Not your ordinary ice cubes.

Tell me I'm not the only one who finds putting ice into water bottles a bit of a chore.

I'm not talking your normal Nalgene bottle,

I'm talking like your Smart water, Fiji water, or even your Nestle water bottles.

When I attempt to perform such a simple task, I end up making such a mess.

At least that was before I went to Ikea:

You might remember the fun juice ice cubes we made for valentine's day?

Well on that same shopping trip, we found another ice cube tray (the heart tray pictured too!) that is specialized just for people like me---fits right inside the bottle--no shoving and messes necessary.

I decided to be a little creative and throw a little fresh lime juice in the mix,

you know, for a "water with lime" on the go.

Just fill the try with the juice of one lime (that's all you really need) spacing it out as evenly as possible.

Fill the rest with water.

CAREFULLY transfer the tray from the sink to the freezer

(the tray is silicone, so might move around and spill water if you're not careful.)

Freeze.

Fill.

Go.

It's simple and it's brilliant.

What do you think?

Would you use this ice tray?

 What else could you freeze into your new ice trays?

What else can you use the skinny cubes for?

Champagne Week: Day 2 - Cranberry Lime Bellinis

Yesterday was Day 1 of Champagne Week. 

Did anyone get to try those? Are you planning to?

We'd love to hear your thoughts.

Today we have another Champagne drink for you.

It involves Cranberry Juice again, which is a total coincidence. 

But it's de-lish.

 It's a little sweet, it's a little sour, and it's a little fizzy. 

It's a Cranberry Lime Bellini, and it needs to be at your NYE party this weekend.

Please tell me you saw those bubbles?

The recipe was adapted from Giada DeLaurentiis (Love that girl).

Here's what you need:

 

equal parts of

cranberry juice, chilled

limeade concentrate, chilled

champagne or prosecco (we used champagne), chilled

Here's how to do it:

Mix, stir, sip.

(we rimmed ours in gold sugar to glam-it-up even more)



Pretty, huh? Your friends will love it, PROMISE.

Beer-garitas with Chili-Lime Rimming Salt, Part 2

Welcome back for Beer-garitas with Chili-Lime Salt, Part 2. (Read Part 1 here, if you missed it yesterday.)

Kirst and I firmly believe that rimming your drinks can take a good drink and make it a great one. I mean really, who doesn't love glasses edged with some kind of complimentary flavor? Salt, sugar, vanilla icing with sprinkles? Not to mention it makes it look cool. You get the point.

Now meet our other sister/sister-in-law Jordan.She's beautiful, creative, and great at cooking and pairing what tastes go with what. Here she is with Kirst (she's the one on the left).

So knowing that about her, and our love of rimming salts and sugars, you'll see why when she suggested that we make a Chili-Lime rimming salt for these Beer-garitas, we did it...and we're so glad we did! In fact, we strongly suggest when you make the Beer-garitas from yesterday, you should make this Chili-Lime salt too!

Here's what you'll need:

1/4 c Kosher Salt

1 tsp Chili Powder

1 tsp Paprika

1 tbsp lime juice

a couple of lime wedges for rimming

And here's how to do it:

Measure out all the ingredients and dump them into the food processor.

Mix up until it's all combined and all the same texture and consistancy. (It should be a bit sticky looking)

Then, once it's all mixed up, place on a plate or serving dish with several lime wedges and it's ready to go!

Just use the lime wedge to make the rim of the glass sticky, then dip it in the salt.



We paired it with regular salt for the less adventurous, and it was quite the little spread.

Loved by boys and girls alike!

Happy Sipping!