My husband and I invested in a smoothie blender for the purposes of incorporating more fruits and veggies into our diets. We made our first batch this weekend — quite tasty, but definitely not perfect. Does anyone more experienced in the art of homemade smoothies have any wisdom they can share as we start to experiment with them?

It's time for another round of "name your favorite mixed drink, and how to make it". Or describe an outlandish, ill-considered, or random mixture and how it turned out.

Right now, I'm drinking an unnatural experiment made with odd drams to get rid of a couple of near-empties prior to moving.

2 oz. jack pine gin (freezer cold, local product, could use any botanical gin)
1 oz. peony baijiu (gift from a friend's visit to China)

Shake with ice, serve in a coupe glass with a very small amount of ice. It's good enough that I'll try making peony-infused vodka next spring.

[I don't usually enjoy mixed drinks because so many are too sweet - that's the spouse's domain. But some combinations of herbal, floral, spicy, bitter, or sour flavors work for my taste.]

Feel free to share what's working for you.