Sandra Lee Mango Madras cocktail

The Mango Madras (pg. 134 Sandra Lee semi-homemade Cocktail Time) couldn’t have come at a better time. As the economy gets worse, the desire to return to comfort foods, drinks, and clothing from days past returns with a vengeance. Part of the return to past clothing trends is illustrated by designers latching on to the tried, tired, but never really gone PREPPY LOOK. We’ll get back to how to look (or drink) like a preppy, but first, here is the recipe for the MANGO MADRAS, courtesy of Sandra Lee.

MANGO MADRAS COCKTAIL

• 2 oz. cranberry juice (I used diet)
• 2 oz. orange juice
• 1 1/2 oz. mango rum
• ice cubes, orange wedges, and maraschino cherries*

In a glass, combine cranberry juice, orange juice, and rum.  Add ice.  Garnish with orange wedges and cherries.

*Note:  I would NEVER use maraschino cherries – fresh ONLY please!  In my opinion, Maraschino cherries are right there at the bottom of the food chain along with catfish which eat the scum at the bottom of lakes and rivers, and then people eat them – yuk!  However, in light of the fact that the MANGO MADRAS is the perfect PREPPY cocktail, I must point out that if you add the letter ‘d’ before the ‘r’ in maraschino, you get Madras Chino, which is the perfect PREPPY pants to wear while drinking the MANGO MADRAS.

So, back to PREPPY fashion.

Lisa Birnbach, author of the new book “True Prep” says that “mixing the high and the low, the spiffy new and the comfy well-worn is a prep hallmark that is particularly appealing when a bit of belt-tightening is in order” and goes on to add “Preps are some of the cheapest people I know”.

And thank you Tommy Hilfiger for pointing out that prep on the West Coast is very different from the East Coast (less color and not as much seasonal fabrics on the West Coast), but I must say, while I love your bed and bath items for kids spaces, I have no desire to wear your logo!

So, while  you won’t catch me in madras, or most likely any kind of plaid, I will NEVER NEVER give up my boat shoes when at the lake.  BUT you will never catch me wearing them with a skirt or with slacks in the city.  Which is something a PREP would definitely do.

That being said, I am eternally grateful for ANY designer or trend that gets kids out of the grunge look!

Anyway, if you, like me, continue your quest for quality fashion with a kick (not stodgy) at a reasonable price, take heart.  I am thinking of coming out with my own book, “True Peeps”

T-Cee reviews Sandra Lee semi-homemade Cocktail Time

In the meantime, you don’t have to want to be a PREPPY or even look like one to enjoy the delightful MANGO MADRAS cocktail.

But be careful, it goes down fast.  If you find it is a tad too sweet for you, just increase the cranberry juice and decrease the orange juice.

OK, rating time.  Does the MANGO MADRAS get a Semi-HomeTested rating of LUSH IT, LUSH IT A LOT, or LEAVE IT?  I enjoyed this drink and appreciate the ease of preparing it, so I rate the MANGO MADRAS cocktail LUSH IT A LOT!

Mix one up, slip on your boat shoes (or not), and tell me what you think of this cocktail in the comments section below.

Salude!

T-Cee

Sandra Lee Happy Homemaker Cocktail

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).

T-Cee cocktail reviews

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.

A youthful combination of berries

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.

T-Cee review of Sandra Lee cocktails

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

Good Friends. Good Snacks. And a lively night of playing cards.

What more can you ask for?

Well, I say, you can ask for a great cocktail! And, yes, we had that too – the icy, refreshing LEMON TEASER (pg. 100 Sandra Lee semi-homemade Cocktail Time). But you might want to mix up a large batch of this prior to indulging at a gathering of more than 3 or 4 people. Why? Because it involves 2 kinds of rum (regular and coconut) and 2 kinds of juice (orange and pineapple). And ALL of the ingredients were in varying increments of 1/4 ounces.

Do you see how this might get confusing to make after you’ve participated in the first round? Well, not a major problem, but I for sure will do the math ahead of time and mix up a pitcher of LEMON TEASER ahead of time at the next game night!

And here’s something everyone wanted to know. WHY IS THIS CALLED A LEMON TEASER? There is no lemon in it and it does not taste like lemon! What??? Perhaps if Ms. Sandra Lee responds to my email, we will have our curiosity satisfied.

Regardless, it was DELICIOUS and enjoyed by all. The only issue was that some people couldn’t keep their cards straight (and I’m happy to report that it wasn’t me on this occasion) as the night wore on, but hey – the great thing about this group of friends is – we really don’t care – we don’t play for money, so who cares if you go bust. Again.

So, was this LUSH IT, LUSH IT A LOT, or LEAVE IT? We all agreed – the Sandra Lee LEMON TEASER gets a unanimous Semi-HomeTested rating of LUSH IT!

Salude!

It’s always fun to have friends over. It was such a perfect evening, my girlfriends and I were able to sit outside and enjoy cocktails and catch up with each other.

The cocktail of the evening was the KIWI KOOLER from page 76 of Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Cocktail Time book.

This delicious blend of fresh Kiwi fruits, guava nectar, and spiced rum is made creamy with the addition of yogurt (I used non-fat plain yogurt) with a touch of lime and mint. Ya know what’s really handy to make this cocktail? . . .

My Margaritaville machine — I love that almost as much as my Kitchen Aide mixer – which I love, love, love. Just throw a pile of ice in that, load up the blender with the KIWI KOOLER ingredients, and WALAAA!! !! Delicious, creamy yumminess.

Everyone liked it, but agreed, you only want one – it’s just a tad on the ‘too much like a milkshake’ side.

But yummy neverless so, out of a LUSH IT, LUSH IT A LOT, OR LEAVE IT, we gave this a Semi-HomeTested rating of LUSH IT.

Salude!

Hooray for Book Club night. We are known as the MAHI (Margueritas And Hot Intelligent) chics. However, since the MAHI Chics have agreed to be my guinea pigs for my Semi-HomeTested Cocktails, we drank PASSIONPOLITANS. See Sandra Lee semi-homemade Cocktail Time, pg.84.

I chose this cocktail because between the pineapple and cranberry (I used diet) juices and the mix of tequila (I used Jose Cuervo gold instead of the recommended silver), vodka (I chose Smirnoff), and passion fruit rum, it sounded amazing. That, and the recipe made a batch of 10 cocktails! Thirsty group that we are, I thought that would be handy. I must note, that the other change I made to the cocktail recipe was, I omitted the gin and doubled the passion fruit rum – no one I know likes gin.

OK, about the book, The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan. She is married, has 2 kids, and has tremendously close ties to her mom and 2 brothers, but is especially close to her dad, Greenie. Both Kelly and Greenie develop cancer and this is her story of how it affected all of them.

We MAHI chics enjoyed the book – the funny and sad parts – and had a great discussion about family ties, both within the context of the book and in our own lives. We saw Kelly as very strong yet immature and decided that she was incredibly honest in laying this out in the book on her journey out of the Middle Place and into adulthood.

This morning, I found a brutally honest essay Kelly wrote online about her parenting skills – I think most parents can relate to it in some way.  I think if my kids saw it, they might find a similarity or two – OK, maybe more than two.  Thank you Kelly!

So, back to the cocktails. LUSH IT, LUSH IT A LOT, OR LEAVE IT? Everyone loved the PASSIONPOLITAN and decided it gets a Semi-HomeTested rating of LUSH IT A LOT!

Salude!

Just when I thought nothing exciting happened to me today, my girlfriend called me. Her house had been broken into a few nights ago (which I knew) and she just got a call from some guy who claimed to have found her purse, license, and phone in a dumpster and could she meet him on the corner of Main and Smith Sts. (not real streets). She told him she would meet him in front of the grocery store there figuring it’s still light out and lots of people would be there – so could I go with her?
No problem, but first we call the police to meet us there – hey we watch TV – but they really aren’t interested as evidenced by the time-frame they give us which is ‘we can’t say when someone will make it down there’.
So, me and Nancy Drew (not her real name) get to the grocery store – No police here yet. We see the guy – Ms. Drew has his description, hat and all – but we need to get some reward cash in case he really is just a good hearted Samaritan. And we figure we’ll get the grocery store security guard to come out with us, since you never know, people have been held up in grocery store parking lots of late – and we live in a nice area mind you.

So, we go up to a very official looking store employee near the customer service counter and I ask her where her security person is. She says they don’t have one. I check this information with her twice, ’cause I just can’t believe it. And then we go directly to the window to get cash. Now I’m thinking I must look suspicious having just checked that there is no security and asking for cash. Nancy Drew and I have a big giggle over this. But we have to finish our mission, so we go back outside.

Still no police. So our plan is, I’ll hold the car keys and both our purses (so we don’t get robbed if he is a bad guy) and stay behind 20’ or so. Oh, yeah, and I’m supposed to get help if he tries anything.
When Nancy Drew goes up to him, we see that he appears to be homeless and he proceeds to talk about how he dumpster dives, etc. So I join the chat fest, and he says ‘yeah I thought it was you 2 ‘– he had seen us park the car, go in the store, etc. … so we won’t be opening our Detective Agency anytime soon. Then I realize, I still have to go home, make a cocktail, take a picture of it, and tell you all how good or how crappy the cocktail is, so we say our goodbyes.

OK, I’m finally home and the whole time I’m making the cocktail, I’m thinking ‘why is it called Strawberry Slide’? (See Sandra Lee Cocktail Time book pg. 84) There’s white rum (I used Bacardi), there’s orange liquor, there’s pomegranate juice, but NO strawberry anything! Maybe there was something left out of the recipe?? I hope so, because it is pour down the drain awful.

So do I rate this LUSH IT, LUSH IT A LOT, or LEAVE IT? I have to say I give this a Semi-HomeTested rating of LEAVE IT! So sorry Ms. Sandra Lee!

Now your turn – tell me about an adventure of yours.
Salude!