I need a Not So Secret Frozen Margarita

So after Kristen's blog yesterday on how bigger isn't always better, what do I do? Post a super long blog! But I think I can be forgiven because I haven't blogged all week and half the post is really just a recipe, so here goes:

I know I've blogged about this before. I must have. Because honestly, these pomegranate margaritas are simply the best. Mary, a friend and fellow Bunco Broad, served these up at our December Bunco last year. They were a huge hit. Absolutely delicious. I loved them so much I made them at Christmas time (perfect with the red color!) and I made them for my friend Beth's wedding shower (whose wedding I'm going to today. Yay!)

In my Bunco Babes series, one of my characters, Shea Masterson, has a secret frozen margarita recipe she doesn't share with anyone (it's so secret, even I don't know it).

But I digress. I'm not as selfish as Shea. I will gladly share this awesome recipe (which, by the way, comes from Southern Living- the mecca of all that's holy in my book)

NOT SO SECRET POMEGRANATE FROZEN MARGARITAS

Yield
about 32 cups
Ingredients
6 cups white tequila
12 cups water
4 cups cranberry juice cocktail
2 cups pomegranate juice (we tested with POM)*
1 1/2 cups Triple Sec
2 (10-ounce) cans frozen margarita mix, thawed
2 (11.5-ounce) cans frozen cranberry juice cocktail, thawed and undiluted
2 (12-ounce) cans frozen limeade concentrate, thawed and undiluted
Light corn syrup
Coarse sparkling sugar

Preparation
Combine first 8 ingredients in a very large plastic container. Cover and freeze at least 24 hours or until slushy.
Pour a small amount of corn syrup onto a flat plate. Pour coarse sugar onto another plate. Dip rims of margarita glasses in corn syrup; dip each glass into sugar. Pour margaritas into prepared glasses.
Freezer Note: For more convenient storage, divide Pomegranate Margaritas among zip-top freezer bags.
*Find pomegranate juice year-round in the produce section of your local grocery store.
Kelley Wilton, Christmas With Southern Living 2006, Oxmoor House, JUNE 2006

Maria's note: the coarse sugar/corn syrup rim for your glass is the best!

I must admit to having a secret stash of this luscious drink. The last time I made them, I had some leftover so I placed it in a large zip lock storage bag in my freezer. Thank God. Because I needed me some margarita tonight. This past week has been incredibly busy and stressful. I worked at the hospital the past 3 nights and it's been uber crazy. Has everyone in Tallahassee given birth over the past 3 days? Sure seems like it. To top that off, I've been trying to get everything ready for my Romantic Times Convention Bunco Bash. Thank God I'm now off for 2 weeks and can concetrate on the rest of my life. So I sat down tonight and watched about 4 hours of TV I'd DVR'd, including my fix of American Idol.

And to that, can I just say, WHAT THE HELL is America thinking??? I cannot believe they voted Matt off! I just don't get it. I mean, yes, I love Adam and Danny and Allison, but honestly. How Lil and Anoop (as loveable as Anoop is) are still there is beyond me. Thank God the judges had the sense to override the vote. For the first time ever, they saved a contestant and Matt will be back! Bad news is 2 contestants will have to go home next week. But I don't care. If the judges's save will give me one more week of Matt, then so be it. Maybe he can make a come back. All I know is, ever since I heard him sing "Georgia" back in Hollywood week, he's been my favorite.

So after all the drama of Simon pretending that Matt was going home and Paula and Randy and Kara begging Simon to keep Matt, I had to chug down some pomegranate margarita. Yay for zip lock storage bags!

Next Tuesday, I'll be in Orlando at the Romantic Times Convention. But wherever I am at the time, you can be sure when it comes time to vote, I'll be whipping that cell phone out and putting in my vote for Matt.

Catching up

I just came back from a fantastic trip to Boston (first time there) where I attended my friend Marley Gibson's Launch party. You can read all about it here on the Title Wave blog. It got me thinking about my own launch party next year. I'm definitely going to plan some sort of Bunco theme ( of course ). I'm thinking frozen margarita machine, beer, and since it will probably be in early May, maybe some sort of Cinco-de-Mayo theme. Of course, I still have to finish the revisions on the book! I tried to get it in by May 1 but I've made so many changes to the second half of the book that it's taken me longer than I originally thought. My editor at Berkley has been very patient. I'm hoping that the full will be in her inbox by next Monday:)

And since all work and no play makes Maria a dull girl, I did surface from revision land to run out to play Bunco last night with my group, the Bunco Broads of Tallahassee. I won most games (I seem to be on some sort of lucky winning streak lately). Hopefully, that will continue...

Unfortunately for Jason Castro, his lucky streak came to an end last night on American Idol. I've loved Jason from the start, but even I was ready for him to go. The past few weeks he's steadily gone downhill. Not sure what Jason's problem is (well, maybe I do- proving the point that you really can get tooo mellow), but he proved to be own worst enemy. Hopefully though, some smart label co. will pick Jason up. As much as I enjoy David Cook, Jason is probably the only artist this season I'd buy a CD from.

AI Update

Kristy Lee Cook has not been kind to The Beatles.

I have nothing against the girl. She has a nice voice, is pretty, and seems very sweet in her interviews with Ryan. But for the second week in a row she's managed to butcher a Beatles song and that's just unpardonable in my book.

Last week, she country-fried steak'd "Eight Days a Week", sounding more like a chipmunk on crack than Dolly Parton on crack (as Simon described). But this week, she admitted to the camera she really isn't familiar with the Beatles (So I know that's probably an age thing , but if you're going to call yourself a musician, then you really need to know the superstar classics. It's like a writer saying she's never heard of Shakespeare).

Since Kristy doesn't know any of the songs, she picked one based on the title. Okay. I can live with that it. "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" is a great song, sung in a beautiful throaty style by Lennon. But I don't think Kristy got it (Lennon wrote the song in homage to the Beatles manager, Brian Epstein, who for a long time had to hide his homosexuality). While you can certainly interpret the song any way you want, Kristy chose not to interpret it, I guess, since she sang it with all the emotion of a wooden puppet on stage.

As sentimental and entertaining as Beatle fest has been the past two weeks on Idol, I say it's time to move on. Same with Kristy Lee.

American Idol: My top 2

Jason Castro.

He's so deliciously cute and sweet, I could eat him up. My kids snickered as I spent the first night of the competition punching my redial button to vote for him over and over, but there's just something about him that I totally love. I guess it's called "it" or "star appeal". Not sure. But I do know that right now, he's my number #1 pick to win this competition.

This week, he did a beautiful rendition of "Hallelujah", which totally worked. He also went guitar-less, which was a risk, because let's face it, who doesn't love a guy with a guitar? I think that totally sealed the deal for me. He doesn't need the guitar to look good. Plus, he doesn't have some of the weird mannerisms that some of the other singers do. Like Michael Johns. While I find Michael cute and his singing very good, there's something distracting about the way he moves and the way he holds the mic.

And there's my other top 2 pick. David Cook. I wasn't so impressed with him initially, but each week I like him more and more. And this week, he totally sold me. He sang "Hello" by Lionel Richie. Which, normally would have been the kiss of death. I didn't like Lionel's music in the 80's and I certainly don't like his music now, but David managed to take a sappy song and actually make me like it. Plus, he's so damn cute.

Seeing a pattern here? Yep. Cute is in.

Speaking of cute, I guess I need to mention David Archuleta, who is beyond cute and has a fantastic voice on top. While I really like David and I loved his version of "Imagine" last week, this week's "Another Day in Paradise" by Phil Collins left me cold. Although I'm sure the rest of America loved it as he seems to be the AI Poster boy this year. I just have the feeling that I could tired of David A's cuteness. Fast.

Unfortunately, due to it being Bunco night, I missed watching the girls perform last night. For some reason, my DVR didn't record it (although I think it was really Mike Geraci messing with the TV that screwed it up). I'm not broken-hearted over it though. The girls are a snooze fest for me. Other than Carly Smithson, who I think has a good chance to make it to the top, I'm just not that impressed with them.