Spicy Prickly Pear Mock Margarita in a rocks glass on top of a white counter, garnished with a lime wedge and salted rim. Since I just finished cleaning and juicing a bunch of prickly pears yesterday, I figured I might as well put them to good use for Mocktail Monday, and a non-alcoholic margarita riff just felt right. Recipe: Spicy Prickly Pear Mock Margarita (Aye! Mockarita!) Ingredients: 2–3 fresh jalapeño slices, adjusted based on your spice preference and the heat of the

A great non-alcoholic sipper to welcome the fall weather.

All of the C&C Aliño ingredients laid out, waiting to be blended and turned into one of the best marinades/seasonings you can make. This is one of my better half's recipes, and one that we use quite regularly in this house. What may be a seemingly simple blend of produce is perfect for seasoning steaks, chicken, or pork, or adding to your soups and stews for a great punch of flavor. Recipe: C&C Aliño Ingredients: The ingredients are always the same, but the proportions change

A bowl of our finished C&C Chili, topped with sour cream, cheddar cheese, fresh jalapenos, and served with some classic saltine crackers. Our tried-and-true chili recipe that will have your guests coming back bowl after bowl after bowl after bowl. Full of flavorful, rich, hearty, and not unnecessarily complicated, with a spice level that is just right. Recipe: C&C Chili Ingredients: 2 lbs ground beef (we prefer 93/7 or 90/10) 1 medium-large onion, 1/4-inch diced 1 bell pepper

Pomegranate Black Tea Collins, simple and flavorful. We forwent a garnish on this one because the beauty is the simplicity Simple yet flavorful, this week's Mocktail Monday is light and tart, with just a hint of spice from the ginger beer and a touch of bitterness from the tannins in the tea on the back of the palate. Built in the glass we're going to serve it in, it doesn't get much simpler than this. Don't be fooled, though. While it might be low on effort, it's high on fla

The finished Strawberry Balsamic Spritz, Garnished with some (definitely not frozen) strawberries. Admittedly I would have rather used a single fresh strawberry, but you make do with what you have some times. It's so crazy, it just might work... is what I thought when this popped into my head, and what do ya know? It did! I know it might sound like I went off the deep end, but you gotta try this one. I have been meaning to start tinkering with shrubs for a while, but hadn't g

The finished Bushwacker, smooth and creamy, with a milkshake like consistency. Garnished with a few extra neon red maraschino cherries, just because. It took many an iteration, but I have finally come up with a bushwacker recipe that I would put up against the best of them. This one comes out perfectly creamy, and doesn't have that overtly icy texture that so many others do. Recipe: Bushwacker Ingredients: 4 oz bushwacker base(recipe below) 2 oz Half and Half 8 oz ice(rough

The finished Product. We ended up with 24 egg cups in this batch, but the family starting eating before we could get a full picture. This is our go to for a quick weekday breakfast. Prep these on Sunday and store them in the fridge to eat throughout the week, or pop them in the freezer to have handy for those mornings that just go a little sideways. Recipe: Egg Cups Yield: ~24 egg cups Ingredients: 2 Tbsp butter 9 oz container thin-sliced deli ham, cut into about 1/2" squares

Few drinks are more New Orleans than the Ramos Gin Fizz. Born in the 1880s and first called the New Orleans Fizz by Henry Ramos, it’s sweet, sour, lightly floral, delightfully creamy, and still boozy enough to mean business. Recipe: Ramos Gin Fizz Ingredients: 2 oz London Dry gin (Bombay Sapphire or a similarly citrus-forward option) ¾ oz simple syrup 1 oz heavy cream 1 egg white (about 1 oz) ~6 drops orange blossom water 3–5 drops vanilla extract 2 dashes orange bitters ½ oz

It's another mocktail Monday! We are back from our break, and with the weather warming up we wanted to bring on the summer vibes. Its light, its bright, its summer in a glass, and best of all its 100% alcohol free. Recipe: Strawberry Coconut Collins (N/A) Ingredients: 2 medium strawberries* 2 oz coconut water 0.5 oz cream of coconut 1 oz lemon juice ~3 oz club soda Optional (but highly recommended): 1/8 oz imitation rum flavor 4 dashes El Guapo Polynesian Kiss bitters 4 dashe