Good ol' Olenna Tyrell and her crafty, clever ways. She definitely reminds us of a southern woman
with her fierce love of family accompanied by a ruthless streak. This is one woman who isn't afraid to get her hands dirty to get done what needs to be done.
And since we hated that little twirp Joffrey, we're glad this tough cookie is in King's Landing!
So for tonight's episode, we'll be raising a glass (well, we older gals anyhow) to Olenna Tyrell and sipping on hot toddies.
Here's to Olenna Tyrell! The matriarch we love the most in Westeros.
Olenna Tyrell's Hot Toddy Recipe:
- 1.5 oz rum
- 1 Tbsp honey
- 1 c hot water
- 1 bag of black tea
- a dash of lemon
Happy day! Callooh! Callay! It looks like King Joffrey is getting married soon. And since we…love?…him so much that we have decided it’s time for a toast from North of the Wall in his honor.
You may recall from our last North of the Wall post that the oldest one of us is now living in Germany. Since the rest of us have been nice and warm in Atlanta (relatively... Yes, Starks, winter came to the south), we let our oldest in the not-so-frozen north of Germany warm us up with some tasty drinks.
For our toast today we’ve decided to settle on Prosecco, the Italian version of Champagne which is just a little sweeter than its French cousin.
But just pouring out a glass of Champagne and toasting with you all would be pretty boring, so let’s make mimosas instead.
Remembering the Red Wedding and with a nod towards the future, we’re changing up our fruit a little and using blood oranges for our mimosas.
Blood oranges are a bit different than the typical orange. With a distinctive red coloring to their pulp, these oranges are a bit smaller than navel ones and also a little sweeter.
Blood Orange Mimosa Recipe:
2 parts blood orange juice
1 part prosecco
If you prefer to use champagne or another sparkling wine, that's fine too.
Although House Cook is located firmly in suburbia, this area near Atlanta is a bit odd. It grew so fast that in some ways the landscape never had time to catch up. Down the street from House Cook is a tangle of trees that hides a fantastic blueberry patch. Many of our neighbors like to tromp into the woods and pick fresh blueberries, and a few days ago we joined them.
Grabbing tupperware and boots, we trooped out into the undergrowth to hunt for delicious, ripe berries.
It was fantastic! Many of the bushes still had berries that weren't yet ripe, but we found plenty that were.
Looking for something delicious to do with the berries besides just gobble them all up before getting home, we've decided to bring you fresh blueberry lemonade.
Fresh Blueberry Lemonade Recipe
Ingredients
3/4 c hot water
3/4 c sugar
1 c fresh lemon juice
1 c fresh blueberries
4 c cold water (or sparkling water)
Step 1: Puree together your hot water, sugar, lemon juice, and blueberries until everything is thoroughly mixed.
Step 2: Pour your mixture into a pitcher through a fine mesh strainer (unless, of course, you like the pulp in which case just dump it all in).
Step 3: Stir in your cold or sparkling water, serve over ice and enjoy!
Following the 4th of July, all we can really think of is relaxing with something old fashioned. No, this doesn't have much to do with dragons, but it does have a lot to do with being fans of delicious flavor. Today, we bring you rum and coke ice cream floats.
Yes, we do have root beer. No, it does not taste very good with rum. In fact, it's downright yuck.
This tasty treat is perfect for enjoying in the afternoon while everyone relaxes. Best of all, you can make it family friendly by simply nixing the rum in the glasses for the kiddies.
To make your Rum and Coke float...
Mix 1 1/2 oz of rum (one shot) and about 6-7 oz of Coke into a small cup. Add several scoops of vanilla ice cream* to a tall glass and pour your rum and Coke mix to the glass. Yay! You just made a super delicious and crazy easy beverage to enjoy with everyone.
This week has felt dragon-filled for us in House Cook. Our Khalee-C, Julianne, and one of her dragons have been traveling across the country with the oldest in our bunch, Sarah-Lambert. We'll share more about their travels later, but for now we introduce you to the tasty drink they enjoyed last night.
Yesterday was a hot Kansas day for our two wanderers and today promises to be hotter with temperatures topping 100 degrees. Still, it's not as bad as the Texas heat which felt like having a hair dryer on high pointed at your face. To cool down, we've created a delicious and pretty drink that's like an Orange Julius meets an Hawaiian Sunrise: our very own Dragon's Breath Dawn.
This tasty drink is cool and refreshingly sweet with a hint of lime to give it a nice bite.
Dragon's Breath Dawn Recipe
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
3/4 cup vanilla ice cream
3/4 cup orange sherbet
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 1/2 cups orange juice
dash of maraschino cherry juice (per glass)
1 cup crushed ice
Blend together ice cream, sherbet, orange juice, and lime juice. Once they are totally mixed, mix in the crushed ice. Pour into glasses and drizzle no more than a teaspoon of maraschino cherry juice in each glass. Drink right away for a nice, cold treat!
This Sunday marks the finale of 'Game of Thrones' season three. It's almost hard to believe that last week's startling episode 'The Rains of Castamere' wasn't the cliff-hanger ending simply because of how shocking it was. What more could happen?! We're not sure we're ready to find out! To help steel our nerves, we're going to need a little more than a tasty wine smoothie or delicious limeade to sooth us. This week, we turn to a character for inspiration who is at once likable and loathsome, but most of all incredibly interesting: Jaime Lannister, the Kingslayer.
On the one hand, the drink we've prepared is somewhat sweet, but is ever willing to stab you in the back and has a bite to it to watch out for. Perfect and refreshing for enjoying with friends
Kingslayer Drink Recipe:
Mix 1/2 oz sour mix, 2 oz cranberry juice, and 2 oz Jameson Whiskey. Pour over ice.
Just as every king needs his castle and his Hand of the King to manage his affairs, so the kitchen of House Cook needs a sous chef--or, in our case, Hand of the Kitchen--to do most of the actual baking.
House Cook is, sadly, divided between two estates. One is where most of the sisters live in Georgia, and the other is where the oldest, Sarah-Lambert, lives in Texas. Most of our cooking is done in Georgia by the sisters there, but every Friday we will be introducing a new drink--some alcoholic, some not--from the kitchen of Sarah-Lambert.
Today, we toast the introduction of the Hand of the Kitchen, Katy-Lynn. You'll be able to spot who the Hand is at all times in our pictures because she'll be wearing her Hand of the Kitchen spoon brooch:
And now (drum roll, please)... meet the Hand of the Kitchen:
What should we toast her with, you ask? How about a delicious red wine smoothie! Yuuuuummy!
This is an absolutely delicious drink. Perfect for the hot weather, but not out of place when the cool seasons return, this red wine smoothie is fabulous. Here's how to make your own:
1 1/2 c red wine
1/2 c frozen blueberries
1/2 c frozen raspberries
1/2 c frozen blackberries
1 c Greek yogurt
1 tsp sugar *
Blend it all together and voilá, you have your smoothie!
Perfect with smoked Gouda cheese. I also enjoyed some Muenster cheese with mine.
*I prefer mine a little more bitter, so 1 tsp of sugar is fine for me, but if you prefer sweeter simply add a tablespoon instead
**If you feel like 3 types of berries is too many then sacrifice the blackberries
Good ol' Olenna Tyrell and her crafty, clever ways. She definitely reminds us of a southern woman 
