When Life Hands You Lemons, Make a Vodka Lemon-Lime and Hummus!

TGIF! What a week this has been here in the Crooked household.  I am absolutely exhausted, especially after Master C decided that sleep was overrated last night.  It is for this reason that I thought a drink and a few nibbles were on the agenda this evening.

As I wrote about yesterday, my parent’s garden is producing copious amounts of citrus.  After collecting another handful of limes today I thought I would make some Hummus to snack on while I sip my vodka lemon-lime.

Hummus is really quick, cheap and simple to make and tastes just as good, if not better, than the store-bought dip.

While it is really a recipe that should be adjusted to an individual’s taste and the sourness of the lemons you are using, here is the recipe I use as a guide.  It contains a lot less fat than many of the recipes out there:

Ingredients

400g can chickpeas

1/4 cup lemon (or lime) juice

2 tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 tbsp tahini

1-2 cloves of garlic (depending on taste)

1 tsp cumin

Salt and Pepper

Paprika to sprinkle on top.

Method

Combine all of these in a blender or food processor. 

Add water, a tablespoon at a time, processing between each addition until you get a smooth consistency.

Place in a bowl and garnish with a sprinkle of paprika. Serve with vegetables or crackers.

I hope you have something nice planned to slip you into the weekend.

Linking up with: For the Mommas, A Southern Fairytale, Mrs Happy Homemaker

Cocktail Hour – Passionfruit and Lime Caprioskas

I am looking forward to a dinner date with the hubby tonight.  We have pre-ordered an amazing seafood platter so I have been salivating over the thought of it all day.

To whet the appetite before we head out I thought I would make a little cocktail.   After much internal debate I settled on my own version of a Caprioska.  I planned to make use of my passionfruit (you can read about the bumper crop here), some lovely limes and a huge bunch of mint I had bought at the farmer’s markets.

Passionfruit and Lime Caprioska

Makes 2

Ingredients

1 lime unpeeled and coarsely chopped

1 ½ tbs castor sugar

½ cup  mint leaves

1 cup ice

½ cup vodka

¼ cup lime juice

¼ cup passionfruit pulp

Method

1.Split the chopped lime, sugar and half the mint leaves between two glasses and with a muddling stick and pound until crushed.  Alternatively you can do this in a mortar and pestle.

Hubby lending a hand

2. Top with ice.

3. Combine the lime juice, vodka, passionfruit pulp and remaining mint in a jug.  Pour into glasses.  If you wish to make it a little less potent you could top with some soda or lemonade if you have a real sweet tooth.

4. Enjoy!

Someone get me a cocktail – STAT! Lychee Mojo

Friday is normally my favourite day of the week.  Master O goes to daycare, I often don’t have a huge to-do list and hubby takes over the night feed so I can get a good night’s sleep.  But today, it has been a shocker! I have a cold and everything has become a little too much for this chicken.  So as I settled my catnapping bub for the 4th time (Lord, give me strength!)  I decided the best way to get through the day was to look forward to 5pm when I would ring in the weekend with a drink in hand.

Hard liquor would no doubt be medicinal given I have a cold, but this dreary weather here in Brissie has me in a funk only a tropical cocktail will fix.

My default cocktail setting is really anything with Lychees in it so I wanted to share with you my version of a Lychee Mojo.  It is based on a cocktail I used to order on a Friday night years ago.

Ingredients

• 1 Shot Vodka
• 1/2 shot Paraiso Lychee Liqueur
• a squeeze of lime
• Lemonade
• 2 lychees (fresh or tinned)
• sprig of mint to garnish
• Ice

Method

1. Place ice and peeled and pitted lychees at the bottom of glass
2. Add liquor and lime
3. Top with Lemonade and garnish with a sprig of mint

So as I hit publish on this blog post I have had my first sip of my cocktail and it tastes SO GOOD! I feel better about today already. I recommend filing this recipe away in your head under, ‘Drinks to Try Before I Die’.

Have a Super weekend all. Cheers.

You can also see this post at Sumo’s Sweet Stuff

&a