a special birthday celebration.

For the past two years I have accidentally planned trips on my roommate/best friend's birthday. Now, Emily has been forgiving. But I still felt I needed to make up for my forgetfulness in the years past. So this year my create-a-birthday-wheels started turning. This is the big 26 for myself and my roommate, and many of our friends. 26 is one of those probably-not-particularly-special-birthdays, so I thought we needed to spice things up a bit. Get a little crazy. Not as in "Katy Perry - Last Friday Night" kind of crazy. But something a little out of the ordinary.

Thanks to Jeff at work for bragging about his margarita making adventures, and for coming up with his own rendition of Watermelon Jalapeno Margaritas. Also, thanks to Jeff for sharing the (albeit somewhat vague) recipe.

This concoction was Jeff's way to "Beat the Heat" for the one day of hot weather we've seen in Seattle this summer so far. Fortunately, the sun came out again for us, so we got to beat the heat with these cups of deliciousness too. I thought it would be especially amusing to use the watermelon rindes as margarita punch bowls. And, honestly, I saw no need for cups to be used. We're all friends here, so they became communal punch bowls, complete with hot pink straws. Ok...cups were used as roadies when moving around the house.

After partaking in some Watermelon Jalapeno Margarita festivities, it was only fitting that the moustaches (thank you, Daron, for my awesome birthday gift!) make an appearance...

Next comes dessert. We had had a Gay Pride Potluck at work, which sparked lively conversation about rainbow related foods. We started perusing rainbow layered jello desserts and I was hooked. I had to try it! My good friend, Reetu, recommended a lovely jello shot recipe, which was a big hit at her New Year's Eve party. I've altered it a bit below to fit our needs.

Layered Jello Shots

I bought three large boxes, all of different flavors (colors). This made about 12 cocktail sized glasses. You could use smaller glasses and make a lot more.

For each layer you will use:

- 1/2 large box jello

- 1 cup champagne

- 1/2 cup limoncello

- 1/2 cup vodka

Boil 1 cup water, mix 1/2 pack jello, let stand and bring to room temperature. When at room temperature, add champagne, limonchello, and vodka, and pour into desired cups. Place in fridge. While the first layer is cooling, start the second batch of jello. Let the first layer cool enough so that the top is sticky and jello doesn't run down the side of the cup when tipped. Repeat for as many layers as you want. Add whipped cream on top and you have a delightfully delicious, yet dangerous dessert.

Here's hoping I've made up for missing the last couple of years. Cheers!

-shauna

beer obsession continued.

Lately I've been a bit obsessed with beer. Beer brewing, brewery hopping, and now beer has crept into my cooking adventures. Last year before the holidays, I came across a recipe for Beer and Pretzel Soft Caramel Candies on one of my favorite baking blogs, Brown Eyed Baker. Mom tried them out, and they were awesome, but I never got around to doing it myself.

Fast forward to Father's Day this year. What do you get for a dad who has everything? Food, of course. And since he had taken a liking to The Drunken Monk, I thought this would be a great opportunity to test out my beer caramel-making skills.

For my first time attempting caramel, I'd say things went as smooth as possible (except for realizing I was out of sugar after beginning to melt the butter - oops!). At Mom's suggestion I added sea salt to the bottom of the caramels, and I decided to use a little more beer than was called for too.

These suckers are tooooo tempting to keep around the house. And if you do, believe me, they won't last for long. I took a sampling to work and people were busting down my hypothetical-cube-door for a taste!

Then came the true test.... I sent them off to Dad and.... Drumroooooll... Dad loved them! We've got a winner here folks! I hear he even hid the 3 lb box of candies from everyone in house. I guess on Father's Day, you don't have to share.

I was on a baking roll, so later that week I decided to make some mini-cupcakes for a potluck at work. I happened upon this post by joy the baker and couldn't resist. I decided to make them mini, and went for cream cheese frosting instead of meringue marshmallow frosting (let's not get too crazy here...). Let's take a look...

Aw look at those cute little babies! And man oh man, were these delicious!

-shauna