I have a thing for cucumber in cocktails, it’s so bright and refreshing. My all-time favorite is the Cucumber Martini.

What makes this drink different is the addition of mint simple syrup and the infusion of cucumber into the gin instead of muddling.

This is the second of two signature cocktails we served at the Harmony Boards launch party.

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This deliciousness was Tuesday night’s dinner. Peggy not only manned the grill but was master of the kitchen as well.

Since it was my night off, it didn’t even cross my mind to take any preparation photos. Sorry, but I’m on vacation! I will try to do better when Anne takes over the duties tonight.

We spent Tuesday afternoon having lunch at Stone Brewery and wine tasting at Orfila Vineyards & Winery, with a little T*J*Maxx on the side.

We were ultimate Maxxinistas. Peggy was looking for a swimsuit and I was looking for a barstool. The Carlsbad patio has only two stools. There are three of us. I had no choice but to find another stool!

I was successful, Peggy was not. I picked up this industrial-style barstool for $29.99. I’m keeping the tag on it in case I decide to return it after the week is over, although I’m leaning towards keeping it for future visits. Decisions, decisions.

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Our friends, Lori and Jonathan Vento, were in town last week. We wanted to get together with them along with Tram and Steve, but none of us felt like cooking. Come on – It’s August – It’s hot – Our energy level is low, at best!

I offered our house for Friday night and Lori had the great idea of just getting take-out. We decided the thing to do was a Chinese Take-Out Pot-Luck Dinner Party.

Coincidentally, my friend, Chef Joshua Hebert of Posh was selling some excess kitchen and dining wares he’d recently acquired from a restaurant that closed. I met him at a hangar at the Scottsdale Airpark on Thursday and purchased some lovely Asian dishware.

One little thing like this is all it takes for me to go all out with a theme! Now it’s ON like Donkey Kong!

The Ventos are former neighbors of ours, so as a surprise for them, I invited two other neighbor couples, the Codys, and the Cavans. On Thursday afternoon, I learned that Friday was Lori and Jonathan’s 27th wedding anniversary. Now we really did have a party! Tram and Steve picked up a cake, and everyone brought their favorite Chinese take-out to share and an anniversary for the adorable couple!

Since I was hosting, I didn’t want to leave the house to get take-out, so I made a cocktail, soup, and a fruit dessert. Today, I’ll share the cocktail recipe. Tomorrow we’ll have another entry for the new weekly Travel Tuesday feature. Then, on Wednesday I’ll post the soup recipe, and Thursday I’ll share the dessert (no oven, no-bake, in other words – the perfect dessert!) recipe.

Chinese Take-Out Pot-Luck Dinner Party Menu

~Orange-Ginger Sake Champagne Cocktail

~Lemongrass-Ginger Coconut Chicken Soup

~ Tram & Steve brought Chow Mein and Beef & Broccoli from Nee House Chinese Restaurant

~ The Anniversary couple also brought Chow Mein, along with Orange Chicken, from Chop and Wok and some cookies and candies from Sprouts. (which I forgot to put out, so I have them all to myself! Just kidding, I gave the cookies to my dad and the candies are destined for Connor’s house.)

~ The Codys picked up Chicken Lettuce Wraps from P.F. Chang’s, which Whitney beautifully served on a lovely wooden tray with a vintage covered serving dish and a stoneware pitcher for the sauce. They also brought a big bowl of fortune cookies. It’s not a Chinese dinner without fortune cookies!

~ The Cavans brought Fried Rice from Yume Sushi Grill, which Dana transferred to a big chafing dish to keep it piping hot. Smart girl!

~ Tropical Fruit stuffed Pineapples with Coconut Yogurt Sauce

~ Chocolate Mousse Anniversary Cake

It was all delicious! Even having two types of chow mein was fun since it was great to taste them side-by-side and compare.

I have a TIP to share for this cocktail recipe. Actually, it’s a good tip for any recipe where you are using herbs in the body of the dish and again for garnish. When removing the leaves, in this case, the mint leaves, strip the leaves below the tip of each sprig and save the tops, the tip of each sprig, for garnish. Too many times, people strip off all the leaves and realize too late that they need some pretty pieces to use at the end of the recipe. Get in the habit of always reserving the pretty tips and you’ll never have that issue again.

Orange-Ginger Sake Champagne Cocktail

• 1 bottle sake, chilled
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/3 cups water
• 1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh ginger
• 1/3 cup fresh mint leaves, plus 8 to 10 sprig tips for garnish
• 5 navel oranges, divided
• 1 bottle champagne or sparkling wine, chilled

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Steve and Tram are building a new home. Their house recently sold and they have to be out in a month. They love to entertain but haven’t been in the position to do so for months now. The reason? Well, many of us know how difficult it is to keep our homes clean and ready to show at the drop of a hat. Imagine trying to do that with two full-time jobs and 2-year old twins. Talk about stressful!

Saturday night, the overachieving duo hosted an intimate dinner party. Steve was the stellar chef and pitmaster and Tram was the dessert queen.

It’s bittersweet to sell the house you brought your babies home to, so Tram lovingly called the evening The Last Supper. I call it a Housecooling, you know, the opposite of a Housewarming.

I created a new cocktail for the occasion, so in honor of Zak and Zoey’s first home, I’m attaching that moniker to the drink.

I’m already looking forward to the Housewarming Party!

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After not posting a new recipe for over a week – I think the best way to get back into the swing of it – is with a cocktail!

Yes, and not just any cocktail, but a bright refreshing summer-time cocktail. Something you can envision yourself enjoying poolside or with your toes buried on a sandy beach.

Now that’s the way to start a new week. Happy Monday!

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I made this pretty and festive punch to take to a Cinco de Mayo party last Sunday. Needless to say, it was a hit! So much so, that it ran out before the party was over. At that point, we were just pulling the pineapple rings out of the jar and eating them. I brought home the rest and poured light rum into the jar. I’ll now have the bonus of pineapple-infused rum… in a couple of weeks. Two for one – Gotta love that!

The recipe makes a huge batch – but it can easily be cut in half. I also doubled the simple syrup and plan to use it for mojitos over Mother’s Day weekend.

My excuse? Seriously, something has to be done with all the mint in my garden … before it chokes out everything else!

Plus, I saved the mint leaves used in the simple syrup. I’m trying my hand at sugaring the leaves … and making mint-flavored sugar at the same time. I’ll keep you posted on how that works out.

So much going on from just one punch recipe!

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Isn’t this centerpiece, featuring a kiwifruit, so very pretty? I found the image on Pinterest, it comes from Style Me Pretty and Anna Costa Photographers. Consider it my gift to all you wonderful moms out there, especially my Mother-in-Law, Patricia Hopkins! We love you!  xoxoxo

Happy Mother’s Day.

This year marks my first Mother’s Day not having at least one of my kids home with me.

I was actually expecting to feel all sad and sorry for myself, but that would be ridiculous! I have managed to raise two of the most amazing people on Earth.

I adore them and I know that they love me. So what’s to fret about?

If you have your kids with you today, be sure to appreciate that fact, and if you don’t – it’s OK – sit back, relax, enjoy a kiwi mojito, and know that you are blessed. xoxo

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When I conjure up red and green, I automatically think “Christmas!” But snowmen, sleigh bells, and Santa are the last things you’ll think of when you see and then taste this refreshing summer salad.

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As previously mentioned, yesterday was my darling friend, Anne’s birthday. So, of course, Peggy, Anne, and I celebrated the joyous occasion together. They came over after classes today and I made a new summer cocktail which we enjoyed and were so happy to be able to have “girl time” together.  We called Connor downstairs to take our picture…and although he took about a dozen, not one of them came out clear, so I used an artistic touch called Fresco in Photoshop to “enhance” it a bit. Believe it or not, it is less blurry now than it originally was! I know, that’s hard to imagine – but true all the same. It’s all good because after a couple of these drinks we couldn’t tell the difference anyhow. Happy Birthday, Anne – love you dearly! xoxo

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At 4:30 today I’ll appear on Channel 12 Valley Dish with Tram Mai, where we’ll be making my Corned Beef, Cabbage, and Potato Pizza, along with this Mint-Chocolate Shake. If you want your shake to be green, it’s important NOT to use green-colored mint chocolate chip ice cream, but instead, the more natural white ice cream. When blended, the green ice cream turns a lovely chocolate brown from all those chips! You’ll be using green food coloring to turn the white ice cream green. Either way, green or brown, this is one heavenly holiday treat! Now you can go to the “In The News” page on the left and watch the video of the show…

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