TAKE A SIP: (the classics) THE BRANDY OLD FASHIONED

When I think of the quintessential Wisconsin drink, I think of an Old Fashioned. Heck- we even have a restaurant on our Capitol square named after the thing!

The Classic Wisconsin version is the Brandy Old Fashioned Sweet- when I bartended I made zillions of these things for out of towners who wanted to have the traditional drink.

Now that we have people over fairly often, I love making these- and there are so many iterations of these possible, that if you aren't a brandy fan...or a sweet fan...you can tweak it to make it your own! 

What you'll need to make it happen:

- 2 orange slices (in quarters)

- 4-5 maraschino cherries

- Raw sugar cube or just granulated sugar

- 3-4 dashes of Bitters (see bottle below)

- 2 ounces Brandy

- Sprite

-Muddler

-Ice

 How to make it happen:

Step 1: Throw your 2-3 cherries, 1 orange slice quarter, sugar, and dashes of bitters into the bottom of a glass. With your muddler, mash until cherry, orange, and sugar is well mixed. Be careful not to grind the orange rind too much, or you'll get a really bitter taste!

Step 2: Add ice and brandy, and top with a few splashes of Sprite.

Step 3: Either stir or pour into another glass so drink is well mixed.

Step 4: Garnish with and orange slice & a cherry, and enjoy!

 If you don't dig brandy, sub for bourbon or whiskey!

If you don't like orange, sub for lemon!

If you don't like overly-sweet things- add in 1 Tbsp Sour mix, then finish with just a little Sprite!

If you're really feelin' fancy, buy orange or cherry bitters to enhance the fruit flavor!

(so many exclamation marks, so little time)

What drink represents where you're from?

Leave a recipe or name in the comments, I'd love to look it up!

xo, lp

for more drink recipes, go here.

for instagram fun, go here.

IT LOOKS LIKE I ATE A BUNCH OF CHEETOS

Happy Monday, friends!

Hope you are enjoying the nice weather!

Other than spending some time outside, M&I took the weekend to do some MAJOR spring cleaning, and are getting so much stuff out of the apartment for a garage sale / goodwill. Feels. So. Good.

Here's what's been lovely lately:

1. Some weeks Michael gets inspired to make me lunch every day. Last week was one of those weeks- and I found notes with my lunch every day. I should have Instagrammed the one in which he rapped. #keeper #backoffhesmine

2. Normally on the weekends I get up early and run errands/clean/workout/etc...but Sunday was LAZY. I wore my pajamas until like 2pm or so. AND watched the Season 2 finale of House of Cards. AND drank hot cocoa with peppermint marshmallows (that are leftover from Christmas- judge away).

So yeah, Sunday was a pretty fab day.

3. It got above 60 here this weekend, which I felt validated orange lipstick. Despite the initial reaction of looking like I'd just eating an entire bag of cheetos - it definitely grew on me:

4. I love doing giveaways on the blog!!! You have until Friday to enter to win a bunch of amazing cards from Ready Maker Design (a few of which shown here!) Entering takes a minute- you won't regret it!

In other news, everyone needs these shoes for summer.  Oh, and this necklace too.

So tell me friends- what did the Easter bunny bring you this year?

If there were Cadbury MiniEggs in your basket, send them my way NOW (please)!

xo, lp

*new here? follow along on instagram for compulsive candy ordering, ootds, and other assorted midwest life items here!

SNAIL MAIL GIVEAWAY!

Here's the deal with giveaways on this blog:

When companies ask to do giveaways with me I put them through some criteria-

1. Would I buy the product myself?

2. Is this something readers would find cute/exciting/fun?

I know, I'm super tough, right? 

But really, I don't like doing giveaways just for the sake of doing them, so I tend to turn away a fair amount that come this way. Sorry friends- it's not that I don't love y'all dearly, but I want to make sure this blog isn't just a mess of giveaways for sub-par products!

I digress. The reason I set it up like that is because I want to make it clear how JAZZED I am for this giveaway!

Jaclyn of Ready Maker Design  designs and hand draws ALL her own amazing paper goods. Stationery, Wedding Invites, Bridesmaid cards, Thank Yous-you name it, she's got it. Her shop is full of incredibly sweet, whimsical, and completely original cards (some of which would be preeeetty perfect for mother's day, may i add) that anyone would be lucky to receive!

When she emailed me to do a giveaway I was THRILLED- because you all know how I feel about Snail Mail- it's the best!

So let's get to the giveaway, shall we?

Jaclyn is giving away over $50 worth of greeting cards, plus a discount card to one lucky person- all wrapped up in some fab gold polka dot paper :)

Details on how to enter are below!

HOW TO ENTER:

Step 1: Go to my Instagram account & find the above image!  Follow the directions that will be shown with the picture to enter!

(Instructions are easy once you get to Instagram- no need to repost the image! Just-->Follow @lpodlich and @jaclynhudak, and tag a friend in the picture! For each friend you tag you get another entry!)

Step 2: If you DO NOT have Instagram, simple leave a comment on this post telling me which of Jaclyn's prints are your favorite from her Shop, and leave an email address in the comment!

***For a bonus entry for Non-Instagram users- simply "favorite" Jaclyn's Shop on Etsy and leave another comment saying you've done so! 

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Giveaway Ends Friday, April 25th

Winner will be announced shortly after

No purchase necessary.

So tell me, my snail-mail loving friends- which of these cards do you love the most?

The one with all the oranges is my favorite!!

xo, lp