My mother has a stellar memory bank for numbers & fun stories, so she’d often tell us her hilarious childhood stories as she drove us to school. However, not all the stories she told were her own; many of them were ours. One childhood story my mom frequently told was how I used to sing lullabies to my baby brother, but with silly lyrics that were reflective of my language acquisition at that age such as phrases on mowing the grass. A story my mom still loves to tell is how Toddler Tiffany used to absolutely love squatting down in the snow, grabbing a handful of it, & just eating it like it were a doughnut. I may have been born in the spring, but I swear my ethos/spirit animal is a beluga whale. Sad news for Adult Tiffany: there’s no snow in Southern California for me to eat. Adult Tiffany prefers winter over summer. Adult Tiffany thinks speaking in third person is really lame, but for some reason, is still doing it.

So, what about all of those summer recipes you keep posting then, you ask? Listen, you can’t fault me for capitalizing on the season, its fresh fruits, & great recipe inspirations that come with it. Just because I’m bad with heat, doesn’t mean I don’t love the recipes of the season! Now that I’m back from my holiday, I’m posting two new recipes. Since California is experiencing the worst drought in the history of recorded droughts, it’s not exactly wise for us to be participating in the Ice Bucket Challenge to raise awareness for ALS, however you can still do something to help spread the word & donate to the cause. You can dump pool water on yourself while you’re in a pool or ice water while you’re standing over an area of your garden that needs watering. What else can you do? Well, shoot, just make some ice pops or an iced tea, social media that thing, & head on over to ALSA.org to donate! No offense to the guy who came up with the challenge, but I’d rather do something useful with ice than to let it go to waste. Tired of ice pops & iced tea recipes, you say? How about sangria with boba instead?

With my love for boba & Two Buck Chuck, why not combine the two with some fresh fruit & juice for a delicious original concoction for your next Sunday Brunch? So, how do you trick your tastebuds into thinking you’re on a tropical holiday you ask? Well, follow the simple steps below. (Remember to hover over the images for captions.)