Since I’m not pregnant this summer for the first time in two years, I’ve really been enjoying making all sorts of different cocktails. I’ve had this one in the back of my head since last summer, just before I got pregnant with our second, Ava, and have had all the ingredients just sitting and waiting for the right moment.
The time has come! This is a bourbon and cherry mule – the smokey bourbon is perfectly balanced with the sweetness of the cherries and the spice of ginger beer.
Leave it to St. Paddy’s day to be the perfect excuse to drink some whiskey all for the sake of research. Really guys, happy to take one for the team here to bring you a fun cocktail! Enter: Irish Godfather Cocktails.
My first introduction to this cocktail was with my family, exchanging stories about our grandfather just after he passed away early this year. My grandparents have always enjoyed a pre-dinner cocktail, every day, and it’s really a family tradition I can get behind. My grandmother told us the only way she’d drink whiskey is with a splash of amaretto on top. Genius, she is! And then she was like, “Hailey. It’s a thing. It’s called the Godfather!”
You didn’t think we’d talk about cocktail party recipes, like this and this, and not talk about empanadas, did you?! I wouldn’t leave you hanging like that! These empanadas have been crowd pleasers lately, especially with the aioli I shared with you in the chicken thigh tapas post!
These empanadas use puff pastry as the shell, which give a lovely crunchy, buttery and almost sweetness to the empanadas. And there are 2 secret ingredients that make it interesting – keep reading!
Being Polish, one flavor that always strikes me as the holidays is kielbasa. My grandmother always serves up kielbasa around holidays, but the from-the-butcher kind that tastes so amazing relative to the mass produced kind. So for this pigs in a blanket appetizer recipe, I encourage you to find a butcher that sells Polish kielbasa, and if you’re in the NJ-CT-NY area, get Rapacki!
We recently hosted a cocktail party before leaving for our New Years trip to Paris (!!!), and these were such a hit! You know I’m all about any opportunity to graze and these are delightful. The puff pastry adds a sweet crunch to the salty, savory kielbasa. Plus, they bake quickly (once your pastry is defrosted) and reheat well!