Authentic Sangria Recipe

So the other day when I was dreaming of vacation and listening to the type of music played in every low-key bar in Key West, I decided to make Sangria to enjoy after work.  I sent the Hubs a text to give him a heads up about the Sangria and like every good, trusting husband, he immediately checked with his Puerto Rican co-worker on how to make it so he could test me on my Sangria-making skills. 

I was given a recipe in a college Spanish class from my Cuban professor.  Her's went a little something like this:

-One bottle of any cheap red wine
-One bottle of Lemon Lime Soda
-Oranges, Limes, and whatever other fruit you would like to add to it

That's it.  Simple, easy, and delicious.

Hubs decided that I didn't know what the hell I was talking about so he asked his co-worker, who immediately called her mom, in Puerto Rico, to get her recipe.  Then, she gave him her own recipe and said her mom's was too much work.

- Burgundy Wine
- Orange Juice (I used Lite Orange Juice.  You may also use concentrate.)
- Lemon Lime Soda (I use Sprite Zero as I would rather waste my calories on the wine.)
- Splenda (optional)
- Cut limes or limon verde if you can get them and oranges (as much as you like)

It goes a little something like this:

- Pour in any amount of wine you like into a pitcher

- Add the orange juice until the drink gets that Sangria color

- Add a little Splenda for sweetening, if you wish ( I didn't add any.)

- Add the lemon lime soda for a little fizz and some taste

- Squeeze the cut limes and oranges a bit and then add them to the pitcher

- Stir

- If you're serving it right away I would add ice to the pitcher or to the glass.  

-Enjoy

Thanks to the Hubs for making this while I snapped the photos.  He obviously gets the first taste.

The weather is beautiful today.  I'm going to go enjoy some Sangria now!
Happy Memorial Day!  Thank you to all who served and are serving our country!

We booked it! Hurray!

So, after talking about it for what seemed like months, hubs and I booked our summer vacation for this year. 

Guess where we’re going?  Come on, you can probably guess.

Why yes, it is Key West.  I love that place.  Hubs and I went last year after not traveling down to the Keys for a few years.  We fell in love with it back then and fell in love with it all over again last year.

We had a great time.  It was so relaxing.  (Except when I was throwing myself on the ground)  It was so much fun that we decided to go back again this year.

With all of the stress of fertility crap, losing weight so that I may go back to the Endo, never really having any time when we’re truly alone, we decided to take a Last Hurrah kind of vacation.  With any luck, this will be our last kid-free vacation for a while.  Hell, maybe until we retire. 

I’ve got a little over a month and a half to wait.  It’s going to be hard. 

More fun with my new lens

I went to the Philadelphia Zoo for my birthday, last Friday.  I love animals, but I have to admit that I really wanted to go to practice what I learned at the Nikon School class and play with my new lens.  Not all of the photos are edited yet, but here are three of them.  I'm editing on a verrrrrry sloooooow computer so it is taking me a while.  Compared to editing on an 10.5 inch screen, it's not that bad, but a new computer is on the horizon.

Victoria Crested Pigeon - right before she started sunning herself

Flamingo "herd" - we caught them right in the middle of their afternoon nap

Orangutan with his/her blankie - I still say we all have days like these.