2.05.2010

Cocktails and Crap Television

I don't watch that much television, so when I actually get around to sitting in front of the tv, I like to watch the crappiest, smuttiest, most low-brow, vapid garbage I can find. Enter Monday night's hot-tub-make-out-scene-ridden suck-fest, The Bachelor!


The Bachelor is best watched with a girlfriend (although most of my friends report that their husbands or boyfriends get really into the show with very little encouragement) or two, so when the Mister was out of town last Monday, I invited my BFF, Katie, over for the show and some dinner.



We made a tasty and healthy treat of black bean taco salad, which was really good and this close to being the star of this post (sharing the spot light with the cheesy but still very cute Jake, aka The Bachelor). But as I was meditating on the fact that our standard beverage of choice, red wine, really didn't go too well with beans, I remembered a certain little beverage I'd tried at the most recent Yelp Elite Event at Salty's.



That glorious evening was sponsored by Pearl Vodka (a very fabulous and surprisingly frugal spirit), and the good people at Salty's were whipping up many Pearl Vodka Skinny Coladas for the Yelpers that evening. I myself took down about four.



Skinny Colada: a pretty stupid name for a delightful and deelish little cocktail.



Given that it's tropical and served over ice, I thought it'd be a better match for our taco salads. Upon further review, however, it's such a good drink that I think you'd be hard pressed to find something it wouldn't go with.



Or rather, once you have a sip, you don't care about the food anymore. Maybe that's how it got it's stupid name.



Anyway, here's how you make two Skinny Coladas:



Obtain coconut vodka (Pearl is very good, and I noticed it was on sale last month in Washington State liquor stores, but they didn't have the coconut flavor in my neighborhood store. So I got Burnett's. Very frugal, and if you're worried about being judged, just pour it into a Smirnoff - or better - bottle before your guests arrive), pineapple juice, sweetened lime juice, and club soda.





You may notice something very scary and tragic about this photo: EMPTY VODKA BOTTLE. Don't let this happen to you! Stock up! There's nothing fabulous about running out of vodka. As a result of my poor booze-stockpiling, Katie and I were only able to have one cocktail each. What the hell kind of nerve do I have writing a blog about entertaining (among other things) with that kind of performance?? I am lucky that she is a peace-loving Christian who believes in forgiveness.



So pour one part coconut vodka and one part pineapple juice into a shaker of ice, add a splash of the lime (our own personal addition and a deviation from Pearl's Skinny Colada), and give it a weak little shake. We're not making martinis or shots here, go easy on the shaking.



Pour into highball (or even stemless wineglasses, as we did. Please notice my appropriated Riedel glassware, courtesy of the 20-Something wine event and my generously sized handbag) glasses 1/2 full of ice. Top with club soda.







Cheers! So tasty.  Just the thing for trashy tv and taco salad.



Here's the only problem we noticed about the Skinny Colada. It made us want to do fat things, namely make a double batch of hazelnut chocolate chip cookies (double, because if you're going to all the trouble, you might as well make a whole bunch).





(Hazelnuts were added, of course, for protein and, thus, health purposes)





Sooo not Skinny.

2.01.2010

Desperately Seeking Makeover

It's pretty pathetic that I am a designer, and this is what my blog looks like. Okay, so I'm a designer of buildings, and these days it feels like that life was very long ago and far, far away (with 8 months of stay-at-home-momming under the elasticized waistband of my yoga pants). But I am a designer no less.

Seeing blogs like www.alifeintranslation.com make me realize just how far I have to go. Luckily, those gals are having a contest in which the winner will receive a makeover on her blog, and lucky for everyone who reads Ellie Blubell's House, I have entered. For your sake, I hope to win.

http://www.alifeintranslation.com/2010/01/in-which-i-give-away-a-custom-tricked-out-blog-design/