HIPPIE JUICE JELLO SHOTS!

ORIGINAL RECIPE -  HIPPIE JUICE JELLO SHOTS

So, it's New Year's Eve and 2010 is turning into 2011.  I have been recruited to make all sort of scrumptious appetizers accompanied by an enormous party-sized batch of my now infamous Hippie Juice for a friend's NYE get-together and a strong request was made for jello shots.

I was already preparing my signature Raspberry Jello with Watermelon Vodka Shots using a ratio passed down to me for perfection: 2c (JELLO) : 4c (HOT H20) : 2c (COLD H20) : 2c (LIQUOR) when I came up with the idea to utilize the surplus of Hippie Juice leftovers to develop a new shot recipe... I settled on Berry Blue Jello and began the merriment of mixology.

THIS WAS THE RESULT:

• 2 Large (8 Serving) Packages of Berry Blue Jello
• 4 Cups Boiling Water
• 1 3/4 Cups Cold Water
• 1 1/4 Cups Smirnoff Watermelon Vodka
• 1/2 Cup Malibu Coconut Rum
• 1/2 Cup Triple Sec

"PRETEND IT IS LAST MINUTE ON NYE 2010" PREP:
Get yourself a 4 cup measuring cup.  It will make your life easier.  While you're at it, make sure that you have tons of those little rinsing cups they use at the dentist handy.  Next, make several shelves worth the room in your fridge... and freezer.

• Pour 1/2 Cup Malibu Coconut Rum into your measuring cup.
• Add 1/2 Cup Triple Sec into your measuring cup.
• Plus 1 1/4 Cups Smirnoff Watermelon Vodka.
• Top this off with 1 3/4 Cups of fresh, clean water.
• Refrigerate until you can honestly say that the mixture's adequately "chilled."  (You'll know)
• While you're waiting for the mixture to chill, set up your little dixie cups in a big tray so they don't spill all over the place when you move them.

GO CHILL WHILE THE MIXTURE CHILLS.

• They'll be chilling for a few hours.
• Bring 2 Cups of water to a boil.
• Turn off the flame and move the pot to a cool burner.
• Add 2 (8 Serving) Packages of Berry Blue Jello to your pot of boiling water.
• Stir for about 2 minutes as the powder dissolves.
• Once dissolved, stir in all 4 cups of your cold mixture.
• Enough mixing!  Divvy up your liquid jello into the dixie cups, filling them 3/4 way.  I suggest using a ladle and holding a funnel over each cup so you don't make a blue mess of your counter... or floor.
• Carefully move the tray of liquid jello-filled cups into your refrigerator.
• Let those bad boys cool and solidify for at least 4 hours.
• Then move them into the freezer for a short time because the alcohol probably hindered their ability to solidify properly... by a short time, I mean an hour tops.
• Put them back in the refrigerator once you know they're solid.
• Share with friends!

NOM BLOG - MANGO GREEN TEA VEGAN ZEN!

NOM BLOG - I have found it increasingly difficult to take time for myself in the last few months.  Squeezing yoga, school, and work into one little life has barely left enough room to eat and sleep at all, let alone to do them at my leisure.  Alas, the fates had something better in mind for my Wednesday.  Compliments of my eternally-dead phone battery, I was afforded the opportunity to experience a fully uninterrupted day of good-for-me and stress-free shenanigans in and around the streets of my beloved New York City.

Catering only to my cravings, I found myself adventuring all over NYC in search of bubble tea, five-spice tofu rolls in mango purée, frozen vegan treats, and free yoga.  Looking back at what had been impulsive at the time, I am laughing to myself at how unintentionally defined my theme actually was: yoga, vegan, mango, green tea.  The body knows best what it needs!