Tuesday, Aug 31, 2010 12:20 AM UTC

The Dora the Explorer cocktail

Made from things you probably bought for your kid, this is the new mother's little helper

By Mallory S. Langston

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Topics: Cocktails and Spirits, Kitchen Challenge, Food, Life News

Late at night, collapsed into bed, my husband and I lay quietly. We are exhausted, unable to have adult conversation. I startle when I hear him quietly and without warning ask, “In the episode ‘A Letter for Swiper’ what happens to the Special Delivery Bird?”

Without hesitation, I yell, “Her glasses break; HER GLASSES BREAK!!”

We laugh wickedly for half an hour trying to one-up each other with Dora the Explorer trivia. I’d like to tell you it gets kinky, but alas … I cannot. This is strictly a pissing contest. We are sincerely trying to determine who knows the most about our son’s favorite cartoon character.

It isn’t as if we don’t know how far we’ve fallen. We used to have arguments over the existence of God, women’s agency in Dickens’ novels, the healthcare crisis. We are today reduced to debating at length the route Dora takes to Abuela’s house. On the bright side, we’re learning a lot of Spanish.

Sí, por favor. Quiero más alcohol. Mucho más. Pronto!!

I came to my Dora fandom five months ago. My son, who was 6 months at the time, was throwing a classic YouTube baby meltdown and I was at the end of my rope. I put him in his baby swing, turned on the television, and tuned into Nickelodeon. He stopped crying. He giggled. I looked at him and then back toward the screen and I was introduced to Dora Marquez and her sidekick, Boots the Monkey. My baby looked up at me with a grin, the likes of which I had never seen before. He does this often when he watches Dora. He looks at me as if to say, “Mom! Did you see that? Hilarious!!” Each episode follows Dora and Boots as they embark on an adventure to find something, learn something, or help someone. Motherhood has been made easier by Dora.

Now, I’m thankful for the existence of Dora. But I’m also an adult and I want to cover my ears when I hear the Dora theme song for the third time in an hour. She invades my head while I drive, while I eat, and while I work. My dreams take place in Dora’s fantasy land where I have a monkey for a sidekick and I’m great at solving problems and I never hold a grudge. My mind turns to mush as I waste one more 22-minute time block finding out whether Dora will choose the right boat to take across the noisy river. Mama needs a drink.

I give you …

Deleite de Dora (Dora’s Delight)

Serves one

Derived from ingredients I had in my refrigerator, Deliete de Dora is a fruity summer cocktail that will quell the heat and heighten your senses. I will find out later tonight if it spices up Dora trivia. (For this recipe I used a small stemless wine glass, which was the perfect size for containing this drink. I also used a single-serve coffee press, although a cocktail shaker would probably work as well.)

Ingredients

1 standard shot glass of spiced rum
¼ cup apple juice
½ cup orange juice
1 tablespoon Grenadine cocktail syrup
¼ cup canned pineapple chunks and ½ cup of the leftover pineapple juice
¼ small apple, cubed
½ small orange, cubed, plus one thin slice
½ banana, cut in thick chunks
Ice

Directions

To begin, place the apple chunks, orange chunks, pineapple chunks and banana chunks into the coffee press. Next, pour the Grenadine syrup over the fruit followed by the shot of spiced rum and ½ cup pineapple juice from the can. Stir the contents of the coffee press and let stand for 10 minutes or longer. The longer you wait the fruitier the drink will be.
Press down the plunger into the carafe as far as it will go. The reason a coffee press works well for this recipe is that when it presses down on the fruit chunks the juice and small amounts of pulp are allowed to combine with the rum and create bountiful flavor.
At the bottom of your glass place a thin slice of orange and then cover with ice, as much as you prefer. Pour the juice contents out of the coffee press onto the ice. Add the ¼ cup apple juice and ½ cup orange juice, stir the contents of the glass, and you’re finished! Lo Hicimos! We did it!

If you have kiddos, simply eliminate the rum and give them their own fruit cocktail to enjoy. While they watch Dora. Again. Ay dios mio.

More Mallory S. Langston.

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The week in 10 pics

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Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
Credit: AP/LM Otero
Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
Credit: AP/Matt Rourke
A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
Credit: AP/Molly Riley
Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite
Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster
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Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield
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Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin
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The Dora the Explorer cocktail

Made from things you probably bought for your kid, this is the new mother's little helper