strawberry infused vodka- finished!

Remember a few weeks ago when I posted about making strawberry infused vodka??? Well, it is finished, and we finally tried it!

Yes!!! Strawberry infused vodka!

I saw it on the blog for Washington Green Grocer, a produce delivery service here in DC, and thought the idea was too good not to try.

I was at TJMaxx and saw this giant canning jar for just $5.99, and thought it was too good a deal not to buy. So buy I did, and then stopped at the liquor store around the corner from my house. I knew I had strawberries at home.

Since the jar was a bit larger than I had anticipated using, I didn't fill it all the way up. I used one container of strawberries, hulled and cleaned, which filled the jar about a third of the way.  When I poured in the vodka (Polish, of course!), it filled about halfway up. Then I closed up the lid, made sure it was sealed tight, and tucked the jar away for safe-keeping!



The jar snoozed in our liquor cabinet (which is under this table!) for three weeks before we cracked it open. I will admit, that I never peeked at it at all during that time- apparently we drank wine those weeks  ;)  The blog post indicates that you should shake the jar a few times a week. Ooops, forgot about that! Oh well!

As you can see, the strawberries lost their color, and we had pink vodka!

(I think I need a nicer looking pitcher...)

As suggested, we drank it with lemonade, and it was delicious! We really enjoyed it. 

This was such a simple thing to do, with great results. Vodka is such an easy thing to infuse, and we are debating what to try next! I'm thinking seasonal, so perhaps cranberries and limes?  What sort of vodka would you like to infuse? What do you think we should try next??



oh Krakow, you have my heart

Ten years ago yesterday I flew to Krakow, Poland, where I stayed for the next (almost) two years, where I was in grad school. I just came across this gem, the first email I sent, after I arrived, August 2002- 

-----Original Message-----

From: lexilooo

Sent: Thursday, August 29, 2002 4:01 PM

Subject: 








Hello everyone~~



So here I am in Krakow. I wanted to say hello and give you my address as 

well! I can't quite believe that I am really here, I think I never thought 

the day would actually come! The flight was uneventful. I actually met a 

girl at Logan Airport who was coming here as well. Random, yes, I know, but 

random is my middle name! The in-flight meal on the way to Zurich was 

chicken with some sauce, but I felt like a grown-up when they served me 

wine! We had a long layover in Zurich, waiting for nearly six hours. Finally 

the connection to Krakow was made, and we got here about 3pm. That in-flight 

meal was some kind of stroganof, which was interesting. We were picked up at 

the airport along with four other girls who had arrived from Chicago. They 

are all nice. Jessica, the girl who flew with me, lost her luggage, so that 

wasn't such a nice thing to have happen. Hopefully they will find it soon. 

They brought us to the dorm, which is hardly East Hall! It should do though, 

for now, I suppose! My roommates name is April, she seems very nice. There 

may just be internet connections in the room...we are trying to figure it 

out. You know how happy that would make me! Haha. After that, we went on a 

tour and saw some places, like Cloth Market Hall and many churches. It's so 

pretty. I'd been here before, of course, but maybe I forgot how magical it 

is. We went to dinner, and I had keilbasa! It was marvelous. Then we went 

and sat outside at this outdoor restaurant, and listened to some live music. 

The atmosphere was excellent, lots of people around. Everything seems to be 

going well so far. We have our own bathroom in our suite. There are two 

other girls, one from Philadelphia and one from Australia. The four of us 

share a bathroom. We have a window that overlooks the road, and I have the 

bed next to the window, with a windowsill for my picture frames! Yay. 

Classes begin next week. Well, the Polish classes anyway. The other main MA 

classes don't begin until October. The people seem very nice. As it turns 

out, I do have a phone number, but I don't know what it is. I will have to 

send it out at a later date, but I will give you my address now. There will 

be more updates to come...I'm sure you all remember the emails from 

Luxembourg! I miss you all, and let me know what you are up to.




Love, Lexilooo



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~







two years of great fun, great friends, great vodka.

oh, and a Master's degree too. 

adventures of a lifetime, they most certainly were.








Krakow, I'll love you for always. 

where in the world is Lexi?

So after reading everyone's posts, I've decided to participate in Where in the World Wednesday, hosted by Miss Classy in Philadelphia. I've been thinking about it for a while, but always forgot until it seemed like it was too late, but here I am!

This is me in Zakopane, Poland, which is a resort town on the Polish-Slovak border. When I lived in Krakow, we went there several times, as it was only about two hours away and such a neat place. I really adore it. It lies at the foot of the Tatra Mountains and is a ski resort town. They've hosted several ski championships in past years too!

There are two streets that intersect and all along those streets are amazing restaurants and booths selling all sorts of wonderfulness. People sell handmade wooden toys, knit sweaters, blankets made of sheepskin and wool, mittens and hats, slippers and everything else you can think of.

Including puppies!!!


These puppies are called owczarek podhalanski, or Tatra Mountain sheepdogs. They are the most adorable and wonderful dogs you've ever seen, and as you can see, I totally fell in love with this little guy! Also, they are huge. In that photo, the puppy I am holding was about six weeks old! They grow up to be larger than St. Bernards! I want one in the worst way. In a perfect world, I'd have an owczarek and a corgi :)

I remember the first time I saw them- there was a group of teenage boys selling these puppies. They had a few of them in boxes and you could hold them. In my not so great Polish, I asked the cost. I almost died when the boy told me that he was only $75! If I were to find one here, they'd probably be a few thousand dollars, as they are a very rare breed in North America. Of course, if I were Polish, and not a "rich American," I could bargain, but as soon as they hear my accent, it's all over! On another occasion, a Polish friend's sister bargained one of the boys down to around $25! (of course, these puppies are technically too young to leave their mother, and don't have the proper papers to come into the U.S., but that's a whole other story!)

So one of the days, one of these Polish puppies will be mine :) Yes, Steve is aware of my obsession with them!

Did you ever fall in love with anything crazy while abroad?

Bole-what?

I just won a gorgeous Boleslawiec pasta bowl from ebay for $10.58!

This is what it looks like, looking down on it. 

Hooray!

I love Boleslawiec, it reminds me of Krakow  :)