Hello, Spring!

We’ve just turned the corner of the seasons and Spring is in full effect! I love spring time because it’s a time of regeneration and growth. After the snow has come and gone, the lingering frosts kiss the new budding growth as a last goodbye to the frigid cold.

It’s almost time to start planting the garden again. I’ve already been turning soil and sadly I made the mistake of planting too soon. We had one last unexpected light snowfall and it killed all my starters. Honestly, I knew better but with this quarantine I had spare time so I got eager!

Oh well, I have more starts to do so maybe this time i’ll just put seeds in the ground. Every year I learn something new about gardening and for me it’s been a lot of trial and error. The climate in which I live is fairly difficult because our temperature have huge swings on a daily and weekly basis. How’s your garden going?

One thing from the garden I can count on coming back year after year is my mint plants. Fresh mint is so pretty, especially when it flowers later on in the season. I got this awesome spearmint splice from one of my friend Deanna. It has produced effortlessly since she graciously gifted it to me. Now it’s a full on bush, and it’s going to be a great mint crop this year!

A little ‘mint’spiration…

Due to my sheer excitement with the Spring’s arrival, my mint is one of the first annuals to come back which gave me a little inspiration or mintspiration, if you will. When I was out playing in the mud turning dirt, I couldn’t hold back my innate desire to pick those damn beautiful mint leaves and do something with them!

After getting laid off from my day job at the restaurant due to the quarantine, I was definitely in a slump. Being outside and soaking up some of the good ol’ vitamin D was good for me. Not to mention, taking out some frustration pulling weeds and turning dirt was just what I needed. #gardentherapy

Even though the temperatures have been really quite mild, I worked up a sweat for sure and thought a nice cold drink might be a good reward. I had all the mint in hand and as I was glancing around I notice the creme de menthe sitting in the pantry ever so subtly. The bright green had caught my eye, kind of like my mint plants.

It hit me that I should use up this minty green concoction and make a stellar blended drink while using my fresh mint also. At first I was going for a shamrock shake but no ice cream. Bummer. AND with all the craziness going on, I decided driving 8 miles to town wasn’t worth it. Hmm, what now?

When in doubt, work it out

Not having the ice cream was kind of a disappointment, especially because I don’t often WANT ice cream ( I know I’m weird). Oh well, when in doubt work it out. I knew there had to be something else I could do that would be closely satisfying.

As I sat and pondered about that shamrock shake, I remembered the conversation I was having to my mom earlier that day about mudslide cocktails. A lot of bartenders HATE making blended drinks.

Especially those blended drinks with cream or milk because it’s hard to clean. Most of the time you only have this tiny three compartment sink and a bulky blender to try to clean in a rush because your busy or you got that Mai Tai waiting to be made.

Looking around my own liquor cabinet, I saw I had kahlua and some light creme de cacao. I knew what I wanted to make. The chocolate mint mudslide. ALMOST like a shamrock shake, but honestly, probably better!

It’s good!

Although I didn’t get what I originally wanted, this was definitely such a good replacement! These are dangerous drinks in the sense that they are smooth, subtle, and you can’t taste the alcohol. This is like a dessert in a glass. Totally worth the calories. I worked hard today!

If you want to put a spin on it, you could totally make this stronger version: a mint white russian, just add 1 oz vodka and don’t blend it. This drink recipe is also good chilled straight up or on the rocks. Here’s the ratios I used for my drink.

Enjoy!
Happy sippin’
-K