drink recipe

Pink Dragonfruit Strawberry Margaritas + VITAMIX GIVEAWAY

May 23, 2016May 23, 2016 by Alyssa Garrison

This post was a fun impromptu idea we had that somehow ended up sliding into totally perfect timing. For one, it’s Margarita Monday, which is always worth celebrating in our books. Second, Casamigos sent us some of their amazing tequila to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, but we hadn’t had a chance to crack open a bottle for something fun yet. Finally, it’s really actually Spring outside this long weekend! With no sign of disappearing again! And if that isn’t a reason to dream up some crazy hot pink slushies then I don’t know what is.

After we’d already shot the images and worked out the recipe for this post, our friends at Vitamix decided to up the ante. That’s right, we’re giving away the best blender in the whole wide world (a Black 5200 model to be exact)!!! We’ve had ours since we moved into #ThePastelPalace and it has seriously changed our entire kitchen game, so we’re crazy excited to share a machine with one of you!

How’s that for a post-long weekend blues deterrent?

Basically you have one week (till next Monday morning to be precise) to enter as many times/ways as humanly possible… here’s what you have to do (it’s a fun one!)

MANDATORY //

1. Like the Vitamix Facebook page (here) and the RAOP Facebook page (here)

2. Follow both Vitamix and RAOP on Instagram.

BONUS POINTS //

-Follow RAO_P on Snapchat (note- there will be extra chances to get bonus points on Snapchat throughout the week!)
-tag a friend in my Instagram post who you think might need a new blender!
-Follow us both on Twitter (here and here)
-Follow us both on Pinterest (here and here)
-Comment on this post with a list of everything you did at the END of the week.

The more points you compile, the higher chances you have of winning the grand prize! So what are you waiting for?

Still thirsty? Scroll down for the recipe!

Ingredients //

Yields 2 large glasses

1 dragonfruit
1 handful of frozen strawberries
1 can of frozen limeade concentrate
1/2 cup ice
3 oz Casamigos tequila
Strawberry sugar (recipe here) for rimming

Recipe //

1. Rim your glasses with sugar (we used strawberry sugar that I picked up in France, but you can make your own like this)

2. Cut your dragonfruit into two halves. One half can be roughly chopped and thrown in the blender with the rind still attached, the other should be cut into slices for garnishes.

3. Blend all remaining ingredients on high in your Vitamix until smooth.

4. Pour, top with as many pink decorations as you can find, and serve with a side of Spring sunshine!

Sips, Sweets & Snacks

Melon Lemonade, 3 Ways

May 2, 2016May 1, 2016 by Alyssa Garrison

Maybe it’s the season, or maybe it’s the work of Queen Beyoncé (all hail!), but I’m all about lemonade right now. I always go through unexplained drink-related phases, and right now it’s lemonade- green lemonade, strawberry lemonade, Arnold Palmers, whatever! I can’t get enough, and you know what they say, “when life gives you lemons”…

So where does melon come in? Growing up I was never a big fan of melons (as in I’d eat everything else in the fruit salad and give the melons back to my mom), but over the past year I’ve really developed a an appreciation for this juicy, colourful category of fruit. When my fruit-expert friend Sophie from Kitten and the Bear mentioned it’s a great time for melons in Ontario right now I knew it was time for my two new favourite things to meet in one tasty Spring drink.

I enlisted Paige from Studio Bicyclette (close friend, stylist extraordinaire and fellow lemonade lover) to whip up this 3-way recipe, and of course she just so happened to have perfectly coordinating glassware and photo backdrops in her kitchen. The fruit of our labour was three bright melon lemonades bursting with flavour and colour!

Scroll down for recipe

Ingredients //

3 Lemons, juiced
Canteloupe, watermelon and/or honeydew
Sparkling water
Simple syrup or light agave syrup

Recipe //

Makes two glasses of each type of melon- alter recipe to make just one type (whole melon and 2 lemons for 4 servings)

1. Juice 3 lemons and set juice aside. Cube half of each type of melon.

2. Put 1/3 of the lemon juice, one of the cubed melon piles, and 1/4 cup of water in the blender, then blend on high until smooth.

3. Strain over your glasses to remove any chunks or foam, then sweeten to taste with simple syrup or agave (we did two tsp of simple syrup). Add ice, stir and serve!

4. Repeat the same steps with each type of melon, or double the recipe and make just one type at a time!

Photos by Paige of Studio Bicylette

Sips, Sweets & Snacks

Minted Poptail Mojito

April 4, 2016April 4, 2016 by Alyssa Garrison

When we were visiting LA a few months back, one of our favourite meals was an all vegan Mexican feast at Gracias Madre in West Hollywood. The atmosphere was perfection and the food was incredible, but it was the snow cone/popsicle cocktails that really took the cake. When our friends at teapigs asked us to dream up a tea-infused cocktail creation, we decided popsicles were a non negotiable. After all, sunny Spring afternoons are just around the corner… right?

The key to this Mojito-inspired recipe is the peppermint tea simple syrup we made, and I promise, it really is oh so simple. We opted to use store bought popsicles this time around, but we welcome you to make your own with fresh fruit, juice, tea, or even a hint of your favourite liqueur to add an extra kick to the cocktail!

Scroll down for the full recipe + details on how to enter the BEST giveaway EVER!

Ingredients:

teapigs Peppermint Herbal Tea
Sugar
White Rum
Lime sparkling water
Popsicle of your choice, homemade or store bought (we used both Lime Fruttare bars and locally made Augies Ice Pops)
Fresh mint

1. Make a tea-infused simple syrup by placing two teapigs Peppermint teabags in a jar. Steep in 1/2 cup of boiling water for 10 mins with lid on, stir in 1/2 of sugar until dissolved. Cool- You can leave the teabags in the syrup overnight for extra minty flavour!

2. Add 1oz cooled simple syrup and 1oz of rum to your glass.

3. Tear up some mint leaves and add a bundle to each glass.

4. Add sparkling water until the cup is about half full. We used lime Pellegrino to give our cocktails a bit more flavour!

5. Here’s the fun part- add the popsicles! I used each popsicle to “muddle” the mint a bit, and topped up each drink with more sparkling water if the glasses weren’t quite full with the extra volume added.

5. Garnish with lime slices, stir and serve! Simple, colourful, and oh so delicious, these “Poptails” are sure to be a hit at every Spring party!

*Tea tip- you can also add the syrup to your favourite iced tea or iced latte for an extra minty kick!

Want to win some teapigs for yourself? You can score this amazing prize pack this week on Twitter (scroll down for details!)

The Prize Pack //

4 x marble coasters
2 x confetti glasses
1 x marble wine cooler
1 x gold cocktail shaker
4 x packs of teapigs tea!

The Rules //

1. Follow me on twitter
2. Retweet or tweet one of my pictures from this post with the tag #teapigspartea
3. Follow teapigs on Twitter!

For bonus points you can also like both our pages on Facebook (RAOP + teapigs)

Contest will run till the evening of Friday April 8th!

Good Luck!

This post was sponsored, but all opinions are my own. To inquire about sponsored posts, please email jess@shineinfluencers.com