cozyquail.

restful [sun]day.

currently listening to: Natural Self In The Morning

I've been fighting a small cold that seems to be primarily affecting the left side of my head (my left tonsil & ear).  It came quite suddenly yesterday morning when I awoke congested (which led to sneezing), a sore throat, and my left ear feeling clogged & full of (not-so-delightful) pressure.  So, as a result I've been averaging about 3-4 cups of hot brewed tea with two spoonfuls of honey in each per day thus far. 

A new member to my mug family.  It's over-sized and filled with potential for holding hot tea, hot chocolate, coffee, soup, chili...etc!

 

I've been alternating between (my new favorite) Tazo organic green tea & (an old favorite) organic Yogi breath deep tea.  My tastebuds seem to have taken a liking to the taste of sweetened tea a la honey lately.  Though this may seem absolutely normal to you-it does, however, bring back memories when I lived in Canterbury, Great Britain (studying abroad through college) precisely 3 years ago now.  I really haven't drank this much tea since that three month adventure!  Maybe I'm subconsciously trying to seek out to relive those feelings I had through past adventures in foreign places. 

Thankfully, I was scheduled with the day off today and as a reuslt I am trying to have a relxing day drinking hot tea (and staying in pj's until the afternoon).  Having the day off also allows me the time to think up some autumn goals I have for myself and also an agenda of cooking/baking treats and making a point to enjoy the autumn splendor in central New York State (and hopefully the Adirondacks)!  I hope you, too, can feel and/or see the beautiful autumn transition that is beginning around you!  Don't you just love all the myriad of colors and the unique earthy smells?  I sure do!

 

Some things on the Autumn agenda:

• apple picking & pumpkin picking (both in the central New York region & in the Fulton/Montgomery county regions with my family back home).

• make homemade applesauce

• baking pumpkin seeds (for the first time in my life!)

• cooking up homemade vegetable soups/biques (Squash bisques are my favorite!)

• bake a pumpkin pie completely from scratch (baking the pumpkin, making the pie crust, & all!)

• bake some apple pies for friends & family (I make the filling from scratch & use a pre-mad crust...usually)

• begin my sketchbook & take the inital leap! (...for the 2012 Sketchbook Project)

• go camping-because I miss it terribly (at least once...I used to frequently go with friends & family often in my life)

• finish my website (I need to photograph past works in my hometown)

 

I've been searching around for some good autumn baking recipes and am really quite excited to welcome autumn into my life!  Ultimately, I'm going to try and make a point to enjoy autumn to the best of my ability while still working a part-time job, working on my art, and seeing family & friends. 

A [delight]ful cocktail: strawberry basil margarita

currently listening to:  Garbage Cherry Lips                                              (one of my favorite songs & bands!)

I'm always on the lookout for new food recipes & drink recipes that are both delicious, nutricious, and within a budget I can afford.  I really enjoy finding innovative recipes, trying them out, then testing the finished product!  When it comes to cocktails I prefer simple tasty recipes that require ingredients that I either already have, or that I can easily use again for another cocktail or recipe.

I originally stumbled on this lovely little recipe on Miss Julie's blog, Julie Ann Art,and was hooked by the beautiful photograph!  The finished product looked really delicious and I was diggin' the shade of the drink most of all!  I just started reading a bit of her blog and I'll certinly be continuing to do so!

The link from her lovely little blog takes you to The Kitchn where both the recipe for this cocktail and more photographs of this very aesthetically-pleasing drink can be found!  If you scroll down to the end of the recipe shown on The Kitchn's website you will find a link to the source, Miss Nancy Mitchell's blog, The Backyard Bartender.  I have to say I'm really impressed with the creativity and innovation with some of these drink recipes she has on her blog-they're pretty neat!  I'm definitely keeping tabs on this blog for get-togethers with friends & other fun socials.  The recipes shown right before the strawberry basil margaritas are Harry Potter themed and look equally as interesting and delicious!!! 

I did absolutely love the pretty color the strawberries added when the drink sat for a bit and the combination of strawberries and basil were hands down perfect!!

source 

When creating this strawberry basil margarita dream I chose to cut the recipe in half, since I was the only one partaking in this delight (and because I only had about 1 1/3 cup silver Sauza tequila on hand.)  I used about 1/2 container of frozen limeade, 1/2 cup or so water, about 6 or so fresh strawberries cut in half, and about 4 or 5 fresh basil leaves.  I also chose to simply cover it with a small sheet of aluminum foil while it sat and did its thing in the refridgerator.  I was too impatient to wait until the next day, so I had a little the night I mixed everything together too...haha.  It was good freshly made, but even more delightful the next day after it sat cooling in the fridge overnight!

 I chose to drink this in a small dainty wine glass because of the color & fruit (and because I thought it would be fun!) 

It reminds me of carefree, sunny summer days...(that become fewer & farther between as I get older).

I definitely recommend this cocktail to any of my friends & family and I fully intend on making this sweet concoction again soon!  I can't wait to hear who else tries out this tasty little recipe. :)

Thanks to these awesome bloggers I have a new, tasty cocktail to share!

thank you!