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.
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