Beverages

Meatless Monday: Three Spectacular Smoothie Recipes

March 12, 2012

By Laura Knapp I had been yearning for a blender for quite some time so I was thrilled this past October when my mom surprised me with one for my birthday. And I have been on a homemade smoothie making craze ever since! Event though juicing is all the craze these days, I asked for [...]

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pomegranate martini

Perfect Party Cocktail: Pomegranate Martini

December 13, 2011

Whenever I look at a cocktail menu on a bar, a Cosmopolitan is undoubtedly on the menu. Now, I have nothing against the Cosmpolitan but at the risk of sounding, oh, I don’t know, snobby, aren’t Cosmopolitans a little bit…you know, 2004? While pomegranate juice isn’t exactly new to the block, it has a refreshing [...]

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Fresh Basil Lemonade

June 24, 2011

You know what I’m good at? Making lemonade. No, there is no analogy here, I’m not saying that when life hands me lemons I am good at turning it into a positive situation. Because I’m actually not. I am, however, good at literally taking the lemons from my fridge and creating a tasty, refreshing summer [...]

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Cool Down with a Banana Date Shake

June 16, 2011

Raise your hand if you’ve experienced the following situation: you’re hungry but it’s about 700 degrees outside (Fahrenheit or Celsius, it makes no difference at this point). You want to eat….but it’s so hot that you don’t want to eat. Well, I have. It’s no secret to anyone that knows me that I am happiest [...]

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Friday Mojitos!

June 10, 2011

When my friends and I get together to drink mojitos, trouble usually ensues.  There was the time in college when my friend Alison and I, on a calorie cutting kick, decided to make cocktails with Splenda instead of sugar or simple syrup. I’m pretty sure “hangover” doesn’t even begin to describe what I felt the [...]

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Thumbnail image for Frozen Strawberry Daiquiri

Frozen Strawberry Daiquiri

June 3, 2011

There are some things that I really only do when I’m on vacation, like read for pleasure with no guilt, drink wine with lunch or eat French fries (okay, well sometimes I do that when I’m not on vacation but let’s not get into semantics here). Another item for the “only-on-vacation” list is drink strawberry [...]

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Thumbnail image for Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with a Perfect Margarita

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with a Perfect Margarita

May 4, 2011

When I was in college, there was a bar near my school that had half-priced happy hour from 4-6pm. Predictably, Fridays (and the occasional Wednesday or Thursday) could find a group of my friends and classmates gathered around the bar for 22-ounce draft beers or three dollar frozen margaritas. As much fun as it was [...]

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Thumbnail image for Strawberry Mojitos

Strawberry Mojitos

April 4, 2011

I dabbled in making mojitos in college and it didn’t work out so well. You see, my friends and I decided that to cut calories, we would substitute sugar for Splenda. If you’re thinking that doesn’t seem like the wisest decision for a group of girls headed toward college degrees, then you would be 100% [...]

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Thumbnail image for Peach Mango Smoothie

Peach Mango Smoothie

March 17, 2011

If you watch the weather channel in Chicago, I know what you’re thinking. “One sunny day all year and she’s already making smoothies?” Well, yes. And with good reason. You see, I spent last weekend visiting the lovely Dana of Dana Treat fame which I well tell you more about later, but in a nutshell: [...]

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Thumbnail image for Celebrating with Bubbles: Cranberry Mimosas

Celebrating with Bubbles: Cranberry Mimosas

December 20, 2010

I’m going to go right ahead and say it: I love champagne. There is something so fun and festive about drinking bubbles from a fluted glass, especially if you really have no special reason whatsoever to be celebrating. Shouldn’t everyday be a celebration? With New Years Eve around the corner, I know some of you [...]

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Warm Drink for a Cold Day: Spicy Winter Cider

November 26, 2010

About a month ago a group of friends and I took a day trip to a farm in Indiana. We walked through a corn maze, we picked pumpkins and we made an attempt to pick apples too but we must have been late to the game – the trees were completely picked over. The highlight [...]

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strawberry sangria

Party Cocktail Recipe: Strawberry Sangria

June 16, 2010

Sangria is right up there with tequila as one of those alcoholic beverages that it seems everyone has a story about. It’s always either a “I’ll never drink that again” story or a “well last time I had that things got a little crazy” story. As much as I like the potent, red wine version [...]

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pomegranate sangria

Easy Party Recipe: Pomegranate Sangria

May 11, 2010

Can you believe that I write this blog for young professionals, kitchen newbies, newlyweds, recent college graduates (and, of course, the rest of you) yet not once have I posted a cocktail recipe? Not Gaby’s Strawberry-Blackberry Margarita or Denise and Lenny’s Champagne & Passion Fruit Cocktail. POM Wonderful sent me a case of 100% pomegranate [...]

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Thumbnail image for Tis the Season: 10 Cocktails that Taste Better than Gluhwein

Tis the Season: 10 Cocktails that Taste Better than Gluhwein

December 15, 2009

This past weekend I took a little field trip with Ang to the Christkindlmarket in Chicago’s Daley Center. Getting there was somewhat of an adventure – when a wrong turn almost led us straight into a pop-up church on the side of the road. No, I’m not joking. But the real adventure didn’t begin until [...]

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How I Start My Morning: Coffee 101

March 19, 2009

Internet, I have a confession. I haven’t been completely honest with you about something and I think it’s time that I come clean. I talk to you here a few times each week about the food I’m cooking and eating. I share a lot of my kitchen with you: from the contents of my fridge [...]

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