Russian Sailor and a Lovely Candy Co #Giveaway

Spring is in the air. Gardening is on many of our minds. Prepping the earth, plotting and planning and planting. Then comes the nurturing and tending to those little seedlings, with high hopes of a bountiful harvest. The sweet, sweet satisfaction of growing your own fruits and vegetables. The pureness of it all. Fresh, flavorful, and nutritious.

We all do our best to feed our families healthy foods. Although it's not always easy or affordable. Organic, non-gmo produce isn't in everyone's budget. With our own gardens though....it's a bit more affordable and very controllable, making every garden prepping, back breaking moment worth it.

But every once in a while (or more) we have that craving....the child in us is crying out for some good old fashioned candy. Sure, that freshly picked strawberry is as sweet as sweet can be. But it's not candy. There are times when I really want candy! I dunno about you, but I have never seen a mainstream candy bar with the words organic or non-gmo on the label. Maybe when you're hunting down a candy bar, you're far from thinking ...'is this good for me?" cuz when the craving hits, all that matters is getting your fix.

Well, if you shop at Target....I have some good news for you. You can get your candy fix and feel good about it, at the same time.

Check it out!!! Lovely Candy Co. makes non-gmo, organic, gluten-free, certified kosher. no soy, no artificial  colors or ingredients, no high fructose corn syrup Fruit Chews and Caramels. And they can be found in many U.S. Target stores.

And...they are seriously delicious!!

The Fruit Chews didn't last long in my household, with this little bits of fruity flavor. The only reason the caramels did, was because their were 2 bags...Original Caramel and ...Chocolate Swirl Caramel.

Which reminds me....today, April 5th is National Caramel Day!

And you get to enter for a chance to WIN 3 bags (one bag of each flavor) of this wonderful candy! 

How sweet is that?!

Let me give you an adult way to enjoy it ....

I say 'adult' because it does include alcohol. What I'm about to do can be done with any of the candies I was given. I chose the Chocolate Swirl Caramels. Mainly because I wanted to make a cocktail with it afterwards.

Now you all have seen flavor infused vodka at the market, haven't you? Do you know how easy it is to make?

I took about half a dozen of the Chocolate Swirl Caramels and placed them in a mason jar filled with Vodka.

And let it sit on the counter for a couple of days. Every once in a while (when I thought of it) I shook that jar up. Once the caramels had dissolved, I strained it through a coffee filter lined sieve

And whaddya know....I had infused vodka!

Perfect for making my cocktail.

Russian Sailor

3 oz caramel infused vodka
2 oz coffee liquor
1 oz cream
good pinch of sea salt
caramel sauce to drizzle (optional)

In a shaker full of ice, combine the vodka, coffee liquor and cream. Shake for a few seconds then poor into a chilled martini glass. Sprinkle with a good pinch of salt and drizzle some caramel sauce over it if desired.

This will not only take care of any sweet craving you could possibly have, but it'll knock your socks off as well. Which you just might need after a long day prepping the garden.

How would you like to give this consciously crafted, better-for-you candy a try?

Lovely Candy Co. will send one lucky U.S. resident winner a 6oz bag of each of the following:

Lovely Candy Original Caramels
Lovely Candy Chocolate Swirl Caramels 
Lovely Candy Superfruit Chews

Leaving a comment is a mandatory requirement for entering to win. All other entries are optional.

Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway is open to US residents only. This giveaway will run from Saturday, April 5, 2014 through Thursday, April 10, 2014 (11:59 pm PT). Winner will be notified within 48 hours of the close of the contest and given 48 hours to respond before a new winner is chosen. 

I was not compensated for this post, however Lovely Candy Co supplied me with 3 bags of candy to try. They are also supplying 3 bags of candy for the giveaway.  All opinions are my own.

Brujas and Peotches Halloween Cocktail

Happy Halloween

Have you ever played with candied vodka? To be honest with you, until this past weekend I had never even heard of it.

Until I watched Nadia G. on Bitchen Kitchen's Halloween Special play with some. 

What fun! The candy flavor really comes through. 

Pick a candy (gummy works great...and so does hard candies). Toss a good handful into a sealable glass jar along with about a cup or so of vodka. Let the candy get sauced for about 2 days, shaking the jar 3 times a day. Strain the vodka and get ready to play.

One jar contained lemon drops, another had gummy peach rings and the third was red vines.

When I strained my vodka, I placed cheese cloth over a mason jar and screwed on a band to hold the cloth in place. Worked beautifully.

And how could I pass up this wicked find? 

Brujas and Peotches Halloween Cocktail

2 shots peach (aka peotch) candy vodka
2 shots orange juice
topped with lemon lime soda

Its tangy and sweet...with a hidden bite.

I haven't decided what to do with the other two flavors but I'm sure it won't take me long.

Garlic Basil Infused Vodka

 

This is a different kind of dirty martini. 

It's the kind you might want to drink on Vampire's Hell Day....a.k.a. National Garlic Day.

(did she say garlic?) Ooooh, yes I did! This martini is perfect for such a day as this. But only if you love garlic (I don't use the term "love" loosely here...you have to really really looooove garlic) and you're not a vampire. And you're not serving this on a first date. And when you drink this martini, I hope every one with you is also drinking it. Otherwise...you might find that you've been abandoned.

Thanks to Heather over at Girlichef.com I was well informed of the fast  approaching National Garlic Day. In time to participate in her garlicy round-up.

 

 I had just enough time to do a little...infusing. Let's just say, my vodka is healthier than yours. It has to be, right? I mean...a whole bulb of garlic went into this baby. With all the health benefits of garlic, how could my vodka not be healthier?

I'm not going to go into all the health benefits and history of garlic. Let's just get down to business here. 

btw...I found this recipe on About.com 

Garlic Basil Infused Vodka

Printable Version

1 bulb of garlic (bulb...not clove)

2 large sprigs of fresh basil

750 ml premium vodka

32 oz jar with a lid

Separate the cloves of garlic and remove all the skins. Combine the garlic, basil and vodka in the jar. 

Cover and store in a dark place, at room temperature, for 4 days.

On the forth day...it will look something like this......

Not as pretty as the first day....but man, does it smell good!!

Strain it though a coffee filter

Store in a pretty little jar the same way you'd store your regular vodka

I just love that cloudy olivey green shade it has. And the aroma.....YUM!!  The garlic flavor is very strong....which is a good thing in my book. The basil notes are just plain delightful. I think I want to add some to my next batch of marinara sauce. Actually, I have lots of plans for this vampire repelling alcohol. 

P.S. When you strain the garlic and basil from your vodka, save all that garlic. There's still flavor there. I put mine in a little jar....placed them in the fridge and will be using them whenever I think of it. They don't taste like vodka. More like a milder garlic.  I dunno...smell em, taste em...judge for yourself. I just hate the idea of tossing those little nuggets of goodness.

Let's start off with something rather common...a martini. I'll post about my other plans in the feature.

Vampire's Hell Martini

Printable Version

1.5 oz Garlic Basil Infused Vodka

.25 oz Dry Vermouth

Lemon Zest to garnish 

Olive to garnish

Shake or stir the vodka and vermouth with ice. Strain into a martini glass. Garnish with lemon zest and an olive if desired. 

Cheers and good riddance to all those blood sucking vampires out there. Unless you  happen to be a friend of mine. If that's the case, just....don't tell me. And by all means...today, don't bite me.