How To Save Gifted Wine From the Trash

Single Serving Sangria

Who hasn't received a bottle of wine as a host or hostess that just wasn't quite palatable for their taste? Wine makes a great gift...when you are absolutely sure about the tastes and preferences of the person to whom you are gifting. Wine can be harder to shop for than clothing (at least you can eyeball a tshirt for the recipient and include a gift receipt if it doesn't fit. If that bottle gets popped and its too sweet or too dry its too late. So what to do?

Rather than pour that puppy down the drain, consider doctoring it up into an impromptu glass of sangria. First consider which direction the glass strays from your palate before deciding on a mixer. Too sweet? Grab the seltzer. Too dry? Grab the lemon-lime soda and some orange juice. (Consider a 1:1 ratio of wine to mix in.) This gives you a perfect summer spritzer. Feeling more adventurous? Why not mix in a bit of wine or liquor from your own cabinet to balance out the undesirable notes. Next check your fruit bowl or freezer for some complimentary fruit. Dice up a few strawberries or drop in some frozen blueberries. Voila, you've suddenly gone from drab to fab. Cheers!

Red or White & Blue Sangria

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Happy National Wine Day and Memorial Day Weekend! 

In honor of such a boozy occasion, I've come up with a two for one recipe...Red or White & Blue Sangria. Finalizing a menu that is a crowd-pleaser without driving the host into debt is one of the hardest tasks of party planning. Sure, you can throw a party where each person gets a customized beverage and dinner recipe, but you will probably need to take out a second mortgage. Sangria is a great party drink. The recipes lend themselves to large batches, but the question is always red or white?
Why not red and white? My Red or White & Blue Sangria lends itself to be made with either red or white, allowing you to use the same recipe twice and please the red wine drinkers and white wine drinkers in your life. Sorry beer drinkers, today just isn't your day 😉.

#HowtoWalkAway

A Book Review (No Spoilers!)

With the unofficial start of summer and a long weekend upon us, who isn't looking for a great book to spend the weekend with? How to Walk Away by Katerine Center is a book you truely can't walk away from! Full of ups and downs, "if you don't laugh, you will cry".  The tale of a Margaret Jacobsen, living a picture-perfect life, turned nightmare in a single second. See how she takes back her life and makes the most out of the cards she was dealt.

Pick up your copy before the long weekend and I guarantee you won't be able to put it down until the very end! I was lucky enough to snag an advanced copy from She Speaks, but its available now! Find a copy near you or only here! Let me know what you thought in the comments! I can't wait to chat with fellow readers.

Don't Doubt, Just Do!

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May is here (and so are my freebies) and with it comes my same old goal but a new mantra to keep my motivation alive. Putting off studying certainly crimped my plans more than anything else. Here I am a year later...living the "dream". Don't doubt, just do!

I'm still studying my butt off (30+ hours plus a full time job and whatever attention home requires), so my writing is behind to say the least. If you thought my content has been new, I have had you well tricked, but my archive is well stocked and my posts are scheduled. Keep your eyes posted on my Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter for shares of old posts, recipes that keep me moving, drink concoctions  I'm trying, the occasional quick update and my resurfacing in July summer. In the meantime, enjoy my May freebies as consolation!

Starbuck's Hack: Abby's Apple Pie Chai

I love anything chai when there is a chill in the air. The spices just warm me right up. The apple chai is an old Starbuck's menu item from back in my college days. It was a tasty treat in the fall. It eventually went the way of other seasonal drinks (the Starbuck's Cemetery) but was still available to order if you're barista had any recollection. One day I caught a glimpse of my barista mixing mine up and was pleasantly pissed to see that it was just steamed apple juice with a few pumps of chai. I thought "wtf, I can do this at home without spending $4 a cup." Alas, like most other inventions, Abby's Apple Chai was born out of straight up spite.