Make Your Own Coffee Syrup (Gift Idea)

Do you have any coffee lovers on your holiday gift list this year? (If not, feel free to go ahead and put me on your list!) This is a cute little idea for making your own flavored coffee syrups that you can use at home to take your morning cup of joe to the next level. If you are making these as a gift I highly recommend making 2-3 flavors. We made vanilla, raspberry, and caramel flavored syrups. For the vanilla syrup you need: 2 cups water, 2 cups sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (the clear kind is much preferred here). For the raspberry syrup you need: 2 cups water, 2 cups sugar and 1/2 cup fresh raspberries. For the caramel syrup you need: 2 cups water, 2 cups sugar and 1/2 cup caramel (store bought or make your own). You can add decorative labels or ribbons to these when gifting them. Enjoy!

Bubble Tea Recipe: How to make Boba at home! For years we tried to make bubble tea at home with no luck. Since opening our own bubble tea business in Red Velvet we learned that most boba drinks made at restaurants or cafes use commercial grade syrups (or powders) to get that wonderful sweet, fruity flavor. But this leaves you in a pickle if you are wanting to make a delicious boba drink at home for yourself or your family, as most commercial grade syrups or powders are sold in large quantities and can be a really expensive option for someone just looking to make boba drinks for a casual get together. Here's a recipe for a Strawberry Boba Slushie that anyone could easily make at home with ingredients that can be found at the grocery store. To make the boba pearls use this method. 3 Easy Infused Water Recipes Infused waters are one of my favorite warm weather beverages. These fancy waters are perfect for parties or just a special treat to yourself! You can make a pitcher for a group of friends or single servings, like these. This summer I tried out lots of different flavor combinations. Here are a few favorites... Lemon and Cucumber Water. Strawberry and Basil Water.This recipe a unique and so pretty! Mint Water. I hope that you enjoy some pretty fancy water!

Arnold Palmer Mix Up Arnold Palmers are my favorite summer drink! These sweet treats are half ice tea and half lemonade. They are named after a famous golfer. Some people also call these half and halfs. First I make sun tea. I add fresh fruit to my Arnold Palmers. Here are a few of my favorite combinations. Peach tea + Lemonade + Fresh grapefruit is my favorite combination. I love raspberry anything, so this combination is another favorite. I hope some of you get to try this recipe for the first time this summer! PS.

Flavored Lemonade Inspiration Elsie and I are starting to plan some spring/summer back-yard parties for this coming season. It's going to be my first summer in my house (just became a first time home-owner this past autumn). We plan to host a few little get togethers, I may build a small fire pit for s'mores. Who knows! We decided to try creating a few different lemonades, gearing up for the season. Grapefruit Lemonade- to a large pitcher of lemonade add in 2 cups of grapefruit juice and fresh slices of grapefruit. Strawberry and Basil Lemonade- to a large pitcher of lemonade add 2-3 cups of chopped strawberries and a handful of chopped basil. Cucumber Mint Limeade-to a large pitcher of limeade (or lemonade) add one cucumber, thinly sliced, and a handful of chopped mint leaves. Blackberry Lemonade- to a small pitcher of lemonade add 1 cup of slighlty mashed blackbarries. Happy Monday!

Sweet Tea Hot Toddy One of our favorite local spots start serving hot cocktails during the colder months of the year. I love a good hot toddy. It's the perfect drink to sip and enjoy good company and chilly weather. Most hot toddy recipes are pretty simple and can be made with ingredients you already have. Sweet Tea Hot Toddy, makes two. Needed: tea of choice (I used a vanilla chamomile. Heat water and when ready steep the tea. Super easy and super comforting.

Bourbon Pumpkin Pie Milkshakes Uhhh yes… why yes, I am posting a “recipe” for a milkshake. Feel free to kick me in the teeth. It’s not that I think you’re too inept to know how to put ice cream scoops and milk in a blender and push “start”… it’s just that I’m not sure you know how to add a few hefty slugs of bourbon. See? Ooooh and I also really enjoyed this (some would say too much) and didn’t want you to go a day without it. Okay… and the third (real) reason is that my last-minute planned cookies were a big fat fail on Tuesday and my teeth are sweet today. And I’ve already done all the other boring-yet-delicious, typical, ! This is my kind of thing. Print Save Bourbon Pumpkin Pie Milkshakes Yield: 2 shakes Total Time: 10 minutes Ingredients: 2 cups vanilla ice cream 1/2 cup milk 1/4 cup cream or half and half 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 2/3 cup pureed pumpkin 1/2 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice 1/3 cup graham cracker crumbs 2-3 ounces of bourbon frosting + sprinkles (or cinnamon sugar) for glasses Directions:

Peppermint White Russian Recipe In our group of friends everyone loves White Russians. We even served them at our wedding! Here's a fun Holiday spin on an old favorite. We're big fans of peppermint over here! Peppermint White Russian, serves one Fill a glass with ice and then combine- 2 parts peppermint schnapps, 2 part Bailey's (the coffee flavored kind), 1 part half and half. The recipe above is mildly minty. Do you have a favorite Holiday cocktail (or mocktail) recipe? In our group of friends everyone loves White Russians. The recipe above is mildly minty.