Words On Wednesday

I'm a basic white girl at heart, so the October cocktail obviously had to involve pumpkin. I wasn't alone in that thought process. A lot of recipes online recommended starting with a Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks and adding ingredients to it. In my opinion, that felt like cheating. I, too, can throw a shot of vodka into a Starbee's drink. No, I wanted to make something with pumpkin in it myself. October Theme 1: Pumpkin Spice & Halloween.  The absolute quintessential fall theme. A Pumpkin Spice Martini, a Pumpkin Old Fashioned, or a spooky-themed cocktail with dark colors and fun garnishes. Theme 2: Campfire Comfort.  Focus on whiskey and bourbon. A cozy Spiced Bourbon Smash or an Apple Cider Hot Toddy. The AI suggestions corroborated the focus on pumpkin, but I didn't love the specific suggestions. I don't really love a martini and I wanted another type of old fashioned (to come later). The apple cider hot toddy sounded interesting, but that would be two  ...

Dunkin’ has released a new line of alcohol, dubbed “Dunkin’ Spiked.” These assorted flavors of hard iced coffee and iced tea drinks sound like a natural hit from a chain that does drive thru beverages so well. But are they? Name: Dunkin’ Spiked Iced Coffee Source: Dunkin’ Style: Malt Beverage ABV: 6% Dunkin’ (Donuts, because old habits die hard) has let me down in perhaps the most devastating alcoholic revelation of the past decade. They took coffee and alcohol, and somehow managed to put them together in some abomination that is abhorrent to both coffee drinkers and alcohol drinkers alike. I am frankly amazed that they managed to take two individual things that are independently so good and make an amalgamation that is so terrible. I first heard about these beverages back in March. A news article informed me of their existence and I quickly began searching for them. The locator on the Dunkin’ Spiked site suggested that a nearby convenience store sold them. I happened to be driving pas...

I’ve always struggled with reaching and maintaining a healthy weight, part of which is eating a healthy breakfast. Lately, I’ve been trying to find something that is healthy, but also something that I can meal prep, and sustainably eat over a long time frame. Checking all of those boxes has been a surprisingly difficult endeavor. At first, I started with overnight oats. They tasted pretty good, and they were surprisingly customizable. Change up what fruits or spices you add, and it creates an entirely new dish. After a while, though, I started to get tired of them. Fruit gets mushy pretty quickly after you cut it, so I could prep the oats themselves about a week in advance, but I had to add the other stuff in each morning. Plus, they were a little higher in carbs than I wanted to consume for breakfast, so I started to look for some other alternative. A friend posted on Facebook that she mixed protein powder with a pumpkin spice latte k cup, in an attempt to meet her protein goal...