I just got back from Quito, where my parents celebrated their 2nd wedding. It was amazing to witness the union of my own parents and I am really proud of it. Best of all, their decision to make it official brings together even more people that would otherwise be apart from one another. So, love is big!
Family Event of the Year September 15, 2007
Twenty-Nine on the Third day of this Ninth Month of Two Thousand and Seven September 4, 2007
We relaxed today enjoying both a national holiday and a celebration of the life of Andres. We had a very chill day of shopping, sleeping, reading, sleeping and trying to stay cool in the 100+ degree Monday. We are getting ready to cook our meal. We are so lucky to be able to spend the day together celebrating something so important.
Weekend Cocktails September 4, 2007
We decided to explore the liquid side of food and beverage photography and conducted a late night cocktail photo session. After running around town looking for the perfect glasses, olives, ice and mixers we set out to create the perfect drink concoctions. Andres started with a blue vodka drink that ended up down the drain after we got some good pictures of it, as it was made with a blue frozen pop that tasted slightly like soap. From that point we made a rule that if you are not going to drink it use water, as we were quite sure the camera would not know the difference. Our favorite drink of the night was inspired by a drink I ordered recently at a bar in San Francisco. I don’t remember the specific, funky name the bar gave it, but to keep it simple, I’ve named it a Cucumber Mint Mojito. It is quite amazing how refreshing the mixture of mint and cucumber is. I am actually sipping another one right now as it’s still close to 90 degrees at 9 pm. Other drinks we experimented with were berry vampires, dry martinis, green monsters and a limoncello, which like many Hollywood celebrities, looked splendid on the outside, but was quite rotten and inaccessible when it came down to it. Check out our photos from the wonderful night on our food page.
Cucumber Mint Mojito
½ cup of fresh mint leaves
Juice of 4 limes
5 TB white sugar
8 oz vodka
¼ large cucumber, peeled and finely diced
½ cup carbonated water
Ice
Slice of lime and fresh mint for decoration
Combine mint leaves, cucumber, sugar, lime and vodka in large plastic glass. Crush ingredients together with wooden spoon. Once ingredients are mixed together fill glass 1/3 full of mixture including some mint and cucumber. Add ice and fill glass to 2/3 full with more of the cucumber mint mixture. Add carbonated water, top off with ice and decorate to taste. Serve immediately.
