Tag Archives: Liquid Friday

Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes

Happy St Patrick’s Day. We’re making cupcakes.

St. Patrick’s Day falls on the same day as my Liquid Friday blog this year, so there will be enough green beer and silly cocktails to keep you busy. To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, we’re going to make a batch of cupcakes. Since it falls on a weekday and I’m up to my eyeballs multi-tasking, we’ll use a boxed mix and keep it simple and flavorful. I’m tossing my corned beef in the crock pot with potatoes, carrots, cabbage wedges, and some peppercorns, so I can keep my oven free for baking.

Let’s get started.

Grab you favorite green cupcake liners and heat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, we’re baking.

Cupcake Ingredients:

  • 1 Box chocolate cake mix (I use Duncan Hines but really any brand will do)
  • 1 1/4 cup Guinness to replace the water portion on the box
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/2 cup canola oil (yes, you can still substitute 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup applesauce for oil for lower fat cupcakes)

Before you put liners in your favorite cupcake tin, sprinkle some rice in between. This gives you a little air cushion so you have the perfect bottoms on your cupcakes. If you decide to skip the liners, grab two 9″ cake pans and fill equally for a chocolate cake that will make you lick your lips. Once your done baking, save the rice to reuse next time.

Mix wet ingredients and slowly whisk in the box mix until smooth. Pour 1/2 to 2/3 full into cupcake liners and bake at 350 degrees for 18 to 23 minutes (they’ll spring back when you touch them or a toothpick will come out clean).

While your cupcakes are baking its time to make the frosting. If you used a red velvet chocolate cake mix use the doctored cream cheese icing mix at the bottom of the page, otherwise mix up a batch of Bailey’s Flavored Buttercream(recipes below).

NOTE: If you’re serving children omit alcohol from icing-most alcohol will cook out in the oven for the cupcakes, but we don’t bake the icing, so just omit the alcohol.

Bailey’s Flavored Buttercream icing

2 sticks butter (8oz total) softened

1 1/2 to 2 cups powdered sugar

1-2 teaspoon(s) vanilla sugar (blended sugar and vanilla bean)

3 Tablespoons Bailey’s Irish Cream Liquor

Hand or machine blend until smooth and fluffy. Put in a pastry bag and decorate cooled cupcakes. Top with sprinkles, party picks, or shaved chocolate.

Jameson Black Barrel Cream Cheese Icing

1 stick butter softened

1 package (8oz.) Phili Cream Cheese

1 teaspoon vanilla sugar

2 cups powdered sugar

3 Tablespoons Jameson Black Barrel Whiskey

Since you have some liquid in this recipe, you won’t need any milk. If, however you omit the alcohol, add 1-2 Tablespoon milk.

Blend until incorporated and then whip for added volume. Spoon frost or use a pastry bag with this icing and top with some sugar crystals or a light dusting of brown sugar for extra flavor.

Whichever version you went with, I hope your cupcakes come out great and you have a safe and happy holiday.

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Liquid Friday Book Blog

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BXCKH8P3

We are featuring a paranormal teen fantasy this week, so we’ll keep our treats fun and light.

Time of the Silver Dragon: Tales of the Zodiac Shifter Book 1 currently available on Amazon

Storyline: After years of hard work, practice, and sacrifice, Silver has earned the honor of entering the coveted underground martial arts tournament in Chinatown. Her excitement is only matched by her fear of failure. Little does she knows that the tournament is not the end, but the beginning of trouble, trouble times twelve.
After the tournament is over she must face the wrath of the grandmaster, her illusions about herself, and find out who her real friends are. She finds out that the myth of the twelve zodiac animals great race, the Jade Emperor, and even demons are real. In this frightening new reality, will she have the strength to save humanity?

Our recipe: Silky Onion Dip with veggies and crisps

Ingredients

  • 1 container silky tofu
  • 1-2 packages vegan onion dip mix
  • Fresh Veggies (carrot sticks, celery sticks, snow peas, sugar snap peas, cucumber slices, green and red pepper slices, blanched asparagus spears)
  • Crisps (your favorite chips, pretzels, or fried wonton wrappers)

Cut silky tofu into small squares and pulse in food processor with package of onion soup mix until blended. Add more soup mix to taste and put in a bowl surrounded by your favorite munchies- it’s that simple.

Serve your Silky Onion Dip and munchies to friends or just have a snack anytime. We absolutely love this with gingerale mixers (1 ounce pomegranate juice, matcha tea, grape juice, or orange juice to 4 parts gingerale).

Freebie Friday!

It’s Mardi Gras and we couldn’t be happier! We’re making enough sweets and treats to keep us busy until Fat Tuesday(shrove Tuesday), but rather than give you a recipe, we’ve got a FREE ebook short story for you today on Amazon.

Just click the link below to download your copy (this weekend only) and get you in the Mardi Gras mood. Relax with a nice chicory coffee and some warm beignets or a slice of King’s Cake. Pick your favorite jazz artist from Louisiana and enjoy our short story.

https://www.Amazon.com/dp/B079WJGTC7

If you enjoyed King of the Mardi Gras, leave us a review and check out our other books. Our All Tied Up In Knots series has 2 full books and 6 short reads- perfect to keep you busy between Mardi Gras parties.

Laissez les bons temps rouler. 🎺 (Let the good times roll.)

Sazerac Recipe for Mardi Gras

It’s officially February, and with 18 days left to go before Fat Tuesday and a freezing cold front moving into NJ, you know I had to give you a fantastic cocktail from New Orleans. It’s the perfect little something to make you feel warm and toasty inside and end Dry January ( For ages 21 and over. Don’t drink and drive)

There is something special about the history and charm of New Orleans and I hope you make that trip in time to see the gayety of Mardi Gras Parade floats going by. For now, let’s warm up with a nice cocktail.

Sazerac-

Ingredients-

  • Absinthe rinsed glass
  • 2 parts(1.5 oz.) rye whisky
  • 3 dashes Peychaud
  • 2 dashes Angostura bitters
  • Splash of sugar, simple syrup, or Sugar cube(my favorite)
  • Lemon twist

How to:

  • Start by chilling a glass with ice cubes(or sticking in the freezer for a few minutes). The end product won’t be diluted with ice.
  • Once your glass is chilled rinse it with the absinthe of your choice and discard excess(or use it to rinse a few more glasses for company). This will leave a delicious flavor on the rim of the glass as well as a hint of the taste in the beverage.
  • Add 1.5 ounces rye whisky to your chilled and rinsed glass and in a second glass muddle a sugar cube with 2 dashes angostura bitters and 3 dashes Peychaud.
  • Add the sugar solution to your glass of rye whiskey and serve with a lemon twist. It’s the perfect cocktail and if you haven’t tried one yet, you’re missing out.
  • Enjoy! Let the good times roll.

Visit our other recipes for your cocktail parties and read some of our visiting authors.

Thanks for your support!

Virgin Hurricanes and Mardi Gras Happenings

We’re past the middle of Dry January 2023 and two weeks into Mardi Gras parades in New Orleans. What better time to mix up a batch of Virgin Hurricanes and check out the parade?

To see this year’s parade route, click on the link below. Recipe to follow.

https://www.mardigrasneworleans.com/parades/

Virgin Hurricane Recipe-

Ingredients-

  • 2 cups Passion Fruit Juice
  • 1 cup Orange Juice
  • 1 cup Pineapple Juice
  • 1/2 lime to 1 lime depending on taste
  • A generous pour of Grenadine syrup for that lovely color
  • Lemon lime soda of your choice- diet is ok, but remember that fruit juice has lots of carbs
  • Ice
  • Garnish: orange slice and cherry, lime if you like it tart

Directions

  • Mix fruit juice in pitcher (recipe can be doubled) add half the lime and more if needed
  • Add grenadine syrup for taste, sweetness, and color
  • Set mix aside- grenadine will settle so make sure you mix just before pouring into glasses
  • Fill Hurricane glasses with ice
  • Pour glasses 2/3 to 3/4 full with fruit juice mixture
  • Add lemon lime soda to thin juice, stir, garnish, and serve

Your guests will have so much fun watching the parade with these mock-tails they might even forget there’s no alcohol in them.

Don’t forget to read King of the Mardi Gras: A Short Story From Eden’s Garden and Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler (let the good times roll).

King of the Mardi Gras: A Short Story From Eden’s Garden https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079WJGTC7?ref_=cm_sw_r_apin_dp_0C3FZZN11XBYTYARGCXJ

Thinking of Her Majesty with a Dubonnet and Gin

Dubonnet and Gin, one a little stronger than the other

As a young girl my thoughts were on knights, princesses, castles, and unicorns. With news of the Royal wedding, it seemed everyone was buzzing about Prince Charles III and Lady Diane. There have been more weddings since then and one can’t help but admire how her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II managed to handle all the excitement.

As a mother myself, I strive to be part of all my children’s celebrations but I have to admit they can be exhausting. I don’t ever recall seeing the late queen waiver. Though her duties were always many, she seldom was seen without a welcoming smile.

When I sit this evening I’ll have one her of her favorite aperitifs(a cocktail meant to stimulate the appetite), a Dubonnet and Gin, and think fond thoughts.

For ages 21 and over- Dubonnet and Gin recipe:

1 part gin

2 parts Dubonnet

Mix well and we’ve in a wine glass. Drink safely and responsibly.

Rainy Day Blues- well, Blue Curacao anyway

After a too brief beach visit to the Jersey shore on Wednesday(long story), this Jersey girl is missing ocean breezes and the feeling of sand under her toes. Knowing the beach season is coming to an end has me feeling blue and maybe I’ll just have a fun blue cocktail with Blue Curacao to perk me up.

Butler, the perpetual puppy, sits guard over a pair of my beach flip flops expectantly because he knows when I leave him with a sitter there will be many treats. Let’s face it, anytime is a good time for treats when you’re an impish Chinese Crested dog that’s too busy learning circus style tricks to figure out how to chase his own tail. There will be treats, that much we can be sure of.

As for the cocktail while I find a good book to sink my bookworm teeth into, lets make a Blue Lagoon.

Blue Lagoon Recipe:

1 fl. oz. Vodka- Belvedere if you got it

1 fl. oz. Blue Curacao

1/3 fl. oz. lemon juice

1/3 fl. oz. lime juice

Add 7-Up or other lemon lime soda to fill glass and garnish with starfruit slice and a green cherry. Have it with your favorite beach snacks and great book.

Here’s the reminder- Please use caution when drinking any alcohol beverage. We want to keep you partying and living life, so don’t drink and drive and don’t engage in any risky behavior. Save the SSC or RISK for a sober moment 😉

Butler the Perpetual Puppy

Some days Autoimmune Disease can make life unbearable. You make and change social plans and find yourself unmotivated to do anything else. Changes in weather, fluctuating hormones, stress(even excitement), and so many other factors can be a game changer before you have time to realize what happened.

Fortunately for me, a cute doggie comes and looks at me with a pair of soulful eyes. He brings me a squeaky toy or his favorite toy, knotted rope, and changes my day for the better. On the days I can’t do much more than sit on the couch, he’ll curl around my back keeping my lumbar region warmer than a heating pad.

Sometimes I think I waited too long to bring a dog home to live with me and my family, but most of the time I think I was just waiting for Butler.

For tonight, Butler will be drinking spring water and so will I. Work on the bod and the mind whenever you can.

Knot A Criminal

Tonight’s featured book is Knot A Criminal from Eden Freed’s All Tied Up In Knots Series. Scroll down to see tonight’s cocktail and a note from the author, herself.

Holly is on the run from the past that involves a double homicide. She has no recollection of the events and wants to keep it in the past for a reason, she might just be the killer.
Focusing on the future has Holly hopeful to learn pyrotechnics from a master of more than one skill. As she begins to fall for him, her past starts catching with her. Now, she is torn between her desire for love and the fear of what she might be capable of.

From Eden-

I’ve always considered myself to be a people watcher., but at best you only observe a small piece of their story. Imagination has to fill in the gaps. Could the people a few feet away from you in a shopping center be a couple in love, people going about their daily routine, spies, or aliens… whatever they are is left up to the flights of fancy your mind wants to take you on, no basis in reality required. Often we draw our own conclusions based on our own real world scenarios, hopefully none of them involve aliens, but I won’t judge either way.

The hardest thing to do is get people to stick to each other like magnets and if you’ve ever tried to fix up two of your friends or associates, you know what I’m talking about. You might push them in the right direction and find out their poles didn’t align and they just bounce off of each other. I do the same thing when I write, seek out the couples that need to flip around until they just fit right and connect in a way that is meaningful and lasting.

Knot A Criminal is the second full length BDSM novel in the All Tied Up In Knots Series. A little mystery, a lot of kink, and some New York excitement all go into making this book an interesting read. I hope you enjoy Holly and Johnathon’s adventure as much I did writing their story for you.

Excerpt from Knot A Criminal

“It was my fault. I shouldn’t have bragged that I could do it blindfolded with my hands behind my back. I didn’t expect him to take me up on it.” From a distance DJ Sean smiled at Crystal and gave a little thumbs up while picking up the coffee.

“Do exactly what blindfolded?” Crystal stood up. Her expression changed from one of curiosity to vexation. The sound of her knuckles cracking told me everything. She was getting ready to stomp over to Mr. Riley’s and let all hell break loose.

“Calm down, just the balloons,” I said and motioned for her to sit. “I made a death’s head moth and an owl.”

“Next time tell me that first. I was about to go open up a can of whoop-ass on him, boss or no boss. To think of everything that I went through to set it up so Johnathon would play you right after the interview, I’d have to go over there and stomp him into next week if this didn’t work out,” Crystal said.

“You didn’t!” I exclaimed.

“The hell I didn’t,” she laughed. “Remember when you were with Paul, how you said that you submitted an application for an interview with Johnathon Riley. I nearly pissed myself. Johnathon and I had a nice conversation about you. I never gave him your last name, so he wouldn’t know you from any other Holly on the street. Then, I made him wait until I was certain you had an interview for the job. No harm in keeping a man waiting.”

“That’s illegal at the very least, isn’t it?”

“Where you see legal issues, I see opportunity…”

Hypnotic and Absinthe make this cocktail dazzling

Tonight’s Steampunk Themed Cocktail: Blue Skies Ahead

Ingredients:

1 ounce Absinthe

2 ounces Hypnotic- one of my absolute favorite’s to mix cocktails with

1/2 ounce sour mix

2 ounces 7-up

slice of starfruit and green cherry garnish

Fill half a glass with ice and pour in the ingredients (add the soda last for a little fizz), garnish with slice of starfruit and green cocktail cherry. It’s a simple drink with a great presentation. Remember: Drink responsibly and don’t drink and drive. Be safe and have fun.

Short Knots in a Twisted World

Hello my friends, welcome back to my Liquid Friday.

Before we jump into a book, we need to grab something strong enough to handle this kind of excitement. so how about:

A Painkiller

Painkiller

Ingredients: 4oz Rum, 3oz pineapple-orange juice, 1oz crème de coconut, ice, nutmeg and toasted coconut for garnish (optional) Directions: In a cocktail shaker, combine the rum, juice and coconut with ice. Shake vigorously to mix, then pour into a cocktail class. Sprinkle with nutmeg and serve.

You got it! Great!!! As you start slowly sipping it, begin to feel its effect spreading throughout your body, But wait, before you give yourself entirely to its delight, lets talk about our book.


In the All Tied Up In Knots series we have a few short reads, ideal for brief interludes with books or the Kindle app.

#2. Knot A Geek is a flirty little quick read about two geeks working in a high power Electrical Engineering lab.

#3. Knot His Superior is a quick read with kinky love triangle where rank has nothing to do with a uniform.

Next week we’ll be talking about the second full length novel in the series – a little mystery, a little kink, and a lot of sexy romance.