Cocktails with the Mister // Make this Rose Mojito

****Among my husband's greatest talents is his ability to make a very drinkable cocktail. He never worked professionally as a bartender, but at any house gathering, you'd be sure to find him mixing away at the bar for a thirsty line up of our friends who put their faith in him to "surprise them" with something particularly delectable... and he always delivers. Never too tart, never too sweet, never too strong.  The glass in hand is without fail the one you didn't even know you wanted. 

So I too asked if he would surprise me with a monthly recipe and feature it here on the blog. So today, we're kicking off 'Monthly Cocktail with the Mister', where he will ideate and mix you up a drink just in time for the weekend happy hour. ***

It's not uncommon for my wife and I to be out in a local restaurant and for her to request I 'figure out how to make this' cocktail she's sipping eagerly through her straw. Such was the day she returned from shopping and dropped a similar request to deconstruct a drink she had at the new upstairs bar over at our local Nordstrom. The drink is known as "Vine Street' on their menu and has both the flavors of a glass or rose and a minty mojito. Ingredients (though not the measurements) are listed on the menu and they probably would have been kind enough to tell her how to make it if she had asked. Nevertheless one Sunday afternoon I set out to make her my interpretation of that cocktail, which emerged as a Rose Mojito.

She didn't believe me, but it's important to measure for this one so that you get the right ratio of vodka to rose. I also added an additional ingredient not found on the menu, but one that became immediately important to help balance the heat of all that alcohol out in the drink - simple syrup.  I could only guess that the restaurant used a slightly sweeter rose or prosecco in their version. You have some flexibility when it comes to the grapes and mint - add a little more or less according to your own tastes. When shaken, the grapes and mint flake off into the mixture and end up in your glass - much like those little flakes of ice in a martini that always seem to make so good.

Once shaken, the foamy elixir is strained and served over ice and then garnished with a skewered assembly of grapes and mint after finishing with floater splash of prosecco that gives it a nice soda like fizz in the finish.

Recipe for Rose Mojito
Recipe by Ryan Neally for Holtwood Hipster


Ingredients:
2.5 oz. Rose Wine
1 oz. Vodka
0.5 oz. Simple Syrup
12 grapes (10 for muddling, 2 for garnish)
6-8 leaves of mint
Squeeze of Lime
Splash of Prosecco

In a cocktail shaker, muddle grapes and mint, along with your simple syrup. Muddle well so you get all the juice out of those grapes and release the mint by breaking it up.

Add your vodka, rose and squeeze of lime to the shaker. Cover and shake well.

Prepare your glass of ice. I like to use crushed ice for this drink.

Strain the mixture over the ice, making sure to shake the flaky remnants of the mint and grapes through the strainer holes into your glass. Finish with a splash of prosecco and skewer of grapes and mint.

There are quite a few bottles involved in this drink, but capped well - the rose and prosecco will save for a couple of days in the fridge. Cheers!

Eat This // Pitaya (Dragonfruit) Smoothie Bowl

I rarely take the time to eat breakfast. For years, I've subsisted on endless cups of coffee taken at my desk until oh say 2pm when I'd find myself hightailing it to the kitchen (or drive thru) to save my stomach from eating itself. But for several weeks now, I've been working hard to break my bad eating habits and feed my body with healthy fuels - lots of whole grains and seeds, fruits and vegetables, all those good fats and plenty of water and vitamins. My new routine starts with an early breakfast to keep those hunger pangs at bay. My rotating favorite includes a colorful superfood assortment of good for me toppings against the fuchsia backdrop of a dragon fruit smoothie.  It comes together rather quickly, inexpensively and the best part is that it is a flexible compilation. Feel free to sub in your own favorite healthy toppings. 

Here's how I build my own Pitaya bowl at home:

Blend together:

1 Pitaya Plus Frozen Smoothie Pack

1 Banana

1/4 cup of Almond Milk

1 tbsp brown rice protein powder (Optional)

Ice (Optional)

Top it with:

1 tbsp Bee Pollen

1 tbsp Hemp or Chia Seeds

1tbsp Goji Berries

1/2 Banana 

2 tbsp Unsweetened Coconut

Check the Pitaya Plus website for purchase locations near you. I find mine at our local natural foods store, but juice bars far and wide are also using the stuff to make their own bright pink smoothie concoctions. Also, I know we are getting into cooler weather in some areas and a frozen smoothie bowl may not be at the top of the list on a cold morning. I forego the ice and find that it's not any chillier than a typical bowl of cold cereal. Only, this breakfast bowl is much healthier and let's just be honest, much prettier too.

Marta Penter + a Guest Post Today on Mimosa Lane

I don't know about you, but I am certainly ready for a great weekend - one of the first officially Summer weekends of the year. After a long, long Spring filled with work around the house and anxious anticipation for the season, I'm more than ready for these first few days lying around by the pool and truth be told, I'm planning to have plenty of company over the next couple of days. Hooray!

Over the past couple of evenings, The Mister and I took to the kitchen to prepare for our house full of guests and all the luxurious downtime. One of the things we love to do is fill the kitchen with ready made snacks - pre-mixed salads, produce already washed and cut and ready for the taking, as well as other pool friendly foods - popsicles, homemade ice cream, pickles and of course house our house chips (I'll have to tell you all about those soon). 

On the poolside grab and go menu this weekend:

Refrigerator pickles

Saturn Peach + Honey Frozen Yogurt

Roasted Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

Homemade Beef Jerky

House Chips

 A little prep time during the work week will no doubt make this weekend filled with family, friends and lounging even more delicious! 

Speaking of keeping things easy and at arms reach, I'm happily filling in for Albertina over at Mimosa Lane today sharing some other ideas to keep simple comforts easy and accessible so that you can make the most of the season. Please be sure to hop on over and check it out!

The image above is exactly what I'm aiming for - all sprawled out catching a little sun and catching up with my sisters - I'll have two of the three (and my brother) here, so perhaps this other from Marta Penter's series "Shared Intimacy" is really more the like it:

Can you believe these are oil on canvas? 

Count me as the newest and most enthusiastic fan of Brazilian painter, Marta Penter. I've never seen anything like her photorealistic works, so life-like and full of nostalgia, intimacy and playful emotion captured with the sharpness of detail, until now, I only thought could be achieved through a camera lens. 

I want one of a grand scale for the house and I want one bad.

They represent everything I love about this season. Be sure to check out Marta's other works-- she achieves such greatness through watercolor as well, I kid you not.