Cocktail Time... Bangkok Mules

I absolutely love a Moscow Mule!  They are beyond refreshing on a hot summer day and are super simple to make.  I had seen a couple of variations on Pinterest of mules, some with herbs or fruit so I decided to come up with my own variation using both!  I call it a Bangkok Mule because it has a lot of Thai influence in terms of the ingredients I use.  Here is the recipe-

Bangkok Mule

2 Tablespoons of Coconut Milk 

(light or full fat- I have used both but this time I only had light on hand)

2 oz vodka
1 Teaspoon of simple syrup

Juice of 1 lime

Cilantro 10-15 leaves

Mint 5-10 leaves
Ginger Beer
Copper Mug

Start by muddling the lime juice, coconut milk, mint and cilantro leaves in the bottom of the copper mug then pour in vodka, simple syrup, and ice.  Finish the cocktail by pouring ginger beer to the top.

Hope you like these!  Let me know if you try them out!  If you do use the hashtag #ticestidbitscocktails

Thanks so much for stopping by!

XO,

Bailey

TGIF

Seriously...thank goodness it's Friday because after a week being pretty homebound with one sick little boy hasn't been any fun for any of us.  I've never seen him this sick and it just breaks my heart.  However, he does seem like he is at the end of this nasty cold so hopefully this weekend brings some fun with it for all of us!  We don't have anything planned which is nice so I see a lot of relaxing and hanging out around the house on our agenda plus Tice is planning on finally building our new dining room table this weekend so that will be awesome to get crossed off of our list!  I can't wait to share pictures of our new dining nook once it's completed!

And we all know that it wouldn't be the weekend without an amazing cocktail to start things off so today I am sharing with you a cocktail I made up last night when I was dreaming of something crisp, fresh, and not to sweet- this is what I came up with!

Coco-Nut-Ginger Dream
Ingredients:
2 ounces of vodka
1 tsp of sweetened lime juice
2 ounces of coconut milk
Mint leaves
Ginger Beer, to finish

Place everything but the ginger beer into a cocktail shaker with ice and shake, shake, shake.  Pour into a chilled martini glass and then finish with ginger beer to the top of the glass.

Seriously so refreshing, crisp, and not overly sweet- mix one up and let me know what you think!

Cheers to the weekend!
Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you have a fabulous weekend!

XO,

Bailey

TGIF

This week seriously flew by!  We had a lot of downtime at home as well as two fun playdates and lots of cooking and baking.  I also squeezed in some last minute gift shopping as well as crafting a super simply christmas card holder to display all of the awesome Christmas cards we have recently received.

This one is one of my favorites of the two of them to date...they had both just woken up from their naps and Sawyer was in a bad mood so I told him he could watch a show on the iPad.  He asked if Kinley could watch it with him and this is how they both stayed for almost 20 minutes!

Some awesome brussels sprouts that I made this week.  I used this recipe but subbed out bacon!

Hope you all had a great week and have a wonderful weekend!  We are attending our last Christmas party tonight which is nice to be able to say...we have attended more this year then the past 4 years combined!  I plan on wearing this skirt (it's on sale!) but haven't decided on my top or shoes quite yet.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Bailey

Getting Festive...Colorful Halloween Cookies

In honor of Halloween I decided to whip up a batch of sugar cookies using festive food coloring and sprinkles to make them extra special.  I used this recipe for the dough, then divided it into four equal mounds and then added the food coloring.  They turned out great and were beyond yummy!  I can totally see myself using the same recipe and technique around Christmas for festive cookies for Santa.

The dough once it was divided but before putting them in the fridge to rest.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

XO,

Bailey

What's for Dinner...Prosciutto & Arugula Farfalle

A couple of weeks ago we had a ton of cherry tomatoes in our garden which needed to get used ASAP so it seemed like fate that that same day I was looking through my most recent issue of People magazine and stumbled upon this recipe.  It was delicious, so much so that my beyond picky husband went back for THIRDS!

If you to have some tomatoes that need to be used up before the weather near you really starts to turn in to fall weather make a batch of this pasta and you won't be disappointed.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

XO,

Bailey

TGIF

As we draw closer to the end of this pregnancy I am trying to soak up as much time with my little man before our worlds get turned upside down!  So that means a trip to the pool with daddy is in order this weekend as well as lots of trips to the park and adventures in our backyard.  And because I can't wait to actually get to drink a fun summery cocktail once baby girl arrives I have been looking for cocktails that will fill the gap in the meantime and that's when I found this cocktail. 

Nectarine Mojitos

Recipe found here

You could easily omit the rum and these would be a perfect non-alcoholic cocktail!

Cheers to the weekend!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

XO,

Bailey

What's For Dinner...Shrimp, Prosciutto, and Avocado Pasta

The other night Tice asked if I could make pasta for dinner.  He and I searched through the pantry and the fridge to see what ingredients jumped out at us and while doing so he determined that we had all of the necessary components for a dish he often orders at our favorite restaurant in town, il Bistro's Shrimp and Avocado pasta.

I pulled out some prosciutto, butter, and white wine from the fridge as well as some pasta, garlic, and avocados from the pantry.  Finally I grabbed some frozen shrimp from the freezer, placed them in the sink and ran cool water over them to help defrost them.

First I boiled water and then tossed in 1/2 a pound of thick cut spaghetti to cook.  I then placed 2 tbps of butter along with a bit of olive oil in my pan and heated it up.  Then I placed the defrosted shrimp in and cooked them until pink.  Once they were close to done, I added 1 tbps of minced garlic and 1/2 cup of white wine.  I reduced the wine until there wasn't much left, added a touch of pasta water as well as as a touch of cream and then turned the heat way down.

In the meantime I diced up a ripe avocado, and 1/4 of a pound of prosciutto into long stripes.  Once the pasta was cooked I placed it in with the shrimp and tossed it, the added the prosciutto and avocado tossing very gently until everything was completely combined.

It came out great!  For my super particular husband he said it was a home run and went back for both seconds and thirds!  Needless to say the perfect summer pasta dish!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

XO,

Bailey

DIY...Puppy Birthday Paw-tay Dog Food Cake How To

After looking at tons of different cake options for Sawyer's birthday party, I finally decided to create a cake in a dog bowl that looked like a pile of dog food.  I purchased a chocolate cake mix, added red food coloring, cooked it per directions on package and then went to town making it look as close to dog food as I could.

I initially took one of the cakes out of the pan and then used the bottom of the dog food bowl as my guide and cut around the cake so that it would fit perfectly into the bottom of the bowl.  Then I used the outside rim pieces from that same cake pan and placed those on top as the next layer, cutting out a small piece so that the cake fit.

I then cut the next cake the exact same way, small inner circle and then cut the rim part into pieces to fill the center.

Finally topping the cake with the center cut piece as well as...

the remaining edge piece.  

Then I frosted it with cream cheese icing and then topped the entire thing with Reece's Pieces cereal.  I chose that cereal because I liked the idea of the two different colors and because I just love that cereal!

I topped the cake off with a "2" candle and it was ready to go!

Happy Birthday Sawyer!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

XO,

Bailey

What's For Dessert...Frozen Smores

I had recently seen more and more frozen desserts with the main ingredients in smores loaded in them and since I LOVE smores I decided to come up with a super simply frozen version of the smore!  

I grabbed my favorite semi-sweet chocolate, graham cracker squares, and marshmallow fluff.  I took a graham cracker square and covered it about 1/2 inch high with marshmallow fluff and then placed a second square on top.  Once all of the fluff was sandwiched in between graham cracker squares, I placed them in the freezer to firm up for about 30 minutes.  Once the crackers had firmed up a bit, I melted 1/2 of the bag of chocolate in the microwave in 30 second increments until it was completely melted.  Then I dipped half of each square in the melted chocolate until they were all covered and then placed them back in the freezer until they were firm.  They couldn't have been any simpler or tasty! I suggest making a batch as soon as possible!  You won't be disappointed!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

XO,

Bailey 

How I Spent...My Weekend

This weekend we hosted my cousins who were in town.  They offered to babysit on Friday night so Tice and I enjoyed a date night out to one of our favorite restaurants.  Saturday I hosted dinner at our house and cooked this dish for dinner and made cheesecake for dessert!  I will be back later this week with the recipe I created!

A little entertainment courtesy of Sawyer before heading off to bed!

Sawyer and Morgan...and his fake smile

Mixing up the cheesecake

Playing at the park

Enjoying his water table for the first time this year!

On another note I finally scored some shoes I had been lusting over for as long as I can remember!  I received a sales alert from ShopStyle on these beauties at Shopbop so I jumped on them!  I know that I will wear them ALL the time and it will be helpful to have another neutral flat on hand so that I don't wear a hole through my other favorite pair of flats, which you can find here.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

XO,

Bailey

What's Cooking...Valentine's Day Treats

In an effort to make Valentine's Day special for Sawyer we headed into the kitchen on Monday and created these delicious almond bark and sprinkles covered Rice Krispie Treats!  They are wonderfully festive and a complete synch to make!

Rice Krispy Treats with Almond Bark and Sprinkles

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons of butter

6 cups of Rice Krispies

1 bag of mini marshmallows

1 bag of almond bark in whatever color you like (I used hot pink)

1 container of festive sprinkles (I used hearts in a variety of colors)

Melt the butter over medium heat then add marshmallows.  Keep on heat and stir until the two are combined and melted.

Add rice krispies and combine.  Place on a pan coated in cooking spray.  Spread out onto tray as best as you can.  Wet fingers slightly and press lightly to finish spreading the treats out.  Let cool completely and then dip in to almond bark which has been melted in microwave.  Cut squares out of cooled tray of treats, dip one side into the melted almond bark, place on parchment paper, and coat heavily with sprinkles.

Let cool for about 30 minutes and then dive in!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

XO,

Bailey

What's For Dessert...Dark Chocolate Covered Strawberries

With Valentine's Day on the near horizon I decided to make one of my favorite seasonally inspired desserts, Dark Chocolate Covered Strawberries.  There is something about them that makes me feel fancy when I eat them!  I used the recipe in the Pioneer Woman's newest cookbook that my mom got me for Christmas which I can't stop cooking things out of.  

I simply rinsed the strawberries under cold water, dried them off, and then dipped them in 1/2 of a bag of melted dark chocolate that I had in a glass bowl which was over a pot with simmering water. 

Once I dipped them in the chocolate, I placed them on a sheet of parcement paper so that the chocolate could set.

Here are some shots of the process

My chocolate melting over the simmering water

Drying my strawberries off on a clean kitchen towel

My finished product drying on parcement paper

Thanks so much for stopping by!

XO,

Bailey