Mixed Berry Margaritas and Roasted Chicken

We were so busy with our son and his new car this weekend that I never got around to posting a Friday Night Drink Demo. But just because I care so much about my fellow blog buddies, I have one for you today. No, I didn't make them this morning, we made them last night. However, they are full of healthful berries so I suppose you could have them for/with breakfast. Hey, I'm not judging you.....

I'm also going to share my recipe for delicious, roasted chicken. Unfortunately there are no pictures of it. After having my margarita, I forgot all about photographing our dinner!

Ready to begin? Here we go!

Mixed Berry Margaritas

First you'll need some frozen, mixed berries and

Tequila, Triple Sec, Whiskey Sour mix (you can sub sweet and sour mix or plain lemon or lime juice), sugar and ice (not pictured).

We used our Magic Bullet for this, but you can use a blender instead (I'm honestly not that impressed with the Magic Bullet). For each drink, add 1/2 cup crushed ice, 1/2 cup frozen mixed berries, 2 ounces Tequila, 2 ounces Whiskey Sour mix, 1 ounce Triple Sec and 2 tablespoons sugar to your Magic Bullet cup or blender. Blend until smooth. Pour into a salt rimmed glass and enjoy!

~Note~ If your berries are tart or you enjoy a sweeter drink, you may need to add more sugar. Also, if you are bothered by the seeds in the berries, you can puree them first and strain through a fine sieve.

Slow Roasted Chicken

If you spend any time on the recipe exchange at Allrecipes, you know how popular the recipe for Roast Sticky Chicken-Rotisserie Style is. It's a great recipe, don't get me wrong, I just happened to like mine better. My recipe is similar in that it also uses a dry rub, low oven temperature and long cooking time, but the subtle differences make for a juicier, more flavorful end product. If you decide to try both, let me know which one you like better. I'll give the instructions for making two whole chickens for easy comparison. Here's my recipe:

• 2 Three to 4 pound whole chickens
• 4 Tablespoons Onion Powder
• 4 Tablespoons Garlic Powder
• 4 Tablespoons Smoked Paprika
• 2 Tablespoon Ground Black Pepper
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 4 small white onions, quartered
• 8 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed

In a small bowl mix together onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, ground black pepper and salt. Remove 1/3 of mix to a separate small bowl or shaker and set aside. Remove any contents inside chicken cavities (giblets, necks, etc.). Rinse chickens inside and out under cold running water. Pat dry. Rub each chicken inside and out with 2/3 of the spice mixture. Stuff each cavity with 2 quartered onions and 4 cloves of peeled smashed garlic. Using heavy, regular sewing thread, tie both legs and the tail portion of the chicken together. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and place in a zip top plastic bag (one gallon size works well). Refrigerate until ready to cook (overnight if you plan ahead, a few hours if you're like me!).

Ready to cook? Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Unwrap chickens and place in a roasting pan breast side down (looks weird, I know, but it makes the breast meat extra juicy). Bake for 3 hours. Remove chickens from oven. Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees. Flip chickens over so that the breast side is up. Baste with pan juices and sprinkle with remaining spice mix. Return to oven for 40 - 60 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 180 degrees.

Let rest for 10-15 minutes before carving to retain juices.

~Note~ Sam's Club sells whole chickens packaged in pairs for a great price. I don't recall what I payed per pound, but the package of two was under $8. We used one whole chicken and a small portion of the second one for dinner last night. I shredded the rest and have more than enough to make chicken quesadillas another night.