VeeV Spirits contacted me a couple months ago asking if I’d be interested in creating a dish to pair with one of their seasonal cocktails. I gladly accepted the offer, and chose to work with the VeeV Fruit Cup Sangria. The cocktail was sweet and delicious, and paired wonderfully with my slightly spicy grilled eggplant stacks. Both the cocktail and eggplant stacks are making an appearance at our Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow!

VeeV is featuring my recipe on their Facebook page today…check it out here!

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Happy Valentine’s Day! I hope everyone had or is having a wonderful day, filled with lots of love, chocolate and wine.

I plan on spending my night cooking a homemade meal with my roommate, then curling up on the couch with a cocktail or two. After the craziness of Grammy week, nothing sounds more appealing than my night ahead. :)

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I hosted my third Lean on Lamb Supper Club the other night. In the past, the Tri-Lamb Group supplied me with a recipe; this time, I had to create my own. The Tri-Lamb Group sent me a frozen, boneless leg of lamb and a gift card for ingredients.

I garnered inspiration from friends, family, co-workers and the Internet, as I rarely cook with lamb. I decided on crock-pot lamb with Greek yogurt, mint and pomegranate with a pomegranate and cinnamon reduction. The result was fantastic, with the reduction being one of the stars of the meal.

The Tri-Lamb Group is “a collaborative initiative of lamb producer organizations from the U.S., New Zealand and Australia which focuses on educating Americans about lamb.” The company selects food and lifestyle bloggers in LA, Boston and Washington, D.C.

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This past weekend, I invited a few girlfriends over for the evening. Our original plan was to get drinks and appetizers for happy hour in Laguna Beach. But due to the time crunch and our disinclination to spend a boatload of money, we decided to create our own happy hour. We managed to do just that minus spending money on gas, meter parking and a tip.

We wanted to make refreshing and delicious drinks that were all-natural sans the alcohol. I have to give credit to my friend, Ellen, as she was the mastermind behind our two drink concoctions.

Once we finished making the drinks, we lounged in my backyard by the pool, sipping on our cocktails as the sun set. Talk about a perfect weekend night!

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