The Adult Version Smoothies

Smoothies have become popular for the quick and easy avoid eating lunch crowd. But these wonderfully adult (alcoholic) versions are better for winding down your day rather than slipping and sipping in at work. These are also great for the holidays. Serve up your guests something a bit different - a nice twist on old glass of wine, or a favorite holiday drink. After dinner? Substitute for dessert. Card games? Perfect. Bring out the chips (both poker and potato). These are open-ended recipes in that the real amount of alcohol that you add is entirely up to your tastes.

Ginger Ale & Wine Icee:

1 can (12 oz.) ginger ale
½ cup your choice wine (Zinfandel works well)
Ice (start with ½ cup for more liquid, 1 cup for more ice)

Sweeter wines work better than the dry wines. The ginger ale gives this a carbonated kick. Add ingredients to smoothie maker/food processor. Add ice and blend until desired consistency is reached. Enjoy. Simple. Heady. For an even more intoxicating experience, increase the amount of wine used.

Apple-Orange Liquor Smoothie

1 cup apple juice
2 scoops of vanilla ice cream or orange sherbet
Splash of orange liquor of choice (more or less to taste)

The use of orange sherbert, or any flavored sherbert (raspberry sherbert has a nice kick), adds more flavor punch than plain vanilla ice cream. But some days, you just want something simple. Add, blend, enjoy. Warning: These can be addictive.

Kahlua Smoothie

Kahlua
2 scoops ice cream
dash of milk

Instead of mixing your Kahlua with milk, toss it in with some ice cream. Add milk to desired consistency. Add Kahlua to taste. Talk about a yummy freeze.

Want to take your Long Island Iced Tea on a nice hot stroll - blend it with ice - nice crushed beverages with tiny rocks..... Sex on the Beach? Same thing - crush it away. Cape Cod works well turned into an icee.

And don't forget to play with the alcohol and eggnog too..... Plus a scoop of vanilla ice cream to thicken it up.... Hmmmm.

All it takes is your favorite drink and some imagination and that smoothie maker (you know, the one you put away when using it as a diet aid didn't work). Just keep in mind - these certainly won't help with slimming your waist either.

Now if only I could come up with a way to work it with beer for the football crew?