30 Days of Beverages - Day 23 - Citrus Bonanza!

Day 23 brings you two drinks!!! One is compliments of me (and another of my brother's recipes) and the other is compliments of the weeone who hates to be left out of happy hour! Is it odd that my 7 year loves a good happy hour? If so, you can blame it on my mother - yes, the same woman who claims "there's never enough vodka" and is an addictions counselor!!! When the weeone was pretty small, my parents would include her in happy hour. She'd get an acrylic wine glass full of cranberry juice and little bowl of puffy cheetos to share with Pap (my dad). She's loved it ever since. Rarely are drinks of any sort (milk included) poured in my house where she doesn't say "Cheers!".

So, this afternoon, something amazing happened. Since I started my 30 days of beverages all of my friends hound me about when I'm going to have them over for the drink of the day. I've told them all the same thing - get your butt over here and I'll mix you a drink. So far - no one's taken advantage of my "bar-a-pa-looza" event...that is, until today.

I was on my way home from the Astros game when my phone rang. It was my friend Sherri asking what plans I had for this evening. "None at all!" I replied. She wanted to come have the drink of the day with her husband, Will, and their new Kindergartner, Zoe. My reply? "Come on!"

I was so excited to have someone to drink with - finally, I would not appear to be a raving lush!

So, the Sakson family joined the weeone and I for Happy Hour tonight, followed by dinner at my fave little mexican dive, Don Jose's. It was a blast all around.

The upside of this for you? 2 drinks. I made Orange Crushes as the drink of the day, but the weeone also made homemade lemonade for herself and Zoe! So just for today, one for you and one for the kids.

Sherri took over the camera duty...she was excited to photograph "the process".

It turns out that what Sherri really wanted was an "action shot", so here it is...are you amazed yet? What you should be amazed at is all the stuff on my refrigerator and kitchen counter!!!

The end result? A tangy refreshing cocktail that is PERFECT for the next time you're poolside..

Orange Crush

(compliments of my big brother, Doug)

1 1/2 shots orange or citron vodka

1 shot triple sec

3 ounces orange juice (fresh is best!)

2 ounces Sprite or Ginger Ale

Mix it all, garnish with orange slice and serve. Serves 1.

The Weeone's Lemonade

2 lemons, juiced

3/4 cups sugar

water to taste

Juice the lemons and add the juice to a pitcher. Add sugar and then water until the taste is perfect! Serves 2-4 cups.

30 Days of Beverages - Day 20 - Mary, oh Mary!

I first fell in love with Bloody Marys in college. There was something about the spice, the heat, the tomato and the hair of the dog that made them very desirable. My first Bloody Marys consisted of a Bloody Mary mix, vodka and little piece of celery sticking out.

Over the years, I've upgraded my Bloody Mary recipes. I'm still known to use a GOOD mix from time to time (I like Red Eye's Horseradish is my fave!), but the best Bloody Marys are still the ones that start with tomato juice and build up the flavors until you get that spice and depth of flavor that calls you back again.

This Bloody Mary is best served with a pickled green bean as the garnish, but I was out, so I didn't garnish at all. You can salt the glass or not and garnish with you favorite Bloody Mary side item....enjoy!

Terri's Bloody Mary

6 oz tomato juice

1 1/2 ounces vodka

1/3 - 1/2 teaspoon prepared horseradish

2 teaspoons lime juice

1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce

4 shakes of Tabasco (or more if you'd like!)

3 turns of a pepper mill

Mix all ingredients, pour over ice and garnish with a pickled green bean. Serves 1.

30 Days of Beverages - Day 19 - South Side!

Let's start with this....yes, I know that I'm 4 days behind. Vacation does things like that to you. =) I tried to keep up, but some days were just not possible and some days I just didn't wanna. So, we'll stay a little bit behind.

Today, an interpretation of a favorte cocktail from the Zig Zag Cafe in Seattle. Nope, never been there, but I came to it via a cocktail recipe book and thought it sounded awfully good. I'm a sucker for a recipe that includes orange, lemon and mint! It's a bit shocking we haven't had a mojito yet this month!

South Side Fizz

1 slice orange

1 slice lemon

4 large fresh mint leaves

1/4 ounce gin

1/8 ounce Cointreau

4 ounces Champagne brut or sparkling wine brut

In a shaker, muddle the citrus clices, mint, gin, and Cointreau. Shake vigorously with ice. Stain into a chilled 6-ounce sparkling wine glass and top slowly with the chilled bubbly. Serves 1.

30 Days of Beverages - Day 18 - Boat Drinks

As many of you know, I've been on vacation since the end of last week. The weeone and I spent last Saturday and Sunday on the Chesapeake Bay onmy brother's big boat, Me & Mrs. Jones. We arrived back at the boat last night after spending a few nights in Lancaster, PA. So, in honor of our time on the Chesapeake, I thought we should salute Boat Drinks - one of my favorite Jimmy Buffet songs. =)

The day we arrived my sister-in-law, Colleen, introduced me to a new-to-me drink, Twisted Tea. It starts with a Sweet Tea Vodka and then you add iced tea and lemonade to your liking. For instance, last night I had the Sweet Tea Vodka with just lemonade - ala Arnold Palmer. There's several variations....so far every one I've had has been good. Really good. So good there's a trip to Spec's in my future when I return home.

30 Days of Beverages - Day 17 - The Morning After

There are lots of old sayings about the morning after a night of drinking. Everyone knows a little "hair of the dog" will help a hangover and in Texas we're told that Menudo is the ultimate hangover cure. I've always felt that some good cheesy enchiladas help...or anything greasy for that matter. Those that drink the day after in hope of a moment's relief from the headache, queasy belly or exhausting dehydration from a night of "too much" need look no further than a bottle of bubbly.

For the morning after try a Corpse Reviver. Corpse Revivers are a morning after drink made to snap the bleary-eyed back to attention. I've read that this particular drink recipe is based on that from a Ritz Paris classic. It has an air of licorice without being to licorice-y (is that a word?). Try it the next time you are spending quality time with your bathroom tile. =)

Corpse Reviver No. 2

1/2 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 1/2 ounces absinth, Pernod, or other pastis, chilled

2 ounces Champagne brut or sparkling wine brut, chilled

2 real maraschino cherries for garnish (optional)

2 sprigs fresh thyme for garnish (optional)

In a shaker, combine the lemon juice, absinthe and Champagne and shake virgorously with ice. Strain into 2 chilled 2-ounce cordial glasses. If you like, place a maraschino cherry and thyme sprig in each glass to awaken and round the anise-heavy tipple. Drink it while it's cold.

Serves 2.

30 Days of Beverages - Day 16 - Sweet!

For the past 5 years or so the trend toward fancy-schmancy flavored martinis has been on the rise. Generally I steer clear, but as you saw with the Key Lime Pie Martini, sometimes you come across a winner! So every now and then I'll hear about a martini that sounds so good that I can't resist....Day 16's drink was just such a cocktail.

I really thought this would be a sweet drink, but was pleasantly surprised to find that it was not particularly sweet and was absolutely delish! I don't think this is one of those cocktails that you could drink all night, but one or two to finish an evening would be divine!

Without further ado....let me present....The Snickertini -

It all started with this -

And one of these -

And ends up looking like this -

YUM!

Snickertini

recipe compliments of my big brother, Doug

1 1/2 shots Vanilla Vodka

1 shot Frangelico

1 shot Godiva Liqueur

Mix with ice in a cocktail shaker and strain into a prechilled glass. Garnish with bite sized Snickers.

Enjoy!

30 Days of Beverages - Day 15 - You asked for it...

When I posted the sangria by the pool the other day, I mentioned that I really like to make my own white wine sangria. It's true. I do. I got a recipe years ago from my mom's friend Mabeth, so in my little world it's always been know as "Mabeth's White Wine Sangria". I have no idea where the recipe originated and frankly, it doesn't matter to me. It just good.

The first time I drank this sangria I was at a wedding shower for either my friend Ellen or Sally, who is Mabeth's daughter. Several of us were all drinking it and at some point in the evening this group of girls that I'd grown up with and I all sat on the edge of the fireplace giggling and having a good time when we suddenly look up and saw a beer can move. Yep, move. That only sent us further into uncontrollable laughter. My father finally revealed to the group of us that there was actually a bug under the empty beer can....but this sangria will always be known as the drink that made me think a beer an could dance. Consider yourself warned.

I started with a good array of booze and fruit...

First you have to marinate the fruit in the hard liquor and sugar.

Marinating is an overnight event, so plan in advance on this one (although I've done it as little as 4 hours and had success).

I generally serve this in a big pretty glass container, but this particular night we were headed to a pool party that was a farewell for some friends who are moving to Indonesia, so I needed to use something "poolside friendly", hence the plastic iced tea jar! It's great to have some cut fruit for the individual glasses as well!

Mabeth's White Wine Sangria

1/2 cup Cognac
1/2 cup Grand Marnier
1/4 cup sugar
1 lemon
1 lime
1 orange
4 bottles dry white wine
1 quart ginger ale

Mix the cognac, grand marnier, sugar and the sliced fruit and let sit in the refrigerator overnight.

Combine fruit mixture with the wine and gingerale and serve over ice.

Enjoy!