Party on!! by Margaret Ullrich - Cosmopolitan Recipe

Yesterday was Canada Flag Day!!

Happy 50th birthday to our flag, eh!!

Today is also holiday for both sides of the border.

Happy Presidents' Day to my American visitors! 

In Canada the holiday goes by a few different names.

Family Day for most Canadians - Louis Riel Day for us in Manitoba.

Here the holiday was renamed in honour of Louis Riel, the Métis leader who is regarded as the Father of Manitoba.

There’s a ton of fun stuff happening at Festival du Voyageur this week to celebrate our province’s Métis roots.

What a jam packed week this is!

Last night we watched Saturday Night Live’s 40th Anniversary Special.

Great seeing our old favourites team up with the younger folks.

They all looked like they were having fun - even Kanye West, who showed his funnier side and went along with the Myers and Carvey’s Wayne’s World gag.

Tomorrow there’ll be pancakes for Mardi Gras.

After Ash Wednesday we’ll celebrate Chinese New Year by following a few traditions.

Can’t hurt and some are a lot of fun.

It’s nice to have a few reasons to celebrate when the weather’s so cold!

About a week ago I posted the recipe for Ma’s Lemon Cranberry Scones.

More about cranberries…

Yes, they are tart.

Cranberry juice is usually sweetened or blended with other fruit juices. 

Just so you know, cranberry juice cocktail, at a teaspoonful of sugar per ounce, is more sweetened than soda is.

Many cocktails are made with cranberry juice. 

One of the more famous is the Cosmopolitan.

Around 1987 John Caine brought the Cosmopolitan from Ohio to San Francisco.

The Cosmopolitan gained popularity in the 1990s, since it was frequently mentioned on the television program Sex and the City.  

Demeter Fragrance Library has created a cologne intended to smell like the cosmopolitan cocktail.

So, here’s the recipe for the drink, not the cologne.

                        Cosmopolitan

3 parts lemon flavoured vodka

2 parts cranberry juice

1 part triple sec, such as Cointreau

1 part lime juice

Place all ingredients in a shaker filled with ice.

Shake well and double strain into a large cocktail glass.

Garnish with a lime wedge or lemon slice.

About Wednesday’s new moon in Aquarius…

According to the folks at astrology.com:

Do you feel as if you have one foot in your past and the other in your future? This unusual new Moon straddles a pair of signs occurring just as the Moon and Sun cross the cusp between Aquarius and Pisces. 

Anything you start now is strongly infused with memories, so take the best from what you've learned and apply it to your future. 

This is a tailor-made time for dreamers - no cynics allowed! Since Neptune weighs in, not everything will be clear. Faith trumps logic now, so let it guide you in your choices. 

Give your logical mind a rest and pay attention to your feelings and intuition.

This is the second lunation in Aquarius since January. This is the moment to make your wish list and set your goals for the next six months!

Be careful about anything you start under this influence. 

The Sun also swoops into intuitive Pisces, heightening psychic abilities, so any extravagant, outrageous plans you've laid out under this new Moon may have you balking within hours.