Cucumber Basil Spa-cktail

Last night I had a few girlfriends over for a spa party. We went Greek-themed with the food, but none of us was too excited at the prospect of drinking ouzo. And we also wanted to stay away from our typical beer. While Cosmos are great for a girls' night, they are so 2003, so they were also voted out. So I poked around in the liquor cabinet and got a bit creative.

The recipe below makes one cocktail.

Ingredients
2 oz basil and cucumber infused gin
1 lime wedge
1/4 tsp strawberry syrup (daquiri mix will work)
ice
ginger ale
cucumber slice (optional)

Directions
1. To make infused gin: in a sealable container combine 1/2 of a sliced cucumber, 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves and gin (as much as you want for the drinks). Shake vigorously and place in the frige for 3 days. Shake once a day. Strain out the cucumber and basil, and voila: infused gin!


2. Pour the infused gin into a cocktail shaker. Squeeze the lime wedge into the shaker and toss in the wedge.

3. Add the strawberry syrup and ice and shake.

4. Strain into a martini glass. Fill the rest of the way with ginger ale.

5. Garnish with a cucumber slice.

Cheers!

Note: this recipe makes a great summer cocktail and would also work with vodka if you prefer or over ice to keep it chilled on a hot summer day.


Bon Appetit!
The Food Whore

Rhubarbarita!

"Rhubarbarita!"

That's just fun to say. Especially after you've had a rhubarbarita or two.

Last week we got rhubarb in the FP box. The only dish I've heard of with rhubarb is rhubarb pie. But I didn't want to make a pie. I was at a loss until I saw Fresh Picks' suggestion of making a rhubarb simple syrup for cocktails (and non-alcoholic drinks). I love finding recipes like this. It's a fun new twist on a margarita and makes me feel a little more grown-up than if I'd gone to the store and bought that bottle of bright greenish-yellow "margarita" mix.

I followed the recipe above, although I scaled back as I only had about 1 lb of rhubarb. It was enough to make 2-3 cocktails. Once we had the syrup in hand, here's the cocktail I made:

Rhubarbarita!

Ingredients
2 oz your preferred tequila
1 oz triple sec
2 oz rhubarb syrup
juice of 1-2 lime wedges

Directions
1. Mix all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously so you get a nice frothy beverage.

2. Rim a glass with sugar or salt.

Note: we went with sugar this time to counteract the bitterness of the rhubarb, but it was too sweet for my taste. I much prefer salt on the rim.

3. Fill your glass with crushed ice. If you don't have crushed ice, toss some ice cubes in a plastic bag and pound out some of your rage with a small kitchen mallet.

4. Pour the mix over ice and go sit in a nice sunny spot in the yard. Be sure to shout "Viva la Rhubarbarita!" when you toast your friends.

Note: that last part is optional, but I think it makes the drink taste better.

Bon Appetit!
The Food Whore

Game-Day Menu

This week my Gators play the Vols. I could go on and on about the rivalry and the expectations for this game, but I'll spare you. Instead, here's this week's Tailgate Menu. It includes breakfast and lunch since the game is at 3:30 p.m. and we'll be arriving at our tailgate spot at 7:30 a.m.!

Breakfast:
Mimosas
Bloody Marys
Cinnamon Rolls
Bacon, Cheese, and Sun-Dried Tomato Quiche
Pancakes

Lunch:
Whiskey
Beer
Spicy Cilantro-Lime Wings
Tangy Grilled Chicken Sandwiches
7 Layer Bean Dip
Pasta Salad

Stay tuned for reviews and recipes!

Bon Appetit!
The FoodWhore

Weekend Barbeque Menu

Last weekend Mr. Foodwhore graduated college. We hosted an afternoon barbeque at our house to celebrate. Despite weeks of preparation, I failed to take any pictures at the party. I'm actually pretty disappointed because I like to document things like that. Alas, you'll just have to take my word for it that it was awesome.

What I do have from the party is a delicious menu to share. So in honor of that, I've decided to start a new post label called "Menu." I'll use this to tag posts where I discuss menus for various occasions. So if you are ever in a rut and need a menu for a special meal, check out the menu tag for inspiration.

Weekend Barbeque Menu

Drinks
White Wine Citrus Sangria
Appleton Jewels
Iced Tea
Assorted Bottle Beers
Open Bar Cocktails

Appetizers
Spinach Dip with Hawaiian Bread
Veggies and Dip
Chips and Salsa

Entree
Build Your Own Burger/Hotdog Buffett
Toppings: mayo, mustard, ketchup, relish, pickles, onions, lettuce, tomatoes, sauteed mushrooms and onions, 5 kinds of cheese, cole slaw
Pasta Salad
Potato Salad

Dessert
Shortbread cookies
Chocolate cupcakes

Holiday Party Food

Last weekend we had our annual holiday party. To go with our theme of tacky Christmas Sweaters, I wanted to do traditional foods and nothing too outlandish. I'll be posting recipes and more pictures later, but in the meantime, here is our menu:

Cocktails:
Peppermint Martinis
Egg Nog
Raspberry Champagne
Red Wine Sangria
Assorted Beer

Food:
Devilled Eggs
Cocktail Weiners in BBQ Sauce
Baked Cheese Spread with crostinis
Veggies and Dip
Cookie Buffet


our cookie buffet


the drink table


baked cheese spread


the rest of the food

Happy Mother's Day (way belated)

For Mother's Day, I hosted a lunch for my mom. It was a small affair, just the three of us (me, Mr. Food Whore and Mama Food Whore.) Since Mom is also a Food Whore, I wanted to do something delicious that she'd never had...so I went to some of my favorite food blogs for inspiration. Here's what we had:

The Mother's Day Lunch Menu

Click on the links for the recipes. A special thanks to the Pioneer Woman and Good Things Catered for inspiring this delicious meal. Mom was impressed (and stuffed!)

White wine citrus sangria (sorry, no picture): This sangria is delicious and so pretty to look at. I wish I'd captured it in a photo. You can kind of see it in some of the pictures. I've made it a couple more times since and everyone raves about how delicious it is. I love how simple it is.

Dill and Paprike Goat Cheese with Crostinis: Yum! But also very tedious. I made the mistake of trying to slice the goat cheese, which makes a better presentation...but also crumbles if not done right. I might suggest leaving it in a log for guests to slice and spread on their own. Slicing it stressed me out, as it was not turning out perfectly as I wanted it.

Onion Tart Pastry with Mixed Greens: I was skeptical of this at first, but it was superb. Mama Food Whore loved it. Such a delicious blend of flavors with the carmelized sweet onions.

Pasta Prima Vera with Salmon: Our family is very big on seafood, so I knew I wanted to add some Salmon to the mix. I was very happy that the Pioneer Woman included brief cook times in her recipe. The veggies were crisp, but cooked...and not soggy as mine sometimes are from over-cooking.

(Note: the original recipe did not include the salmon. I baked some on my Pampered Chef stone and added it in at the last minute for some extra protein...Yum!)

Ice Cream Cake Flower Pots: Dad joined us for dessert. At first the parents were quite confused that I was serving flowers for dessert, but Dad bravely dug in and was quite pleasantly surprised by the cherry and chocolate ice cream layered over pound cake. The pots we used were WAY too big. I got about 3-4 servings out of each. Needless to say, there were leftovers. I would use a much smaller pot next time.

A beautiful picture of the whole spread