the friday feed: mocktail #1

Last weekend while hanging out with my girlfriend of a long, long time, all at once she said, "I want to do dry January. Will you do it with me...help keep me accountable?"

"Sure...why not? It'll be fun to have a challenge," and Dry January started on Saturday.

So far, six days into this, it's been easy. I love water. If I want something other than plain water, I'll brighten my water intake with flavored sparkling water.

Right now mocktails are a thing, especially since it's Dry January. And just for fun, I looked up some mocktail recipes. Many are fruit based. You make a syrup, typically with berries, add sparkling water, and freshly squeezed citrus juice. Garnish it with mint or a slice of citrus or some other ornamentation.

I've been cleaning out my refrigerator and from the family being here for the Christmas holiday I had a lot of leftover blueberries. My little grandsons love blueberries so I purchased a carton for their meals and then my daughter and daughter-in-law brought some from their homes. We had a lot of blueberries and when it was time for people to leave, the kids left them here. Todd and I can eat only so many blueberries, I hate to waste food, so time to make a mocktail. With blueberries.

The recipe called for making a syrup with blueberries, honey and water. Put a couple Tablespoons in a glass, fill it with ice, add some sparkling water and fresh squeezed lime juice. It was tasty, refreshing, I had to figure out the balance between the syrup and lime juice. The first taste was too tart so a touch more blueberry syrup fixed that.

Todd took a taste. He said it was good...but it would be better with vodka!

🎂  🎂  🎂  🎂  🎂  🎂  🎂  🎂  🎂  🎂  🎂  🎂  🎂  🎂  🎂  🎂

Today is my dad's birthday, he would have been 92, and to celebrate he would have made a martini. His martinis were gin and vermouth with three olives and a couple ice cubes, and he measured his 'tinis very precisely using a glass baby bottle.

"A man must defend his home, his wife, his children, and his martini." 

~ Jackie Gleason

Dad liked Jackie Gleason, too.

Cheers, Dad.