Friday, September 18, 2015

Clever Cocktails and Cookouts

One Last Cookout Before Fall..Then Keep On Grilling & Sipping! 

We have exactly ONE weekend left before summer is over and fall officially begins.
Hold onto 
that oasis of calm with both hands and pour yourself a drink! Fire up that grill! 


To ensure you have the perfect temperature for your grilled meats, use the TheSteakChamp 3-Color is an innovative meat thermometer that makes grilling the perfect steaks easy and efficient.  It's technology alerts you when steaks have reached either medium rare, medium, or medium well doneness by a LED light that either flashes red, yellow or green. How cool is that!! plus, you can recycle it when it's hit about 1000 uses! 

Now, after you've grilled up your goodies, start mixing some delicious cocktails. Hangar1 Vodka is a smoothrefreshing vodka that blends well with any chosen mixer- from Friday night happy hour drinks, to Saturday brunch, to Sunday afternoon football parties. And just because summer is nearly over, doesn’t mean grilling season is over.

Plus, don’t forget 1800 Tequila and Boodles Gin- perfect for anytime creative cocktails.

Hangar 1 Vodka offers range of all-natural, fruit infused vodkas made in an aircraft hangar just outside of San Francisco in Alameda, California. Fine grapes are blended with Midwestern grains to make perfectly-balanced straight vodka drinks with a slightly fruity note.









Try this cocktail for your next Saturday Night Soiree- the Celeste & Barlett.
• 2 oz.  Hangar 1 Straight Vodka
• Muddled pear
• 0.75 oz. Lemon
• 0.5 oz. Fig shrub
• 0.5 oz. Black Tea Syrup
• Shake all ingredients over ice. Strain into a rocks glass. Garnish with a slice of fresh pear.

1800 Tequila is the world’s first 100% agave luxury tequila, made from agave harvested and grown on family owned estates. 1800 Tequila is renowned for being expertly aged and consistently smooth. 
Each bottle is double-distilled and matured in American oak barrels for 15 days, then blended with a touch of aged reserves for some added complexity. 

The Marguerite is always a unique favorite, perfect for brunch. 
• 1.5 oz. 1800 Reposado
• 1 oz. Fresh Squeezed Grapefruit Juice
• 0.5 oz. Fino Sherry
• 0.5 oz. Maraschino Liqueur
• Shake with ice and strain into an ice-filled Old Fashioned glass. 
• Top with soda water and garnish with a grapefruit twist.


Boodles London Dry Gin isn’t fussy and is quintessentially British. Made with an approachable blend of botanicals- sage, rosemary and nutmeg- leads to an understated aromatic nose and taste.



Boodles + Tonic of Arabia
• 1 oz. Boodles Gin
• 2 oz. Tonic Water
• Garnish with date. 
• Add ingredients into glass and stir. Garnish with date and serve. 





Reserva de la Familia tequila is the result of a family tradition passed down through the Jose Cuervo family line, resulting in the finest extra aƱejo tequila ever made. 
The bottle comes inside of a wooden box that is adorned with the work of a Mexican artist, with each year displaying a different artist hand-chosen by the Jose Cuervo family. 
This year’s artist is Enrique Rosas, famous for crossing the boundaries of art, science and technology and deftly blending them all together.



Grilled Peach Old Fashioned 
• 2 oz. Reserva de la Familia
• 0.75 oz. Carpano Antica
• 1 slice Fresh Yellow Peach
• 2 Italian Amarini Cherries (Luxardo)
• 2 cube Demerara Sugar
• 3 dashes House Citrus Bitters
• 1 slice Fresh Grilled Peach, garnish
• In a mixing glass, muddle peach, cherries, sugar and bitters. 
• Add Reserva de la Familia and Carpano Antica and stir to combine. 
• Strain over fresh ice in a rocks glass and garnish with a grilled peach slice.


Sunday, September 13, 2015

PA Wine Fest In Oaks-September 12 & 13!




The 
PA WineFest in Oaks on September 12 and 13 had a great turnout, plus wine tastings and more! Inside Hall D at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center 100 Station Ave, Oaks, with plenty of free parking.




Many wineries offered unique flavored (habenero wine?) wines and interesting vendors, like BeSpoke Bacon and Health & Tea loose leaf teas from West Chester.

Wineries

Boyd's Cardinal Hollow Winery
Buddy Boy Winery & Vineyards
Kog Hill Winery
Nectar Valley Winery
Papa Joe's Wine Cellar
Peace Valley Winery
Reece Winery
Stonekeep Meadery & Wine Cellars
The Vineyard at Hershey
University Wine Company



Other vendors included scented candles, jewelry, makeup, toys, the ever-present Mary Kay vendor, and vendors selling windows and timeshares. There was also a vendor, Drinkable Arts where people could design and paint a wineglass, which was a fun and unique way to pass an hour.




Once I got through the throngs of bachelorette parties and bridesmaids, I was able to sample some unique flavors.

Vendors
Bespoke Bacon
CC Silver Stuff
Cynful Bliss (Sunday Only)
Drinkable Arts
D's Sexy Legs 
Fortes Finest
Health and Tea, LLC
It Works 7cs
Jesse's Specialty Snacks & Gifts
Keystone Farms Cheese
Mary Kay Cosmetics
MerVino Mixes
MH Marketing
Origami Owl
Renewal By Andersen
Sabika Jewelry
Scentsy
Sundance Vacations
Theresa's MakeUp Erasers
Vacation Getaways
White Caterpillar


Sadly, there wasn't a cupcake vendor to be seen, although keystone farms cheese vendor had cheese curds, which I adore. 

Hershey's winery had a delicious strawberry wine that was like biting into a fresh berry, perfect as a base for a sangria.  

Dry Rieslings, fresh pino grigios and tasty Merlots rounded out the tastings. 

Plus, all wineries offer bottle check so wine can be bought and held at the door until the customer is ready to leave, without having to carry it around all day. 


Today's Sunday session is still available: noon to 4pm, just $30 each!


DD tickets available. 


This is a 21+ only event.


And don't miss future PA wine events:
Monroeville 9/20/2015
Pittsburgh 10/11/2015
Indiana 10/24/2015
Altoona 11/15/2015

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Heluva Good!® Dip Brings First-Ever 8-foot “Snack Combinator” to Philadelphia

Free pop-up event to feature larger-than-life slot style game; hundreds of prizes available including a new living room set, field games, chips & dip and more

Heluva Good! Dip is bringing their popular online “Snack Combinator” to life with a one-day pop-up event for the public at Ben Franklin Plaza on September 11, 2015.

Just like Heluva Good!’s big flavors, the Snack Combinator is larger than life. Standing at 8-feet tall, the slot-machine style game will be dishing out hundreds of prizes including a complete living room set, a new television, a year’s supply of chips and dip, game tickets and more.

Event attendees are encouraged to stop by between 12 pm – 4 pm and spin to win*, as well as enjoy free samples of Heluva Good! Dip, music and field games.

Ben Franklin Plaza
200 6th St. Philadelphia, PA 19102
(On the corner of 7th St. and Race St.)

Friday, September 11, 2015
12:00– 4:00 PM EST

The family-friendly event is part of a larger multi-city tour in which the Snack Combinator will be traveling to three different cities throughout the month of September. A full schedule is listed below.
·         Philadelphia, PA – Ben Franklin Plaza, September 11, 12–4 pm
·         Pittsburgh, PA – Schenley Plaza, September 15, 12–4 pm
·         Cleveland, OH – US Bank Plaza, September 21, 11 am–3 pm

The Snack Combinator first appeared online on Facebook.com/Heluva Good, and was designed to showcase the many ways fans can enjoy their favorite Heluva Good! Dip with any snack at any time.
*Consumers must be 18 years or older to play.


About Heluva Good!®
The Heluva Good!® brand has held a reputation for quality and taste for more than 85 years. The Heluva Good! name has been as much a promise as a brand name and dates back to 1925, when Perry Messinger, Heluva Good!’s founder, began making wedges of homemade washed curd cheese in a basement in Sodus, NY. Today, Heluva Good! is part of the HP Hood LLC family of brands. You can now find Heluva Good! products in dairy cases throughout the Northeast, Southeast and Midwest (to the Rockies) and all of Canada. For more information on Heluva Good! please visit HeluvaGood.com.

Thursday, September 3, 2015

500 DAYS OF BEAUTY HAS MOVED!

500 DAYS OF BEAUTY HAS MOVED!

You can still get all the great beauty news and reviews you have ever wanted on my NEW SITE!


http://engchik500daysofbeauty.blogspot.com/

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