Enjoyed 4th of July at a Beach House and Spent a Day in Downtown Seattle

My family was fortunate enough to spend our 4th of July weekend at a good friend’s beach house in Tulalip, WA - which is a town just north of Seattle. It was certainly nice to get out of the Phoenix heat and to enjoy a fun weekend of sun, beach, crab hunting, sand castle building, and of course fireworks.  Oh, and by the way, the Beach House is available to rent here on VRBO :)

At the Beach House on 4th of July

The day prior to heading back to the Valley of the Sun, we decided to spend the day in downtown Seattle. The Hubby and I had been there a few times, but this was a first for our boys. We had a fun-filled, packed day that everyone loved. I wanted to share our experiences in the event you have a trip planned to Seattle soon!

Of course we headed to Pike Place Market, had our photo taken “on the pig” – evidently this is what everyone does – and right inside the Market from the pig is the famous Pike Place Fish Market. We enjoyed looking at all of the fish on display as well as watching the fish being thrown! This you can’t miss!

Pike Place Fish Market

We continued to walk through the Market and looked at everything there is to offer – there is so much to see! If we hadn’t been leaving town the following day, I would have most certainly purchased a beautiful bouquet of flowers, they were SO reasonably priced!

For lunch we headed over to Cutters Crabhouse and enjoyed a delicious seafood lunch, right on the waterfront next to Pike Place Market.

Afterwards, we decided to check out the Seattle Aquarium and ended up purchasing a CityPASS for the day to cover a few attractions, it worked out great! The Aquarium was awesome – some of it was indoors, some outdoors – our boys LOVED the experience.

Seattle Aquarium

Next we headed over to the Argosy Cruises Seattle Harbor Cruise – this hour long trip around the harbor was perfect! We had snacks, drinks, and enjoyed the tour along with the fresh sea air!

View from Harbor Cruise

Our final stop for the afternoon was at the Seattle Great Wheel – this is a fun ferris wheel that takes you around 3 times to enjoy the sites of the water and downtown area from a different perspective. If you have kids – I’d highly recommend!

Seattle Great Wheel

View from Seattle Great Wheel

We enjoyed dinner at a delicious Italian restaurant, Il Fornaio, which was right down the street from where we stayed. Our meals were excellent and our boys especially enjoyed the yummy desserts they had to offer! I was excited to see an Affotago on the dessert menu as well – I had to indulge! I’ll do a blog post soon on this – simply put, this is a couple of scoops of vanilla ice cream topped with espresso and whipped cream, how can you go wrong with that?

Affogato from Il Fornaio

From the base of the Space Needle

The next morning we headed over to the Space Needle, with our CityPASS of course! Our boys loved it, there is a Space Needle app we downloaded as well to learn more about it.

It was the perfect 24 hours in downtown Seattle that was fun for everyone in our family!

Strawberry Sparklers - A 4th of July Drink with Sandra Lee Cocktail Time™ Strawberry Margaritas

For the past couple of years, I have posted a fun, colorful cocktail, perfect for the 4^th of July…and this year is no different.  In 2013, I shared a recipe for Patriotic Punch, complete with a Pop Rock rim - in 2014, a Flagarita.

This year, I’m excited to share these Strawberry Sparklers made with Sandra Lee Cocktail Time™  Strawberry Margaritas!  There is a Cocktail Time™ Key Lime Margarita available as well. These ready to serve products are infused with real key limes and strawberries, pure cane sugar, premium blue agave silver tequila, triple sec liqueur and other natural flavors.  

I’ve followed Sandra Lee for years – she’s creative, shows how entertaining can be easy, designs beautiful tablescapes and of course always knows when “It’s Cocktail Time!”

These Strawberry Sparklers come together very quickly – I made them individually, but you could also multiply the ingredients to combine in a pitcher and then serve.  I thought the striped paper straws and “firework” picks were perfect for the holiday!  But, if you aren’t celebrating the 4^th, you can skewer a couple of strawberries and blueberries and lay across the top of the glass for garnish. 

Earlier this year Sandra Lee launched her Cocktail Time™  products and they can be found in liquor stores such as Total Wine and BevMo.  Unfortunately, in May, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a bilateral mastectomy but is recovering well and is ready to beat this and get back to her life.  This hit close to home as I received my own breast cancer diagnosis in January 2013 – you can read my story here. 

Independence Day is one of Sandra Lee’s favorite holidays - I am excited to share this idea for your 4th of July festivities this year!  

Toasting to you on your birthday today, Sandra Lee, with these Strawberry Sparklers!  Happy Birthday and keep fighting the hard fight - you’ve got this! 

Strawberry Sparklers
Makes 1 Cocktail

5 ounces dry sparkling wine (I used Depreville Extra Dry)
4 ounces Sandra Lee Cocktail Time™  Strawberry Margarita
1 lime wedge
Ice Cubes
Blueberries – 3 to 4

Fill glass with ice cubes.  Add the sparkling wine and then top with the Cocktail Time Strawberry Margarita.  Squeeze in the lime wedge and gently stir to combine.  Drop in a few blueberries and serve.  

Rocket S'mores for the 4th of July

My oldest son is my “go to” when it comes to dreamy up something fun that kids can help with in this kitchen – this time was no different.  Given how close we are to the 4^th of July, he suggested a twist on a summertime favorite – s’mores.   This kid could eat s’mores every day – probably for every meal.  His younger brother will only consume them deconstructed.  He’ll learn one day that the melty marshmallow combined with the chocolate and graham cracker is nothing short of delicious!

For this tasty treat, we added a waffle half, whipped cream, Magic Shell, red and blue sprinkles, and of course a cherry on top.  Chocolate syrup could also be used, the Magic Shell didn’t really work as expected – I forgot it had to go onto something cold to actually become shell-like!  Just needed some “glue” to hold the “rocket top” in place.

I hope you’ll get into the kitchen and build Rocket S’mores these with your kiddos this week to celebrate our U.S.A.!

Rocket S'mores

Makes 1

1 graham cracker – broke into 2 squares

1 section of Hershey’s chocolate bar (I use 3 squares of a bar)

1 giant marshmallow – you know, the ones made by Jet-Puffed?

1 frozen Belgian waffle, cut in half diagonally

Whipped cream

Magic Shell

Red and blue sprinkles

1 maraschino cherry

Toast the halved waffle, allow to cool.

Place 1 graham cracker square on a plate and top with your piece of chocolate.

Pour a few of the sprinkles into a small bowl – you’ll use this to coat the marshmallow.  Microwave the marshmallow for a few seconds on a small plate.  You want the marshmallow to be sticky and just warm enough to start to melt the chocolate.  Roasting is an option too – but it may not be sticky enough for the sprinkles to stick. 

Roll the marshmallow around in the sprinkles and place on top of the chocolate – cover with 2^nd graham cracker square. 

Once your waffle has cooled, at a little bit of magic shell to the top of the s’more and place waffle, cut side down, on top.  Hold in place and “secure” with a little whipped cream on each side.  Add a small amount of whipped cream to the point of the waffle and top with the cherry.

Add more sprinkles to the whipped cream and around the plate if desired.  Serve immediately.  

4th of July Cocktail Roundup

I wanted to share some of my favorite 4^th of July Cocktails that I have seen and “pinned” (including a couple of my own) to help you celebrate this Independence Day.  In this roundup, I have also included a kid friendly drink that I don’t think any child will pass up! 

You won’t find any alcohol soaked fruit or patriotic jello shots – I never serve anything like this when there are kids around…I don’t want to take a chance that a child will consume one of these!

I will go through the drinks from the top left of the collage and work my way around the images.  The first cocktail featured is the Flagarita I posted in 2014 – this is a margarita with Blue Curaçao to give it that patriotic color.  

Top middle is an easy Red, White, and Blue Sangria from Punchbowl – complete with star-shaped pineapples!  

The TomKat Studio Blog recently posted these Red + Blue Piña Coladas featuring Seagram’sEscapes – the image was so beautiful, how could I not include it?  Kim Stoegbauer is local too – you can visit her shop in Chandler, AZ.

Bottom left is our Kid-Friendly Patriotic Punch from Mom Endeavors – what kid could resist a colorful drink topped off with a Twizzler? 

The Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey Cocktail is only for the brave!  This fiery drink will likely set your mouth of fire this 4^th of July – but why not just try one...you know, for fun!  The details to make this cocktail is featured on Better Recipes.  

Last but not least, the final image on the bottom right is the Patriotic Punch I posted to The Bubbly Hostess in 2013 – complete with a rim of Pop Rocks, this rum based cocktail is one fun drink to consume!

I hope you have enjoyed this roundup and that you have a safe and happy 4^th of July!!!

Flagarita - A Cocktail for the 4th of July

It’s that time of year again – 4^th of July!  A day we pay tribute to our brave military forces for protecting us and fighting for our freedom.  A day when we also spend time with family and friends enjoying BBQs, swimming, and of course fireworks. 

Last year I featured a Patriotic Punch cocktail to help you celebrate the day.  This year I went for another super easy cocktail you can make in no time.  This is a simple margarita recipe that swaps out the Triple Sec for Blue Curaçao still giving you that yummy orange flavor that makes a margarita perfect while at the same time coloring it blue to help celebrate our country.  Note that I didn’t add any sort of simple syrup to it – I kind of liked the tartness of the drink without it.  Play around with the recipe though – make it so that it pleases your palate!

Flagarita
Makes 1 Cocktail

1 part freshly squeezed lime juice
1 part Blue Curaçao
1 part Silver Tequila (I used Tequila Jose Cuervo Especial Silver)
Crushed Ice
Salt (optional)

Put your glass in the freezer before you begin making the Flagaritas.  If you haven’t done this and you are short on time, you can add crushed ice to your glass and fill with water to chill while you mix your drink.

Fill your cocktail shaker about 2/3 full with crushed ice.  Add the lime juice, Blue Curaçao, and Silver Tequila.   Shake!  Get your glass ready (dump out ice water if you did that) and rim with salt, if desired.  Remove the entire top of the cocktail shaker and fill glass with drink and crushed ice. 

Enjoy – and Happy 4^th of July!

Patriotic Punch - Cheers to the USA!

In the spirit of 4th of July being right around the corner, I decided to make a fun cocktail that we can enjoy while we swelter in the over 110 degree heat is in the forecast for that day!

A couple of nights ago, I made a very impromptu decision to invite over a girlfriend to drink champagne and come up with a patriotic cocktail.  After staying up way too late and drinking lots of champagne, this is where we landed.   Blue Curaçao gives it the beautiful color and adds the flavor of oranges.  This is super easy to find at your local liquor store.   You can make these by the glass or whip up a pitcher of them as the parts are equal for each liquid.

It's the perfect combination of tropical, refreshing, AND patriotic!  I hope you'll serve this at your 4th of July parties and come back to leave feedback on what you think!

Cheers to the USA!

Patriotic Punch

Makes 2 drinks

4 ounces Blue Curaçao

4 ounces white rum

4 ounces pineapple juice

Frozen Maraschino cherries

Red Pop Rocks

Chill two tall glasses in the freezer.  To freeze the Maraschino cherries, pat them dry with a paper towel.  Then lay them out on a sheet of wax paper on a baking sheet and freeze for several hours or overnight.

Before opening the bag of Pop Rocks, smash them into smaller pieces with a mallet or hammer.  Pour them into a shallow dish.  Wet the rim of your glass with water or you could also use a wedge of lime.  Turn the glass upside down into the dish and let the Pop Rocks stick.

To make the drink, in a shaker full of ice, add Blue Curaçao, white rum, and pineapple juice.  Shake, shake, shake!  Carefully fill your Pop Rock rimmed glasses with ice then pour in cocktail.  Garnish with frozen Maraschino cherries.

Patriotic Marshmallow Pops

I wanted to create some patriotic treats in honor of July 4th being right around the corner, so I decided to get some marshmallows, white chocolate, and fun sprinkles!  While shopping, my boys and I decided that the "giant" s'more marshmallows would be way better for this than just regular ones - so that's what we bought!

Ingredients

Makes about 20 pops

2 bags of White Chocolate Wilton Candy Melts

12 oz bag of Giant Roaster Marshmellows

Assorted patriotic sprinkles

20 lollipop sticks

Melt the chocolate over a double boiler.  Insert a lollipop stick into a marshmellow, dip into melted chocolate, a little less than 1/2 way, cover with sprinkles!

For the "drying", I used mason jars and glassware so that the pops could stay upright while drying.