Giada's Cocktail Creation: Redneck Sangria

No pictures of this one but it is dead easy to make!

Ingredients:
1 bottle cheap red wine
1 bottle Mountain Dew
1 bottle apple juice

Pour wine into pitcher. Use about 1/2 as much Mountain Dew and apple juice as wine. If desired, garnish with some canned peaches and serve over ice. Not the best sangria I ever made but it was definitely drinkable!

Giada's June Challenge Revealed

Time to throw down the June challenge y'all! Since summer is getting into full swing and temperatures are rising, I challenge you to cool yourself down with a new summer cocktail creation. That's right, go ahead and invent a new refreshing alcoholic beverage that you would be brave enough to serve to summer guests and then share the recipe here. Bonus points for creative names and/or garnishes!

Happy drinking!
Giada

Giada's Cake Challenge Results

Well I got my cake challenge completed just under the wire last night. Finished frosting it at about 11:15pm. It is admittedly not my best effort in the kitchen but not too shabby considering the amount of entertaining our family has done in the last couple of weeks. I was kind of caked out after two recent birthdays at our house so it took me a while to gear up for this challenge. I chose to bake a carrot cake because it is wholesome, but also a little spicy. Just like me!

I used Williams Sonoma's recipe and while it wasn't bad, I will probably try a different one next time. I was not a fan of the frosting, which proved to be a little too cream cheesy for me, even after adding about half a box of powdered sugar to try and even it out a bit. I don't know, maybe the cake would have been better if I had plumped the raisins and toasted the walnuts per the recipe directions, but seriously, who has time to plump raisins? I am usually lucky if I get a shower everyday, so consider a cake with any kind of raisins a success. I did zest an orange for this so it felt fancy enough at that point. It turned out edible and thus went to work with my husband today so we don't eat the whole thing!

Looking forward to see what the June challenges have in store for us, cooking friends! Until then...

March Challenge #3: Giada BeKiddingme

Well ladies, yet again there is snow in my backyard. Apparently spring is nowhere in sight! So to help warm me up after the latest wintry mix, please take one of your family's favorite recipes and adapt it for my crockpot. Because there is nothing like coming home at the end of a long cold day to the aroma of a yummy dinner that is cooked and ready to eat! And definitely post recipes and pictures when complete.

Giada