Category Archives: #Mocktails

#Mocktails, Books worth checking out, Liquid Friday with Eden Freed, My Book, soccer mom updates

SUMMER FREEBIES!

June 23, 2026 edenfreed Leave a comment

I love a great giveaway, and I have so many events going on in my life right now that I want to share with you, I’m including a sweetener, two FREE books to download on Amazon.

This week I have the second graduation this year, and no, it’s not the puppies from obedience school. They’d give me my money back for sure, LOL, little Mooshu is a tyrant. My youngest is graduating high school and both him and his older brother have been accepted to the same college, not too far from home. It means I can sneak them some home cooked meals when they get tired of cafeteria food and not be too far in case of emergencies. It also means they come home for the weekend to work or find a job closer to school-options are important.

When I’m not doing a book event, I work most weekends. The life of a professional entertainer is unpredictable and just when you think you have a weekend off to relax and spend some much needed beach time or puppy time, you end up working. Still, everything being said, I love my job and the looks on people’s face when I do it well, so I can’t complain. It’s always nice to shock a patron and leave them in stunned silence. Definitely a professional high.

Right now, I may have a weekend off, but who knows. I could get a call Thursday for Friday, Saturday, or Sunday and be scrambling to get everything I need for the gig or maybe just going to Six Flags. Anything is possible.

That being said, I want to celebrate my BIRTHDAY with you and my son’s momentous occasion, and the beginning of SUMMER and all the fun pagan and not-so-pagan holidays encompassed therein.

I’m rambling because there is so much going on in the next seven days that I’m trying to get it all done and stay focused, not the easiest thing for me to do. Sometimes I just feel scatterbrained from the Plaquenil for my RA. It’s like trying to watch four channels all at the same time and getting bored, so picking up a book.

Back to birthdays, I’m huge on presents, so click the links below from June 23rd, 2026 to June 27th, 2026 (Amazon standard time, lol) to download your FREE ebooks on Amazon. Before I forget the links to the freebies, here they are-happy reading!

FREEBIE Links:

Mystic, psychic reader extraordinaire, can help everyone else with their troubles but is completely lost when it comes to her own messy life. Her whisperers offer advice but she can’t force people to bend themselves to her will and change the future for the better. Mike, the love of her life, refused to listen to her pleas and succumbs to injuries caused by a motorcycle accident. Bereft, Mystic decides to live her life out alone, away from people.

Chaos ensues at one of Mystic’s Psychic events, when a serial murderer comes to destroy the only person who might be able to identify him, her. Together with Detective Steve Turner, Mystic is determined to flesh out the criminal, even though it means attending a BDSM event on a cruise ship under a false identity with no way out if things go wrong.

Will she find the unsub or is death in her cards?

excerpt: Preparing for a scene was akin to preparing for a full moon circle with the local witchy group. There was a certain order to the inevitable surrender. First you gathered the supplies, you cleaned the work area, cleaned your physical body, prepared your spiritual body for the challenges to come, and when you thought you were ready you prepared yourself for chaos. If you were trying to ascend to the heavenly plane, you understood you would eventually fall back to earth, but it would be worth the effort. I prepared myself as best I could, donned the garb for the ritual, and approached the altar with all my hopes and fears kept in check long enough to begin. The difference tonight was instead of a coven of witches calling the corners, I had a Dominant calling the shots.

In her last year of college, with the promise of an exciting future in veterinary medicine, Autumn discovers she won’t live to see her next birthday.
Before she blinks out, her dying wish is to be immersed in her own movie fantasy of vampires and monsters, even if just for a moment.
For as long as Autumn can remember, Horror films were her favorites. She connected with those monsters on the screen, flawed, strange, and beautiful in their own way. Before the final curtain is drawn, Autumn wants to meet the monsters she’s dreamed of her entire life. She puts up a help wanted ad for a hospice nurse, titled: Desperately Seeking Vampire.
Andrei, a man hot enough to melt Autumns steel resolve accepts the job offer and agrees to play the game… but is he just pretending? And what happens when things get hot in the bedroom?
As Autumn begins to fall for Andrei, they embark on a monster seeking adventure, and she soon discovers that some fantasies are real.

Easiest Recipe for Mocktail-

Anyway, since we’re celebrating I’m making Assam tea with hibiscus flowers, perfect for a party or any day. All you need is a heat safe container, boiled water, and tea-simple and delicious.

Start with a 1:1 ratio by weight 10 to 20 grams each depending on how sharp you want the flavor to be for an entire pot of tea. Steep as long as you want, the longer the better. I use a couple tea balls or just put them in loose and strain later. Hibiscus is naturally sweet and Assam is such a flavor bomb as far as teas go that you won’t need anything else in this.

I just leave the tea far enough away from the edge of the counter the doggies don’t get to it and forget I made it until the color is gorgeous. When it’s no longer hot, I refrigerate it and serve in tall glasses over ice. Garnish with fresh mint leaves if you want that icy cold feeling mint gives to beverages.

Since I’m going as low carb with my beverages as possible, I can have a small piece of cake for my birthday. Yay! Okay I have a sweet tooth and being keto means most of my carbs are from vegetables and the odd purple sweet potato or nuts for magnesium. I don’t even do dairy, so I’ll be checking my sugar before, at one hour, and at two hours to see how my tiny serving does me. Yes, I have OCD, can you tell? OCD is my superpower and I’m about 50 pounds down from my original weight all by just counting calories and getting my protein in. Since I broke my foot, I’ve been chillin’ and not hanging out in the gym, damn shame because some of those guys at the gym are inspirational and if you want to work out a specific area, they know what just exercises you need.

Back to partying: We just celebrated the Summer Solstice, Father’s Day, and the reenactment of the Battle of Monmouth (great to take the kids to) on Sunday with freshly picked strawberries from the farm nearby and this amazing cake I got from Coco Y Coqui Puerto Rican Bakery. The sponge was so moist and decadent and you know I’m a sucker for great icing. I had a few yummy bites and shared the sizable portion with the imps. I’m sorry I didn’t get their chocolate one, too. I have included the link to the Coco Y Coqui Puerto Rican Bakery webpage with a list of the events they will be at. Don’t miss out.

So yummy! Going to try chocolate next time!

I shared the cake since I’m still watching my carbs, but I highly recommend paying them a visit and getting one or more of their amazing bakery items or putting in an order for your party or event. I’ll be going back to try the chocolate, lol.

It is the season of the firefly, and I’ll be out watching them whenever I can. Hope you get to see some.

Coinciding with fireflies on June 23rd is Kupala, now Saint John’s night. Originally it was celebrated during the Summer Solstice, but the date shifted with the coming of Christianity a long time ago. It’s a Slavic celebration of fertility involving dances, rituals, and dipping or bathing in the waters. (bear in mind the water in Eastern Europe is pretty cold until then).

Because it’s connected to ritual bathing, the holiday became associate with John the Baptist. There is still lots of fun things to do from young women weaving flower crowns and wreaths to float in the water while young men try to find one and return it for a kiss, to taking a long walk in the woods at night to find the elusive fern flower-let me know if you ever find one. Don’t forget bonfires, dances, and party food… it’s quite the time!

Enjoy all the delights summer has to offer! Have a wonderful summer!

#Mocktails, Books worth checking out, Cocktails, Liquid Friday with Eden Freed, My Book, Short Stories from Eden's Garden, soccer mom updates

Last Weekend of Dry January

January 30, 2026 edenfreed Leave a comment

And yes, we’re expecting another snowfall

We’ve been buried by snow this year and I find myself writing my latest work while alternatively holding a several times microwaved cup of hot tea, because I just can’t get warm enough. I have Reynaud’s Syndrome, it’s part of my overlap autoimmune disease, but in a nutshell it means my fingers and toes can blanch due to cold, emotional states, and well… just whenever the hell it wants to. I’m sure in the larger picture it is just the body redirecting blood back towards the heart and vital organs but zombie-hand is visually disconcerting.

Wine has been suggested for the condition as it is a vasodilator, and if it lasts more than 30 minutes I may just grab a glass of Pinot Noir and get a dose of resveratrol, a polyphenol antioxidant found in grapes, red wine, berries… I’m always looking to improve my health and if you saw the hand full of supplements I take on the daily to mitigate the symptoms of autoimmune disease you’d wonder how I had room for breakfast. My endocrinologist has asked why don’t I just get one good supplement from one of the larger health food stores, but my allergy to blueberries and mushrooms has made it near impossible to find one that doesn’t contain either. I am the person that calls every company before buying the bottle to find out if either of my two troublesome ingredients are in their “proprietary formula” and for most they are so I end up taking single vitamins. It’s costly and time consuming and frustrating. I eat healthy and I’m one of those weirdos that actually enjoys their veggies (lightly steamed, blanched, or pan fried so they are still crunchy), but when my bloodwork says I’m deficient in something I turn to formulary.

I know some of my readers are living with chronic illnesses and after dealing with this nightmare for decades, I don’t know how you do it. Thanks for being my support and trying to keep me sane in all this bedlam. Stay strong.

HUGE ACORNS IN NOVEMBER!!!

Back to snow, I knew this winter was going to be rough because I read the signs, from the wider banding on woolly bear caterpillars to the size of the acorns. Sometimes even the smell of the air can give you clues to what is coming your way and like a bloodhound I can smell snow before it comes, OCD is my superpower and with it comes complete body awareness-sometimes annoying body awareness. There is something special about every season, and seeing my children and the now less chubby hubby(more on that below) pitch in to clear snow while leaving treats for the non-migratory birds in our area makes me beyond happy. We have a large wildlife population since we live next to a salt marsh.

Though I miss seeing the deer everyday, I know they have nice spots to hide under the wider conifers and there are still some areas of exposed green they can feed and people sneak them food, though before you feed your local wildlife, check what is safe and understand not all animals are friendly, not even deer. However, by me, these deer have learned to take food from people and all year I find offerings people have left for them. I still see them eating grasses and vegetation and occasionally someone’s tasty flowerbed, but it’s all part of getting your vitamins I suppose.

Anyway, embracing the new healthier you is something I got the chubby hubby on board. He has a long family history of diabetes and his sugars were running super high. He is now within normal numbers (with meds, diet and exercise) and has lost around fifty pounds. He would have lost more but the biceps and quads are larger and the six pack he lost decades ago is returning. Muscle weighs more than fat-a note to everyone heading back to the gym, you might actually gain weight in the beginning as you add muscle. We are super proud of the work the now less chubby hubby has done and the example he is setting for the imps.

As for me, I have gotten a new glucose meter and my numbers are within normal limits with diet alone (yay!), even though it means giving up my gummy bears and Dr. Pepper (stress snacks) for a while and weighing my fruit. Discipline is everything and I will be walking more once the weather lifts, hoping the groundhog says it is soon this year. I know my spring weekends are busy because of my side gig as an artist with moving 3-dimensional canvases. If face painting toddlers through adults doesn’t give you a workout, nothing will. I actually do back exercises to be ready for painting, and for any artists out there those yoga balls are great!

Now, I normally leave a recipe and talk up a book and since I don’t have a guest author this weekend, I want to invite you to look through my previous posts at some of the incredible authors we’ve had. Since I am sans author this week, I’m going to tell you about what I’ve been writing.

Valentine’s Day is a huge holiday for me, partly because my daughter was born on that day and partly because I am a hearts and flowers kind of girl. I love adventures and though I was offered a bed and breakfast weekend this year, I had to pass on it because I’ll be celebrating Valentine’s day with my local karate school. I’m bringing the cake pops.

Since it’s such a huge holiday for me, I figured to write a Valentine’s day story, and with me its either monsters or mayhem. This time mayhem won out, so be ready for adventure. Fingers crossed, the Amazon entities will push it through quickly and I’ll have this out to you by Valentine’s Day.

When the snow falls, I’ll be drinking my high-polyphenol hot chocolate which isn’t at all bad without dairy so long as I add 4 grams of sugar of in the raw or add it to decaf American style coffee.

This is a recipe that you can spice up with alcohol, or leave it a virgin and the kids can have it too. There are probably hundreds of versions of this, this is mine. Enjoy!

Strawberry Jello Drink-the perfect mid-winter pick me up

Ingredients:

1-6oz. Package strawberry flavored Jello

2-cups hot water

4-cups ice (lemonade ice cubes perk this up even more)

1-2 liter Sprite to taste (substitute lemon or lime flavored seltzer if you are going for less sugar)

2 cups pineapple juice

1 container of fresh strawberries

You’re also going to need:

1- Large carafe/jug

1- heat resistant 8 cup container

1- kettle

1-cutting board

Glasses for serving

Oven mitts

Ice cube tray-if your making your own lemonade ice cubes

How to make it:

First, assemble everything you need
Cut strawberries in half or slices, reserve a few for garnish
Boil water in kettle
Pour two cups boiling water into heat safe container. I use borosilicate glass or Pyrex. Don’t forget your oven mitts here. This is super hot.
Add Jello and stir until dissolved. Will still be hot so be careful.
Let Jello mixture cool slightly.
Add your pineapple juice to the Jello mixture. The bromelain in the pineapple juice will keep the Jello from setting, so no worries about a clumpy drink. (Fresh kiwi also works if you don’t have pineapple juice-actinidin in kiwi stops Jello from setting)
Cool completely
Pour in a pitcher, add your Sprite or lemon lime soda and get ready to serve.
Fill glasses with ice (lemonade cubes if you have them) and sliced strawberries. Fill glasses with drink and garnish with strawberry.
Serve and enjoy!

If you are skipping out on Dry January and making this for the over 21 crowd add 1.5 ounces of champagne, vodka, tequila, or clear rum to each glass or 1 cup(8oz.) per pitcher. Remember to be sure everyone has a safe way home and no one is driving anywhere-the sugar and alcohol sneak up on you.

#Mocktails, Liquid Friday with Eden Freed, soccer mom updates, Uncategorized

Happy New Year! Mocktails & More

January 2, 2026 edenfreed Leave a comment

I’m so excited for 2026. I feel like on some level we just barely survived 2025. For everyone I’ve spoken with recently, it was a hard year. When things get too hard for me, I just shut down. Living with autoimmune illness (part of it thyroid) just saps your energy to begin with, so when I have to do more than my spoons allow, my body stops me. Having even one sick person at home, is enough to flare my immune system, so with four of them sick in succession, I’m done. A one hour nap becomes a two or three hour nap and I’m waking up wondering what the hell happened. The dogs are like personal alarm clocks, so I never sleep too long. I am so grateful for the slower pace for a week or two before the middle children go back to college for the semester and the mom-mobile rides again.

I had my bubbly with family to start out 2026 and at least for January, I’ll only be cooking with wine (or tequila). It’s a great time to focus on goals, gummy bears (or spiders), and health. We all have our vices and I’m tweaking mine to be a little healthier. With one diabetic and one pre-diabetic (the bloodwork came back) in the house it means more veggies, less quick carbs, and a higher protein intake (my diabetic is on the shot and losing muscle mass is not an option).

My almost middle child has insulin resistance. His bloodwork does not show diabetes or other issues, but a sensitivity to artificial sweeteners(check your liver enzymes if you drink diet soda & other diet beverages). I can’t drink them either for GI issues, so I just do flavored teas or juice and sparkling water, of course this would happen to the pickiest child on earth, the one that hasn’t touched fruit since he was born. It was easier to sneak vitamins into his food when he was younger, even if it means his pasta had pureed carrots, beets, and spinach in it, or desserts included pureed fruit. It’s a texture thing and he can’t stand it. I’ve been told people on the spectrum have strong aversions to certain foods, I’m seeing that, so I got a juicer. We’re going to try and make pulp-free homemade juices or he’s going to drink the green sludge in the morning with 100% of his daily everything in it. That’s all there is to it.

The soda junkie in him won’t go away easily so we’re back to mocktails (see how this works, lol). I have stockpiled seltzer in all kinds of flavors and fruit juices. It’s how I survived the diabetic diet for three pregnancies. One ounce of your favorite no sugar added juice and seven ounces of any seltzer and you’ve got a homemade soda, with usually no more than 5 grams carbohydrates (compared to 40 grams in a soda).

Tonight I’m drinking 1/2 ounce pomegranate juice, 1/2 ounce cranberry juice, and 7 ounces orange seltzer. We’ll see if the man-child likes it, too.

Since my Christmas book is out, and it’s a quick read spicy vampire book, I’m listing the recipe for a Mocktail Renfield below. Happy Dry January!

Mocktail Renfield-

3 ounces blood orange juice

1 ounces cranberry juice cocktail

4 ounces cold white tea or jasmine tea

gummy spider(or worm) for garnish

ice

Fill a tall or hurricane glass with ice. Add in juices, pour in cold tea, stir. if your man-sters are fussy like mine, skip the ice and use pulp-free orange juice. Garnish with gummy spider and serve. Enjoy!

Wishing you a great start to 2026, may it not be a dumpster fire!

#Mocktails, Books worth checking out, Cocktails, Halloween, Liquid Friday with Eden Freed, My Book, soccer mom updates

Halloween Edition Liquid Friday Blog

October 31, 2025 edenfreed Leave a comment

It’s time to celebrate. The decorations are up, the pumpkins have been carved, the puppies are in costume, and a big bucket of candy is waiting outside for my trick-or-treaters. I’ve got some party foods in the oven, including pigs-in-a-blanket and spooky English muffin pizzas for the kids. Since I’m having children at the party, I will have some spooky mocktails for them and something a little stronger for me. Make sure you pick one color with alcohol and one color without and please if you are using a punchbowl, put the nonalcohol version out. Keep the over 21 version safely away from children and make sure guests that are drinking are not driving-I can’t stress this enough.

I’ve spent this month getting my newest book, Knot A Psychic out on Amazon in the many forms readers like, so I’m completely batty at this point. After the big release I grabbed my favorite horror books from Stephen King, Anne Rice, Clive Barker, and some of the original greats and have been reading. It’s Halloween here all year, so scary books are not in short supply.

This is also the last day 10/31/2025 to pick up your free Kindle copy of Knot An Actress, book 1 of the All Tied Up In Knots series. Don’t wait until the free offer is gone.

With the snacks in the oven and the timer set, it’s time to start making the mock/cocktails. See the recipes below and let me know which is your favorite.

Pick one for adults and one for children (different colors so there are no mix ups).

Dracula’s Teeth- sure to knock the teeth off your favorite vampire! It’s a fun twist on a Kir Royale.

Adult version-(this has alcohol, so drink in moderation and don’t drive or operate heavy machinery)

Making for children or alcohol free peeps-omit all the alcohol (use the substitutions) and put in cute spooky glasses-yes you can add some fangs ’cause its fun. I’ve also used clear plastic cups with lids and bat stickers-huge success.

What you’ll need:

Wax or Plastic Vampire Teeth

Martini Glasses or Champagne Flutes

A bottle of CHILLED Champagne, Spumante, or Moscato depending on your taste (substitute sparkling cider for children)

Chambord Black Raspberry Liqueur (substitute 1/2 ounce blackberry juice and 1/2 ounce black cherry juice for children)

Enough Grenadine to dip your fangs in

Recipe- double, triple, or quadruple as needed

1 ounce Chambord Black Raspberry Liqueur (5 ounces if you make it by the pitcher)

5 ounces Champagne, Spumante, or Moscato (entire bottle if you make it by the pitcher)

Enough grenadine to dip your glasses in and fangs to garnish your glasses(see image above for inspiration). What I like to do is take a small plate and pour about 2 ounces grenadine onto it and just refill as needed when rimming glasses. You can also add some red dusting sugar if you have sparkly vampires.

Rim your glasses and soak your fangs in grenadine.
Add 1 ounce Chambord to your glass.
Fill to just below the rim with 5 ounces or so of your favorite bubbly.
Garnish glass with fangs, and serve cold.

Purple People Eaters

Remember, if you are making this for ADULTS THAT DRINK ALCOHOL(over 21) you can use the alcohol version. If you are making this for children or adults that don’t drink alcohol, double the amount and put in cute glasses(not shot glasses).

What you need:

Gummy eyeballs, lots of them!

Shot glasses (or fun cups for children)

Vodka (substitute 7-up or Sprite for children)

Blue Curaçao (substitute Blue Kool-aid for children)

Sweet & Sour Mix (omit for children)

Grenadine (Thicker red kool-aid works fine if you don’t have any on hand)

Cranberry juice- the redder, the better

Ideally, you’re looking to get that purple color so play with ingredients if you don’t like the shade.

Recipe:

1 1/2 ounces vodka

1 ounce Blue Curacao

1 ounce sweet & sour mix

1 ounce grenadine

1 ounce or more cranberry juice

Add all ingredients to a measuring cup or pitcher and pour into shot glasses. Add gummy eyeball, serve.

Remember if you are serving this variation for children, make sure everything (including your grenadine) is alcohol free. Double or triple the recipe for children and don’t forget the gummy eyeballs. Yes, you can make this all in a punch sized bowl, but I prefer cups with lids for small children. (2024 Target had these cute eyeball shaped glasses with lids, perfect for children that want some spooky fun- or you can decorate paper cups with a self adhesive googly eyeball just saying)