KING OF SNAKE COCKTAIL

A rant before the recipe - I had a heck of a time finding chile pepper vodka. You can get Swedish fish flavored vodka, but good luck trying to find pepper vodka. Is this a Florida thing? Sheesh.

You'll have to really like ginger to enjoy this one.


1 inch piece of peeled fresh ginger, first crushed, then chopped
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
1/4 cup of vodka (I used Absolut)
1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons of chile pepper flavored vodka ( I used Stoli Hot)
2 tablespoons of orange liqueur (I used Cointreau)

2 cups of crushed ice


Muddle the ginger and brown sugar together in a cocktail shaker. (I got to use my skull shaker!) I allowed it to sit for about 10 minutes too. I wanted the sugar to liquify. Add all remaining ingredients except the ice. shake for about 20 seconds. Fill 2 old fashioned glasses with the crushed ice. Strain cocktail into glass and serve.

And then be prepared to sit. Because it's a butt kicker.

Need a cocktail shaker? Look at some of these.

FIZZY CHERRY LEMONADE

With alcohol or not. Your choice. Make the right one.

This recipe yields 8 10 oz. servings.


2 lbs. of Bing cherries
1 cup of fresh lemon juice
3/4 to 1 cup of sugar
1 1/2 cups of vodka
chilled sparkling water


Take the stems off the cherries. You do NOT have to pit them. Put the 2 lbs of stemmed cherries into your blender. (I have a pretty good blender.) I put mine on the maximum speed and power for a few moments. Then pour the cherry mixture into a sieve over a pitcher. Add the lemon juice to the cherries in the pitcher quickly because the cherries will start to discolor almost immediately. Then add your sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved.


This is when I add my alcohol.


Fill a glass with ice in it about half way full with the cherry lemon mixture and top with sparkling water.

SPINACH DIP IN A BREAD BOWL

1 package (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry 1 container (16 oz.) sour cream 1 cup mayonnaise 1 package Knorr Vegetable recipe mix (And yes . . . you do NEED Knorr) 1 can (8 oz.) water chestnuts, drained and chopped Mix all ingredients together. Allow to sit in refrigerator at least 1 hour before serving. To make a bread bowl - buy any round loaf of bread. I use to special order a round rye. Now I just buy whatever is available, usually whole wheat. Whatever is your preference.  Take a serrated bread knife and cut out center of bread. Be careful so you do not cut through bottom of loaf. Brush the inside of the cut loaf with melted butter and put in 300 degree oven until it reaches the desired crispness you want. While the loaf is in the oven, you can either rip or cut the center of the bread into pieces for dipping. **I also use celery, carrots, and tortilla chips for dippers.