Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Moscow Muled Mugs

The gorgeous copper mugs that are often used for Moscow mules have always caught my eye.  It wasn't until I tried using one for the first time that I realized how functional they are, in addition to being beautiful.

They keep drinks so cold!


Moscow Muled is a company started by a couple who are based out of Vancouver.  They sell these handmade copper mugs, which are perfect for the traditional Moscow mule drink, or any other cold or hot beverage.  Some beverages are best served ice cold, and these mugs become frosty, and hold the cool temperature for so long, that you can slowly sip and savour your beverage.  They are also much larger than I expected, holding 16 ounces of liquid!

We created two sassy mocktails to try in these copper mugs.  They are mocktails that definitely mimic cocktails, and they are not for the faint of heart.  They have some bite!

Rhubarb Lemonade

1/4 cup sugar
1 cup chopped rhubarb
1 cup water
approx. 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
approx. 1 can tonic water

Rhubarb simple syrup: Put the sugar and rhubarb in a small saucepan, and top with 1 cup water.  Boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes without stirring.  Remove from heat and let sit for 15 minutes.  Strain (without pressing the solids) and reserve the simple syrup liquid.  Discard the rhubarb solids.  Cool.


To make the rhubarb lemonade, mix together into two copper mugs:

ice cubes
1 part fresh squeezed lemon juice
3 parts rhubarb simple syrup
6 parts tonic

Garnish with a sugar-dipped piece of rhubarb (optional).


Watermelon Rosemary Lemonade

3 T sugar
1 cup water
1 sprig rosemary
4 cups chopped watermelon
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Rosemary simple syrup: Bring the sugar and water to a boil.  Turn down a bit, and boil 90 seconds - watch!  Remove from heat and add the rosemary sprig.  Let sit for 30 minutes, then remove the rosemary sprig.

Watermelon lemonade: While the simple syrup is sitting, blend the watermelon and lemon juice in a blender.  Pour some of the mixture into an ice cube tray (if desired), and freeze.  Keep the rest in the fridge until ready to use.  Divide the simple syrup mixture, ice cubes, and watermelon mixture between two copper mugs and stir.  Garnish with more rosemary and lemon slices if desired.


These copper mugs come in one size and style which makes it really easy to decide what to buy from their website.  The mugs are handmade of 100% pure high-grade, food-safe copper, with a high-grade nickel lining on the inside, which is very important to ensure that the acidity from certain drinks doesn't cause a leach of copper, which could be unsafe to consume.  Not all manufacturers of copper mugs put this nickel lining inside, so it's important to look for this, and buy a high-quality mug.


Each mug is unique, since they are hammered by hand, and may have imperfections which add to their character and aesthetic.  The handles of the mugs are all welded on to ensure that they remain leak-free.


The copper mugs are easy to clean (soap, warm water, soft cloth), and will naturally patina over time, however if you prefer a shinier mug, there are instructions on the website to easily restore the shininess to the mug.


Moscow Muled ships worldwide, and the mugs are a very reasonable price!  They would be a beautful addition to a cocktail party, dinner party, cozy evening around a fireplace, or a backyard campfire.  The possibilities for these copper mugs is endless, and we look forward to making many more tasty beverages in them in the future.

Check out Moscow Muled on:

Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

Have you had a Moscow mule?  
Have you tried a drink in a copper mug?

Full disclosure:  These mugs were provided to me free of charge.  All opinions are my own.

Friday, July 27, 2018

Market Under the Stars

A handful of times in the summer a mini farmers' market opens up downtown in the evening.  There are booths selling produce and other goods (fewer than on a regular farmers' market morning), and then all the food trucks set up, and you can buy tickets to try different dishes from them.  We went to this event last night, and enjoyed the beautiful evening outside.

Tickets are five for $20 and most things cost one ticket.

We shared one taco:


Two pulled-pork sliders:


Perogies on a stick:


And a slice of pizza:


There are always bands playing too, so we caught a bit of music before calling it a night.  Tomorrow morning the regular farmers' market will be on, so we'll head there to buy our veggies/fruits for the week.  On Wednesday morning I picked up Saskatoon berries, ground goat and shelling peas.


Do you go to a farmers' market regularly in the summer?

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Two Family BBQs

This past weekend was busy, but so fun!  We spent late morning and early afternoon on Saturday prepping side dishes, baking, and getting the yard set up for the BBQ we'd be having that evening.

 

Christopher's whole family came over in the late afternoon.  Snacks included the fresh bread with an herb spread, pico de gallo with tortilla chips, pepperoni sticks and cheese, chips, and candy.


After a couple hours of visiting, and watching the kids play, we fired up the BBQ for burgers (and veggie burgers).


The sides were baked beans, coleslaw, and potato salad.


Dessert was frozen cheesecake and monster cookies.


It was nice to spend some quality time with the family, and watch our nieces play together, and also rock out with uncle Christopher in the basement for a while.  Our almost-four year old niece Charlotte is a natural on the drums. 

Once our guests had left for home, we brought everything inside, cleaned up the yard, put the folding chairs into the garage, etc., and then made another batch of the dessert for the freezer, and whipped up another batch of the baked beans so they'd be ready for the oven the next day.

It stormed overnight, and we woke up to gloomy rainy weather, but were confident it would clear up in time for Sunday evening.

Breakfast on Sunday was a pico de gallo omelette.


After breakfast we basically had a re-do of Saturday.  We made another loaf of bread, set up the yard again, and got everything ready for another family BBQ.


Late afternoon on Sunday my family came over.  We had the same snacks as the day before (it was easy to just buy and make double of everything and keep it simple).


The only real difference in the food was that we had smokies on Sunday instead of burgers.


The two bigger kids tossed the football around quite a bit, and were hilarious and silly, as they always are.  The little ones ran around, got nice and grubby in the rocks and dirt, and kept everyone on their toes and entertained

We loved seeing all of our nieces and nephews this past weekend!

How was your weekend?  What did you do?  
Do you have any backyard BBQs coming up to attend this summer (or that you are hosting)?

Monday, July 23, 2018

Mornings, Afternoons, and Evenings

Mornings

I've been getting up pretty early during my holidays, and my breakfasts lately have included things such as cheesy grits (with chives we grew):


Eggs and toast:


And even leftover tacos:


After breakfast I always put my sneakers on, grab my phone and headphones, and turn on a podcast to listen to as I walk around the lake.  I've been enjoying the Chatty Sisters, which I learned about from Lisa and Amber's blogs.

I've also been enjoying Married Without Children.  The couple who do this podcast speak about so many things that Christopher and I can relate to; it's really refreshing.


I listened to one Invisibilia episode, and one from Matrimoney.  I will have to listen to a few more episodes of those two podcasts before I decide if I like them or not.


Afternoons

When Christopher came home for lunch last week we mostly ate leftovers, and sandwiches.


I was running errands most days after lunch recently, as we hosted dinner guests three times within the past week.  I also spent some time reading blogs, cooking, cleaning, and relaxing with a book.

 

Evenings

Dinners last week included beet risotto on Monday, pizza and salad on Tuesday, banh mi tacos on Wednesday, braised pork ramen on Thursday, and random snacks on Friday (cheese, olives, dip, crackers etc. in the yard).


When bringing groceries into the house on Friday, I twisted my ankle/foot coming up the back steps.  It seemed okay, and I was walking on it for about an hour, but by the evening it became incredibly painful, and I couldn't even put an ounce of weight on it without wincing in pain and nearly falling to the ground.  I had to hop on one foot around the house all evening, and was in a lot of pain even when laying on the couch with it elevated.  We realized we didn't own a tensor bandage, or an ice pack, so Christopher ran out to grab those, and then took such good care of me all evening.  Since we were hosting family for BBQs both Saturday and Sunday, I was worried, as I knew we had a lot that we had to do.  Christopher told me to lay on the couch, ice my foot, and not lift a finger, and he'd take care of everything for the whole weekend.  He really is the sweetest man!

Fortunately when I woke up on Saturday morning my foot was a bit better, and after spending about four hours in the morning taking it easy, icing and compressing it, I was good to go for the rest of the day, and was able to walk on it, and could still participate in getting everything ready for the evening.  I am not sure what I did to it, but it was the most amount of pain I've ever had from something like that, but the least amount of swelling, and it only lasted about 24 hours until it was almost back to normal.  Weird!

I'll tell you about our family BBQs tomorrow!

What have your mornings, afternoons, and evenings looked like lately?  Which podcasts are you enjoying (if you listen to any)?