Have I ever told you all that two of our six kids have the same birthday? Well, they do. And no, they are not twins. Ethan was born August 6th, 1991 and Trevor was born the same day, five years later. Ethan just turned 19 and Trevor, 14. We always fix the kids their favorite meals for them on their birthdays and sometimes we go out to dinner instead (I still fix their favorite meal a few days later). This year we took the family out to dinner and the boys chose Osaka, which is a Japanese steak house where a trained to do tricks with utensils chef prepares your meal on a large Hibachi grill at your table. Recently, Osaka opened another restaurant here and we'd been wanting to try it out. If you're in Tulsa, and like sushi or hibachi steak, this is a must place to dine. It's beautifully decorated, and the food, including a full sushi bar, is great.
We've dined at Japanese Steak houses for years and once took Michael, our oldest, along with 8 or 9 of his friends there for a birthday dinner when he was in 3rd grade. Here the two of us are after coming home from that birthday dinner to cut the cake. This is one of the rare pics of Michael making goofy faces. It's hard for me to believe he's almost 21 years old (teardrop(s)).
Ok, enough reminiscing. I start out writing about one thing and it conjures memories of similar, past times and next thing you know I'm writing about that. I brought up the whole Japanese steak house thing because when we do take our children out to eat there, they always order a (non-alcoholic) drink called Coconut Punch. This past trip to Osaka was no exception. The problem was that noone got their fill of the slushy drink this time. The saying "just a dab'll do ya" just won't do at all in this case, so I decided to try my own version of Coconut Punch and if I do say so myself, it is just as good as Osaka's. The kids and Shawn think it's even better. I kinda' agree ;-)
I've made this at least four times this month and since summer is finally and thankfully nearing an end I wanted to get this summery treat in one last time. I made a batch up tonight to share with them, and you. I even (sort of) measured everything out tonight so I wouldn't have to say a capful of this and two scoops of that plus a big plop of this with two handfuls of that, and now blend till smooth.
Nancy's Pink Coconut Punch
makes 2-3 good sized servings
Here is (pretty much) exactly what I do:
Ask (make) at least one kid to help get out ingredients and necessary equipment
then add about ( you really can't mess this up so don't worry about exact measurements...they aren't exact anyway)
5 oz Cream of Coconut
1/3 cup frozen, sliced strawberries microwaved for 15-20 seconds to soften slightly
1/2 Cup Rainbow Sherbet (lemon, lime, orange)
3/4 - 1 tsp Grenadine syrup
1/3 cup whipped topping, such as Cool Whip
2 cups ice
Combine all in a blender or food processor that will crush ice and blend until smooth or to the consistency you like. Serve in any glasses you want, but real coconut cups with real bamboo straws and cute cocktail umbrellas make it taste even better and look even better so that I can blog the end result.
I'm participating in
Pink Saturday
Flaunt it Friday at Shoestring Decorating
Just Something I Whipped Up
Make It For Monday
Toot Your Horn Tuesdays
Designs by Gollum for Foodie Friday
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
Finer Things Friday
Ultimate Recipe Swaps, hosted by Life as Mom
Food On Fridays, hosted by Ann Kroeker
Bargain Hunting with Laurie
Funky Junk Interiors
Hodgepodge Friday
Seasonal Sundays at The Tablescaper
Looks great, lovin' the coconut cups!
ReplyDeleteNancy, This sounds so yummy. The combo of coconut and strawberry must be delicious! I can imagine it smells great too.
ReplyDeleteWhat a darling picture! It is amazing how quickly our children grow up!!!! Happy birthday to your boys!
Yvonne
Sounds like a great refreshing drink for a hot summer day. I have a daughter and grandson that share the same birthdays...tomorrow, in fact. A happy birthday to your two young men. Have a great weekend, Nanc!
ReplyDeletelooks yummy!
ReplyDeleteNancy, this looks yummy and refreshing. You look like a teenager yourself! How can you have one 21 years old? LOL
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday to your sons! ~ Sarah
We have Benehana here in Cincinnati and another called Kyoto...they both have a great Habachi Shrimp, but Kyoto is Sushi too. They do a watermelon boat with sails of ti leaves filled with assorted Sushi..it's beautiful. Not sure how it tastes..I don't eat bait as TerryBradshaw of football fame says..LOL..but is sure looks pretty. My Jim and his Bro says I have no taste.
ReplyDeleteSounds wonderful Nancy! I love the picture of you and your son...so precious! Next time we are in Tulsa we will definitely go to Osaka...sounds so good and I especially will try the coconut punch! How fun are those coconut shell cups and the cute umbrellas! Happy Pink Saturday!
ReplyDeleteMiss Bloomers
Oh Nancy, this sounds wonderful and i have already c/p to my favorite files. Now, I have a rather stupid question. What is "Cream of Coconut"? Is it just coconut milk or something different to look for?
ReplyDeleteThis sounds yummy! And the coconut cups with umbrellas are so cute!
ReplyDeleteNancy, Back for a second "sip"! Happy Seasonal Sunday.
ReplyDeleteBlessings to you,
Yvonne
We love Japanese steakhouses. Our favorite has always been Kyoto. When our kids were little (they're now 18 and 20), we used to take them peanut butter sandwiches when we went there, as they didn't like what was on the menu. Now they laugh at the fact that they didn't like the food...because they love it.
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, that punch recipe sounds totally DELISH. I LOVE anything coconut, so I am definitely going to try this.
Thank you for sharing,
Patti
Nancy, that looks so good, and what a cute presentation! Love those coconut shell cups! Thank you for linking to Favorite Things Sat. laurie
ReplyDeleteI need one of these...it looks sooo tasty!! YUM!!
ReplyDeleteHugs to you,
Terrell @ Frou Frou Decor
Happy Pink Saturday, Nancy. Thank you for making Pink Saturday special, and for taking part in this day of celebration and thanks.
ReplyDeleteUm yum, this looks so pretty and cool and refreshing.
I'm still hoping to reach my goal of 200 comments by midnight tonight.
Oh Nancy, what a great post. We went through a period where we did a lot of birthday dinners at Japanese steak houses.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to be visiting so late. Thanks so much for being a part of Seasonal Sundays.
- The Tablescaper
hmmm! looks like so tasty! I'll try to make it soon.
ReplyDeleteIt's 7:15 am here and I wish I could make this RIGHT now!
ReplyDelete