Beauty and Humor, and Coconut Whiskey

Thanks for the kind words on the previous post. I wanted to share some beauty and some humor today: beauty from some of our recent hikes, and humor as part of the Holiday recap. As I mentioned last year, one of our holiday traditions is to model an "unusual" or "alternative" use of a gift, and there are some funny pictures. I will also, as Amber requested, share some more about the coconut whiskey.

The eagles are moving in closer as the hungry season sets in.

 It's amazing to me how still they sit. They spend 75% of their lives perching.

 Meanwhile, the water has all but stopped flowing. Stalactites are so beautiful.

As for funny uses of gifts, of course I have to start with Phil! He is just the funniest. This is a seat-cover for one of our Poang chairs that he unwrapped. He first put it on his head as a turban, which was pretty funny, but then, partly through the whim of the camera, this pose turned out even funnier.

Leslie and I both received beautiful shawls, and we stood up and gave our rendition of "We Two Queens of Orient are" between giggles...

 Amy turned her trivet into a sun-worshiper's ornament. I would never have guessed that that wasn't its intended purpose...

 Until Sandra grabbed both trivets and went one better.

The spatula bouquet is just so funny because apparently all of us had noticed that Leslie was short on spatulas, so we all gave her spatulas. When she unwrapped the first ones, I leaned over to Amy and whispered "I got her some, too." She whispered back, "So did I!" So we were giggling a little before she even opened them.

 Amy's scarf was a great hideout for Roxy also.

 

Now, about that coconut whiskey!

I mentioned in my holiday post last year that I'd made this amazing mostly raw, vegan pina colada mix (basically almond milk, coconut milk, dash of sweetener, pineapple and pineapple flavor extract). I also mentioned that Amy adores pina coladas but finds rum makes her sleepy, though she loves whiskey. So last year, since she was also avoiding sugar at the time, I made coconut whiskey with a homemade xylitol syrup. 

This year, I made it again but with sugar syrup, because that's where she's at right now. You can do it either way, and it's sort of out of my usual ballpark.

Make a syrup from a cup and a half of sugar or xylitol and 3/4 cup water (i.e. two parts sweetener to one part water). Simmer them together for about five minutes.

Let the syrup cool until you can touch it, but don't let it get cold. 

Add three-four cups whisky and two teaspoons coconut flavoring, and blend all together. It's great served chilled, and it's awesome with the pina colada mix.