning with the help of my sweet husband who peeled the fruit for me!  I just juiced it in my juicer attachment for my Bullet Express and there it was in seconds.  We both loved it too.  Why doesn't juice from the store ever, I mean EVER, taste like the real fruit and taste good?  I don't know....but I am hooked on my newest gadget and it's juices!

Ok, I just googled for an answer to my question and here's a site that explains it.  Basically, they got their name because grapefruit grow in clusters on tress very similar to the way grapes grow. :)

Organic Homemade Apple Juice

I don't think I will ever buy store bought apple juice again.  Seriously.  Have you ever tried making apple juice at home?  It's delicious!!  I just love my new "muse" aka Bullet Express!!  I just made Apple juice, as per my hubby's request too.  We just love, love, love it!!!  Super healthy, super tasty and quite easy in my new gadget!!

I used 4 large organic fuji apples and it made about 20 ounces of apple juice. Most of it is gone already...but I am looking forward to some in the morning too!  :)

I mean, it really tastes like real apples.  You have got to try it yourself!  If you don't have a juicer or bullet express...you may have to go borrow one from your friend.  It's so delicious....like a melody....in my tummy. ;)

Organic v3 f1 Juice

Ok, you know V8 juice?  Well, I am in love with making juices now at home with my Bullet Express.  So instead of V8, I did V3 F1.  So this juice has 3 vegetables and 1 fruit in it!  It's actually quite reminiscent of V8 juice too...well to me at least.  :)  Oh, and organic things were on sale today, so this is made with all organic veggies and fruit!  So here's how you too can make this healthy, vitamin filled drink at home!  :)

V3F1 Juice:

2 Carrots

4 Stalks Celery, you can use leaves too

1 Large Beet

2 Pears

1.  Cut veggies and fruit up into about 2" squares.

2.  Put some into your juicer or bullet express juicer and juice! :)

3.  Repeat until all fruit/veggies are juiced!

4.  Stir it up and enjoy!

Now...I want to try homemade apple juice but I have to clean the juicer to do that...I may just wait till tomorrow to make apple juice!  :)  (Something seems wrong with cleaning the juicer just to make a mess in it and have to clean it again...)

DISCLAIMER:  This juice has a beet in it, so beware, because it will be bright in color and could possibly stain your counters, clothing, etc...  So enjoy responsibly!

Hot Cocoa

I also write for AC and published my recipe for homemade hot cocoa there.  Check it out!  :)