So when the idea to blog about drinking came to mind I thought "Really? You don't drink." And then myself said to me, "Yeah? So what's that peach sangria sitting on your desk right now?"
Hee.
So this is the deal, I don't drink. Not in terms of more than one or two sips a year. I just don't like the taste of alcohol. I have no interest. Sure, the occasional ice cream drink will attract me, or some fruity concoction with umbrellas and strawberry halves, but no wine, no beer. If I can have one White Russian every few years, I'm happy. I do like creamy drinks, but no more than a few sips. I don't understand the concept of 'having a drink' or a 'relaxing glass of wine'. Champagne for celebrations? I'm the one at the party looking for the fruit juice or water.
I don't fault anyone for having a glass of wine at lunch, or a mixed drink with friends, or even a few beers to relax at night. The hubby does it. It works for him. Most of my friends order drinks at lunch. Hey, they like the taste! Why not have a drink? I'm not going to talk about alcoholism. It ruins lives. And as for driving after having a few—you had better not! 'nuf said. This is a fun chat. Let's share drink recipes!
So now that my nest is empty and I'm discovering the joys of having so much time to myself, and spending much of that time with the hubby, and yeah, rediscovering that other stuff, I've decided I should start exploring my tastes a little further. You see, while I've never had a burning desire for alcohol, I have very purposefully avoided it while the kids were living at home. I like to set a responsible example. Seriously.
But now? Heh. Liquor store here I come!
There's something about the liquor store. I enjoy shopping there. I may visit it twice in a year, and that's one time too many usually. Every time I walk through those doors I feel as if I'm doing something wrong. Am I allowed? Will a cop leap out from behind that beer display and bust me? Isn't that weird? Maybe because I don't go there often I've never gotten used to the atmosphere.
Yet how decadent to walk down the aisles. I tend to spend a long time inside. All those pretty bottles! The colors, the shapes, the interesting names. How can you not stand there in awe at the pure fruity, twisty, make-that-a-double awesomeness of it all?
Okay, so I'm a major dweeb at this drinking thing. It'll take me a while, and really I don't need to start a drink a day habit, but a few sips once in a while would be fun, if not relaxing. I'm a big girl; it's my party and I'll twirl that paper umbrella if I want to.
I have recently discovered something I like. Applebees serves a delicious White Peach Sangria. I downloaded the recipe:
2 parts Peach Schnappes
2 parts White Wine
2 parts pineapple juice
4 parts Sprite
It's nummy! I could have one of these every so often. I might even use that whole bottle of wine before it gets old. (Trust me, I've bought wine before thinking maybe this time I might develop a taste for it; I take a few sips; I dump it out.) Why can't I appreciate the flavor of wine? It all tastes like cork or wood to me.
So let's have a cocktail chat. Tell me about your favorite drink to sip and relax by the pool or on the sundeck, or even while snuggled with a chenille blanket and a great read. Induct me into this wondrous world of drink mixers and fancy shakers and chocolate martinis. I want to learn.
Michele
25 comments:
Well I'm a total lightweight in the alcohol department, LOL. Two is my limit and I don't like the taste of beer. Not a wine drinker. But here's a fun summer time drink that really puts the 'social' in social drinker!
Yucca
Take one *large* pickle jar. Fill with one cup of vodka, one cup of sugar, three quartered lemons, three quartered limes and then fill to the top with ice. Make sure the lid is on very tight. Wrap the jar in a beach towel. Place one person on either end of the towel and shake the jar between them in a back and forth motion. (Everyone else sits back and comments on their technique.) Take turns shaking until the jar is frosty and the ice is mostly melted.
No cups needed. Those who shook stand in a circle and pass the jar around. This is a frothy citrusy drink that tastes like lemonade only with a kick.
The rule is: no shake-y, no drink-y!
I have learned through experience that you should never replace tequila for vodka, LOL.
And that three cups of vodka instead of one is not to be recommended!
Michele-- I don't drink either. Same reason. Just don't like the taste. Poor hubby is a wine drinker which means he normally has to order by the glass. He was so thrilled to go to dinner with friends when we were out of town at a conference recently and my friends are all drinkers. They had lovely chats over which wine to get.
And I'm like, "Rootbeer?"
For "virgin" drinks, I love a good chi chi or a pina colada. And bloody mary mix isn't bad either.
Just give me a bottle of Margarita mix and I'm happy. But only give it to me about once a year. Just another light weight chiming in. My drink of choice? Water or tea. Lord, I'm boring.
I find it interesting, however, that Kylie, who says she's not a drinker (snort), was the first to come up with a razzle dazzle drink. :o) It's her story, she can tell it any way she wants to...
It's not that I don't drink, I can't. The meds I take for fibromyalgia and restless leg syndrome do NOT play nice with alcohol. So I have to stick with water and, in true southern belle fashion, sweet iced tea.
When I could drink, I enjoyed a glass of white wine. We lived in Germany and I learned how to select good German wine. Despite living in Germany, I never learned to like beer. I also liked some of the liqueurs too like Amaretto, Cointreau and a good brandy.
As for hard liquor -- I was a scotch drinker. Loved it with soda. Now I get a virgin scotch and soda. LOL! I've also had some good virgin margaritas around the country. The peach one at the Marriott was great as was the watermelon one at the Reno Hilton.
Marilyn
Hey, I said I'm a lightweight not that I'm not a drinker, LOL! I'm a very cheap date!
I thought you liked that about me...!
Kylie, that sounds like a great drink! Though, I admit the first time I read your post, I must have missed an entire sentence. I imagined two people with a jar sandwiched between their bodies, shaking it up. Hmm... That could make for an entirely different party experience. :-)
Deb, yep I'm using the one ordering the virgin drink. Still will. It tastes the same, and you don't have that dizzy head thing. I don't like feeling out of my senses!
It's looking like the Riders are all lightweights!
Marilyn, lately my heroes have been drinking scotch or whisky. Seems like a man's drink to me. But what do I know?
M
Wine and beer for me. Thank you. I'm not a sweet, creamy drinker, either, so I'm totally opposite you, Deb.
If I have a mixed drink it's either a gin and tonic - great on a hot, hot day - or a margarita.
I don't get the whole martini craze. My gawd, if I drank a whole martini, or two, I'd be sliding under the table!
This is making me think we need to do a happy hour one of these nights!
I've always enjoyed wine, wine tastings, winery tours, etc. I'm going to a political Ladies Night Out tomorrow night to help with some phone banking(I'll leave you to guess my candidate)with a writer friend, and they're serving tacos and Margaritas. If you get a giggly get out the vote call, you'll know the reason why.
Actually, I gave up alcohol as a calorie cutting measure back when I went after those 50 piled-on pounds. I haven't gone back. I really enjoyed the grazing part of social drinking. I don't like the taste of hard liquor, and beer is just nasty, but I'll take a pound of yummy cheese with that glass of rose.
I enjoy both wine and beer, but can only drink mixed drinks every once in a while. I was the drink mixer in college, so I can mix any drink. One of my favorites is vodka, pineapple juice, and malibu rum. Another good one has midouri(melon liqeuor), pineapple juice and malibu rum. Mostly if I drink a mixed drink now it is either a margaritta, a Cosmo, apple martini, or chocolate martini. At one of my friend's restaurant, they have the best vanilla infused tequilla shots.
I think an apple martini sounds so good! What's in that?
Kylie - glad we got that clarified :o) And yes, I DO like that about you LOL
Not a drinker either. I really like the idea of drinking or champagne for something special, but when that bottle gets uncoked and that godawful smell...
I drink an occasional fruity. I like equal parts coconut rum with pinapple juice with a splash of cherry juice.
Do to some book research, I found I like hot chocolate with a few drops of cinnamon scchanps (sp??)
Scotch IS a man's drink, and it'll put hair on a woman's chest. LOL! Don't know how I got to drinking it. But I do know I only drank the good stuff. My philosophy was no liquor is better than cheap liquor. Though I did abandon that philosophy for Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill. We'd pour it into a milk jug, tie the jug to an inner tube and float down the Tuckaseegee River at college on hot summer days. At least it was better than Thunderbird or MD 20/20.
The Apple martini is 2 oz vodka and 1 oz apple schnapps(the sour apple pucker schnapps is best). Mix together and pour into a chilled glass.
Maybe you would like a white russian which has cream, kalua, and vodka. I like black russians which are kalua and vodka. Or even kalua in your coffee. Mostly I drink cabarnet savignon but that's a dry wine and not for beginners but there's lots of lighter and even sweet wines out there. It's nice with dinner :)
I love fruity drinks. They taste so sweet and good. I love mango margaritas, apple and lychee martinis, coconut rum with pineapple juice and watermelon schnapps.
This coconut rum that's been mentioned a few times sounds interesting. I like the tropical-themed drinks.
And yep, the cream kahlua and vodka for a White Russian is awesome! Don't drink coffee, so can't try it that way.
There was a chai liquor out a few years ago that I tried, but don't recall if I liked it or not.
I recently did a heroine (who is a cat shapeshifter) and her drink of choice was cream with a splash of grenadine for color. Sounds kind of nummy.
A lychee martinis. Now that's one I've NEVER heard!
Hmm, I've never tried a martini but since I prefer my alcoholic beverages on the dry side rather than the sweet side I reckon I'd like one if I tried one. Not so sure about the olive though ;-). I enjoy a good chardonnay, and occasionally a robust Aussie Shiraz, a dry methode champenoise (or if I'm really lucky 'real' champagne.) I'm told your body metabolises the bubbly drinks quicker so while you might feel the effects quicker they leave you faster also. Must put that to the test, hmm? Also, in the summer time, especially after a day out in the harbour, I love a refreshing gin and tonic with a twist of lemon.
Sorry I'm late chiming in. But I guess I'm the weird one on the group-- I like the taste of many drinks, even though I don't drink much. Alcohol and cholesterol meds don't mix well.
I LOVE champagne-- and the American equivalent. I love mimosas with a nice brunch. (Orange juice and champagne)
Then I like a number of liqueurs-- my favorite being Bailey's Irish Cream. It is fabulous in coffee of an evening. Like making an instant Irish coffee without the strong whiskey bite.
Helen, I'm with you on the gin and tonic-- though these days i have to ask for diet tonic. You should wee the servers' faces when that happens. Most of the time I have to order something else. In college one of the favorite girl drinks was gin-lemon-and-seven. Which was gin, lemon, and 7-up. Still a good girlie drink. Very refreshing. And can be made with DIET 7-Up!
Then my son worked in a liquor store during college and brought home wine occasionally for me to try. I learned to like a number of kinds of wine-- but a savignon blanc (or fume blanc) is my favorite. Dry and fruity. Buttery, oaky chardonnay is yummy, but I can go merlot or a blended red or chianti. . .
Okay, you'd think I was a fish from this, but I seldom imbibe-- because alcohol has those dreaded CALORIES!!!!
Yvonne said - I'm told your body metabolises the bubbly drinks quicker so while you might feel the effects quicker
So THAT'S why I can't drink champagne. Gawd, I am such a lightweight!
I don't drink alcohol. Never have liked the taste.
My drink of choice is Diet Pepsi.
The dh and I drink wine with dinner almost every night -- just four ounces for me in a big ballon wine glass but it makes any meal (even meatloaf) an occassion.
My favorite white is Savigon Blanc --the best of them are (as Betina said) soft and buttery. Can't stand Chablis (too acidic for my taste) and not fond of most Chardonneys. My favorite reds are Barberra and Cabernet Savigon--both are rich and full-bodied.
My aperitif of choice is Campari - an Italian bitters - straight, with a twist. I'm told it's an acquired taste but I loved it at first sip.
My favorite mixed drink is a Cosmo or a Coconut Rum Martini but I have to be careful with those as they tend to make me giddy.
Yikes, that anonymous should have been me -- Candace
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