Boozie

Not long ago our good friends joined us for a day of welding, tasty sandwiches, garden goodies, and swimming pool fun.  I've never hosted a welding party before, probably because Brandon hasn't had a welder and welding skills until recently.  Since the guys did all the dirty work, and I mostly played in the pool and enjoyed frozen drinks, I say we should make it a tradition!  Which means someone has to burn the bottom out of their grill again so we have an excuse.  

I visited the garage occasionally throughout the day as they worked, trying to get some good photos of sparks without burning my retinas.  Brandon enrolled in an evening welding class last year to gain some practice and welding skills.  Even with his new skills, the welder we have had never been tried until this day, so there were some issues getting started.  At one point, after having serious technical difficulties, they even dismantled the welder and put it back together again, which is the challenging part.  By the end of the day the grill was repaired and no one was scorched, so it was a successful party.  

My friend and I weren't completely idle while the husbands labored.  We made some excellent pina coladas!  I drank a pina colada made from a mix once, years ago, and decided I didn't like them.  I should have known not to make a claim like that until I tried one made with fresh pineapple, coconut cream, and coconut milk bended with some ice and rum, and garnished with a cherry.  These pina coladas were muy buena!  

Even better, were the strawberry daiquiris we made using the frozen strawberries my friend picked this year, garnished with mint leaves.  We made one for a hard working welder too, and put it in the freezer for when he was done working.  Sadly, for him, the guys worked so steadily that we forgot about the icy drink and I didn't discover it again until the next day, after work.   What a treat!  I decided that only the best of friends would leave a frozen treat in my freezer for me to "discover" after a Monday work day.  It was so good that I wish I could return the favor by sneaking into my friends house sometime and leaving one as a surprise.  Like a a visit from a magical daiquiri elf.  

  

It's likely, after reading about how much I liked the pina coladas and strawberry daiquiris, that you are thinking the title of this post is referring to me, a total boozie!  Not so.  Boozie is the name Jamie and I have given our new drink invention - smoothie plus booze equals, Boozie!  Yes, that's right, we combined rum with a vegetable and fruit smoothie, and wha-la, our drink invention is born!

While Jamie and I were relaxing in the swimming pool one day after work this week, I was reminiscing about the pina colada and daiquiri that he missed out on.  I didn't have the ingredients to reproduce the drinks, but I did have a fresh blueberry, banana, and Swiss chard smoothie made up in the fridge, and rum.  Why not?  After our first one, we decided a more tropical fruit would be better, so we blended frozen mango chunks with banana and frozen raspberries, and a giant handful of chard from the garden.  Not bad!  

Maybe it's the boozie talking, but I thought it was really good.  We joked that these are guilt free since it has a serving of fruit and vegetables plus a serving (or two!) of booze, for a well balanced meal.  Heck, why even eat dinner?  Just drink Boozies.  It's got vegetables and stuff, you know, for health.  After a couple of boozies, I can tell you that I sure felt happy and healthy.