News and a Cocktail

Lots of exciting news to share today!

Have you heard of the food site Gojee? Gojee is full of hand-picked recipes with fantastic photographs that will make your mouth water. The site is unique in that you can specify exactly which ingredients you have on hand, which ingredients you dislike, or what you’re craving and the magical computer wizards spit out suggestions for exactly what you’re in the mood for with recipes within those parameters. I was recently asked to become a contributor to the new drinks section of their site and I happily accepted. You can view my profile here. 

Some of my recipes that you’ll find there include: 

           

Sangria 

Raspberry Sparkler

Raspberry-Limoncello Cocktail 

Frozen Peach Bellini 

Strawberry-Amaretto Champagne Cocktail 

There are some others too, along with tons more drool-worthy recipes, both food and drink, from some very talented bloggers with whom I’m just thrilled to be included with. Go check it out…just be warned that if you go in hungry, you’ll leave even hungrier. 

In other news, I was recently featured on Yupeat, a new San Francisco-based company that makes grocery shopping and meal planning a dream, as in, they do it for you…doesn’t get much easier that that, huh? Check it out here to see my interview and recommended dish. 

Now I couldn’t announce all this good news without a celebratory cocktail, could I? A few weeks ago I made Grown Up Chocolate Milk, which had banana rum in it. After I posted it, Andy and I decided that because of the bananas, I should have named it more appropriately: The Sexy Monkey Cocktail. I liked that name so much that I decided to come up with another beverage with bananas in it that I could legitimately name something “Sexy Monkey.” Also, I clearly just like to say “Sexy Monkey.” This should get me some interesting spam, huh? 

Sexy Monkey Cocktail (Blended Tropical Banana Cocktail)

Makes 2 cocktails 

2 cups crushed ice 

1 ripe banana 

2 tablespoons cream of coconut 

2 ounces pineapple juice 

3 ounces banana rum 

1 teaspoon chopped pineapple sage (optional) 

Put all ingredients into a blender and blend until no ice chunks remain. Garnish with pineapple sage, if desired. 

Note: Pineapple sage is an herb that has a very distinct pineapple essence. If you don’t have pineapple sage, just leave it out. (DO NOT substitute regular sage.) The omission won’t affect the drink much. 

I’ve got to tell you…cocktail testing does not hurt my feelings, especially when I get a result like this. Normally, I’m more of a beer and wine kind of girl. If I am going to have a mixed drink, it’s usually not blended. I leave those for Andy who prefers drinks with umbrellas and fruit garnish (read: girly drinks). So I knew this would be a hit for him, but I was surprised at how much I liked it as well. 

I know the weather is just turning cold, but a Sexy Monkey will definitely warm you up (get your minds out of the gutter!), especially if you have a few. One sip and I felt like I should be sitting poolside in Hawaii. The Sexy Monkey is a creamy cocktail, full of coconut, banana, pineapple and aloha vibes. There definitely would have been an umbrella in this if I’d had one…it just makes sense.