Jessica Merchant's Blog, page 370

DIY These Taco Drink Stirrers!

Hi guys! I’m so excited to tell you about Caylin Harris today, who is going to do some foodie themed DIYs for me so I can FINALLY actually craft! You all know how much I wish I could do crafts. I met Caylin last year when I went to the MacKenzie-Childs headquarters and was amazed at some of the creative work she does. She is a writer, crafter and stylist and does work for The Kitchn, Good Housekeeping, Parents, Family Fun, Seventeen and a ton more.

Today she is making these taco drink stirrers which are SO CUTE for Cinco de Mayo!! You guys can see her awesome work on instagram at @caylinharriscreative!

Celebrate the fifth of May, or even the sixth or seventh—heck any day of the week, right?—in style with these too-cute, tiny food inspired drink stirrers. Eating tacos while looking at faux mini tacos, it’s just glorious. They’re so easy to make and the supplies are affordable too. Bust them out for this holiday or for Taco Tuesday once a week. Cheers darlings!

What you’ll need:

-felt (in a taco shell color)

-small brown pom-poms

-green paper crinkles

-a sheet of red scrapbook paper

-hot glue gun

-bamboo skewers

-Scissors

How-to:

1. Start by tracing a circle onto your felt. Cut it out. Using your bamboo skewer, poke a hole dead center into your felt circle.

2. Down the middle of the circle run a strip of hot glue. Glue your pom-poms into the center to make the faux taco meat. Run a strip of hot glue on each side of the pom-poms and fold the felt so it’s in a taco shell shape around the pom-poms. Glue one more pom-pom on top of your bottom row to bulk it up a bit.

3. Cut your green paper crinkles down into smaller pieces. Using small dots of hot glue stick the green crinkles onto the pom-poms. It’s faux lettuce! Cut small red tomato slice shapes out of your scrapbook paper and glue too.

4. Using the pointy end of the skewer with a dab of hot glue on it, work it into the hole in the felt taco. Cut the skewer down to size based on the glasses you’re using.

5. Repeat until each guest’s glass has a skewer.

Throw them in your margarita and go!

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Pimento Cheese Chicken Quesadillas with Jalapeños.

Helllllllllo lover.

In what might be the best or worst decision I’ve ever made, I’m combining two celebrations in one for this recipe.

Oh yes I am.

PIMENTO CHEESE CHICKEN QUESADILLAS. Say it with me.

These might be the cheesiest (and spiciest!) things to ever come out of my kitchen.

Let me tell you how much Eddie loved these. He instantly ate an entire quesadilla as soon as I finished photographing them. A few hours later, he reheated the remaining quesadilla and ate it again. And then was still talking about them the next day. And he already asked for them again tonight!

They are so cheesy that I could just die.

Also, I totally cheated here and used rotisserie chicken. We don’t have our normal stash of cooked, shredded chicken since our kitchen is still in shambles, so I grabbed a warm one at the grocery store and shredded it myself.

Which, can we note, is huuuuge. Because I don’t think I’ve touched rotisserie chicken since before I was pregnant with Max! Every time Eddie brought one home that year, I would retreat to our room and try to keep out the smell. It took me about three years to get over that, but here we are. One of those weird things for me.

The other part about these quesadillas that I deem completely necessarily: the spicy, pickled jalapeños. Whyyyy are pickled things so good. Why? I can never get enough, and I normally don’t even do spicy. These add such perfect heat to an otherwise cheesy overload.

Can I say it’s classy trashy food? Pretty sure that’s a thing.

So I would definitely say that your weekend meal is SET.

Pimento Cheese Chicken Quesadillas with Jalapeños

Yield: serves 2 to 4

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

pimento cheese

12 ounces sharp white cheddar cheese, freshly grated
1 (4-ounce) jar of pimentos, drained
4 ounces (1/2 block) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
12 ounces sharp white cheddar cheese, freshly grated
1 (4-ounce) jar of pimentos, drained
4 ounces (1/2 block) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

quesadillas

4 (8-inch) flour tortillas
1 cup cooked and shredded chicken breasts
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 cup pickled jalapeños
2 ounces sharp white cheddar cheese, freshly grated
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
for serving: cherry tomatoes, avocado, lime wedges



Directions:

pimento cheese

Add all ingredients together in a large bowl and mix well until combined. You will have some leftovers, so store it in a sealed container in the fridge! Best dip with crackers and veggies, woohoo!

quesadillas

to assemble the quesadillas, spread a few tablespoons of the pimento cheese on one side of the tortilla. Top with 1/2 cup of the chicken and sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon of the chili powder. Add 1/4 cup of the jalapeños on top (add less if you're not into spicy!) and a sprinkle of cheddar cheese. Top with the other tortilla. Repeat with the remaining tortillas and chicken.

Heat a large skillet or griddle over medium heat. For each quesadilla, I melt 1 tablespoon of butter in the skillet and add the quesadilla, cooking on both sides until golden. I cook it about 5 minutes per side, just so the tortillas are super crispy and the cheese is very melty. Serve with extra jalapeños, tomatoes and avocado. With a spritz of lime!

Be sure to follow howsweeteats on instagram and tag your recipes with #howsweeteats! You can also post a photo of your recipe to the howsweeteats facebook page. I appreciate you so much!

But oh no what do we drink with these? Do we need a mint julep margarita?

The post Pimento Cheese Chicken Quesadillas with Jalapeños. appeared first on How Sweet It Is.

Tuesday Things.

1. Who else feels like the month is just RIGHT when it starts out on a Monday? I will forever be a Monday-starting person.

2. Really can’t get over this rhubarb italian cream soda.

3. Sometimes I wish so badly that I could be a travel blogger/vlogger (hello, how fun would that be!) but it’s not even possible since I’m a normal person with a husband with a normal job and a babe! I’m going to dream though.

4. Not going to lie… I might have spent 15 minutes reading tweets from the frye festival this weekend. That cheese sandwich though.

5. Apparently AOL instant message turned 20 years old and when I saw that, I just recoiled in major embarrassment over the things I used to put in my profile. I’ll spare you the details but let’s just say at one point it included Rascal Flatts lyrics.

6. What to do when all your productivity hacks fail you. I love the ideas of batch tasks, but taking all the breaks you need? Hello, who will do my work. If I did that, my entire day would be one big break!

7. HOW GOOD WAS BILLIONS?! Oh my gosh. I thought that was the best episode of the series, period. On Saturday night, Eddie was up until 4am watching Vice on HBO and 13 Reasons Why. I have stayed away from it because ever since I had Max, I find it impossible to watch TV that isn’t overly happy or comedic – anything else just makes me anxious. I’m watching it though, like you all told me to, and agree it’s so good.

8. If you need a good cry, you must watch this video. The little boy, Andrew, mentioned in the video is from my town and I cannot stop watching this and bawling my eyes out.

9. What were some of the crazy Met gala looks you liked last night? I love Blake Lively, because DID YOU SEE THE BOTTOM. I thought Ashley Graham’s dress was cool too! And Kate Hudson. And Candice Swanepoel. And J Lo. And Lupita Nyong’o. And Gisele. Of course.

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Tequila Shrimp Taco Salad.

I am certainly not above adding tequila to my salads.

Oddly enough, I actually… LIKE tequila. I like the taste! So let’s add it to our salads to celebrate MONDAY.

Even though I’m still cooking on an electric skillet, I want to alternate our dinners this week with some tex-mex AND derby ideas. And while super cheesy, meaty tacos every evening don’t sound terrible, I should probably be a bit more… responsible. That might be a first?

So, a slightly lighter option here that still incorporates a little booze, because OF COURSE. Tequila shrimp just SOUNDS delicious, like if I saw that on a menu somewhere? Hello, I am done. That is what I’m ordering. Goodbye.

Of course it’s allllll the other toppings (errr, salad ingredients?) that make this bowl the best. Sweet corn, lots of tomatoes, avocado because who is still not eating avocado in 2017 (Eddie.), sliced jalepeños, diced radish and the best part, some crunchy homemade tortilla chip pieces. YESSSSSSS.

And honey lime vinaigrette. The ultimate.

The marinade on the shrimp is something I could eat every week. Tequila, olive oil, fresh lime juice and zest, minced garlic, chili powder, salt and pepper. So simple yet incredibly delicious once the shrimp is grilled or roasted or pan-fried. I wasn’t even expecting the flavor to be THAT good and with one taste, Eddie and I were both freaking.

Which translates to, standing in the little bump-out section of our kitchen that isn’t torn to shreds and eating said shrimp with a plastic fork out of the electric griddle. Super glam.

You know that I love big salads like this that totally make a full meal. They are ridiculously satisfying. And this is so true about what we tend to eat on Mondays and Tuesdays. With those being my big cooking days, we always have tons of ingredients left and you would not even BELIEVE the things that I will throw on a salad for dinner.

But the salad has to be legit. Gone are the days where we are satisfied with tomatoes, carrots and maybe cheese or cucumber. It needs to be bulked up! And this one doesn’t even have bacon.

The inspiration for this salad came from my crunchy taco salad, because I make that CONSTANTLY. I was almost going to make it again last week and then I was like NO. We need some new taco flavor here. And a mini-break (read, a day) from kale. The results were delicious.

If only allllll of my salads looked like this. I’d eat one every day!

Tequila Shrimp Taco Salad

Yield: serves 2 generously

Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

1 pound raw peeled and deveined shrimp
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons tequila
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 lime, juiced and zested
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper


2 (4-inch) tortillas, cut into pieces
1 to 2 teaspoons olive oil, if needed
6 to 8 cups spring greens
3 radishes, diced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 jalapeño pepper, thinly sliced
1 avocado, thinly sliced
1/2 cup sweet corn
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
queso fresco cheese, crumbled
salt and pepper, for taste

honey garlic vinaigrette 

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 lime, juiced and zested
6 tablespoons olive oil



Directions:

Place the shrimp in a bowl or large resealable bag. Whisk together the oil, tequila, garlic, lime juice and zest chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper. Pour it over the shrimp and toss well. Let it sit for 20 to 30 minutes. While the shrimp is marinating, prepare and chop the rest of your salad ingredients.

Heat your grill, a large skillet or pan over medium heat. Add the shrimp (most likely in one or two batches) and cook until golden and opaque, barely 2 to 3 minutes per side. Set the shrimp on a plate.

To that same skillet, you can add your tortilla pieces. If there is residual from the shrimp, it will be enough to toast the tortillas, but if you need it, add teaspoon or 2 of oil or butter. Add the tortilla pieces into the skillet and cook until golden and crispy on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. Remove the tortillas and place them on a paper towel to drain any excess grease.

To assemble the salad, fill the bowl with the greens. Top with the shrimp, radish, tomatoes, peppers, avocado, corn and cilantro. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with the dressing and serve!

honey garlic vinaigrette 

Whisk together the, vinegar, honey, garlic, lime juice and zest. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Whisk in the olive oil to emulsify the dressing. This keeps well in the fridge!

Be sure to follow howsweeteats on instagram and tag your recipes with #howsweeteats! You can also post a photo of your recipe to the howsweeteats facebook page. I appreciate you so much!

This cancels out the margaritas too. I swear.

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Passionfruit Strawberry Salsa.

{This post is sponsored by Tostitos! Thank you guys so much for reading and supporting the blog when I work with brands that I love!}

Just look at this beauty in a bowl!

I am so, so excited for this coming week and our Cinco de Mayo feast. Tacos, guacamole, tequila and now… fruit salsa.

If you’ve been following the blog for a while, you’ll know that fruit salsa and I had a MOMENT. I probably have about ten (plus!) recipes for different kinds of fruit salsa here on the site because I’m such a lover of the sweet and savory. Not to mention all the ones in my cookbook. Eddie is also a huge fan of it and it’s rare that we have taco night without some version of homemade salsa with fruit in it.

I’ve partnered with Tostitos for this post because for a limited time, they are offering a Cantina Thin and Crispy Sopapilla chip. YES! SOPAPILLA. This is the best excuse ever to have a great big party for Cinco de Mayo with your friends, right?

When they first heard about the flavor, I was like… are you kidding me?! Cinnamon sugar tortilla chips? Hello. Yes. Please. Now. I neeeeed them.

The amazing news? With one bite of these, I was pleasantly surprised that they are NOT super sweet. I was worried about the sweetness, especially with a fruit salsa because it could be too much sweet and not enough savory. But these are absolute perfection. Still thin and crispy, a touch of that savory flavor, but a light coating of cinnamon sugar.

Our usual favorite Tostitos chips are the Cantina Thin and Crispy, so if you’re not a cinnamon sugar person, those ones are TOPS. I love that both chips work with any fruit salsas. I cannot get enough. It totally depends on my mood, which one I’m feeling. And if I’m not going to chop up my own produce for a homemade salsa (hello, kitchen reno!), we love the Tostitos restaurant style salsa. All the chips please. Forever.

Also P.S., you guys can piñata yourself! How cute is that? I can’t even take it.

So the passionfruit! How cute are these guys?

I’m so in love with using passionfruit because it’s a bit tart – but also sweet! For this reason, I figured it would be ideal in a fruit salsa. Of which my two favorites went in: strawberries and mango. Some diced sweet onion and jalapeño to balance it out, of course. But you will definitely not mind eating this with a spoon.

While you can serve this in a huge bowl for dipping, I loved the idea of making mini portioned cups in hollowed-out Campari tomatoes! Or for a more portable (but unfortunately unedible) version, use the scraped passionfruit halves and serve it in there. Mini salsa cups with chips! I’m in.

Passionfruit Strawberry Salsa

Yield: serves about 4

Ingredients:

6 passionfruits, juices and seeds scraped out
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and diced
½ pound strawberries, diced
½ mango, diced
¼ sweet onion, diced
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 limes, juiced
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
if desired, a few Campari tomatoes, sliced and insides scraped out
Tostitos Cantina Thin and Crispy Sopapilla Chips



Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine. Taste and season additionally if desired. I love this salsa once it sits for 30 minutes or so – the flavors marry together and it’s delicious!

If desired, you can scoop the salsa into the empty passionfruit halves or inside Campari tomatoes! These are cute single serve portions that you can serve on a plate with a few chips!

Be sure to follow howsweeteats on instagram and tag your recipes with #howsweeteats! You can also post a photo of your recipe to the howsweeteats facebook page. I appreciate you so much!

Plus, all the margaritas of course!

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Currently Crushing On.

Hello hello! Who else is pumped that it’s almost peony season? They are just the prettiest.

I missed my crushing on post last week since we were out of town, so I had lots of good internet things to catch up on this week! Hope you guys have an awesome weekend… and here are some of the things I shared this week:

My April beauty faves! and what i bought at the VIB sale. The best time of the month.

My April lifestyle favorites… there is some good stuff there too.

A recap of our quickie NYC trip. aka the rainiest weekend ever.

Annnnd you should probably make this most delicious rosemary chicken, bacon and avocado salad. yep!

And all the best things on the internets:

these granola chocolate chip cookies sound like a texture lover’s dream.

lovely little avocado asparagus tartines!

breadsticks with homemade pizza sauce and ranch. life = complete.

the prettiest ever strawberry pistachio cake.

BLT potato salad. HELLO.

i’m down with this mojito water.

velvety sweet potato soup. mmmmm.

look at these gorgeous baked beet chips!

cilantro jalapeno margarita for this coming week! perfection.

whoa whoa cheesecake truffle brownies!

buttered eggs on toast. simple and gorgeous.

yes please to ricotta pancakes with roasted strawberries.

easy vegan cashew ricotta. really want to try this.

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April Favorites: Lifestyle.

All the things I’m loving so far in the month of April! Let me know your favorites down below.

Adidas Ultraboost Clima Shoes. THESE SHOES. Oh my gosh. I haven’t bought anything other than Nike shoes in years. I thought those were comfortable, but these are on another level. I want them in every single color. I currently have them in this easy blue. Easily the most comfortable and weightless shoes I have owned in years. I am not running in them, but I’ve walked MILES in them. Amazing.

Moana!! We are absolutely obsessed with Moana in this house. Max loves it. Eddie and I love it. We watch it every week and every single time we get in the car, Max asks to listen to Moana. We have the soundtrack memorized. The music is amazing and so catchy. The movie is so great!

As far as music, I can’t get enough of Slide by Calvin Harris. I also still continuously blast the mood booster playlist on Spotify daily.

DeLallo’s has these new vegetable marinades that we are DYING over. Eddie found them in the store last week and we’ve been using them almost everyday since we’re grilling nonstop thanks to not having a kitchen. My favorite is the sweet asian chili marinade. The flavors are unreal! I don’t see them on the site yet and I’m not sure if they are in grocery stores, but if you live in the Pittsburgh area, hightail it over to DeLallo and grab those marinades!

Also, with the kitchen under construction, I’ve been getting coffee out waaaaay more than I should be. I love the Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew from Starbucks. I also tried the Coconut Cream from Dunkin, but when I order it, I have to get it *barely* sweet (like 1/4 of the sweetener) and with 1/2 of one cream! I swear otherwise it’s like drinking pure sugar and it comes out white because it has so much cream. Sometimes I just get iced black with a pump of coconut.

I am LOVING these Halogen long linen dusters for spring. I bought the blush and black ones, they are so light and the perfect weight for this weather. I also think they’d be cute in the summer with dresses and shorts!

Sam Edelman Ankle Strap Sandals. Ha, can you tell I did a big Nordstrom shop at the beginning of the month? I didn’t have a pair of block sandals and wanted something a little dressier. These are super comfortable to walk in! I wore them all day (well, about 6+ hours) last Saturday in NYC and my feet didn’t hurt a bit. I got them in the nude shade, but also really want the blue and pink!

I don’t know about anyone else, but I LOVED the Victoria Beckham launch at Target. The pink pants and top? The black dress with the bunny collar? Love. I also grabbed a TON of baby girl stuff since my brother and SIL are having a girl in July! Crazy aunt alert.

This isn’t a new purchase (I bought it last summer), but I’ve been back to using my Rebecca Minkoff Julian backpack a ton this month and it’s SO wonderful and helpful to have a backpack with a toddler! It holds a million things (his water, my water, diapers, wipes, etc) and is so convenient. I love this one.

[none of this is sponsored, just like to talk about things that I discover and love over the month. i purchased everything myself unless it was a gift from a family member or friend. tell me your faves! there may be a few affiliate links above. love love.]

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Ambrosia Whipped Yogurt Fruit Parfaits.

Give me anything in a cute parfait and I’m totally in.

With a name like AMBROSIA, it just sounds like something I would love to eat. Something beautiful and pretty and super sweet and delicious.

Hello. I need a thesaurus! Half of those words mean the same thing. Book writing has fried my brain.

This isn’t, like, the REAL ambrosia fruit salad, I know. I haven’t had that in years and truthfully, it used to totally turn me off for some reason. I have no idea why! I love all of the ingredients.

So I know this isn’t exactly it, but in my weird brain, I was inspired by a lip gloss (this has happened before… what, am I 12? Don’t answer.) and decided I just HAD to make this little parfait in time for the Kentucky Derby.

Obviously, I made some swaps. I know there are versions out there that use sour cream and some used yogurt and heck, some just use cool whip. I used a mix of flaked unsweetened coconut and shredded sweetened coconut. And I used my favorite LEGIT maraschino cherries. (You can find them here on amazon if they aren’t in your store!)

Oh my word. I could eat these by the jar. They aren’t bleached and dyed, no worries. They are the real thing and taste like pure heaven.

I did a whipped yogurt cream, which you might recognize from this French toast recipe I shared ages ago. I first had a whipped yogurt cream on waffles in Park City at a retreat a few years ago and I still think about it. Fresh whipped cream with Chobani yogurt and some vanilla extract… heck yes. The consistency is just fantastic!

It would work perfectly as my parfait base, I just knew it. I did throw a touch of coconut into it. And I tossed my pineapples, mandarin oranges and cherries with some coconut too. And I did NOT leave out the marshmallows! They are obviously key to this recipe and super fun to bite into with your own personal parfait.

One of the ridiculous reasons that the real ambrosia salad never did it for me was because it reminded me of cream based summer salads that I didn’t enjoy – like potato salad and macaroni salad. Yes, of course I know this sounds idiotic, because the ambrosia salad is mostly sweet and not mayo-based. But the appearance would instantly turn me off.

With the parfait, it’s layered sweetly and barely mixes together. I find it so much more appealing! See also: I’m a crazy person.

Now isn’t this just the cutest dessert? I know it’s not real ambrosia, but I sort of want to add some pound cake in there. I mean, we probably should. Yes. Definitely. For sure.

Ambrosia Whipped Yogurt Fruit Parfaits

Yield: makes 4 parfaits, is easily multiplied

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup chopped pineapple
1 cup mandarin oranges, drained from any juice or syrup
1/2 cup maraschino cherries, plus a few with stems on for topping
1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut
1/4 cup flaked, unsweetened coconut
1/3 cup mini marshmallows

whipped yogurt cream

1 1/4 cups cold heavy cream
3/4 cups vanilla or plain Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract



Directions:

In a bowl, stir together the pineapple, oranges and cherries. Toss in half of the sweetened coconut and stir.

To make the yogurt whipped cream, add the cold heavy cream to the bowl of your electric mixer. Using the whisk attachment, beat it on high speed until stiff peaks form and you have whipped cream. Add in the yogurt and vanilla extract, and beat on medium speed, scraping down the sides if needed, until combined. Stir in the rest of the shredded coconut and the flaked coconut.

Layer the yogurt cream, the marshmallows and fruit mixture into four small jars or glasses. I like to do two or three alternating layers. Top it off with a cherry and an extra sprinkle of coconut if desired.

Be sure to follow howsweeteats on instagram and tag your recipes with #howsweeteats! You can also post a photo of your recipe to the howsweeteats facebook page. I appreciate you so much!

Maraschino cherries for life!

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April Favorites: Beauty. (plus, what I bought at the Sephora VIB sale!)

Happy end of April!

I don’t have too many new favorites this month, but I do have a list below of the things I got at the recent VIB sale! I’m still waiting for a few of them to come. With the warmer weather coming, I’m AGAIN wearing a lot less makeup, but my go-to’s since last month’s post have been the Tom Ford Cream and Powder Eye Color (that stuff is incredible and I get so many compliments on it! I swear it twinkles under the lights!) and the Marc Jacobs Glow Stick. Alllll about the glow.

On to this month! My favorites are… 

the Moroccan Oil Classic Brush. This may be a weird thing to mention and I sort of think it’s gross to show a used hairbrush, but I have to talk about how much I love this. And another brush (the P80) that I got. Guys, it has been a horrifically long time since I have bought new hair brushes. Like I can’t even tell you how long because you will think it’s sick. A really, really long time. (Actually, I’ve purchased a new brush or two but they never felt as great as my older ones and quickly broke.) I grabbed two moroccan oil brushes from amazon and have not looked back. The boar bristle one? I use at night to come through my hair before bed. It does cause a little bit of static, but I’m going to bed so who cares. It feels amazing on the scalp. The other one is for morning use and anytime I style my hair. I LOVE THEM. Totally worth it, because the few brushes I’ve bought have been much cheaper and fall apart quickly.

It Cosmetics CC Illumination Cream. A repeat mention but I’ve almost finished the bottle of the illuminating CC cream and will never get the regular version again. This gives SO much glow to my face… I’m sure some people think it gives too much. The only downside to this is that sometimes when I rub my cheek against Max’s cheek, he gets some sparkle on his face. Still. I love it.

CoverFX Illuminating Setting Spray. I know that I mentioned this last month, but now that I’ve used it for another full month, I can tell you how fully obsessed I am with it! I’ve even been using it in cases where I don’t need a setting spray (like just have on a bit of tinted moisturizer) because it is SO illuminating. Really loving it.

Marc Jacobs Highliner Crayon in Grapevine. If you’ve been reading for awhile, you’ll know that for YEARS (like maybe 10 years?) I solely used the Urban Decay 24/7 liner if I ever used any eyeliners. It has been ages since I bought one, but I do have a few of these highliner crayons and find that they are so similar. This is so soft and blendable, and I love that it’s matte too. I’ve always worn purple on my eyes and while I’ve majorly toned down any color in the last few years, I love smudging this as eyeliner – it doesn’t look to bright or harsh.

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind. FOREVER favorite. I just bought another one and have been grabbing this super often this month as I need to swipe something on quickly since we have people here remodeling the kitchen EARLY. This is the best stuff.

Rosebud Tropical Ambrosia Balm. I haven’t ever been a huge rosebud salve fan (especially in the pot) and probably haven’t bought any since high school. I was instantly dying over this scent, however, and couldn’t resist! I am loving this balm and it tastes like the tropics. Perfect.

Charlotte Tilbury Hot Lips lipstick in Bosworth’s Beauty. This has been my go-to shade this month for lips because it’s SO bright, but not in a too-shocking way. If that makes sense, ha. These lipsticks are awesome, though I do like them best with a light lip balm (like Burt’s Bees underneath). They stay on forever too. And you can easily add gloss over top!

Now for things I bought at the sale? Not a ton of fun an interesting stuff, really. I bought some things we always use, like the FAB Ultra Repair Cream (Eddie and I use it daily), a new bottle of St Tropez and two mitts for self tan purposes, a new beauty blender and a new eyeshadow brush (just the sephora collection one). In terms of fun things, I bought one of the new Hourglass strobing blushes, the Coola Face Self Tan Serum and my most exciting purchase, the Briogeo Charcoal and Coconut Exfoliating Shampoo.

I can’t wait to try that! I’m old.

Annnd that was my month! Nothing too exciting. I don’t think I have anything else I’m dyyyying over for summer. What is on your list?!

{as usual, none of this is sponsored and all of these products were purchased by me. i am not affiliated with any of the companies above, nor do i accept free products. just love to talk about what i like, makeup junkie to makeup junkie. there are some amazon and general reward style affiliate links above. thank you for being here!}

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Frozen Peach and Vanilla Mint Juleps.

This flavor is everything I want to have forever.

Next weekend, you can enjoy the most exciting 120 seconds of May with one of these bourbon babies in hand. I cannot wait!

Eddie also obviously can’t wait, but he will pass on the bourbon. Whomp whomp. Too many bad nights in college and he’s like, nope!

Last year, I made fresh watermelon mint juleps BEFORE the derby. But on derby day, I made a version of the fresh exchange’s peach mint juleps, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about them ever since! Their version used the peach preserves from American Spoon which has probably been one of my entire family’s favorite flavors for, oh, I don’t know… twenty years?! So they were a huge hit.

I knew that I wanted to incorporate frozen peach slices into the mix – not in a puree and not in a major flavor way, but as part of the “ice” so the peach flavor gradually melted into the drink and you got just a slight hint of it.

Result: PERFECTION.

Also, I really liked having the peach slices to munch on with the cocktail.

Frozen peaches also won out because we aren’t even CLOSE to good peach season in this area. The ones I find at the grocery store are as hard as a rock and basically never ripen. It will probably be months before I get a good one, so frozen peaches are the answer! I prefer them over canned too. Just to be real.

The vanilla? Well gosh, do I ever NOT want something to be vanilla-flavored? I soaked a few cut vanilla beans in my bourbon for only 60 minutes here, but back in the fall, I made infused bourbons and that is where I took the inspiration from. If I were you, I’d throw some cut vanilla beans into your bourbon TODAY so that in another nine days, the flavor will be extra vanilla-y.

AND. Vanilla simple syrup. Just to be as vanilla as possible. Yesssss.

Oh oh oh and just in case you want some other mint julep inspo, I’ve made:

Blueberry mint juleps!

Pineapple mint juleps.

Mint julep FRUIT SALAD. With homemade marshmallow. Naturally.

Your day is set.

Frozen Peach and Vanilla Mint Juleps

Yield: drink makes 1, is easily multiplied; syrup makes a 1/3 cup

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

2 1/2 ounces bourbon (soaked with vanilla beans, if desired)
1 ounce vanilla simple syrup
1 ounce club soda
frozen peach slices
crushed ice
fresh mint leaves

vanilla simple syrup

1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract



Directions:

Combine bourbon and vanilla syrup together and shake or stir well. Pour over a mix of frozen peach slices and crushed iced, top with club soda and serve with extra mint leaves. Garnish with a few more peach slices. Drink up!

vanilla bean syrup

Combine the sugar, water, scraped vanilla beans and whole bean in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk constantly until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is bubbling. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Let cool completely before stirring in the extract and storing in a jar. I usually don't remove the vanilla pod and just leave it in for flavor!

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Half of this drink is all about the cute cups. Right?

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