lime

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More Sweet Margarita

recipe is for one drink

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Ingredients:

1/3 cup silver tequila
1 tablespoon triple sec
1/4 cup lime juice (about three limes per drink)
1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp. simple syrup

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Schlooppo. i made a margar-ita. Note to self. Do not type an alcohol lic recipe after consuming the alcoholic drink. Makes snese right?

You would think so.

But sense has never been my middle name.

I was making my chicken tacos (do you know that if you misspell tacos with a “c” for the “a” as tchos, autocorrect will not guess tacos? Nope. It suggests you must be thinking of “tc how.” Which makes as much sense as tchos. I decided to look up acronyms for “tc.” Spoiler: there are a lot of them. My favorite is “take care.” Which really makes total sense. Maybe autocorrect was looking out for me. But then I scrolled further down the list to “Tom Cruise” and then “top cat” and I realized autocorrect was just drunk on margaritas… too). Anyhoo, I decided what would make the meal perfect. Just perfect. Would be a margarita. So, I made two based on this recipe from The Food Network. But it was much too much too tart for the likes of me. If you like your margaritas more authentically tart, I definitely recommend using the original recipe in the link.

I changed it up just a bit and from now on, this is the only way I shall make my margaritas.

Or type a recipe.

Autocorrect never had it so good.

Directions:

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Make your simple syrup. In a small saucepan boil one cup of water and one cup of sugar until sugar dissolves. Whisk occasionally to make sure sugar does not stick to bottom of pan. Set aside. This would be better made in advance and chilled in the refrigerator. It keeps for one month in the refrigerator.

Squeeze limes into a clear 2 cup measuring glass until you have the appropriate measurements for the amount of drinks you are making.

Fill a glass with ice.

You may brush the rim with simple syrup and stick it in sea salt or sugar if you like that sort of thing. I do not. Too Coarse.

Pour your tequila, triple sec, lime juice and simple syrup into the glass. Mix.

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Drink.

Try to type a coherent recipe.

I dare you…

Take Cover.

‘Cause

You’re Too Cool

To Calculate

The Charges.

Now Toast… and Cheers.

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“To Crazy.”

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Moscow Mule

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Makes 4 drinks

Ingredients:

3 limes (you only need two if you don’t want to garnish all fancy like)
8 oz. vodka
2 ginger beers
Ice

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Copper mug optional. (I bought mine from Amazon, but it is sold out. There is a similiar one here, but it is more expensive. I need one more, so I will update this if it comes back in stock).

I first heard about a Moscow Mule on A Beautiful Mess. I had one reason and only one reason I wanted to try it. I wanted an excuse to purchase a copper mug. I love copper. I have two copper sinks in my home. I love that it is a living entity and kills bacteria. Perfect for a messy mommy.

I digress, let’s get to the part where I become a tipsy messy mommy.

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Take your mug and fill it halfway with ice. Add the 2 oz. of vodka (a little bit more than one shot. To be precise: one and one third of a shot. A shot being 1.5 oz.). Squeeze 1/2 lime juice into cup. Top until full with ginger beer. Stir. Garnish with lime slice.

Drink.

Yum!

My copper mug came with a paper that told the story of the Moscow Mule. It is a great story and an uplifting of the spirits (tee hee) inspirational business plan based on friendship and booze. You can read about it here.

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Have you tried a Moscow Mule?

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Rachael Ray Green Chicken Chili

I love this recipe. It is one of my favorites. My kids like it, too. My husband does not like it. He is a big-on-texture guy and he can not get past the soaked tortilla chips (I do not want to use the word “mushy”) used in this recipe. I think this chili reads more like a hot dip because of it. But I love dip! We eat this a lot when my husband is at work.

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I watched Rachael Ray make this recipe on her talk show when it was on. It looked so easy and good. I could not wait to try it.

And I did. And it was.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts cooked and cut into pieces (I just use a rotisserie chicken)
4 cups chicken stock (1 carton)
3 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
1/4 cup chopped onio
2 minced garlic cloves (I just use 1 frozen packet)
1 Tbsp. Chili powder
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 seeded and chopped jalapeno
1 16 oz. jar of green salsa (salsa verde)
1 bottle of beer (anything you have or like)
Juice from 2 limes
Bag of tortilla chips (2 handfuls of tortilla chips set aside)

Optional Toppings

Chopped cilantro
Sour cream
Shredded cheese

I normally would never write down someone else’s recipe that I have not changed. However, there are a few things written in her recipe that I do differently (and that I remember her doing differently on the show). So, I am going to do a step by step.

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Pour olive oil in a dutch oven or other pot you use for soups and stews until hot. Add onions and jalapeno. Cook until soft, about 7 minutes. Add garlic. Cook an additional minute. Now add your spices and stir around in onion mixture for one minute.

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Turn off heat and add beer. Turn heat back on and add salsa and chicken stock. Bring to a boil. Add chicken. (Sometimes I add a can of chili beans). Simmer for fifteen minutes.

In the meantime, grind your handfuls of tortilla chips. I do not have a food processor, so I beat mine with a mallet in a large ziploc bag. No anger issues here. ; )

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Add ground or super smashed tortilla chips to pot after fifteen minutes of simmering from the instructions above has passed. Continue simmering with tortilla chips now in pot for eight minutes. Stir every few minutes so tortilla chips do not clump together or stick to the bottom of the pan.

Turn off heat. Add lime juice. Stir.

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Serve in bowls topped with cilantro and other optional toppings. We dip our tortilla chips into this yummy indulgence and walk away full and happy.

Thanks Rachael Ray for a recipe that has made us happy for years!

P. S. I shared this on Savvy Southern Style!

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Free People Mia Ruffle Dress

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Two outfit posts in one week? What is this blog coming to. ; )

Well, tomorrow a post is going up about a charity event I went to two weeks ago. It is run by some of my lovely friends, Kathy and Mark. I wanted to show what I wore, but as hard as I tried, what I wore did not fit into the soul of that post. That post is not about me. I want it to be about the event and the cause. So, I am showing you what I wore today. Because I know my fashion friends would want to know. And I adore this dress. It is Free People’s Mia Ruffle Dress in ecru. I wanted to not ignore it.

There will be some “action” (aka me eating) shots of the dress at the event tomorrow. Please tune in to the post to see them! And to just witness a beautiful night for a beautiful cause.

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Here is the dress the way I would have worn it had it not been chilly that evening. I am wearing a medium. I paired it with my Simply Livly Turquoise Necklace. I also wore my vintage Frye cowboy boots. The event was casual. This is me doing evening casual.

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But it was chilly. I ended up wearing this citron Free People sweater over it that I purchased at Nordstrom Rack last month (I cannot find it online). My sweet mom had given me a gift card there for no reason other than that she loves me. Isn’t that so lovely? Thank you Mom! Your gift kept me warm and I think it is so pretty!

How do you do evening casual? Please tell.