2012 Blogger Get Together III

Larry not only wants us to leave Almost Heaven South with a full belly, new friendships forged but also with more knowledge than we had when we arrived.

Now I have to tell you this and this is the honest truth.  Larry makes THE BEST MARGARITA I HAVE EVER TASTED! 

It didn't take much arm twisting to talk Larry into teaching us his secret.  Now I'm going to share his special recipe with you.  

This is Larry's Margarita Mix of choice.  You can't find it at your local grocers but you can buy it at Mayson's website in a liter bottle. 

He showed us his little drink mix helper.

This is Larry's tequila of choice.  He explained that finding a tequila that had 100% agave was the key.

To get that just "right" blend he added two cans of Sprite.  He doesn't like diet Sprite, seriously if you're going to have a few, do you really believe the word "diet" is applicable?  Just sayin'...

Another important key is using just a dash or two of powdered egg white.  Not real egg white, "powdered" because it gives the Margarita a little frothiness and the powdered egg white has a little, tiny bit of sweetness.   Pour the liquid in the blender, add the powdered egg white, give the blender a quick pulse, salt and  ice those glasses kids and you're ready to rock-n-roll!

After we wrapped our fingers around another Margarita our heads around all of that knowledge, our kind instructor took us on a boat ride at dusk.

Even his vicious attack friendly pooch, Sweetie, joined us.

Bev and Coco.

Gorgeous!

Time to head in, we were out of Margaritas.

So another East Tennessee Blogger Get Together for the books boys and girls.  This leaves the really big question, what do we cook next year?

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Product Review - Zevia

Jack Follman is doing PR for Zevia and was kind enough to send a couple of samples to me me to sample.

In case you havent' heard of Zevia, Zevia is the first and only brand focused on a great tasting, all natural, zero calorie soda sweetened with stevia, today reveals a new can design and the launch of five new flavors to its existing variety of seven. New flavors include Grape, Mountain Zevia, Grapefruit Citrus, Caffeine Free Cola and Cream Soda. The new Zevia cans come in bold colors that capture the flavor of each variety on http://www.zevia.com.

Zevia is the No.1 carbonated beverage in natural products stores nationwide, and aims to remind consumers “what soda should always have been.” It is a delicious alternative for soda drinkers and diet soda drinkers looking for beverage options without sugar, calories and artificial sweeteners. The line of sodas is sweetened with stevia, a South American plant that does not affect blood glucose levels or contain calories. The new flavors are 100 percent natural formulas that are vegan, Kosher and gluten-free.

Jack sent caffeine free cola and black cherry cola to us.  A.J. got into the cola not knowing it was a big no-no.  He's not one to ever, ever drink a diet soda.  This has to be a big testament to Zevia since he enjoyed the cola and didn't know it was a "diet" soda.  Kaitlin ans I tried out the black cherry soda.  The taste was smooth and refreshing.  The black cheery flavor was clean.  No evidence of that "diet" soda aftertaste in this beverage.

Check out Zevia's website and look for there beverage in the many flavors they offer at your local grocer!

Key Lime Pie Martini

This "Artic Blast" a lot of us are getting pummeled by has me dreaming of Jimmy Buffet songs, flip-flops, vibrant colors, the smell of meat on the grill and lots of alcohol  cute fruitty drinks with crushed ice and those cute little paper umbrellas in them.

Those of you that have read my blog for any length of time know I enjoy a glass or two of red wine in the evenings, it helps my creativity.  Every now an then I stray to the hard stuff.

To be fair to my mother who is a martini purist, this adult beverage is very loosely a martini.  You see, when I was growing up, my dad made a pitcher of martinis every night for as long as I can remember.  He and my mother would have two before dinner.  My dad would sit in the kitchen and he and my mom would talk while she cooked dinner.  

Their martinis we pretty weak by bar tending standards.  My dad put a lot of crushed ice in the pitcher.  My parents just wanted to relax, talk about the day's event and enjoy each others company, not get trashed by mealtime.  Their choice was vodka with a splash of vermuth garnished with a stuff olive and sometimes a cocktail onion or a little curley twit of lemon peel.   I acquired a taste for martinis in my college days but I like my very, very, very dirty.  I'm not big on the vodka taste but I love the salty taste of the olive juice.

So on to today's offering.  I can't say I came up with this drink.  My girlfriends and I concocted this back in the day.  One word of warning, this is one of those drinks that's really good, goes down smooth and fast.  Only drink one or you will get sicker than a dog.  Don't say I didn't warn you!

Our cast of characters - grahma cracker crumbs, Ke-Ke Key Lime Liquor, Vanilla Stoli and heavy whipping cream.

Rim your martini glass with the graham cracker crumbs.  Put about 1 cup of crushed ice in your shaker, 1 ounce of Stoli, 2 ounces of Ke-Ke and gently shake.  Pour through the stainer into your rimmed glass.

Top off with a couple of tablespoons of heavy whipping cream and garnish with come graham cracker cumbs.  This tastes just like Key Lime Pie.

A couple of my other favorite warm weather cocktails using Ke-Ke are:

Limeade - this one is really good, especially if you've just finished doing some gardening!

2 ounces KeKe in a glass filled with crushed ice  (use a Tom Collins glass), then fill the rest of the way with Sprite or 7-UP, garnish with a lime wedge


Creamsicle - just flat out good anytime!
1 ounce KeKe in a glass filled with crushed ice, then fill the rest of the way with orange Crush.

Aren't you glad I spent some time in my 20's doing research for you, my dear readers?

Stay warm!