things are ramping up over here at cake and catering headquarters. we have a jam packed food weekend followed by styled shoots two days next week. basically, my fridges and cupboards are stuffed to the gills and i'm looking forward to having my fridge full of food i can actually eat myself again. 

but in the mean time i've been prepping the perfect cocktail for our dinner for eight tomorrow night. the hosts have requested a fruity cocktail with rum, which normally isn't really my thing. however, the pineapple juice makes this fruity and floral cocktail the perfect balance of sweet and refreshing. you can always use pre squeezed juice, but for a really next level cocktail, i recommend squeezing the orange and lime juice fresh. 

el presidente
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 4 minutes
active time: 1 minute
total time: 5 minutes
ingredients: 2 oz light rum. 2 oz pineapple juice. 2 oz orange juice. 1 oz lime juice. .5 oz hibiscus syrup or grenadine. shaker. 2 cups ice. pineapple chunk for garnish. 

start by filling your glass with half the ice and the shaker with the other half. pour in all of your ingredients to the shaker and shake well to combine. 

pour the cocktail into the iced glass. 

garnish with pineapple chunk and serve. 

xo, a

el presidente
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 4 minutes
active time: 1 minute
total time: 5 minutes
ingredients: 2 oz light rum. 2 oz pineapple juice. 2 oz orange juice. 1 oz lime juice. .5 oz hibiscus syrup or grenadine. shaker. 2 cups ice. pineapple chunk for garnish. start by filling your glass with half the ice and the shaker with the other half. pour in all of your ingredients to the shaker and shake well to combine. pour the cocktail into the iced glass. garnish with pineapple chunk and serve. 

while i do believe that money does not buy you happiness, money DOES buy you really great kitchen tools to make your life easier. i'm actually a bit shocked it has taken me so long to talk to you about immersion blenders because it was the first cooking tool i bought, but i guess there is no better moment than now. 

i can not sing the praises of immersion blenders enough. before i bought a food processor or my stand mixer, i ran out to sur la table and bought a $39 kitchenaid version that lasted me YEARS. now now, calm down. i'm going to tell you why the hell you need such a tool that you have likely never heard of. well, here is why. 

at it's most basic, the immersion blender is a tool to puree things with out having to transfer your food to a blender or food processor. you literally stick the end of the immersion blender into your food and blend the hell out of it. or just blend it a little bit if that is how you roll. the first thing i used it for was for smooth soups like butternut squash and potato leek. but now, it does so much more in my kitchen. 

many of the options for sale come not just with a blender attachment, but also with a whisk. in some cases (if you spend a bit more money) you can get one that has a blender cup attachment (built in food processor) and a larger cup with a lid that you can blend up drinks in and store. 

i use it to puree sauces like my coffee bbq.

and i use the additional blade and cup attachment as a food processor to blend up fruit for my tasty cakes. basically, if you can dream it up, the immersion blender can handle it. 

the holidays are headed our way and the immersion blender is the perfect thing to give as a gift or to put on your own list. you can get the one that i use HERE or you can shop all the option HERE.
xo, a