Sparkling Mint Juleps

spring / cocktail

Happy Friday! Hold on to your giant fancy hats – the Kentucky Derby® is coming up in a few weeks, so we’ve partnered with 14 Hands Wine (a.k.a. the preferred wine of the Kentucky Derby) to bring you a fresh spring cocktail. What is it? A twist on a traditional mint julep – it’s minty, it’s tangy, and it’s sparkly! The classic mint julep is made with mint, bourbon, simple syrup and crushed ice. Instead of the simple syrup, I took the liberty of adding lime juice and sparkling wine instead. I think bubbles make everything better and 14 Hands Brut, with its apple and citrus flavors, is…

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Winter Spiced Moscow Mule

A fun and festive holiday spin on a Moscow Mule - perfect for New Years Eve! This healthier version uses ginger kombucha instead of ginger beer.

holiday / cocktail

Hello from Holiday Vacation-land… aka, my parents house where Jack and I have been spending the week. We flew in just in time to have a white Christmas before the snow melted. Other than spending time with family, we’ve been spending time in the house because we’re really not winter people. I binge-watched Shirley Temple movies; Jack fixed my parents computer. We’ve been eating my mom’s Christmas cookies, and I’ve been working on a few new recipes – spending time in front of the stove is the best way to stay warm around here! All in all, it’s been a much-needed…

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Sweet Tea Sparkling Apple Cider

Sweet Tea Sparkling Apple Cider is the best fall/Thanksgiving cocktail! With just 6 ingredients, it's easy to make and full of festive fall flavors!

fall / cocktail / entertaining

Happy almost-Thanksgiving week! Do you have your menu set? Are you getting together with family or having a Friendsgiving? Either way – here’s a sweet and oh-so-pretty cocktail that would be lovely for your turkey day. This one couldn’t be easier: mix apple cider with iced tea, let it chill for about 2 hours with diced apples, cinnamon sticks and star anise. When your guests arrive, pull it out of the fridge and serve with sparkling wine. That’s it!

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Skinny Caipirinhas

cocktail / summer

With the Rio Olympics coming to a close, it’s time to celebrate with Brazil’s national drink – Caipirinhas! Jack and I have some fond Caipirinha memories – we actually spent our honeymoon in South America and our first stop was Rio. On our first night we had dinner at a great restaurant in Ipanema, the name of which I can’t remember (before the blog I was terrible at taking travel notes). The waiter insisted that we have the “national drink of Brazil.” He explained to us what Cachaça was and we felt like we were experiencing a truly special exotic…

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Boozy Root Beer Floats

made with homemade vegan vanilla ice cream.

dairy free

Let’s cut to the chase – I love root beer floats. Oh, by the way, this is Jack posting once again. That’s not to say that Jeanine doesn’t love root beer floats, but when we got an opportunity to work with a beer company that brews alcoholic root beer, I knew I would be writing this post. The first question I had, of course, was “boozy root beer? Is it good?” Well I’m glad to say that yes, BEST DAMN Brewing Co.’s hard root beer is really good and tastes just like root beer. Root beer floats may be one of my favorite…

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Lemon Ginger Gimlets

Lemon Ginger Gimlets are a pretty, healthier drink perfect for New Year's Eve, Christmas, or any winter cocktail hour. Easy to make!

cocktail / winter

It’s Friday, and it’s 5 o’clock somewhere – can we take a moment and cheers to that? These lemon ginger gimlets are the final recipe that I contributed to our Meals for Me & You feature on Anthropologie’s blog. I’m calling them “Gimlets with a Girlfriend” – so go grab your bff and mix these up tonight. Plus, lemon + ginger = “healthy drinking.” A lot has been going on this week so, if it’s alright with you, I’m going to speak in bullet points today. Here are links to some random bits that I found delicious and interesting: – This is crazy, but we’ve…

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Sparkling Paloma Cocktail

A lighter recipe for a paloma cocktail made with sparkling water and agave nectar. Perfect for New Years Eve or happy hours all winter long!

winter / citrus / cocktail

Happy (almost) new year and also – happy citrus season! If you were thinking “hmm… maybe margaritas for New Years Eve this year?” then you’ve come to the right place. Well almost. I originally planned to make a version of my go-to pomegranate cocktail when these sweet ruby red grapefruits showed up in my Farmhouse box last week. They were a lovely surprise because, well, I’ve been over-doing it on the pomegranates lately, and I was so excited by the idea of a pink drink instead. While Jack is not a fan of grapefruit in general, he loves a paloma cocktail – essentially a grapefruit margarita. This is a slightly lighter…

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Apple Mimosas & Butternut Baked Eggs

Host a fun & easy-going brunch with these simple baked eggs. Butternut squash, eggs, leeks, and herbs are all you need. With apple mimosas, of course.

cocktail / brunch / entertaining

Thanksgiving has become an odd holiday for us. During the first years that Jack and I were together, we traveled to visit family for every single holiday. It took us a while to realize that Thanksgiving weekend air travel is the worst of them all. So now we have a tradition of staying home with no real tradition. One year we stayed in and made risotto. The year after that we had a friends-giving (before they were called that). Last year, we stayed home and worked (we were just beginning the book). This year we’re going to gather with friends over a fun & easygoing…

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Holiday Cocktail & Cookie Swap

Enjoy cocktails and a holiday cookie swap with Love and Lemons and Crate and Barrel. Includes two cookie recipes and a cocktail recipe!

holiday / entertaining

For as long as I can remember, my family’s Christmas season officially started with cookies. Before we were even tall enough to reach the countertop, my mom would pull over kitchen chairs so my sister and I could “help” out and get our hands in the flour. She would get out the baking sheets, the ingredients, and the flour-dusted recipes that were reserved only for the holiday season. We’d bake batch after batch after batch, eating more cookie dough than actual cookies. This year, to kick off our holiday season, I created a little cookie & cocktail party taking inspiration…

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Apple Zinger Tea-Tails

Fall spiced apple cider tea infused cocktail - alcohol & mocktail options!

fall / cocktail / celestial seasonings

Last week I had the opportunity to go on a super fun trip to Boulder Colorado to visit the headquarters of Celestial Seasonings. I’ve been drinking their tea for years so it was fun to learn more about the process of making tea and meet the wonderful people behind the brand. The trip started with the warmest welcome (the employees greeted us outside, cheering and holding signs with each of our blog names on them!). I drank about a million cups of tea (Sweet Harvest Pumpkin is totally my new favorite). After that, my highlights of the visit were: listening to Kay…

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Watermelon St. Germain Cocktails

summer / cocktail / entertaining

In case I haven’t mentioned it before – it’s pretty hot here. I’ve been eating watermelon like crazy because, well, I think it just might be the most refreshing fruit on the planet. I had been thinking of making watermelon margaritas until I had the most refreshing elderflower & vodka watermelon cocktail made by the Tipsy Texan a few weeks ago at the opening of Métier Cook’s Supply (a really cute kitchen supply store, btw – if you’re in Austin, go check it out). This is definitely a simplified version but I get impatient to make cocktails that have more than just a few easy ingredients.…

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Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.

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