Drumroll, please. I got Cookie’s DNA test results back yesterday! This funny mutt of mine is half schipperke (called it!) and half mixed medley. The mixed side includes dachshund and Australian koolie, which explains the rest. Cookie is a smart, ornery schipperke with a koolie’s spots and herding habits, topped off with floppy dachshund ears.

My imagination is running wild. How did this creature come to be? I see her mother as an elegant, purebred black schipperke living in a posh Tulsa suburb. Her dad? The handsome, spotted, charming gentleman next door. The Don Draper of dachshunds, if you will.

Six years ago, on a warm spring evening, they snuck off to share a plate of spaghetti and watch the sun set. One thing led to another and now I’m sharing the couch with their clown daughter. It was all meant to be.

I made these kombucha cocktails last night under Cookie’s supervision. She loves cauliflower, but shows no interest in kombucha. I can see why. Kombucha is a fermented tea flavored with fruit juice. It has some spunk, which I love, but it’s not for everyone. The fermentation process makes it slightly carbonated and adds a trace amount of alcohol. It’s relatively low in calories, about 80 per 16-ounce bottle.

GT’s Kombucha is the brand I’m most familiar with. Their gingerberry flavor is my favorite, followed by ginger and strawberry. I buy it at health food stores for three to four dollars per bottle (one bottle is enough for about three cocktails), but you can make your own kombucha if you’re feeling adventurous.

I’d been curious about kombucha cocktails for a while, but it wasn’t until Jeanine posted her ginger kombucha cocktails that I decided to try it. The other night, I poured some vodka and ginger kombucha over ice and topped it off with a big squeeze of lime. It tasted similar to a classic Moscow mule, just less sugary. Sold! Then I tried it with gingerberry, which I liked even better. My male taste tester preferred the regular ginger flavor.

I’m sure that Moscow mule traditionalists are grumbling at the substitution, but hey, sometimes mixes are better than the originals. You can serve your kombucha Moscow mules in fancy copper mugs if you want to make these seem more proper. Either way, they’re super simple drinks for warm summer nights.

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