Lowcountry Lemonade

For our "adult beverage" I found this pretty blue beverage on Pinterest.  It comes from Wedding Color.   I didn't measure just poured into my very nice beverage dispenser.

A couple of quarts of lemonade, good stuff please
Peach Schnapps
Blue Curacao

It was refreshing and not overly sweet or sour.

Strawberry Lemon White Sangria

Sorry my blog has been so neglegted this summer.  Between VBS pre, set up and running it, it has taken 3 weeks and I didn't do much in the kitchen.

I originally spotted this sangria weeks ago on Pinterest.  It came from the blog Kitchen Tready.  We finally made it on Saturday and it was great!!

2 lemons, thinly sliced

1 apple, cored and sliced

1 cup strawberries, hulled and sliced lengthwise

1 750 ml bottle white wine (we used Cupcake Sauvignon Blanc)

1/2 cup white rum

4 cups 7 up or Sprite (not diet)

Add the fruit to a large pitcher.

Pour the wine and rum.  Stir well.

Cover and place in the refrigerator for 4 to 5 hours.

Remove from refrigerator and add the lemon lime soda. Add a few fresh pieces of the fruit and ice to your glass.  Strain and pour sangria into your glass.

Enjoy!

Blue Wine Spritzer

I make these every July 4th and yesterday it was perfect.
3 cups chilled Chardonnay (I used Chablis)
2 1/4 cups chilled club soda (this time I used mandarin orange seltzer)
3/4 cup blue curacao

Mix all ingredients in a pretty pitcher and serve over ice.

Deadwood Tea

This is what we served last night at our Murder at the Deadwood Saloon party.  We found the recipe on a display at a liquor store.

1 part Mailbu Passion Fruit
2 parts iced tea
1 part lemon lime soda

Serve over ice in a tall glass. Garnish with lime

We still have some Passionfruit syrup left over from our Mardi Gras Party so we subbed white rum and added some of the syrup. 

Pat O'Brien's Hurricanes

There are ALOT of recipes for Pat O'Brien's Hurricanes online and they are all different.  So we kind of combined a couple to make it to our tastes.

4 oz amber rum
2 oz passion fruit syrup
1 oz pineapple juice
1 tbs maraschino cherry juice
1 oz lemon juice

Orange slice and cherry for garnish.

Marcel made them by the gallon and served them over ice and added a splash of club soda to lighten it up a bit.  These were really good!!!!

Watermelon Splash

I have been a behind in my blogging.  A few weeks ago Marcel made this for me.  It is from Sandra Lee's Cocktail Time book.

Makes 1 drink

3 oz lemon lime soda

1 1/2 oz watermelon flavored vodka, Smirnoff

1 splash cranberry juice

Ice Cubes

In a chilled glass, combine lemon lime soda, vodka and cranberry juice.  Add ice.  Stir to combine.  The first night he made it in a regular glass.  I happen to think it looks prettier in a martini glass.

This tasted just like a watermelon Jolly Rancher.

Lemon Cream Martini

Saturday night Marcel had me pick a recipe out of my Cocktail Time book from Sandra Lee. I picked this Lemon Cream Martini.

Makes 1 drink

Lemon Flavor drink rimmer, Stirrings (I just used plain yellow sugar)
1 oz Vanilla Smirnoff
1/2 oz Lemon Liqueur
Ice cubes
1 splash lemon lime soda

Wet the rim of a chilled martini glass with water. Dip the rim in the lemon flavor drink rimmer. In a cocktail shaker, combine vodka and lemon liqueur. Add ice; cover and shake until very cold. Strain into prepared glass. Add lemon lime soda.



This was a very good drink. It is smooth and not lemony harsh.

Cucumber Melon Martini

A neighbor and fellow foodie had me be a guinea pig recently. We were talking about light and refreshing drinks and the ingredient cucumber came up a couple times. Well after that night I kept thinking about my absolutely favorite scent at Bath and Body works, Cucumber Melon. Just the smell of it brings me mentally back to my second honeymoon in Key West.

Anyway I went searching high and low for a cucumber melon beverage and didn't really find one so I kind of used a couple. So here is what I came up with.

2 oz Smirnoff Melon Vodka
1/2 oz simple syrup
2 or 3 cucumber slices (peeled and seeded)
Club soda

Muddle the cucumber in a cocktail shaker.
Add a cup of ice.
Add the vodka and simple syrup.
Shake vigorously.
Strain into a martini glass and top with a splash of club soda.

You also garnish with a chunk of cantaloupe.

White Peach Sangria

This comes from my Bobby Flay, Boy gets Grill cookbook.

1 bottle white wine (Spanish table wine)
3 ounces brandy
2 ounces triple sec
1 cup orange juice
1 cup pineapple juice
2 ounces simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water brought to a boil for 2 minutes in a small saucepan) and cooled (leftover syrup can be stored in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator for 1 month)
3 ounces white peach puree (peel peaches, remove pit and puree in a blender with a small amount of water)

Fresh peaches, oranges, lemons, limes and apples sliced

Place all ingredients in a pitcher and stir to mix. Refrigerate at least 8 hours or up to 48 hours.

Serve over ice.

Pink Cadillac Margarita

I am making this to go with dinner tonight. I am not a fan of tequila drinks. I haven't tried one in years because they always taste harsh to me. Anyway I am going to give it another try. I got the recipe for Pink Cadillac Margarita from the true margarita source, Jimmy Buffet.

PINK CADILLAC MARGARITA

1.5 oz. Margaritaville Last Mango™ Tequila
.5 oz. Cointreau®
3.5 oz. Margaritaville® Margarita Mix
Splash of cranberry juice

Combine ingredients in a shaker. Shake and pour into a margarita glass with ice. I even bought a set of Margarita glasses.

Creamsicle Martini (strawberry)

I picked this recipe out of my Sandra Lee Cocktail time book. I would say this tasted "fair", because I couldn't find the exact ingredients.

1 oz vanilla flavored vodka
1/2 oz strawberry nectar
1/2 oz strawberry liqueur
1 1/2 oz half and half
Fresh strawberry sliced (optional)

Fill cocktail shaker with ice. Add vodka, nectar, liqueur, and half and half. Cover and shake vigroursly.

Strain into a chilled martini glass. Garish with a sliced strawberry, optional.

My first problem was that the liquor store did not have strawberry liqueur, well they did but I didn't want to pay $45.00 a bottle for top shelf stuff unless I knew I would like it. I am sure I would...LOL So they suggest the Strawberry Pucker.

Second problem was strawberry nectar. I know I have seen all sorts of different nectars at Publix. Well they only had pear, mango and apricot. So I quickly searched on my phone for a strawberry nectar recipe. All it is is fresh strawberries, apple juice and a bit of water.

The first one I mixed actually was so bland I tossed it. In the strawberry nectar, I added sugar until it sweetened up and added less strawberry pucker. The second drink was way better.

I did a little peaking around online and found strawberry nectar on netgrocer.com and I may try and look for it at Sweetbay. I also found that BOLS does make Strawberry Liqueur. I will try another liquor store for it.

Berry Encore

Here is another recipe from my Cocktail Time book by Sandra Lee. This one was much better than the PB&J Martini.

1 ounce blueberry vodka, Smirnoff
1/2 ounce orange liqueur, Grand Marnier
1 splash sweetened lime juice
ice cubes
fresh blueberries

In a cocktail shaker, combine vodka, orange liqueur, and lime juice. Add ice; cover and shake until very cold. Strain into a chilled glass. Garnish with fresh blueberries.

PB & J Martini

Marcel bought me Cocktail Time by Sandra Lee for Christmas. The book is broken up into months and I figured I should try something from January. I love fruity martinis so here is the PB & J Martini

Ice cubes
1 oz Raspberry flavored vodka, Smirnoff
1 1/2 oz hazelnut liquer
1 1/2 oz purple grape juice
Fresh raspberries

Fill cocktail shaker with ice. Add all the ingredients and shake vigorously. Strain into chilled martini glass. Garnish with raspberries.

Ok this is way funky even for my taste. It is good, but I don't think I could drink more than one.

Sparkling Cranberry Punch Non-Alcholic

2 quarts cranberry cocktail juice, chilled
1-6 oz can frozen pink lemonade concentrate, thawed
1 liter Club Soda, chilled


In a large punch bowl, combine cranberry cocktail and lemonade concentrate.
Stir in club soda.
Serve immediately.

Notes: if you want to get a head start, mix this up without the soda water and add that right before serving. Also, ice is not required if you have all of your ingredients chilled. If not, you can make cranberry juice ice cubes.

Serves 25

Rose' Sangria

I have made this in the past, but not since I started my Foodie Blog. I found the recipe in my Bobby Flay's Boy Gets Grill cookbook. This book is awesome!!

I will be making this for our Adult Halloween Party next Saturday. The original recipe serves 4 to 6, but I will be doubling in a couple times over.

1 bottle (750 ml) dry rose' (750 ml is equal to 4 cups just in case you need to double it is easier to figure it out in cups)

1 cup orange juice, preferably fresh
1/2 cup brandy
1/2 cup triple sec
1/4 cup simple syrup or more to taste
3 cups sliced oranges, lemons, limes, apples, blackberries or blueberries
Ice optional

Combine the wine, orange juice, brandy, triple sec, and simple syrup in a large pitcher. Taste for sweetness, adding more simple syrup if needed. Add half of the fruit and refrigerate for at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours.

When ready to serve, strain out the fruit that's been sitting in the pitcher and discard. Stir in the remaining fruit and serve the sangria straight up or over ice. I prefer it over ice.

Key Lime Pie Martini

I found this recipe a while ago and knew I had to try it.

1 oz vanilla vodka
1/2 oz Licor 43
1/2 oz Ke Ke Beach Key Lime Liqueur
1/4 oz Key Lime Juice, I used Nellie & Joe's Lime Juice

Crushed Graham Crackers

Fill a shaker with ice.
Add vodka, Licor 43, Ke Key Liqueur and lime juice
Shake
Wet the rim of your martini glass and rim with cracker crumbs.
Strain the mix into your glass

I took pictures, but will add them tomorrow.

Pink Lemonade Spritzer, adult version

Pink Lemonade Spritzer, courtesy of Semi Homemade Magazine

Makes 6 servings

1/2 cup citron vodka
1 1/2 cups pineapple juice
4 tbs Country Time pink lemonade mix
1 can (12 oz) lemon lime soda
Garnish: pink sanding sugar
8 cups of ice

In a large pitcher, combine vodka, pineapple juice and lemonade mix stirring well. Add lemon lime soda stirring well.

In a shallow dish, add a small amount of water or lemonade spritzer. In another small dish add the sanding sugar. Dip rims into the liquid mixture then into the sanding sugar to garnish if desired.

Divide between 6 glasses. Pour lemonade over ice and serve immediately.

California Hurricane

Thanks Kristen for the other idea! I just came across this one:

California Hurricane
2 cups dark rum
2 cups light rum
1 cup triple sec
46 oz pineapple juice
32 oz orange juice
6 oz grenadine syrup