One of my all time favorites!

Homemade Margarita Mix:

• 1 cup simple syrup
• 1 cup lime juice
• 1 cup lemon juice

What. A. Week. We earned this one, am I right??
Strawberry Mint Bourbon Smash
– muddle fresh mint and chopped strawberries
– 1/2oz simple syrup
– 1.5oz fresh lemon juice
– 3oz bourbon
Shake or stir, and enjoy

As pretty as it is delicious, thanks to Empress Gin’s purple coloring.

Lots of talk and thinking of vacation now that I got my first vaccine shot. So decided to make a vacation drink but lighter, not frozen version.

After a lot of interviews, site visits to our house, research, quotes, assessment on our sun levels and direction on our house. We finally got our solar panels installed. We wanted to start using renewable energy but it is a little daunting with all of the solar companies out there …..many of which I was not impressed with.

Why did we go solar???

• Electricity rates go up every year, our bills will only increase!!
• There are lots of options on how to go about it, but we chose to own the panels. That gives MA residents the best incentives and tax credits.
  • Unfortunately this is not the case if you lease the panels. You have to own them!
  • If you are not able to buy them out right, there are many banks that give great rates on Solar Loans. Even a 10 year loan, if you put the tax credits back into it can be paid off in roughly half the time.
  • The loan payment itself was almost the same amount as our current electricity bill. So as far as budget, we didn’t have to allocate any additional funds to our monthly bills.
  • ONCE LOAN IS PAID OFF, ELECTRIC BILL IS ZERO!!! and we give back to the grid
• I truly believe we all need to start using more renewable energy for mother earth, this may be a small part but we are doing our part
• One other benefit, and this wasn’t a huge factor for us but it definitely is another item in the “plus column”, if our panels make a surplus energy you can share it.
  • For example, if my parents retire and are on a fixed income. And they HAPPEN to also live in a town with the same electric provider (eversource). I can transfer some of my surplus to them! Sharing is caring my friends, xo help your neighbors out!

For us the pros far outweighed the cons. Most of the sun is in the back of our house so you can’t really see the panels from the front. If your sun exposure is on a side of the house that is very visible – I would recommend visiting install sites. Some of these companies installs were….meh!

Who did we end up using?

SGE Solar was the company we went with. They were knowledgable, fast, handled the town permit process & worked with our bank when it came down to payment. They were by far the best I spoke with and electricians who installed were AWESOME. If you are considering solar, definitely call them – Ask for Matt! He answered all our questions and then some!

We had some gorgeous weather this week, so I was inspired to make something I will enjoy drinking this spring & summer.

Enjoy! Don’t forget to drop a drink request if you have them!

Surprisingly easier than I expected, although it cannot be rushed. The overnight rise was essential to its deliciousness.

I followed this recipe, easy peasy! We topped it with sea salt but next time I am going to get a little more adventurous, maybe add in some rosemary & cherry tomato.