glass | ottoman | rug | egg chair | sofa | curtains

So I’ve now tried three different dirty vodka martinis trying to figure out which concoction I liked best.

And I have a confession.

Pre-Hudson, I was learning to really dig martinis.  I was tired of paying $12 for a glass of wine at a restaurant  when I could buy a great bottle of wine for $15.  I wanted a “go to cocktail” order that I enjoyed and felt special for those nights out.

So I started ordering dirty vodka martinis and it was becoming my drink of choice.  Then came pregnancy.  So after over a year of leaving my martinis behind, I got my cocktail shaker out again!

I kept making different martinis and I thought, “this doesn’t taste the same.”  But I think the difference is: after not drinking vodka for so long, it no longer tastes the same?  Does that make sense or has that happened to any of you?  I still enjoy wine, beer and tequila, but my martini game has changed.

SO, I’m going to share my favorite combination of the three I tried.  And I’m going to share another vodka recipe that masks the taste of vodka more strongly.

INGREDIENTS:

2 ounces of vodka (I used Belvedere)
3/4 ounce dry vermouth
1/2 ounce green olive juice
2-3 large green olives (bonus if they’re stuffed!)

DIRECTIONS:

Combine vodka, vermouth and olive juice in a shaker with ice.  Shake, shake, shake, pour in a glass and top with olives.

And another vodka drink for anyone who has some rosemary in the backyard!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup lemon juice (about 4 lemons)
1/2 cup sugar
2 6-inch rosemary sprigs
2 oz vodka
Chilled club soda, seltzer or sparkling water

Directions:

Bring lemon juice, sugar and rosemary to a boil in a small saucepan.  Stir until sugar has dissolved, then reduce heat and simmer 2-3 minutes.  Let it cool for one hour and discard rosemary sprigs.

Fill glass halfway with ice.  Add 2 TB syrup to the glass, then add vodka and top with sparkling water.  Garnish with a lemon and/or rosemary sprig.

If you have a favorite vodka drink, do share with the class!  I’d love to hear.  Thanks so much for reading and you can check out more cocktails, like this Bloody Mary or a Whiskey Rebellion, in the food & drink category of this site.  Enjoy and thank you for reading! XO –

ottoman | bowl | linen napkin

I shared on Instagram Stories recently that like all of you, I am so sick of cooking.  And cleaning.  And being asked what’s for dinner.  In fact, I recently told Christian that he was in charge of two dinners a week.  And that means:

I don’t get asked questions about dinner.

He has to plan it, put the ingredients on the grocery list, etc.

I don’t care if it’s grilled cheese and canned soup or toast and eggs.  It can literally be anything.  As long as I’m not in charge!

SO, in this spirit (!!!), I recently pulled out the crockpot.  I typically associate crockpots with fall and and winter, but there’s really no reason it can’t be incorporated year-round!  I found this recipe and thought a shrimp boil sounded absolutely perfect for this time of year.  I’ve never tried something like this but couldn’t believe how short the ingredient list was!

I will say that once it was time to add the shrimp (the last step), my crockpot was full.  So I had to move everything to a stockpot on the stove.  So just keep that in mind!  But I started the process around noon and by 6:30PM I had a dinner that was hardly an effort, full of flavor and felt like a fun twist on our standard dinners.  I had a baguette that I forgot to serve with it, so I would add that to the ingredient list so you can have some bread on the side!

Also – if you have leftovers, rather than microwave I would recommend boiling a pot of water and adding your cajun seasoning.  Toss the leftovers in for just 3 or so minutes and remove from heat.  We did this for leftovers and you wouldn’t have known it wasn’t fresh!

If you try it, I’d love to hear what you think.  And you can find more easy recipes and dinner ideas in the “food & drink” category of CBL.  I also found some summer crockpot ideas here and here.  Thank you so much for reading and happy eating – XO –

PS – It’s been brought to my attention that the same site has a sheetpan shrimp boil recipe.  I’ll definitely be trying it next!

I’ve shared a few quarantine meal ideas here and here, but at this point in the game… if it takes more than 30 minutes or can’t be done in a crockpot, I’m not interested.

This pasta dish is incredibly easy, full of flavor and has a two pot cleanup.  Just my style.

Something I’ve started doing is cooking chicken breasts in a crockpot, shredding and keeping in the fridge.  You can use it for anything throughout the week – quesadillas, pasta, sandwiches, etc.

Easy Crockpot Shredded Chicken

1 cup chicken broth (I was out so I actually used 1 cup water and 1TB olive oil)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

4 chicken breasts

Cook on high for 3 hours.  Remove, shred and you’re done.

Pesto Pasta Ingredients:

1 lb. rigatoni or pasta of your choice

1/2 small onion

2 TB olive oil

1/4 cup pesto – you can always add more!

salt & pepper to taste

sprinkle of parmesan

Optional: chopped fresh basil, pine nuts

Optional: grilled or shredded chicken, grilled or sautéed shrimp

Directions:

Cook pasta al dente.  In a nonstick skillet or pan, saute onions in olive oil at medium-low until translucent (a few minutes).  Add pesto, let simmer while pasta cooks.

Once drained, combine pasta and onion + pesto combo.  Mix in some parmesan cheese, s&p to taste and top with basil.

Garlic Bread Ingredients:

baguette, dinner roll, whatever you have!

garlic – I used 2 cloves for 1/2 loaf, you could use 4 for a full loaf

butter – I used 1.5 TB for 1/2 loaf, you could also use olive oil 

fresh parsley – I used 2 TB for 1/2 loaf

sprinkle of salt

sprinkle of parmesan

Directions:

Mix butter, salt, chopped garlic and parsley together.  Apply to bread and sprinkle with parmesan.  Stick in the oven or toaster oven at 425 for around 5 minutes.

That’s it!  I usually keep some spaghetti noodles and rigatoni in the pantry because when I’m in a pinch, this is a quick and easy dinner that can be on the table in 20-30 minutes.  Another great part about a beginner’s herb garden – you can quickly elevate any meal with some of your fresh herbs.  I almost always have a jar or container of pesto because we use it on pizza and pastas all the time – so easy!

If you have any quick quarantine meals, I’d love to hear!  Thanks so much for reading and you can find more recipes in the “food + drink” category of CBL.  XO –