White Chocolate Cake Martinis

Yesterday was my office holiday party. Instead of our traditional gift exchange, we opted this year for a white elephant exchange. I originally bought a singing sock monkey to gift in the exchange but then I thought he was just too cute to part with. Instead I took a trip to the liquor store, because if there's one thing that goes over well with my coworkers - it's booze.

Because I have this little habit of buying things for others that I want to use myself (just ask my Mother how many times I've done this to her), I picked out a bottle of UV Cake Vodka, slapped a recipe on it for cake batter martinis and threw it in a gift bag.

Double Berry Lemonade

When life hands you lemons, you make lemonade, right? Well, life has handed me a few lemons in the past couple of weeks. So, I did just that. In the literal sense, I needed a few lemons to zest and juice for various recipes. Being the saving Sally that I am these days (those who know me, know this to be true about all things not involving clothing, shoes, cosmetics or kitchen gadgets), I bought a 2 lb. bag of lemons because it seemed like the economical choice. When it was all said and done and all my recipes were made, I still had a giant bag of lemons. And from that, double berry lemonade was born.

Fresh blueberries and strawberries are pureed with sugar and combined with fresh squeezed lemon juice for a refreshingly tart chiller. It's the perfect beverage for a balmy summer evening with friends. Garnish with a fresh strawberry, lemon slices or a sprig of mint. And, if life truly has handed you lemons in both the literal and non-literal sense, add a shot of your favorite alcohol.