Day 4: Unleaded Cocktails Anyone?

Here is a recap so far of the 12 Days of My Mug and Me:
Day 1: Favorite Coffee Shop Drink
Day 2: Anyone Care for a Cuppa Tea?
Day 3: Eggnog Shake and a Smile

Happy Mid-Week Everyone and Welcome Snow to Minnesota! I hope you have been having a great week and enjoying the Mug and Me series.

Today’s Travel Mug use involves channeling your inner bartender. My inner what you say? How many of you have ever dreamed of creating a nonalcoholic cocktail that is named after you? Shirley Temples are still a big hit for young and old! Don’t be shy, today is all about creativity and customizing the perfect nonalcoholic cocktail for your holiday gift giving.

What’s in the Mug?
A cool, crisp, and refreshing unleaded cocktail – “Cranberry Winter Breeze”.  Ok, so I just made that name up but that is part of the fun. This has been a holiday favorite in my family for years for those that like their cocktails on the nonalcoholic side.

Cranberry Winter Breeze (Nonalcoholic)

Ingredients:

¾ Cranberry Juice

¼ Sprite (Any sparkling soda would work, whatever you have on hand)

Ice Cubes

Place ice cubes into the Travel Mug. Pour in the Cranberry Juice first, followed by the Sprite, then stir to mix. Enjoy!

Did you know?
Our Minnesota neighbor, Wisconsin is the leading producer of cranberries in the United States. Massachusetts is the second larger producer.

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cranberry)

Great Gift Idea
Create a customized nonalcoholic cocktail kit for your friends or colleagues. Include the following, An RU Motivated Travel Mug, Customized Nonalcoholic Cocktail Recipe named and created especially for your friend or colleague, and Ingredients for them to make their one of kind nonalcoholic cocktail. This one of a kind gift will be a big hit!

Good luck with your customized nonalcoholic cocktails. If anyone has any great nonalcoholic cocktail recipes to share send them my way I would love to hear about them.

Have a great day. Looking forward to tomorrow and Day 5!

Susan and T-Mug

(Pictures: Ingredients for the Cranberry Winter Breeze,  Making the festive beverage, Enjoying the Customized Nonalcoholic Cocktail at my desk – Cheers! Yes, that is a Mickey Mouse lamp)

Day 3:  Eggnog Shake and a Smile

Here is a recap so far of the 12 Days of My Mug and Me:
Day 1: Favorite Coffee Shop Drink
Day 2: Anyone Care for a Cuppa Tea?

Today’s travels take me to a very well known fast food burger joint known all over the world for their golden arches and french fries – McDonald’s.

Every year around this time they come out with a very special shake. I could not wait to take My Travel Mug on a little field trip. Because not only does the Mug work great with hot ingredients it can also keep things mighty cold.

What’s in the Mug?

A wonderful combination of ice cream and holiday cheer – A McDonald’s Eggnog Shake.  If you love Eggnog then you must go out this holiday season and enjoy one, it is fantastic!

Did you know?

Ben and Jerry’s website has some fun games to play when you need a quick stress reliever. There website: http://www.benandjerrys.com is fun, festive and just all around makes you smile.  Check out the Cow-A-Bunga game and get your surf on dude!

Great Gift Idea

Ice cream lovers beware this is a ‘cool’ gift idea. An RU Motivated Travel Mug to eat their ice cream out of and keep it cold, a pint of their favorite ice cream, homemade Hot Fudge Sauce, and brightly colored sprinkles. Check out the recipe for homemade Hot Fudge Sauce you will never buy it in the store again!

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Hot Fudge Sauce Recipe

Bon Appétit | March 2005

Yield: Makes about 2 cups

Ingredients:

1 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup light corn syrup
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
6 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) chocolate, chopped

Preparation:
Bring cream and corn syrup to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Add all chocolate and stir until melted and smooth. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm Hot Fudge Sauce over medium-low heat just until heated through before serving.)

Source: (http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Hot-Fudge-Sauce-231751)

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That’s a wrap for Day 3! Day 4, will bring in a bit of holiday cheer.

Until then…

Susan and T-Mug 

(Pictures: Travel Mug “I am Motivated to Defend My Ideas”  outside McDonald’s,  Keeping my Eggnog Shake cold transferring the shake into My Mug, McDonald’s Eggnog Shake, Enjoying a delicious holiday treat!)

Welcome back and welcome new readers! Glad to have you along on my adventures. I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Here is a recap so far of the 12 Days of My Mug and Me:

Day 1: Favorite Coffee Shop Drink

Today’s Travel Mug use is an old classic. If you or your colleagues are not coffee lovers but enjoy a good cuppa tea than today is just for you.  I actually enjoy both, my dentist is never very happy with me because I enjoy drinking the top three bad beverages, soda, coffee, and tea. But I say life is short- viva la beverages!

Ok I digress; we were talking about tea right?

What’s in the Mug?

A wonderful Peppermint Tea from Trader Joe’s.  I would not have believed it if I had not tried the Trader Joe’s tea but it is wonderful. They have great quality tea for a great price. My personal favorite is the Earl Grey but tis the season for Peppermint so I enjoyed a nice deviation from my normal routine.

Did you know?

• The Irish consume more tea per capita than any other group in the world
• In one day, an experienced tea picker can collect around 70 pounds of tea. That’s enough tea to make 14,000 cups.
• There are four main types of tea: white, green, oolong, and black

(Source: http://www.the-color-of-tea.com/tea-facts.html)

Great Gift Idea

An RU Motivated Travel Mug, several boxes of your gift recipient’s favorite tea, and for an extra special treat add in a tea cozy. What is a tea cozy? It is a wonderful invention that looks like a toaster cover. But it works very well, it is placed around a pot of freshly brewed tea and it keeps the tea warm for at least an hour.

Thank you for tuning in for Day 2, tomorrow it is time for a road trip.  See you tomorrow!

Susan and T- Mug

http://lanterngroup.com

(Pictures: Travel Mug “I am Motivated to Defend My Ideas”  with Tea Cozy and Trader Joe’s Peppermint Tea,  Close Up of the Travel Mug and Peppermint Tea, the Gift Package add in more boxes of tea, and Grand Finale – Travel Mug, Tea Cozy, and boxes of tea, yum!)

Day 1: Favorite Coffee Shop Drink

Welcome to Day 1 of the 12 Days of My Mug and Me series.

I enjoy finding the perfect gift for my friends and business colleagues but sometimes I get stuck on what to get them.  So this series is geared towards sharing economical, fun, and imaginative ideas to help you with your holiday gift list.

How many different ways can you use your Travel Mug? Well during the next 12 days you will discover 12 different ways to use your Travel Mug some conventional and some not so conventional.

Now get ready to travel with My Mug and Me, as we discover great gift ideas for you and your colleagues this holiday season.

What’s in the Mug?

Today it is a delicious Mint Mocha Coffee from Dunn Bros Coffee. I splurged today and had it with whip cream – Yum! The Travel Mug keeps the coffee nice and warm and the lid prevents me from having any embarrassing whip cream moments on my upper lip.

Did you know?

When you bring in your own mug to your favorite coffee shop you are not only helping the environment by reducing the amount of paper cups, coffee clutches, and lids you use but you are also limiting the temptation to go for the BIG coffee drink saving you money and calories.

Great Gift Idea

An easy and great gift for any coffee lover is an RU Motivated Mug and a gift certificate to their favorite coffee shop.  If you think your colleague is really cool then add in a pound of their favorite coffee beans, chocolate covered coffee beans, and a big red bow!

I hope you have enjoyed Day 1, I wonder where my adventures will take me on Day 2…Check in on Monday and see!

Susan and T-Mug

(Pictures: Susan driving off to the local Dunn Bros with her “I am Motivated to Defend My Ideas”  Travel Mug in hand, Outside Dunn Bros Coffee, Travel Mug with Mint Mocha Coffee and  a Dunn Bros Gift Card, Closer look at the yummy whip cream!)