from the bar: diy ginger liqueur

Last Christmas I made some peppermint liqueur, and at the time I wanted to make more fun tinctures, but the time flew by and here we are a year later.  Maybe I'll make it a holiday tradition.  But anyway, I love the flavor of ginger (whisky gingers are one of my favorite drinks!), and I've made some easy homemade ginger beer before to make whisky gingers with.  Ginger liqueur seemed like the perfect holiday spirit to make this year.  Bonus?  It's totally easy to make and only requires a few days to sit and steep!

For my peppermint liqueur recipe I used vodka, but for this one, I wanted a bit more flavor from the alcohol I included, so I used dark rum (I thought spiced rum would add too many other flavors), though you could try brandy too!


What you'll need:
2 oz ginger, peeled & diced
1.5 cups water
3/4 cup sugar
6 cloves
zest of half a lemon
1 1/2 cups dark rum (or brandy)

1. Peel the ginger and dice it into small pieces.

2. Bring the ginger, sugar, cloves, and water to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until ginger is soft—about 20 minutes. Let this syrup cool, and don't strain it yet!

3. While you've got the ginger syrup on the stove, zest the lemon and place the zest in a sealable glass container (I used a mason jar).  Once your syrup is cool, add it (ginger chunks, cloves and all) to the container along with the rum.  Seal and shake, and then let this mixture steep for two days.

4. Strain mixture through a coffee filter or cheesecloth into your bottle or jar for storage. Let it sit for one more day before using to let flavors mellow.

Want an awesome recipe where you can use this tasty tincture?  Head over to Making Nice in the Midwest, where I'm sharing a fun holiday riff on a Cosmopolitan today!

a little trip

A little over a month ago Dan & I took a little anniversary trip to the western coast of Washington.  We stayed at the Lake Quinault Lodge and took some day trips up to the Hoh Rainforest and the Hall of the Mosses, and stopped by some of the beaches along the way.  It was so wonderful to get away and be immersed in the beauty of nature.  I love the foggy beaches of the Washington coast, and the rainforests are just incredible.  We visited a few of the worlds largest trees (western red cedar and sitka spruce), and it's kind of crazy to think about how many years those trees have stood watch over those forests.   If you ever have a chance to take a trip around the Olympic Peninsula, do it!  It's so beautiful.

chicken taco chili

Crock pots are so great.  If you have a family, you can easily make enough for everybody (and crock pot recipes are usually pretty simple and low maintenance), and if you're single or only living with one other person, you get leftovers for days!  Which is especially awesome if you made something particularly delicious and get to enjoy it for a whole week.  And thus, I have concluded that I need to utilize my slow cooker way more than I currently do.  I even have a cookbook that is just for slow cooker recipes so I really have no excuse.  But anyway, here is a hearty, bone-warming, slow cooker chili recipe that has a little spicy kick to it!


Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili
(recipe found via Photo A Day & SkinnyTaste)
Servings: 10

1 onion, chopped
1 16-oz can black beans
1 16-oz can kidney beans
1 16-oz can tomato sauce
12 oz can corn
2 14.5-oz cans diced tomatoes w/chilies
1 packet taco seasoning (I totally forgot to add this... but it still tasted great!)
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp chili powder
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
chopped fresh cilantro

Combine beans, onion, chili peppers, corn, tomato sauce, cumin, chili powder and taco seasoning in a slow cooker. Place chicken on top and cover. Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours. Half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in. Top with fresh cilantro and cheese (or sour cream!).

a-thread giveaway!

Hi guys!  Can you believe next Monday is Christmas eve?  Holy cow!  Well, today I have a giveaway for y'all from my lovely sponsor, A-Thread, who will be giving away a $50 gift certificate to one lucky reader!  And you've got three chances to win this one!  Head over to A-Thread and check out all the pretty things they've got in stock (isn't this sweater cute?  And I've been coveting this dress since the summertime).  Follow the directions below to enter!  The giveaway will be open until 11:59 on Saturday, December 22nd, EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

remix archives // olive skirt

This skirt is another thrift find that I got back when I lived in Spokane, this time from Goodwill.  There were three skirts of this exact style in three colors: grey, navy, and olive.  I got them all.  I ended up altering them a bit because they were all a tad big and long on me.  This is one of my favorite colors, so this one got worn the most out of the three.  I haven't worn it since last winter, but after seeing these photos I'm itching to style it again.  I have so many flow-y items in my closet, that it's nice to style a piece that's more military inspired and structured.  We just got an ironing board so I can finally iron the wrinkles out!  Yeah, I know.  I'm 26 and I only just bought an ironing board.  This past year we've been using a towel over our coffee table as a makeshift ironing board.  It'll be nice to iron things on an actual ironing board.