Caramel Chai White Russians

This Caramel Chai White Russian is a brunch peacemaker.

I live in a house divided by coffee and tea. My husband is a die hard coffee enthusiast, always seeking the best, most time-consuming way to grind and brew beans. The other day I found him in the kitchen borrowing my baking scale, painstakingly measuring out his morning cup of joe by weight while using some sort of fancy filter-y plunger contraption in order to extract maximum coffee-ness. I like the way a cup of coffee tastes, but my heart is forever and always deeply in a romance with tea. You wont find me special ordering coffee beans from Guatemala, but you will find me hoarding all types of herbal brews in the cabinet next to the sink. They are all stacked in there like a game of floral and ginger smelling Tetris. When you pull one out, you might find that the game more resembles losing at Jenga. I’m still figuring out an organizational system. Nobody’s perfect.

So, while my marriage and our mornings tend to be divided by a thick line of differing brews, we can come together and agree on this: brunch drinks are most excellent, especially when they taste like dessert. They’re even better when we can incorporate elements of both our morning cups. Plus, we both really like The Big Lebowski, so enjoying this drink in a bathrobe and talking about how the rug really ties the room together is not above us. At all.  […]

Berry, Lime & Spearmint Tea Smoothie

I’d love to be able to share in everyone’s fall enthusiasm. Boasting pumpkin everything, with the promise of scarves and boots and 90% less pit stains on tank tops. I’m with you guys. I would like it to rain. I would like the dusty California hills to be able to settle down with a nice cool drink of water — or vodka — whichever falls out of the sky first. But, right now it kind of feels like fall will never get here. It’s what I affectionately call “I’M-PROBABLY-GONNA-DIE-HOT” outside. Also, by affectionately, I mean dramatically — and most often peppered with choice swear words. So, here we are, clinging to the hope of fall, and forced into late summer survival mode. Also, our meals are going to be exclusively smoothies. K, thanks.

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Apricot & Spice Infused Bourbon

Few things say “Holllliiidaaaayyyy… Cellllleeeebrrraaaaate” to me more than shoving a bunch of fruit and spices into booze to make even FANCIER booze. We’ve done it before with this Apple & Cinnamon Bourbon, with which we’ve expertly crafted these Hot Toddies. But, now we’re delving into the world of dried apricots and ginger and other spicy spices. It’s a good place to be. It’s going to make one FANCY jar of booze-juice. Like, people should be excited if you’re their secret Santa. I mean… what would you rather have? A ten dollar gift certificate to Starbucks or a nice little bottle of home-infused boozy cheer?! If you said Starbucks, I don’t hate you… but, I’m not, like, totally into you right now. We can make up later. Here, have some of my legendary peace-making Vegan Chocolate Pudding. Better? Good. Now, let’s get infusing.  […]

Apple & Cinnamon Bourbon Hot Toddy

It’s raining outside. Remember all of those complaints about how it was November and I still had a sweat-stache? Well, now those complaints are replaced with the fact that my lawn has turned into a bog, and how much my golden retriever is into mud. She’s like really really into it. This isn’t great for me. It’s also not great for her once she realizes that she’s going to be met with the cold side of a hose before she’s allowed to gallop her fancy-ass inside.

This rain also means it’s gosh-darn cozy. As a first in our little family, we purchased and mounted an entire evergreen tree in our living room before the first of December. We strung lights as the rain thwacked at the windows. We reminisced about all of the ornaments we put onto the tree. We paused when we realized how many ornaments we have are cat themed. Also, how many framed photograph ornaments of ones dog is too many? I made soup out of the leftover thanksgiving turkey and the broth that I made from the bones in my new pressure cooker. We ate pie recklessly by the fire, like a couple of Bears seeking calories before hibernation. Christmas carols happened. Then, I bought a poinsettia. Then a garland. We hung an advent calendar. I’m thinking about stringing lights in our archways. Let’s just say it all escalated quickly. And, in a fit of holiday cheer and  couch snuggling… between viewings of The Holiday and In Bruges we drank these hot toddies. We kept repeating the phrase “Toddy with a hot-body” and chuckling a lot. I don’t even know. It felt right. […]