Flowers, Coffee and Chocolate Espresso Martinis

Here are a few ways to enjoy the spring flowers, coffee and a quick Chocolate Espresso Martini recipe. I hope they inspire!

1. Yesterday I cut some flowers from the Rhododendron and Forsythia trees in our yard and put some blooms in a vase in the living room, and a few smaller ones in a glass on the window sill in my office. I love looking up from my laptop and seeing the bright purple and yellow together.

The glass pictured here is a wine glass from Crate and Barrel with chalkboard paint for labelling. I use these glasses for herbs, and of course, we use them for wine and label them with nicknames involving curse words.


2. An everyday indulgence we enjoy is fresh brewed coffee at home with good quality beans we grind ourselves. We grind the coffee beans at night before bed and set up the coffee maker to brew for 6:45 a.m. It's so great to wake up to the aroma of freshly brewed java!


3. Those coffee beans are also useful as a garnish for our Friday night cocktail hour martinis! This Friday I bought a bottle of ChocoVine in Espresso flavor and added it to vodka for a martini.

ChocoVine is a brilliant combination of French Cabernet and dark chocolate that tastes a bit like Yoohoo!, but it isn't for kids. It's fairly strong actually, and since you don't taste the alcohol, it can put you down pretty quick, so be careful! A bottle is only about $10.

Here's how we use it to make a quick Chocolate Espresso Martini:

1. Chill your martini glass in the freezer

2. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and put two shots of ChocoVine with one shot of good quality Vodka.

3. Shake it like a bitch, strain it into your chilled glass, and garnish with a few coffee beans.

I usually only do one of these bad boys and follow it up with water or club soda. It's like drinking a dessert, so it's great for after dinner as long as you haven't had a few cocktails already because there is nothing sexy about stumbling around in your heels, ladies!

P.S. The blue martini glass is Rob's. I made it "manly" for him by putting a wine glass tag on the stem with an eyehook screw as the charm. My glass has a tag on the stem that says "Bride." Corny, I know. But I love them both!

Enjoy! xo