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Strawberry Vinegar Lemonade
Here’s a delicious cocktail alternative. I basically took the easy way out to create a quick shrub. If you don’t know what a shrub is – come back for tomorrow’s post.
1 ounce Strawberry Vinegar (I used Brightland)
1 – 1 1/2 tsp honey (I used Meyer Lemon honey, but plain honey will work.)
Juice of 1 lemon
Strawberry Vinegar Lemonade ingredients Combine the above ingredients in the bottom of a glass and mix well with a spoon until the honey is completely dissolved.
Add ice and top with Club Soda, Topo Chico or other bubbly water. For a cocktail version, add an ounce of vodka.
Cheers!
Strawberry Vinegar Lemonade -
Things I Love – #19
I love Advent Calendars. I’m not talking the cheap, waxy chocolate kind for children. I’m talking calendars with an adorable daily gift for the special grown ups in your life. Unfortunately, some of the calendars below have already sold out for this year, but keep them in mind for next year. (Click on the photos below and any blue words for more information.)
Olive and June Mani Magic Olive & June – This is a new nail polish line that I discovered this summer (and love!) so I was thrilled to see they had an advent calendar. I bought this during the pre-sale and it sold out very quickly. The Olive and June website has many other gift options like a Merry Mani ornament with a polish and topcoat. OPI and Essie also make advent calendars.
Sugarfina Sugarfina – If you know someone who likes candy, but not necessarily chocolate, this calendar has a nice assortment of Sugarfina candies and only a few chocolates. PaperSource also sells Sugarfina so check both to see who has the best price.
L’Occitane Signature Calendar L’Occitane – This is a great way to try L’Occitane products and considering the items included, it’s really a good deal. L’Occitane offers both a Signature calendar and a Premium calendar. (The Premium calendar is already sold out, so I only listed the Signature calendar above.)
Godiva 
Charbonnel et Walker If you like chocolate, try a high end chocolate advent calendar, like Godiva or Charbonnel et Walker. Williams Sonoma sells several advent calendar options for every price range and flavor profile.
24 Jolly Days with 24 Whiskeys Have a whiskey lover in family? There’s an advent calendar for that at Flaviar. There are also advent calendars for everything from gin to hard ciders. If you want to build your own alcohol advent calendar, Amazon sells these empty advent boxes and Teeleandco on Etsy has this cute wine Christmas tree advent calendar.
Bonne Maman 
Adagio Gourmet Tea For the breakfast lover consider the Bonne Maman calendar with 24 mini fruit spreads and honey or the Adagio Gourmet Tea calendar.
Toys for Dogs And last, but not least, Chewy has advent calendars for your dog and cat.
If you haven’t bought advent calendars for this year, order soon! Not only do they sell out early, but with Covid there are shipping delays with many companies.
Comment below with your favorite advent calendars so I can add them to my list for next year. Note: It’s perfectly acceptable to buy yourself an advent calendar.
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Vodka Sour
I’ve been trying to cut out refined sugar so I did some experimenting with this cocktail. I tried three different sweeteners. The first one was organic coconut sugar, the second was organic cane sugar and the third was raw honey. I made simple syrups with the sugars using a 1:1 ratio with water. (Heat and stir until the
sugar crystals completely dissolve.) The coconut sugar made a gross brown simple syrup that turned me off, but the awful taste sealed the deal. That one was out. The cane sugar simple syrup and honey were actually very similar in taste, so whichever you have on hand or prefer to use will work. Note that I did use less honey than simple syrup.2 oz vodka
3/4 oz fresh squeezed lemon juice
3/4 oz organic cane sugar simple syrup OR 1/2 oz raw honey
Lemon twist
If you use honey, stir or shake your liquids well before adding ice or the honey will firm up and be more difficult to incorprate.
Add ingredients to a cocktail shaker filled with ice, shake well. Strain into a rocks glass over a large ice cube. Garnish with a lemon twist.
Cheers!
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Tequila Bees Knees
2 parts tequila of your choice (blanco or reposado are both good)
1 part honey
1 part fresh lemon juice (room temp)
Dry shake (no ice) until the honey is incorporated. If you add ice before shaking, your honey will not blend.
Then add ice and shake well until you get a little froth.
Strain into a coupe glass. (Although, I prefer it served on the rocks.)
Cheers!