Last weekend we had the pleasure of hanging out with our friends, Shannon & Mike, and their adorable little girl, Asha.  I’d come across a recipe for Strawberry Basil Margaritas that sounded amazing, and I thought it’d be a tasty addition to the yummy grilled vegetables and salad that Shannon and Mike were making.

We also brought some nectarines, pluots and peaches along to throw on the grill for dessert.  I’d never grilled fruit before, but Mike was fortunately an expert, so he and Ryan handled it for us.  Here’s the fruit lined up on the grill, getting nice and caramelized!

While I don’t have a recipe for the grilled fruit (since you basically just cut it up and throw it on a hot grill), I do have one for the Strawberry Basil Limeade that I made.  I changed the name since I tweaked the recipe a bit and made a non-alcoholic version.  Rather than tequila, we added vodka for those who wanted a little booze.  But before I post the recipe, I just have to show you little Asha enjoying her summer fruit and a little tofu.  She’s a cutie!

This is so simple that it feels silly to even write out a recipe, so think of this more as a guideline.  You could substitute lemonade if you like that better, and of course use whatever alcohol is your favorite.

Strawberry Basil Limeade

about a pint of strawberries
4-5 large Basil leaves
1 container limeade or lemonade (I used Trader Joe’s Sparkling Limeade)
about 1 can of soda water
ice, for serving
vodka, tequila, or your alcohol of choice (optional)

Hull the strawberries and thinly slice them.  Place them into a pitcher.  Crush the basil leaves in your hand, and throw them in the pitcher with the strawberries.  Add the limeade (or lemonade) and place the pitcher in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Before serving, fill a glass with ice and your alcohol of choice, if you’re using it.  (These are also really tasty and refreshing without alcohol).  I added some soda water to my strawberry mixture because I found it a little bit too sweet, but you might find that you don’t need it.  Just add it to taste.

You can garnish these with some basil leaves or more sliced strawberries.  Enjoy!

As I said in my last two posts, Ryan and I host an annual Oscar party where we make dishes named for the best picture nominees.  Since there were 10 (!) nominees this year, we thought we’d do at least one drink and also some sweets in addition to the savory dishes.  This lime punch was our “dish” for the film “District 9.”

I always have the intention of making fun drinks for parties or dinner guests, but once the food part is taken care of the drink ideas seem to fall by the way-side.  We do the same old thing – beer, wine and Italian non-alcoholic sodas, which I thank my friend, Karen, for turning me onto.  I love me a good Italian soda!  Those all work just fine, but there’s nothing really exciting or new there.  It’s amazing what a difference having a home-made drink can make, and the effort is actually pretty minimal.

For our “District Lime” drinks, Ryan found this recipe, and it couldn’t have been easier to make.  We ended up using different amounts of ginger ale and soda water (only because that’s what the store had), and it still turned out great, so don’t get hung up on finding the exact amounts indicated in the recipe.  We made this in two batches, which also worked well.

The great thing about this drink is that it was really refreshing and satisfying on its own, but you could also add vodka or another type of alcohol if you wanted to.  It feels more festive to make something special, and this drink was so simple and so tasty that we’ll definitely make it again.  It inspired me to take the extra time in the future to pair some fun drinks with whatever food we serve.  It was really easy, and really worth it!

The end of Vegan MoFo just happened to coincide with a vacation that Ryan and I had been planning for a few months.  We went down to Venice, Florida, where my parents have a house in which they spend a good part of the winter.  (If you’ve ever been through a Chicago winter, you understand why!)  They were there along with my sister’s family, so we got to spend some much needed time with everyone, including our two adorable nephews.

As a result of being away, I’m now trying to catch up with work – including blogging.  I’m excited to start posting Thanksgiving recipes this month, so keep your eye out for those.  In the meantime, I thought I’d post this photo that Ryan took at Sharky’s On The Pier - one of our favorite places to have cocktails in Venice.  He posted a series of photos from the trip on his blog, and just looking at all of them makes me wish we were back on vacation!