With things so slow in the travel industry right now, I’m receiving more samples than ever and many are quite unusual. I especially love when I have ingredients to create recipes with and am trying to do at least one of those a month. Cocktail in a bottle… It’s always nice to keep it simple in the summertime. There are times when I like to fuss with cocktails when sitting outside with friends, but most of the time I just want to pour a drink. Alize has a selection of fruit vodkas, a few of which I’ve tried before . The latest is Alize Mango . Forget the words “flavored vodka,” Alize makes it taste more like fruit with vodka. The mango is subtle and I almost taste a little peach in there. It’s fruity without any phony or super sweet taste. This is a bottle you want to keep in the fridge and, depending on how strong you like it, just add a little ice, water, or soda. If you want to fuss a little more, put it in a blender with the ice and you’ve got an instant frozen drink. SOS...

This is the first July in a long time where I’m not featuring tequila. With July 24 th officially National Tequila Day, as well as my birthday, it’s been a standard column. This year, I feel that I’ve been doing a lot of tequila year long and have been receiving a lot of other yummy products to try. I guarantee you’ll be thirsty and hungry by the time you are done reading this!   Speaking of my birthday… Baked Cravings is a bakery in New York City that is peanut and tree nut free. They ship some of their treats nationally, including their Cupcakes in a Jar. Their feature flavor is Cookies & Cream and it arrived at my door in time for my birthday breakfast. I am never one to turn down cake for breakfast and this one was utterly amazing. Although cookies & cream would not have been my first choice, this one was perfect. The chocolate cake was deep and rich and the cream was sweetened just enough. Baked Cravings has many other flavors of their Cupcakes in a Jar. Y...