Cherry Vodka Drink The Pink Cherry

July 19, 2012 By

 

I was around in the kitchen, hoping to find a new drink to enjoy when I decided to mix a cherry vodka drink I named The Pink Cherry. This drink pairs nicely with savory or salty finger foods. I think it tastes good on its own, but makes a great counterpoint to something salty. Yum. This would also be the perfect Bridal Shower Drink or Signature Wedding Cocktail.

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Cherry Vodka Drink The Pink Cherry
Author: 
Recipe type: Drink
Prep time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 1
 
A sweet cherry martini that pairs perfectly with savory and salty appetizers and would be great at a Bridal Shower.
Ingredients
  • 1 part cherry vodka
  • 1 part simple syrup
  • 1 part half and half
  • dash grenadine
  • ice
Instructions
  1. In a shaker add the ice, cherry vodka, simply syrup, half and half and grenadine. Shake vigorously. Strain into a martini glass and serve.
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Wordless Wednesday New Kicks

July 18, 2012 By

I got some new shoes this weekend and thought I’d show them off for Wordless Wednesday. I wanted something other than my FitFlops; something that looked a little dressier, but I could still wear with jeans or shorts. These are what I found.

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Tattoo Ink Toxic

July 17, 2012 By

 

 

 

Is Tattoo Ink Toxic?

I like tattoos. I’ve been intrigued by them for years, and I toyed around with getting one for a good 15 years or so. My husband and I have talked about them a lot, trying to imagine what we would want as a tattoo should we ever decide to get one. But for some reason neither of us have ever gone through with it. I know it isn’t because we are chicken, I had my navel pierced for a while and that was darn painful, but I did it.  I always feared I would have some sort of allergic reaction to the ink, since I have sensitive skin and many allergies. And an allergic reaction to something injected under your skin which can’t really be removed just sounds terrible. And since Murphy and I are close friends, I’m guessing his Law would surface in this situation! I just never wanted to take the chance.

But of course last week two of my friends started posting pictures and starting discussions on Facebook about tattoos, and my interest was piqued again. This time I decided to do a little research on tattoo ink and what I found out really precludes me from ever getting one. The FDA does not regulate tattoo ink and does not require the ingredients to be disclosed as it is considered proprietary and a trade secret. That is bothersome to me since it means ink manufacturers are not required to tell us what is in their pigments. According to Tattooinfo.net some inks contain antimony, arsenic, beryllium, cobalt, lead, nickel, and selenium, all heavy metals. According to Natural News the carrier solutions may contain denatured alcohol, methanol, rubbing alcohol, antifreeze, and formaldehyde. To me, the most disturbing fact is that red pigment cinnabar is derived from mercury, one of the most toxic substances known to mankind. And here we are electively injecting it into our skin!

Natural News also reported that some pigments are plastic based to create more richly hued inks. These plastic-based inks have lead to polymerization under the skin, where the tattoo pigment particles converged into one solid mass under the skin. That is truly disturbing.

I will not choose to have a tattoo because I do not want to increase my toxic burden by injecting these chemicals and heavy metals under my skin where they will continue to expose me daily. So although I find some of them to be exotic and beautiful, I can not increase my total toxic load by getting one. Stay Well.

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Cook’n Recipe Organizer Software Review and Giveaway

July 12, 2012 By

Cook'n Recipe Organizer

AND THE WINNER IS … Author: Sarah Yurga

 

 

I love food. As a youngster I remember watching Julia Child on PBS, and later Michael Lomonaco’s show. My parents and I would write down the recipes and then we would venture into the kitchen to work a little recipe magic. Cooking is in my blood and now that I have my own family I am always getting a chance to dream up something delicious. But with Matthew’s dietary restrictions I can’t always rely on my favorite cookbooks, and instead I spend a lot of time surfing the web looking for a good gluten free, casein free, soy free, sugar free…yada, yada, yada free recipe.

I have tons of recipes and websites bookmarked, but more often than not I forget to hit the bookmark key and then I have to remember my query term and what website the recipe was on. (yeah, I lose more recipes than I get.) Often I just forget that I used to make this killer flourless chocolate cake, and then the recipe is lost for years until someone reminds me how much they loved it, and then the search for that elusive recipe begins.

While I was at Brandcation I received a copy of Cook’n Recipe Organizer software. This is a super cool recipe organizer that allows you to pull recipes right off the web. It will parse the recipe and then store it in your recipe book you create in Cook’n. You can also enter your own recipes so you don’t have to keep reams and reams of paper recipes on hand. I love it because I want to start sorting through all my recipes and get them in some sort of order. I want to get all my GF recipes in one place, but I don’t want to lose any of my family recipes from my childhood (one day I pray my kids will be able to enjoy my mom’s Christmas cookies.)

Cook’n doesn’t stop there, it will take your recipes and give your the nutritional content based on the ingredients and number of servings! I think that is awesome, since it makes homemade foods easier to use on diets. I often found that when I needed to calorie count or when I was on Weight Watchers I relied on processed foods more since the calories, fiber and fat were already on the package. With Cook’n I can simply click a button and I get all that information from my favorite recipes! Cook’n also has a menu feature where you can set up your menus for the week and then ask it to print you a shopping list, this way you won’t forget the baking soda or the ginger. It will even organize your list by isle/department so that you won’t be walking back and forth throughout the store.

Folks new to gluten free living often ask me for my favorite recipes and Cook’n allows you to email your recipes to friends and family. I love sharing my recipes, but I HATE to have to type them out when emailing them. Cook’n makes it simple to share your recipes. It also allows you to print family recipe books. I think this is a great idea for Christmas or other holidays. It would also make a fantastic bridal shower gift.

Giveaway

Want to win your own copy of Cook’n? One winner will receive their own copy of Cook’n. To enter to win you must Like Cook’n on facebook, and leave them a note on their wall. Please come back and leave me a comment with a link to your Facebook comment. Make sure you leave me your email address so I can get in touch with you should you win.

Additional entries:

For each additional entry please leave me a comment with link if appropriate.

Contest is open to those 18 years and older. And the Winner is plugin will be used to randomly choose the winner. Contest will run from 7/12/12 to 11:59:59 7/26/12. Matthew’s Puzzle is not responsible for the contest and does not accept responsibility should Cook’n not fulfill/deliver product. Winner must claim prize within 48 hours of receipt of the email notification or a new winner will be selected.

I received a free copy of the software for review. All opinions are my own.

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