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What's In A Name?

Happy New Year! I'm sorry if you gave up on me. I actually gave up on my ability to keep this blog going, and today's post doesn't exactly mean I'm back to writing regularly. When I started teaching full time in September, I knew life would get busy; what I didn't anticipate was having to get used to flying by the seat of my pants all the time. As a part-time teacher, I had lots of time to prepare my lessons. Granted, this meant that if I really calculated my hourly pay, I'd have had a hard time justifying working at all. Looking on the bright side, I don't work twice as much as before, mostly because there just aren't enough hours in the day. Looking on the dark side, I work an awful lot and most days I am planning right up to the moment my students walk in the door. I have had to get used to not always having a clear picture of what to do next, but I have learned that this is not always a bad thing. My students have become my guide far more, and we have had some amazing lessons together because of this spontaneity. I think I have learned to really embrace carpe diem.

I've been on vacation since December 21st. Twelve glorious days. No alarms at 5:45am, no rushing around the house to get out the door on time, no real substantial planning. Carpe diem, baby. Carpe diem. Shortly after Christmas, I invited a group of friends over for New Year's Eve. My daughter was heading back to school that morning, and so, I theorized, this would help me bypass that empty feeling every time she leaves. Now, the old me would have started planning days in advance, making sure I had all the details covered for our shindig. But this year, I vowed to enjoy every day I had with my family intact, and this meant putting my party planning on hold until the last minute because I would be returning from the airport only hours before all the guests would arrive. Suppressing the panic that comes from one who likes to plan in advance wasn't easy.

Lucky for you, spontaneity and panic brought out a great new drink recipe, and what's even more amazing is that I made the whole thing up myself! My friend LeaAnn gave me this bottle of gin for my birthday from a local Woodinville distillery. Building on a drink that's commonly known as the Pamplemmousse (the French word for grapefruit), I added some Prosecco and a sugar cube to intertwine the Pamplemmousse and a Champagne Cocktail. The combination is really tasty and unique. I'm sorry I didn't get this to you in time for your own New Year's Eve celebration, but 2015 is just beginning. You're bound to find a reason to be spontaneous and create this drink. The only problem is that I haven't been able to come up with a name, so please chime in if you have some ideas. Here's to a fabulous new year. May all your unplanned moments create some lasting memories.

The (as of yet) Un-Named Drink

1 oz. gin
1 oz. fresh squeezed grapefruit juice
1/2 oz. St.-Germain liqueur (see my recipe for G&T with St.-Germain)
1/2 oz. fresh squeezed lemon juice
Prosecco
sugar cube
lemon peel curl for garnish

Place gin, grapefruit juice, St. Germain, and lemon juice in a shaker with ice. Shake vigorously and then strain into a champagne glass (fluted or the Marie Antoinette style) that has a sugar cube in the bottom. Pour Prosecco on top. Garnish with a twisted lemon peel (click on the Marie Antoinette style link for a lesson on how to do this). Sip and savor.

Comments

  1. UnknownJanuary 2, 2015 at 2:51 AM

    Jo, I did miss your blog o g but hoped your absence was because you were having fun. I am not sure I would call what you are doing as "fun" but it does sound challenging with a few life lessons thrown in.
    Happy New Year to you and your family!

    ReplyDelete

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