The Clover Club

Dan and I have been having fun learning how to make drinks, so we've been getting one type of liquor  at a time to make drinks with, and this past week we got to gin.  We have a big book with tons of drink recipes that we're going through, and I found this tasty looking recipe of a drink called the Clover Club.  The book says it's a traditional recipe from the 1920's cocktail era, named after a celebrated nightclub in Chicago, how cool is that?

What you'll need:

2 measures Gin

1 measure Grenadine

Juice of half a large lemon

1 egg white

Ice

Cocktail shaker

Shake all the ingredients in the cocktail shaker with ice for at least 30 seconds to make sure the egg white is thoroughly mixed with all other ingredients.  Strain into a glass and garnish with a slice of lemon.  It's super delicious!  The egg white gives it a nice texture and the lemon and grenadine are such a perfect compliment to the gin.  Gin has such a strong and unique flavor that sometimes I think it overwhelms what it's paired with, but these two work so well with the gin.

Dan made me another gin drink that I just love, and it's super easy.  Just mix equal parts gin and freshly squeeze orange juice!  Last week we got a ton of really ripe oranges which make the best juice and mixed with the gin it's perfection!

Classic Summertime Mojito

Mojitos are such a delicious summery drink. I've been really craving refreshing summer drinks lately, even though summery weather is at least another month away. I can't wait until we can sit around our fire pit in the backyard with chips, homemade salsa and fresh mojitos!

What you'll need:

Light rum

Mint leaves

Limes/Lime juice

Simple Syrup

Crushed Ice

Club soda

In a highball glass, muddle ~12 mint leaves with 1 tbsp simple syrup and .5 oz lime juice. Add 2 oz rum and nearly fill the glass with crushed ice. Fill the rest of the glass with club soda. Garnish with more mint leaves and/or a slice of lime!

I wanted to fill my 16 oz mason jar, which is about twice as big as a highball glass, so I sort of doubled the recipe, (using more mint leaves, 1 oz of lime juice, 2 tbsp simple syrup, and I only used 3 oz of rum as I didn't want it too strong, but you can add more to your taste preference).

Yesterday it was a rare beautiful and sunny day outside, so Dan & I enjoyed the sinking sun with our Mojitos in the backyard. They're such a refreshing, cool drink! Plus, they look so pretty and festive with all the bright green mint leaves floating in the bottom.

DIY // Chalkboard Cabinets

For a long time I've wanted to change our kitchen up a bit, but since the space is teeny and we're renting, there's not too much we can do. In my old kitchen I freshened things up by putting woodgrain contact paper on my fridge, but since the cabinets were already wood, I didn't really want to put a clashing woodgrain on our fridge. When I discovered that chalkboard contact paper existed, I knew exactly what I wanted to do! I'm of the firm belief that contact paper is a renter's best friend. It's such a great way to update and make a space your own, without having to paint or do anything too permanent. Moorea actually just posted a tour of her apartment in Seattle where her and her roommate put up removable woodgrain wallpaper! So awesome!

What you'll need:

Chalkboard Contact Paper

Scissors

All you have to do is: measure how wide and tall the area is that you want to cover, cut the contact paper to size, peel & stick! An easy way to measure your contact paper is to flip it so the back is showing and then just hold it up against the area you want to cover, and then mark with a pen or pencil how wide & long you need it to be. Contact paper is nice in that the back is covered in a grid so it's easy to cut straight lines. Once you get one piece cut, you can use that piece as a template for the rest of the cabinets you're covering, as long as all the cabinets are the same size.

To stick it on, just peel a bit off from one end and line it up, then start working your way up slowly, wiping with your hand as you go to get any bubbles out. If you start getting bubbles or it turns out you've stuck it on crooked, you can just peel it back off and start over.

I had a bit left over, so I covered the freezer door on our fridge too. I can't believe how much more I love our kitchen now that I've added these little chalkboard panels. Plus, it's actually useful for writing stuff down, like groceries we've run out of and ideas for meals. That, and pretty doodles & sneaky love notes...

DIY Tassel Garland

I made a ton of garland for my wedding, and the most time intensive to make ended up being these little tassel garlands, but I loved them! I actually put them up for Christmas too. They take a while to make, but they're relatively easy to put together.

What you'll need:

Fabric

Scissors

Yarn (or twine, to hang the tassels from)

Cut a pile of strands for each tassel. I think I used about 10-12 strips for each tassel, appx. 2 ft long (though you can make them longer or shorter depending on how long you want your tassels). While this is easy peasy, it takes a while if you want a lot of tassels. Enlist netflix or hulu to help pass the time.

Here's the more complicated part. Set aside 1 strip out of the bundle. Twist the center and fold in half, pinching right below the loop so it doesn't come undone. Take one of the strips you left out and wrap it around and around the twisted loop part to secure it and then tie it off at the base of the loop to finish it off. It's not completely necessary to wrap the loop, but I found that it kept the twist from getting loose and made it sturdier.

Now just take your yarn and tie on each tassel. Yarn tends to stretch when it's hung with the tassels, so make sure to keep that in mind when figuring out how long to make your yarn. My tassel garland was various shades of white, but they'd be super cute to make in fun bright colors or pastels for a party! I also think it'd be fun to include a couple strands of metallic ribbon for a little bit of glitz...

1st & last photo by arrow & apple