Welcome to National Margarita Weekend! (Many beverages get their own day, but Margaritas go above and beyond!) Stay warm and enjoy a Margarita.
Last Fall, I hosted a bachelorette party for a dear friend, and margaritas were her request. (Yay, Angie, Baby!) So, here are the recipes for both the hi-test and family-friendly versions I served:
Super Simple Margarita Punch
1 lg can frozen limeade
1 c water
¼ – 1/3 c fresh lime juice
½ c Grand Marnier
¾ c silver tequila
1 bottle champagne
Family Friendly Margarita Punch
1 lg can frozen limeade
1 can water
Peach nectar (or orange juice)
Sparkling white grape juice
Garnishes: skewers of purple grapes, strawberries, and a lime wedge
Combine all but the champagne/sparkling juice and keep chilled till serving time. At serving time, pour over ice into the punch bowl and add champagne. Garnish each glass.
KISS Tips: Try paper umbrellas with long stems as the garnish skewers. For other variations, blend in fresh or frozen strawberries or include berries in the ice cubes. You could also add muddled fresh jalapeno slices (no seeds) for a crazy bit of kick. This would also be delightful served in a carved-out watermelon.
Celebrate National Crab Stuffed Flounder Day with another Super Simple recipe. Rolled or served open-faced, this easy dish can look fancy, but it’s not complicated at all.
KISS Tips: You can also add ¼ c finely diced mushrooms and/or ½ c diced raw
shrimp and/or scallops to the seasoned onion-pepper mixture. ½ tsp dry mustard or 1 tsp to 1 T spicy mustard is also a yummy twist. Flounder is a sweet, white fish, so you could also consider using fillets of tilapia, sole, cod, haddock, or orange roughy. For a lovely presentation, prepare each filet in individual au gratin dishes.
“A committee is a cul-de-sac down which ideas are lured and then quietly strangled.”
On National Peppermint Patty Day we celebrate the peppermint-filled chocolate goodies. The oldest is credited to the Quiggins family on the Isle of Man in the middle of the northern Irish Sea in 1840. Perhaps the best known, the York Peppermint Patties, joined us 100 years later. Treat yourself to your favorite peppermint patty today!
“The purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others.”
May the best (Patriots) team (Patriots) win (Patriots)!
On National Feed the Birds Day, let’s remember to help our feathered friends a bit. Typically, I don’t suggest feeding the birds unless you can do it all through the winter season. But this has been a particularly harsh winter, so on this day of days, go for it! Sunflower seeds or a chunk of suet with lots of seeds attached helps give them the fat they need to make up for no insects to gobble up.
For National Groundhog Day, we all got the news we did not want…. Winter is not ending early. This past weekend, North Carolina set a record, getting snow in all 100 counties with 17” in much of the southeastern coast, including a whopping 19.5” in Peletier. (We got lucky…. Just 6 or 7”.) Mount Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi, has only gotten 11” of snow for this entire season. Crazy.
So, will Punxsutawney Phil be correct? Another 6 weeks of winter? We usually only get a total of 6 weeks of winter, so I think we emerge within the next 2. Friends up north AND in Florida repeatedly say they have had more than enough of this winter already. Happy Hour on the deck, anyone? Come on, Spring!
“Before you give up 
“‘History repeats itself’ and ‘History never repeats itself’ are about equally true… We never know enough about the infinitely complex circumstances of any past event to prophesy the future by analogy.”
Celebrate National Southern Food Day. This is a cuisine smothered in YUM! Go for fried chicken, barbecue, catfish, grits, biscuits, gumbo, peach cobbler, jambalaya, fish dip, and soooo much more!
Zesty Gumbo Kebabs
On 12 metal or warm water-soaked bamboo skewers, threat proteins, veggies, & fruit, alternating for color (or cooking each type all together, as you prefer). Mix remaining ingredients together and drizzle or brush over prepared kebabs in dish with sides. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour. Grill 5 min per side on cooking oil sprayed med-hot grill, basting with marinade. Serve over hot rice. Makes 6 entrée servings of 2 skewers or 12 tapas kebabs.
“It is better to light a candle than to curse at the darkness.”
On National Nothing Day, we are supposed to do nothing but relax and take a breather from the daily pressures. (Okay… comedy and sarcasm seem appropriate.)
“It isn’t what we have in life, but who we have in our life that matters.”
