I am a Honey Bee

All about my adventures with cooking, crafts, and travel

Thirsty Thursday

Thirsty Thursday: Apple Cider Floats

apple cider floats

Well, well, well, this post wraps up a YEAR of Amanda and I doing Thirsty Thursday posts. We wanted to take things full circle and end the year that started it all… apple.

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I can’t believe it’s actually fall now. I’m so not ready for it this year, mainly because the faster time flies the faster this baby is here. We’re at the 2 months to go mark. 2 months! So while that is a teensy bit exciting/stressful I’m just going along with it every day. Every day the mornings are getting a bit cooler and crispier. Every day I long to go apple picking and to ultimately make tons of apple based recipes. Every day I long to get my hands on a bag of those delightful cinnamon and sugar coated apple cider donuts. No really, a bag. And I’m not sharing. Nope.

I swear you won’t want to share this Apple Cider Float either. It’s such a great way to enjoy fresh cider. Hello, ice cream on top!! It’s super simple with just a few ingredients so it takes, oh, .7 seconds to whip up and then you’re on your way to fall bliss.

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Amanda has made a Caramel Apple Cider, which I’m dying to try. Caramel Apples are just the best (sorry candied apples- meh!) so I would just L-O-V-E this. Ooo maybe get some hot fresh apple cider donuts from the farmer’s market too and… I have a problem.

Thank you for following along with the the past year’s Thirsty Thursday posts! Hope you enjoyed them like we did! xox

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Apple Cider Floats

Makes 2

Ingredients

  • 2 cups of apple cider
  • 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream
  • whipped cream
  • cinnamon and nutmeg

Process

  1. For each float, pour the cider into a glass, preferably a milkshake glass.
  2. Add the scoop of ice cream on top of the cider.
  3. Top with the whipped cream and sprinkle on a the cinnamon and nutmeg.

Thirsty Thursday: Over The Rainbow Drinks

Thirsty Thursday – Over the rainbow drinks are so colorful, the taste goes straight to your eyes first and cool in your belly next

Over the Rainbow Drinks

I remember watching the Wizard of Oz growing up as a kid and loving it. How can you not? Umm there is a glittery witch!! Plus, I loved Toto and the Cowardly Lion. On the other hand my mom did not share my Wizard of Oz love since the flying monkeys would scare the bejesus out of her as a kid.

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Well, tomorrow The Wizard of Oz is being re-released to IMAX screens for 1 WEEK! What’s so special? Well it’s been restored, remastered, and made 3D. Sounds awesome and a great way to enjoy this classic. Hoping to be able to go next week after we are back from vacation!

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“Somewhere Over The Rainbow” is such a beautiful song from the movie so I made these Over The Rainbow Drinks for this week’s edition of Thirsty Thursday. They are so fun and so simple to create. Just take some colorful ice cubes and a lightly colored soda like Sprite or a flavored Seltzer and you’ll have your own rainbow in hand. 

Over the Rainbow Drinks_05 Over the Rainbow Drinks_06 To make the ice cubes come out really colorful I suggest making the water really saturated with color, as well as using the ice cubes right away once they are frozen. I noticed that the left over ice cubes mellowed out in color so I suggest making them soon prior to enjoying your drink and celebrating your love of the Wizard of Oz. Amanda has made a drink perfect for all your Dorothy fans… A Sparkling Apple Cider Sangria that has a ruby red spinkle rim. Perfection. Instead of clicking the slippers together just slink a glass with a friend!

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Over The Rainbow Drinks

Makes 2 drinks, but qty can easily be increased

Ingredients

  • Food Coloring
  • Water
  • Sprite

Process

  1. To create the colored water, lay out 6 cups with 1/2 cup of water in each one. Add drops of food coloring to create the following colors: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, and Purple. Make sure the water is very bright for each color, esp the Orange and Yellow.
  2. Evenly divide the water among the sections in ice cube trays and let freeze. (I used a baster instead of pouring since my hands are not too steady and I didn’t want to spill!)
  3. Start to assemble you drink by placing the colored ice cubes into a tall glass. Use 2 ice cubes each in this order: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, and lastly Purple in your glass. Pour in Sprite and enjoy!

Thirsty Thursday: Grilled Peach and Jalapeno Margarita

Grilled Peach and Jalapeno Margarita

We have never gone through so much propane for our grill in such a short time as we have done this year. Just burnin’ through it. But I can’t complain since it just means we have been enjoying the most amazing grilled things. Plus, it’s nice to get out of the kitchen and enjoy the nice weather while we wait.

Since I pretty much always have grilling on my mind during the summer, we decided to go with a grilled recipe for this week’s Thirsty Thursday recipe. It would be so much fun to incorporate something grilled into a drink. Grilled fruit or herbs would be a fun way to add a lot of flavor to a drink. Love to elevate flavors in a unique way.

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I had a big bowl of peaches so I decided to grill them up to bring out their natural sweetness into a drink. But then what? I was thinking of a drink with bourbon but decided on using tequila. Hmmm… a grilled peach margarita sounded great but what else? Well, I realized I had some jalapenos so I decided the margarita could use some heat and decided to that them as well. In the end the Grilled Peach and Jalapeno Margarita was the perfect combination of sweet and spicy. Loved it!!

Have you ever had a Smoky Margarita before? Well, I think you need have one. Amanda has made would that has my mouth watering.  So get your grill going and enjoy. Yum!!!

Grilled Peach and Jalapeno Margarita

Makes 2 large margaritas

Ingredients

  • 2 large peaches, quartered
  • 1 jalapeno
  • 3 cups of ice
  • 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
  • 1/4 cup tequila

Process

  1. Place the peaches and jalapeno on a medium-high grill. Try not to move the peaches much to get nice grill marks on their surfaces. Rotate the jalapeno to darken and blister all the sides.
  2. Remove the peaches and jalapeno from the grill and let cool 15 minutes. Peel some of the blistered skin from the jalapeno, then slice in half length-wise and remove the seeds inside.
  3. Combine the ice, peaches, half of the jalapeno, ice, lime juice, and tequila to a blender. Blend for a minute, or until all ice is slushy and the ingredients are combined. Try the margarita for it’s level of spiciness and add more jalapeno if you prefer.

Thirsty Thursday: Strawberry Daiquiri

Strawberry Daiquiri

I really love the heat of summer but this summer is kinda getting to me. Really, I hate to say that since summer is my favorite season. But this summer has been intense from chilly weeks of rain in June to the hot soupy humid weather now. But I’m gonna plan on blaming my distaste for this summer on The Bean. For example, I just feel extra gross and I can’t stay hydrated no mater how much water I drink (easily averaging 100+ ounces a day). Plus I can’t enjoy the fun drinks that are fantastic to sip on in the summer.

Case in point, the Strawberry Daiquiri!!! When we decided on our Frozen Drinks theme for our weekly Thirsty Thursday posts I thought of this since we enjoyed so many of them on our cruise last year.

I think I need to mix up a virgin (womp whomp) batch since Price had to do the dirty job of drinking up the half batch I made one morning. Such is the life. ha! But I really need to make these again since the sweet smell of strawberries filling our kitchen was intense and lovely. I used fresh strawberries that I cut up and froze since when I first read the recipe I quickly mixed up frozen with fresh so I just needed to give my berries a bit of a deep freeze before getting to making this frozen drink.

Amanda has made a Skinny Frozen Pina Colada that I wish I could dive into. It looks awesome plus it is a skinny version. The best for the summer… a refreshing pool side drink that doesn’t make you regret sipping on it in your bathing suit.

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Strawberry Daiquiri

Makes 4 glasses

Ingredients

  • 1 cup light rum
  • 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 3/4 cup sprite or 7-up
  • 1 (16 ounce) package frozen whole strawberries

Process

  1. Pour rum, lime juice, sugar, and Sprite into blender container. Briefly blend to combine and dissolve the sugar.
  2. Add the frozen strawberries into blender, a few at a time, blending until smooth. Pour into chilled glasses.

Slightly adapted from Empty Nest, Two Full Plates

Thirsty Thursday: Snickers Milkshake

Thirsty Thursday – Snickers Milkshake – Who wouldn’t want a candy bar in an ice cold glass overflowing with chocolate and peanuts

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It’s mid June and it’s really freaking cold out here in Boston. Plus it’s been raining non stop. I am not happy about this. Not happy at all.

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Thirsty Thursday: S’mores Milkshake

S'mores Milkshake
So there is an ice cream truck that has been taunting me every night since it drives right down our block. It alternates between playing “pop goes the weasel” and “la cucaracha”. We live in a Hispanic area so the later song selection makes sense.

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Thirsty Thursday: Red, White, and Blue Sangria

red white and blue sangria

I can’t wait for Memorial Day.

Summer is my favorite time of year and Memorial Day weekend is the unoffical kickoff to summer. It’s going to be gloomy in Boston this weekend but I don’t care!  We are grilling no matter what!!! I just love this weekend and what it represents so I was excited when Amanda picked Memorial Day for our Thirsty Thursday theme this week.

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I know everyone thinks of flags for the Fourth of July but I think of the Red, White, and Blue just as much now. So that is why I made a Red, White, and Blue Sangria. Sure, sure the pineapple is actually yellow but let’s play along and say it represents the white. It’s a great summery drink to enjoy now or for the Fourth of July 🙂

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Amanda made Sarasota Lemonade. It’s perfectly refreshing and a great drink to cool off with while taking in some sun this summer! Sounds so good that I might have to sneak some to the beach… shh don’t tell!! 🙂

Red, White, and Blue Sangria

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 bottle dry white wine, such as a Sauvignon Blanc
  • 1/2 cup triple sec
  • 3/4 cup fresh blueberries
  • 1 1/2 cups hulled and sliced fresh strawberries
  • 1 pineapple chunks
  • 2 cups Sprite

Process

  1. Combine all of the ingredients, except the Sprite, in a large punch bowl or pitcher and stir well. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours.
  2. Serve well-chilled with a good scoop of fruit floating in each drink.

Inspired by Recipe Girl

Thirsty Thursday: Cucumber, Mint, and Basil Soda

Cucumber Mint and Basil Soda

Amanda, mom of 3 super cute boys, picked this week’s Thirsty Thursday theme for us… Mother’s Day! And just like that it reminded me that Mother’s Day is this upcoming Sunday. It’s like Easter in that it moves around, so I loose track of it.

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