Mermaids of the Lake Blog

Memorial Day 2011, Remembering, Thanking...

They fell, but o'er their glorious grave
Floats free the banner of the cause they died to save.
~Francis Marion Crawford

 

Happy Birthday to Pink Saturday!

Pink Saturday, a fun, pink-filled day in blog land, is three years old today! Please stop by How Sweet the Sound and wish Beverly a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! She is the blog hostess that brings hundreds of bloggers together every Saturday to share the color PINK!

Have a piece of cake!

 

Happy Birthday Pink Saturday!

Love, Shelley and Debbie

It's Happy Hour!

When happiness is a day's work done and it's time for an hour of fun!

By Mermaid Debbie

It's Happy Hour somewhere! Happy Hour, also known as Cocktail Hour, has it's roots in the Prohibition Era (1920-1933) when the 18th Amendment and the Voldsted Act were passed. Alcohol consumption was banned and people began hosting their own "cocktail hours", also known as "happy hours", in speakeasy's (illegal drinking establishments.)

Happy Hour can also be traced to a term used by the United States Navy in the 1920s, "Happy Hour" was slang for a scheduled entertainment period on board a ship, before dinner, during which boxing and wrestling bouts took place; this was an opportunity for sailors to relieve the stress accumulated during the long periods at sea.

Happy Hour became a (legal) civilian term, commonly used in the 1960's. People would gather in the hour before dinner at bars and restaurants for drinks and appetizers. Most establishments ran "Happy Hour Specials," in which drinks and snacks were discounted during that hour.

Please see below, a compilation of some of the most popular, classic cocktails through the years.

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Bourbon Cocktails...

A Manhattan cocktail can be made two ways: Sweet or Dry.

Manhattan (sweet)

1 jigger (1 1/2 ounces) Bourbon or rye whiskey
1/2 ounce sweet vermouth
Dash of Angostura bitters (optional)

Stir with cracked ice; strain into glass. Add a cherry.

Manhattan (dry)

1 jigger (1 1/2 ounces Bourbon or rye whiskey
1/2 ounce dry vermouth
Dash of Angostura bitters (optional)

Stir with cracked ice; strain into glass. Add a cherry.

 

Mint Julep, the official drink of the Kentucky Derby

Begin by making a simple syrup.
Make more than you think you will need for your gathering.
It will keep in the refrigerator.

Simple syrup
Bourbon
Mint leaves
Angostura bitters
Crushed ice

Simple Syrup

Boil one part water with two parts sugar until it has a syrupy consistency. See, it really is simple!

In a tall glass, muddle a few mint leaves with a dash of Angostura bitters. Add a tablespoon of simple syrup and fill glass with crushed ice. Pour Bourbon almost to the top. Garnish with mint leaves.

Sip slowly. This drink is potent! Serve with a short straw

Note: Choose a high-quality bourbon for the best results

 

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Gin and Vodka Cocktails...

 Why don't you slip out of those wet clothes and into a dry martini? ~Robert Benchley

Classic Martini

2 1/2 oz gin or vodka
1/2 oz dry vermouth
A green olive or lemon twist for garnish

Shaken or stirred? That is the question!

Shaken: Pour ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with 5 or 6 ice cubes. Shake for 30 seconds. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with an olive or lemon twist.

Stirred: Pour the ingredients into a mixing glass filled with ice cubes. Stir for 30 seconds. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with the olive or lemon twist.

Gin and tonic is a refreshing classic. You can't go wrong with this one!

4 cubes ice
2 ounces gin
4 ounces tonic water (diet tonic can also be used)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 lime wedge

Place ice cubes in a cocktail glass. Poor gin, tonic water, and lime juice over ice. Stir and garnish with lime wedge.

Tom Collins

2 ounces gin
Juice of ½ lemon
¼ ounce simple syrup or 1 teaspoon super fine sugar
2-3 ounces soda water

Layer ingredients over ice in a short highball glass, otherwise know as a "Collins glass." Garnish with a cherry, lemon, lime, or orange slice.

Special note: Make this a "skinny" cocktail by using 1 package of stevia instead of sugar or simple syrup.

Screwdriver

The Screwdriver, the simplest of all the cocktails was first referenced in the October 24, 1949 issue of Time magazine. The article read, "In the dimly lighted bar of the sleek Park Hotel, Turkish intelligence agents mingle with American engineers and Balkan refugees, drinking the latest Yankee concoction of vodka and orange juice, called a 'screwdriver'."

The drink reportedly got its name because American petroleum engineers in Saudi Arabia secretly added vodka to small cans of orange juice and stirred the mixture with their screwdrivers. Who knew?!

1 jigger (1 1/2 ounce) vodka
orange juice

Put ice cubes int a 6 ounce glass. Add vodka; fill with orange juice and stir.

 

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Scotch Cocktails...

Rob Roy or (Scotch Manhattan)

1 jigger (1 1/2 ounce) Scotch whiskey
1/2 jigger (3/4 ounce) sweet vermouth
Dash of angostura bitters

Stir with cracked ice. Strain into cocktail glass; add a twist of lemon peel.

Rusty Nail

1 jigger (1 1/2 ounce) Scotch
1/2 jigger (3/4 ounce) Drambuie
lemon twist for garnish

Pour ingredients into a cocktail glass and stir; garnish with lemon twist

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Rum Cocktails...

Mary Pickford

The Mary Pickford cocktail was reportedly the favorite cocktail combination of the silent picture star of the 1920's.
Hence the name!

1 jigger (1 1/2 ounces) light rum
1 ounce pineapple juice
1/2 teaspoon maraschino liqueur
1/2 teaspoon grenadine syrup
1 maraschino cherry

Combine the rum, pineapple juice, maraschino liqueur, and grenadine in a shaker half-filled with ice cubes. Shake well, strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a maraschio cherry.

Rum Swizzle

Juice 1/2 lime
2 1/2 ounces light rum
1 teaspoon sugar
2 dashes bitters

Mix in a glass pitcher with lots of crushed ice. Stir vigorously until the mixture foams. Serve in double Old-Fashioned glass.

Special note: For a "skinny" version, substitute 1/2 package stevia for 1 teaspoon sugar.

Cuban Mojito, from Havanah, Cuba

This is the orginal Mojito recipe that Hemingway loved.

1 teaspoon powdered sugar
Juice from 1 lime (2 ounces)
4 mint leaves
1 sprig of mint
2 ounces white rum
2 ounces club soda

Place the mint leaves in a Collins glass. Squeeze the juice from a cut lime over it. Add powdered sugar and gently smash the mint into the lime juice and sugar with a muddler. (or use the back of a spoon) Add crushed ice, rum and stir. Top off with club soda. Garnish with mint sprig.

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Dessert Cocktails...

Stinger

1 jigger (1 1/2 ounce) brandy
1/2 jigger white creme de menthe

Shake well with cracked ice and strain into glass.

Alexander

1 part fresh cream
1 part creme de cacao
1 part Southern Comfort or gin or brandy

Shake with cracked ice and strain into cocktail glass

Grasshopper

3/4 ounce fresh cream
1 ounce creme de cacao
1 ounce green creme de menthe

Shake with cracked ice or mix in electric blender; strain into glass.

It's your favorite bar, the genius of its barman... the hum of the friendly crowd unwinding at the magic hour, when nothing pleases a Happy Hour fan... like a (Southern) Manhattan can!
~ From an advertising booklet by Southern Comfort

The Mermaids ask that you please drink responsibly! Always use a designated driver. Mermaids are not pretty swimming on their lips!

View all of our recipes

Lake reflections: Feathered friends

By Mermaid Debbie

I used to have pet ducks. I have actually had two different pair at different times. My first two were Harpo and Groucho. The last, Bob and Bing. They were the big, white barnyard variety who couldn't really fly. Ducks poop every two minutes and are easy prey to, in our case, raccoons. Other than that they make lovely pets. In each case, the end of their lives was very sad and tragic, but the memory of them is something I cherish. In fact, the best gifts my husband ever gave me were those ducks!

He came home from work one day with a tiny, peeping box in his hands. Out popped two fluffy little bundles of joy! Really, it was our most romantic moment in over 25 years together. I know that might not sound like much to some of you, but to me it was perfect! While I was falling in love with them and keeping them safe, fat, and happy in the house for their first month of life, Joel was busy building them their own compound in the yard. They had a house that was a miniature version of ours, and he surrounded it with an electric fence.

Harpo and Groucho bonded with me as "Mommy". They peeped and peeped, and ran to catch up with me, stumbling over each other. I loved to lay down with a towel on my stomach, (for obvious reasons) and we all three took a heavenly nap. I just couldn't believe how lucky I was that I had ducks sleeping on my tummy. If I could guarantee their safety, I'd have ducks now.

I was beginning to be known around here as "The Duck Lady of Liberty Lake." These guys put on quite a show. As they got bigger one of their favorite activities was to swim with me in the lake. It was fun to play with them in the water. They quacked and dipped in and out of the water, joyously flapping their wings. It was so cute! Just like children, after much excitement during playtime, they got sleepy. I laid on my air mattress and let my left arm float in the water. Harpo floated next to me, nestled between my arm and the mattress; his head resting on my shoulder. Groucho climbed on to my stomach and get this...He laid on his back, with his head right next to my face, methodically moving his feet in a swimming motion. He even snored! We caused quite a commotion when a boat went by.

Who knew that ducks could be such wonderful, loving pets? I miss my guys!

We cherish our memories and none more than those of time spent on our favorite bodies of water! We love to tell our stories and we love to hear yours! Do you have a lake memory that you would like to share? Contact us!

Whistle while you work

By Shelley Hepler

People don't whistle much any more. It's seems to be something from the past. Snow White and her Seven Dwarfs did. Bing Crosby whistled and trilled in several of his movies. So did Harpo Marx, both on and off the screen.   

What do you think you hear someone whistling? I think it's charming; it conjures lightheartedness, joy, delight, and contentment. I know I whistle when I'm feeling yippy-skippy. I remember my dad used to whistle when he was working in his shop. It made me happy hearing him working away, doing what he enjoyed.

I get frustrated with those who find whistling irritating. Some say it gets on their nerves or it interferes with other music. I think it's one the happiest sounds I know! To me whistling just seems like a natural thing to do. I have always done it and probably always will, even if it does sometimes provokes a frown from those around me.

It's well known that whistling is a pick-me-up and promotes feelings of happiness. It is impossible to be miserable and depressed while whistling. Try it and see. In this respect it has the same effect as smiling. Put a broad smile on your face then try to be depressed. You can't. The two simply don't go together.

It's our Birthday!

We are celebrating our third year of inspiring, dreaming, risking, and adventuring! We are looking forward to many more years of breathing life into your dreams, encouraging you to follow your bliss, and celebrating you when you succeed.

Happy Birthday to us
Happy Birthday to us
Happy Birthday dear Mermaids
Happy Birthday to us!

 Thank you to each one you, our faithful readers and followers of both our blog and e-zine! We have made special friends with so many of you and we think you are just AWESOME!

This month our blog friend, Beverly of How sweet the Sound will celebrate the third birthday of PINK SATURDAY! We have made so many of our new friends and contacts through our connection and participation in PINK SATURDAY!

Please visit our Mermaids of the Lake online women's magazine! We would love to have you see the fun we have working and playing together as best friends! This May/June issue is:

Dive into the thrills of Vintage!

Cherishing memories and things from our past is an important part of who the Mermaids are. We delight in reusing old or forgotten things, making them new again! The retro recipes, old-fashioned styles, collections of things we love, and the telling of past times are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to sharing how much we thrill with things vintage! Also in this issue, we honor our mothers and grandmothers who have gone before us, forging the way to help form who we are. We honor our fathers and grandfathers as well. They have played an important role in establishing our place in the world, giving us a sense of history and family pride.

~Mermaids Shelley Hepler and Debbie Nania

Grandma Ellen: Sweet, kind, funny and strong

By Mermaid Debbie

I feel very fortunate to have had two very special Grandmothers, each unique and fabulous in their own way. I cherish every single, wonderful memory!

My Grandma, Ellen Boyes was above all else… kind. Kindness is huge in my book! I never once heard her say anything negative about anyone. She was not a gossip, and I respected that about her. I'm fairly sure she thought things that were not so pretty about some people, but she refrained from expressing them.

Grandma was the daughter of Norwegian Immigrants, who came on the boat through Ellis Island while her mom was pregnant with her. They settled in Bowden, North Dakota, a small farming community. Grandma had a total of seven children. One baby died shortly after birth. In around 1942 or 1943 she and her husband, my Grandpa Richard Boyes, packed up their five children and moved across the country. They settled in Cheney, a small town in Eastern Washington. Their children were John, Glenn, Margaret, Joanne, and my mom, Phyllis. She was the youngest, at two years old. Five years later they had another boy named Lynn. I was named Deborah Lynn after my uncle.

My Grandpa Richard died when I was ten and my brother, eight. It was our first experience with death. I can still remember Grandma saying goodbye to him, her love of all those years.

Grandma was a wonderful cook, baker, gardener, mom,and grandma. She was a working woman, as well: a cook in the cafeteria at Eastern Washington University. My brother and I loved visiting her there and being treated to that college food of piles of mashed potatoes, Swiss steak and gravy. We secretly thought she looked funny in her hair net, but were proud of the way she was loved by the students and all of her co-workers. I have a memory of seeing her standing in the huge kitchen, stirring a giant kettle of mashed potatoes, taller than me. She was so strong!

Speaking of strong… she used to braid my hair so fast and tight that my eyes became slanted, with the pulling. I was ten years old and looked like I had a face lift! Worse yet, it was always after a bath and a rinsing of my hair with vinegar, which she insisted was necessary to maintain healthy, shiny hair. My hair was squeaky clean and smelled awful, but it sure did shine! Grandma had long, auburn hair that she coiled up in a bun. I'll never forget the shock of seeing her hair fall past her shoulders as she took it out of the hair pins. I had no idea that Grandma's hair was long. I thought it just naturally coiled into that bun!

Grandma wore dentures. My brother John and I never tired of asking her to... "Take out your teeth, Grandma, Pleasssssssssssssssse?!" She would say no and then do it for us anyway. We were amazed and bragged about it to our friends. "My Grandma can take out her teeth!"

She was also a good sport. John and I used to stay with her all the time and she put up with our constant bickering with humor. She used to say, "All right… quit your arguing and go to fighting!" That was enough to stop us, at least long enough to ponder what the heck that meant? Another favorite of hers when we were arguing was, "Silence in the courtroom! The judge is eating peanuts!" I have no idea where that came from, but we sure did hear it a lot! He and I also used to argue about who would get the privilege of sleeping with Grandma. It was cozy and felt special, but mostly it was so much fun to watch her get up out of bed in the morning! She had read somewhere that it was important to get the circulation going before you got out of bed. So, she would stick up both of her legs, rotate her ankles a couple of times and very quickly…swing her legs to the side and POP out of bed!!!! It was amazing!

Grandma had a peculiar habit of sticking her tongue out, just a little bit, when she was concentrating on her embroidery or crocheting. I used to say, "Grandma, you are sticking out your tongue." As a child, I had learned that sticking out your tongue was not nice! She did it all of the time, and I felt the need to remind her most of the time. One time, as my family was pulling away from the curb, after spending the week with her, she stood at her door and stuck her tongue out as far as she could at me. That gesture was especially for me, and I realized that she was being funny. From that day forward, every time I left my Grandma, she would stick her tongue out at me, and I would do it back.

I miss her. Writing about her makes me happy and a bit sad; as I wipe away the tears and count the years that she has been gone from here but never far from me.

My Great Grandmother's hands

By Debbie Nania

"Your Great Grandmother made this," I was told. She worked on it for weeks and weeks, her hands never idle. "Idle hands are the devil's playground." Those strong, farm-weathered hands created this masterpiece of colorful, practical beauty; the same hands that soothed the fevered brow of her dying child and wrung the neck of a chicken, doing what she had to do. I close my eyes and try to picture this woman whom I never knew. I imagine her hands, connected to her heart, always moving and making the most of every tiny piece; washing and pressing, over and over the fabric of her family's life.

The dresses, aprons, bonnets, coats, and flannel shirts; even the curtains…sewn with love, worn soft by time and hard work; all pieced together by my Great Grandmother's hands. Nothing goes to waste. "Waste not, want not."

I am honored. I lovingly place the beautiful quilt across the back of my sofa, wondering if she is pleased that I am now the caretaker of her work of art. I gaze at it and ponder her life, her wishes, and dreams; this woman whom I never knew, but whose DNA is part of me. Would she remember every piece; the tiny dresses, her husband's shirts, her little boy's coat? Would each faded print remind her of the hard work, heartache, joy, and most importantly, love?

All of her children are with her now, together forever. Love never dies. I believe it and I will forever cherish this treasured gift created by my Great Grandmother's hands.

Debbie's Great Grandparents, Hattie and Eugene Morman James

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Advertise on one or more of our ad pages. They are swimmy!

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What we need from you:

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Special features of this awesome advertising option:

• Individual ads will be featured by random rotation on the slide show on the Home Page of the magazine.
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• Direct link to your website, blog, Etsy shop, etc...

Terms of Advertisement:

• Price: $100
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Got questions? Contact: Chrissy Dunham, Advertising and Promotions Director,chrissy@mermaidsofthelake.com regarding ad submissions and questions.

 

It's our Birthday!

We are celebrating our third year of inspiring, dreaming, risking, and adventuring! We are looking forward to many more years of breathing life into your dreams, encouraging you to follow your bliss, and celebrating you when you succeed.

Happy Birthday to us
Happy Birthday to us
Happy Birthday dear Mermaids
Happy Birthday to us!

Come on over to our e-zine and see what we are all about! In this issue of Mermaids of the Lake we are celebrating our Birthday by celebrating our love of  Everything Vintage!