When I first saw the recipe for Sante Fe Coolers (pg. 132 Sandra Lee semi-homemade Cocktail Time), I thought  ewwwww.  Because I don’t like beer.  But as I read the ingredients again, I remembered being surprised when I noticed that my much loved wine coolers were labeled ‘malt beverage’.  And my husband assured me that that meant beer.

So, I decided to make the Sante Fe Coolers – we’ll get to how my friends liked this drink, but first I have to pass on to you some information about Red Stripe Beer (an ingredient in Sante Fe Coolers) that Wikipedia provided.  Wikipedia says “With an eye towards the success of  Heineken, Red Stripe for export was packaged in green standard 12 U.S. fl oz bottles.  American consumers … were reluctant to try the brand in the States since it was not packaged in its distinctive squat brown bottle and painted label.”  Red Stripe has since become popular via reggae and other music events.

That’s all terribly exciting, but I used Heineken beer in my Santa Fe Coolers instead of Red Stripe because:

1. I didn’t feel like driving to the grocery store
2. There was Heineken in the fridge, not Red Stripe

Here is the Sante Fe Cooler recipe, courtesy of Ms. Sandra Lee:

SANTE FE COOLERS

• 1 2-inch piece fresh ginger, sliced
• 2 cups water
• 1 can (12 oz.) frozen lemonade concentrate
• 1 bottle (12 oz.) beer (Red Stripe – but I use Heineken)
• 3 1/2 cups ginger ale
• 1 1/2 cups vodka (someone had left a bottle of Gordon’s at my house, so that’s what went in this)
• ice cubes, lime slices (optional)

In a small saucepan,  bring sliced ginger (I peeled it too) and water to a boil.  Remove from heat and let stand for 20 minutes.  Strain, reserving ginger water*. In a large pitcher, stir to combine thawed** lemonade concentrate, ginger water, beer, ginger ale, and vodka.  Pour in glasses over ice.  Garnish with lime slices (optional).

*2 notes about this:  1.) I can’t believe Sandra Lee COOKED!, and 2.) I did this step the day before and stored the ginger water in a sealed container in the fridge.

** I did not thaw the lemonade – I found that it easily dissolved when stirred with the other ingredients.

Also if you get Sandra Lee’s semi-homemade Cocktail Time book, you will notice from the photo above, that my cocktail is much darker in color than Sandra’s.  I suspect that is because I used a larger piece of ginger – the ginger water was quite dark. (yum).

OK. Does the Sante Fe Coolers get a Semi-HomeTested rating of LUSH IT, LUSH IT A LOT, or LEAVE IT? Myself and my friends were surprised at how delicious this was! All agree that Sandra Lee’s Sante Fe Cooler gets a Semi-HomeTested rating of LUSH IT A LOT!

If you’d like to try a wine cooler without all the sugar and chemical additives, try the Sante Fe Coolers yourself, and let me know what you think in a comment below. Be sure to let me know what kind of beer you used in your cocktail cooler.

Salude!

T-Cee

Sandra Lee’s Apple Sour Cocktail (pg. 142 Sandra Lee semi-homemade Cocktail Time) is a just right mix of sweet and sour flavors.

This is just what I needed after a day of schlepping around, measuring windows, visiting fabric stores, Home Goods store (which I love), and the big box store, Lowe’s.  Lowe’s is where I finally found something perfect for a kitchen window in my camp – nothing fancy, but definitely not kitschy. Ok, before I get too carried away, here is the recipe for the Apple Sour cocktail, courtesy of Sandra Lee.

Sandra Lee Apple Sour

• 1 1/4 oz. green apple flavored vodka
• 1/4 oz sour mix

In a cocktail shaker, combine vodka and sour mix.  Add ice; cover and shake until very cold.  Strain into prepared glass.

OK, back to me. I selected a Levelor cordless cellular shade that the Lowe’s associate trimmed according to the measurement I made- and I might say she insisted that it had to be cut 1/2 inch smaller than my inside window frame measurement. More on that later.

Anyway, the manufacturer claims that this shade can be installed in 15 minutes. Are you kidding? It took me 20 minutes to find the drill (for the pilot holes), and a phone call and add’l 10 minutes to find the proper bits and put them in the drill. So that’s 1/2 hour so far. Then I had to place the 2 thingees on the window to measure where to drill the holes (another 10 minutes as I had to climb on a counter and the light wasn’t that great). But I have to say the actual drilling of the pilots took only 4 minutes. So, now I’m into this for 44 minutes.

Who knew drilling screws in an upward direction was so hard? Is there a trick to not stripping the darn screws? Half way through, I got a regular screwdriver to finish up and that was actually easier than the dang drill. (this step easily took me 20 minutes). So far, 64 minutes.

Then I had to fuss with the endcaps for 5 minutes. BUT THEN, the directions virtually stop, merely saying ‘shade attachment’ with a very vague picture. OK, this took me a full 20 minutes. Now having done this step, I see that it would only take a minute next time. But this first installation took me 89 minutes! An hour and a half!

They look great, but then I stepped back and decided the Lowe’s associate should not have trimmed an extra 1/2″ – I think her machine thingee already compensated for the raising and lowering of the shade, cause it sure would look more finished with the extra 1/4 inch on each side. Hoo Boy! It still looks pretty good.

Now, those of you who have been following my blog know that I did manage to squeeze in a trip to the liquor store (it was right next to the fabric store!) for my Sandra Lee semi-homemade cocktail ingredients. The Apple Sour cocktail was a breeze to make and truly took only 5 minutes to make. Perhaps I should stick to what I know best?

OK. Does the Apple Sour get a Semi-HomeTested rating of LUSH IT, LUSH IT A LOT, or LEAVE IT? This delightful easy end to my day definitely rates a Semi-HomeTested rating of LUSH IT A LOT!

Try it yourself while you’re enjoying the new Fall TV shows, and let me know what you think in a comment below.

Salude!

T-Cee

Here’s a Happy Homemaker Cocktail (pg. 143 Sandra Lee semi-homemade Cocktail Time) for all you stay at home moms.  Don’t get up in tizzy – if you’re not a stay at home mom, you can enjoy this cocktail too.  But today I want to celebrate the stay at home moms who are putting the pride back into the housewife.  And then need a little wind-down! (recipe below)

That’s right.  I said it.  Pride in being a housewife – I’ve had several corporate, well paying jobs, and let me tell you – there is nothing with more staying power than the pride  you get from the full time job of helping your family be a family!  Now that my family is getting older, I am entertaining other opportunities, but I salute all the new mom’s entering the housewife foray.

I think Sandra Lee has the right attitude (though she certainly is NOT a stay at home mom).  Her attitude is make it look great, taste great, and don’t knock yourself out doing so.  While I do enjoy cooking healthy foods from scratch (as opposed to Sandra Lee’s semi-homemade meals), I definitely partake in the ‘make it great, treat yourself right’ attitude.

Maybe that’s why I’m enjoying reviewing the Sandra Lee semi-homemade Cocktail Time book so much.   So after a busy day of appointments, chauffeuring, cleaning, and shopping, I made and enjoyed this delightful Happy Homemaker cocktail.  And thank goodness I brought it to tennis last night, cause I lost, lost, lost, and I hate, hate, hate that.  OK, here’s the recipe, courtesy of  Ms. Sandra Lee.

Happy Homemaker cocktail

• 2 1/2 oz. pineapple juice
• 1 1/2 oz. white rum (I used Bacardi)
• 1/4 oz lime juice
• fresh mint (optional)

In a cocktail shaker, combine pineapple juice, rum, and lime juice.  Add ice; cover and shake until very cold.  Strain into a chilled martini glass.  Garnish with mint (opt’l).

Does the Sandra Lee semi-homemade HAPPY HOMEMAKER cocktail get a T-Cee Semi-HomeTested rating of LUSH IT, LUSH IT A LOT, or LEAVE IT?  This delightful cocktail is a sweet little shot at the end of a hard, or hot, or exhausting, or frustrating, or happy, or whatever day, and I give it a Semi-HomeTested rating of LUSH IT!

OK, all you wonderful housewives, try making this cocktail for yourself and your pals (or hubby) and let me know what you think!  Oh, and my tennis buddies too – leave a comment below.

Salude!

T-Cee

PS – for those of you following the Real Housewives of New Jersey, Caroline, one of our favorite housewives, was just deposed in the Danielle Staub debacle.

Enjoy the U.S. Doubles Matches with a double shot

I love the U.S. Open Doubles.

In fact, I love everything about Doubles.  I love watching the U.S. Open Doubles, playing doubles, and drinking doubles shots.

And what better way to enjoy watching the U.S. Open Doubles, then getting together with your doubles partner and enjoying this special U.S. Open Doubles Cocktail that I created just for this event.

U.S. Open Doubles Cocktail

• 1 shot Limoncello
• 1 shot Blue Curacao

Pour Limoncello and Blue Curacao into ice filled cocktail shaker.  Shake, pour into two shot glasses and drink with your favorite doubles partner.

How great are the U.S. Open Doubles matches this season?

Too bad the always entertaining Nestor and Zimonjic are out already, and of course Serena and Venus are missing from the doubles lineup this year due to Serena’s injury (kind of good for Venus since her knee is bothering her and she gets to focus her energies on her singles).  And I cannot believe that  the doubles team Bhupathi/Mirnyi have lost already too.
But there are still plenty of good reasons to watch the doubles matches.

Mardy Fish and Mark Knowles are still in the mix (not to mention Fish is going super strong in the singles) yeah!  Too bad his good buddy Andy Roddick lost his singles match – where was Andy’s fire power?  The only bad thing is Fish/Knowles are next playing against my favs, the Bryan brothers.  I do predict that the Bryan brothers will win, and it should be a great match.

Oh, and we’ve got Pennetta/Dulco vs. Peer/Niculescu on the women’s side to look forward to.  Oooh – it’s on as I speak.

So, grab your U.S. Open Doubles Shots cocktails and get ready for a great night of tennis. So, did I LUSH IT, LUSH IT A LOT, or LEAVE IT?  Oh, yes, the U.S.Open Doubles Shots gets a Semi-HomeTested rating of LUSH IT A LOT.

Salude!

T-Cee

The Blue Lagoon cocktail (pg. 122 Sandra Lee semi-homemade Cocktail Time) is another summer mix drink made with blue curacao. This BLUE LAGOON however is also made with gin which is not a particularly favorite cocktail ingredient of mine.

It is interesting however, that I made the BLUE LAGOON on the same day that I was surrounded by a ‘sea of blue’ – I’ll explain that later, but first, here’s the mix drink recipe, courtesy of Ms. Sandra Lee.

Blue Lagoon cocktail drink

• Superfine sugar (I used regular sugar)
• 3/4 oz gin (I used Seagram’s)
• 1/4 oz. vodka
• 1/4 oz. blue curacao
• 1 splash lime juice (I used Rose’s)

Wet the rim of a (tall shot) glass with water.  Dip rim in sugar.  In a cocktail shaker, combine remaining ingredients, add ice cubes.  cover and shake.  Strain into glass.

Note:  Use a tall shot glass for this – the small quantity gets lost in a cocktail glass unless you fill it with ice first.

OK, now you’ve got the recipe, go ahead and make one and enjoy my ‘sea of blue‘ story .  Actually, it’s not a long story.  I was simply taking my son to practice at the school which is being renovated. Not only is the school campus a mess, the streets surrounding it are also a mess – some streets are blocked off entirely and entrances and exits to various parts of the campus have been changed.

So, I decide to follow the two cars in front of me that are going down a street next to the school. They appear to be driving with no hesitation, so I figured they knew where they were going. Zip, Zip, around the corner – no problem. Zip, Zip, into a parking lot which I assumed they must know is a back way through the construction.

WRONG. Those two parked their cars and the officers in each of the cars got out and made a bee line for the building – apparently they were late for work and the parking lot was the precinct back lot. And of course the split second I realized this, an iron gate slammed behind me locking me in the parking lot. Now I look around and realize I am surrounded by a ‘Sea of Blue‘, so I burn rubber racing around the parking lot to catch up with the last officer entering the building, roll down my window,and yell “hey, do you know how I can get out of here?” She looks at me like I’m from mars and says “how’d you get in here?” I indignantly reply “I followed you”. (I’m thinking, I’m a taxpayer and what the hell kind of security is this? – but I wisely keep this thought to myself). So, the officer has to get on her talky thingee and get some guy to remotely open the gate, and I make my escape. Not bad for 7AM! I wonder what else I’ll do today.

I really didn’t get into any other trouble that day, but that evening, I did make the BLUE LAGOON cocktail in honor of my Blue Sea adventure.

So does the BLUE LAGOON cocktail get a Semi-HomeTested rating of LUSH IT, LUSH IT A LOT, or LEAVE IT? The BLUE LAGOON cocktail drink was not particularly tasty – even a bit bitter. Although the BLUE LAGOON cocktail was a tad better when I threw it in a glass of ice, I have to give it a Semi-HomeTested rating of LEAVE IT. Sorry Ms. Sandra Lee.

Salude!

The Mixed Berry Daiquiri (pg. 124 Sandra Lee semi-homemade Cocktail Time) is a cocktail full of anti-oxidant rich blueberries, raspberries and strawberries. So it was a fun Girl’s Night and an exercise in creating a youthful appearance!  We were certainly feeling younger by the end of the evening.

My friends and I do not rely on Science for this, we just know what we know and we know when we are feeling younger.  Any questions?

Mixed Berry Daiquiri (feel younger cocktail)

• 3 oz frozen mixed berries
• 1 3/4 oz sweet and sour mix
• 1 1/4 oz spiced Rum (I used Cpt. Morgan)
• fresh mixed berries (for garnish)

In a blender (I used my Margaritaville) combine ice, frozen berries, sweet and sour mix, and rum.  Cover and blend until smooth.  Garnish with fresh berries. Pour into a chilled glass.  Serve with a straw.  (We decided it was too thick so I added another 1/2 oz of the sweet and sour mix).

Be sure to make a blender full when you have a group of friends over.   And modify the ingredients for thickness – if you use more frozen berries and more ice for example, you will have a thicker cocktail.  Add more sweet and sour mix as I did, and you will have less requirement to use a straw.  Then let the party begin.

OK, time to rate this cocktail. Do I give the MIXED BERRY DAIQUIRI cocktail a Semi-HomeTested rating of LUSH IT, LUSH IT A LOT, or LEAVE IT?
Because the MIXED BERRY DAIQUIRI cocktail was delicious and made us feel so youthful, it gets a Semi-HomeTested rating of LUSH IT A LOT.

So, invite your friends over and mix up a blender full of Mixed Berry Daiquiri cocktail. Leave your comments below to tell me what you think of this anti-oxidant rich youthful cocktail. (don’t forget to click on ‘submit comment’)

Salude!

T-Cee

This Blue Curacao cocktail is an interesting meld of flavors. The Blue Seafoam cocktail (pg. 128 Sandra Lee semi-homemade Cocktail Time) mixes blueberry flavors with blue curacao liquor. The blue curacao, which is distilled and flavored from the dried peel of bitter oranges, keeps this cocktail from being overly sweet.
And it makes a really pretty drink. I may have added a BIG splash of blue curacao – the deepness of the blue color of your cocktail will depend on your definition of a ‘splash’.

Blue Seafoam

Makes 1 drink

• 3/4 oz. blueberry flavored vodka, Smirnoff
• 3/4 oz. vanilla flavored vodka, Smirnoff
• 1 splash blue curacao
• fresh blueberries ( I used frozen)

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add blueberry vodka, vanilla vodka, and curacao: shake well. Pour into a chilled glass. Garnish with blueberries. (I also added a sugar rimmer).

This was a perfect cocktail at home prior to going out to local theater. Which I must say, if you ever get a chance to see a production of Moon over Buffalo – definitely go. This play is beyond hilarious. And local theater is amazing. It’s usually in a small theater, so you always get a good seat for a good price. And the talent is very good. And very enthusiastic. And, you can get a student discount (this theater gave me 1/2 off!) – so yes, it did pay to take a semester of Japanese that I never had time to pursue afterwords.

OK, rating time. Do I give the Blue Seafoam cocktail a Semi-HomeTested rating of LUSH IT, LUSH IT A LOT, or LEAVE IT?
This is a refreshing, pretty, summer cocktail and gets a Semi-HomeTested rating of LUSH IT.

Kampai!

T-Cee