Pineapple Upside Down Cake Martini and Pineapple Cherry Cobbler

I haven't done a recipe post for a while, even though I've still been trying new things and cooking almost every night of the week. But making food look good enough to photograph is usually too much trouble, especially on a week night.

But today I wanted to share two quick things, since it doesn't really matter so much what they look like!

First, a Pineapple Upside Down Cake Martini. A few months ago I tried one at a local restaurant, and I've been craving it ever since. So I set out to figure out their recipe, and it turns out it is incredibly simple and just as yummy as I remembered. Only three ingredients, Cake flavored Vodka (my first time trying it, and it is pretty amazing. Totally tastes like cake.), Grenadine and pineapple juice.

Lychee Martini

Well, it's half way through the day this Friday, and where is the post on dying my rehearsal dinner dress that I said I was going to share this week? It's not ready yet, that's where!

It's been stormy and overcast and pretty ugly on and off most of this week, and I really want to include a good "after" photo of me wearing the dyed dress outside, so you can really see how the color turned out (spoiler: it turned out pretty awesome!). So, since the weather hasn't cooperated yet for me to finish taking photos for the post, I thought instead I'd share a yummy martini recipe to kick off the weekend!

I've been dreaming about lychee martinis ever since Marissa shared photos of her neighbor's lychee tree. I'm jealous because I've never had a fresh lychee, but the canned ones work well for making this martini, since I use some of the juice they come in.

Lychee Martini Recipe

(Kindly only look at the ingredients in the middle of the photo. I'm definitely not putting Jager or the other liquors on my wine rack in this martini!)

Add to your martini shaker 3 parts vodka

 Two parts lychee liquor

And one part syrupy juice from the can of lychees (or simple syrup would work too, if you're using fresh lychees)

Add ice, shake, and enjoy! But not before adding 1 or 2 whole lychees to the drink. Eating those at the end is the best part!

Yum!

It looks so good, I might need to make myself another one of these over the next day or two. Between our super exciting weekend plans of updating our budget (now that we've gone through a couple billing cycles at our new house and have a better idea what our new monthly expenses are), doing yard work, laundry and maybe some sewing, I bet I could use a refreshing drink to spice things up on Saturday night! ;)

Have you ever tried a lychee martini? Or even a lychee? I never had one until just a few years ago. And do you have more exciting weekend plans than we do? Come on, I know you're jealous of all the laundry and budget-making that will be going on in our house!

A Drink That Makes Me Wish It Were Summer

When we were in North Carolina 2 weekends ago, I tried a really good cocktail with dinner called "Arnold's Weed."

I wasn't really sure why it was called that, but basically it tasted like an Arnold Palmer, half lemonade and half iced tea, with the iced tea substituted for tea vodka.

However, in the liquor aisle at Safeway last week, I figured it out! I'd never noticed this vodka before, so maybe it's new? Or at least new to my grocery store!

{Source}

Get it? An Arnold Palmer with Jeremiah Weed vodka = Arnold's Weed!

Anyway, this drink is ridiculously good and so refreshing. I can just imagine sipping it on a hot summer day....but instead I'll just enjoy it on my couch, next to my roaring fireplace!

My recipe:

Put some ice in a glass, fill the glass 3/4ths with lemonade and 1/4th with the sweet tea vodka, stir and enjoy!