Champagne Lemonade

You need to make this cocktail for your 4th of July parties! This is definitely one of the best drinks I have made in a while. It tastes like summer in a glass, well that is if summer tasted like champagne and lemonade in a mason jar. It’s perfect for a hot summer evening. The lemonade makes the drink tangy and refreshing and the champagne adds a bit of delightful sparkle. Best of all, it is so, so easy to make! You could definitely use store-bought lemonade, but I’m a fan of the homemade agave nectar sweetened variety. I like to keep it on the tangy side, but using agave makes it easy to adjust the sweetness very easily. Using agave also means you don’t have to wait for water to boil and simple syrup to cool, which means you will enjoying this delicious beverage all the faster!

Champagne Lemonade

• 1 bottle VERY chilled brut sparkling wine (cheap stuff is fine)
• 3 cups VERY chilled fresh squeezed lemonade (my favorite recipe is below)
• berries/fruit of choice (fresh or frozen will help keep it chilled)

Instructions

1. In a large pitcher (big enough to fit 6 cups) combine the sparkling wine, lemonade and 2 large handfuls of fresh berries. Lightly stir to mix. Serve immediately.

 

Agave Sweetened Lemonade

• 10 large lemons, juiced(should yield about 3 cups of juice)
• 1/4 cup agave nectar
• 3 cups water

Instructions

1. Combine lemon juice, agave nectar, and water in a large pitcher. Mix will to combine. Place in fridge and allow to chill.

Thirsty Thursday: Blackberry Sparkler

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone celebrating today and Happy Thursday if you’re not. Thanksgiving is one of my all-time favorite holidays. Regardless of how hectic and crazy the day might be, there is something kind of nice about sharing, eating and drinking with your friends and family. Whether or not the family fights have started yet, it’s never too early to think of cocktail time. I really think delicious libations are key through getting through the day. It doesn’t matter if your family is out of a Norman Rockwell painting or you all put the ‘fun’ back in dysfunctional, a good cocktail can help everyone survive the day.

I threw this drink together with just a few things that I had on hand. The limoncello was a last-minute, impulsive addition. It was sitting there in the fridge and looked lonely. I figured it would be rude not to use it. It was a perfect addition. A little hint of citrus from the limoncello and orange liqueur was the perfect complement to the blackberry. Letting the berries macerate and get all friendly with the liqueurs is essential. If you have a lot of people over or think it might be a long night, double or triple the measurements as needed!

Blackberry Sparkler

• 8 blackberries, quartered
• 1/4 cup triple sec
• 1/4 cup limoncello
• Angostura bitters as needed
• 1 bottle (750ml) Champagne, Prosecco or other dry sparkling white wine, chilled

1. In a small nonreactive bowl, combine the blackberries, triple sec, and limoncello and let stand for about 15 minutes to let the fruit macerate.
2. Take 4 Champagne flutes and add 1 or 2 dashes of bitters to each one. Spoon 4 pieces of marinated blackberry into each flute. Top with Champagne and serve immediately. Serves 4.

Thirsty Thursday: Champagne Margaritas

This is one of those drinks/recipes (do drinks have recipes?) that I stumble across and got really excited about because it combines two of my favorite things (margaritas and something sparkling (champagne, water, prosecco, I’m not picky)), but then I get really disappointed in myself, because I didn’t think of it first… We have already established my lack of creativity earlier this week, so let’s just move on and talk about the booze.

Wait, before we talk about the booze, I have a public service announcement:  Please don’t use real champagne in these. I know the name says ‘champagne’, but if you use real champagne in these you are really just wasting a lot of money and delicious champagne. You shouldn’t do that. If I wanted to be totally accurate these should be called ‘sparkling wine margaritas’, but that didn’t have the same ring to it. You should use prosecco or cava or real any sparkling wine. There is no need to be fancy here.

All that being said, these are delicious. Absolutely delicious. Extremely drinkable. Maybe a bit too drinkable.

Champagne Margaritas
From Rick Bayless.

• The finely grated zest (colored part only) from 1 lime
• 1 cup fresh lime juice
• 1 cup Cointreau
• 1 cup 100% agave silver tequila
• Superfine sugar, if needed for adding sweetness
• A half lime for moistening the glass rims
• Coarse (kosher) salt
• 1 bottle chilled brut Champagne or other sparkling wine

1. In a pitcher, combine the lime zest, lime juice, Cointreau, tequila and sugar if you are using it. Cover and refrigerate until cold, at least 1 hour).
2. Just before serving, strain the mixture to remove the zest, and pour enough salt into a saucer to cover the bottom. Rub a lime half over the rim of each champagne glass and upend into the salt to crust it lightly. Pour about 3 ounces (about 1/3 cup) of the tequila mixture into each glass, fill the rest of the way with Champagne or sparkling wine and hand to one of your lucky guests.

Thirsty Thursday: Champagne Punch

This a delightful little concoction I came up with over the weekend. It was light, fruity and perfect for an 80/27 degree Easter day. I really liked the fruit combination I used ( strawberries, raspberries, and mandarins), but you can use absolutely any fresh fruit you have on hand. My only suggestion would be to let it sit a little bit before serving. The first glass I had was only so-so, but the second glass was a million times better. It definitely improved as the flavors had some time to mix together.

Champagne Punch

• 2 750 ml. bottles of champagne/sparkling wine/cava
• 1/2 cup amaretto
• 1/2 cup orange liqueur/triple sec/cointreau
• fresh fruit (I used sliced strawberries, raspberries, and mandarins)

Pour the amaretto and orange liqueur into a large pitcher, add fruit and top with champagne. Let sit about 15 minutes before serving.

Thirsty Thursday: Champagne Jello Shots

Make these. Make them right now! Seriously, you need these at your New Year’s party. Everyone will love them.

They can also make a cheap (and easy!) addition to any party. You don’t need to use fancy, expensive champagne for this. I used a 7 buck bottle of prosecco from Trader Joe’s. No one will know the difference.I  also used frozen strawberries only because the fresh ones looked gross and were a dollar more.

Champagne Jello Shots (from That’s So Michelle)*

• 1 box of jello (the big 8 serving size box) – (I used peach)
• 1 1/2 cups boiling water
• 2 1/2 cups champagne/prosecco/sparkling wine
• strawberries (optional) (I used frozen)
• 2 oz. plastic or glass shot glasses – (I used 10 ounce plastic glasses and filled them half way-ish and got 12 shots.)

1.  Mix your jello and boiling water in a medium sized bowl, stirring until jello powder has all dissolved. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
2. Stir in champagne and refrigerate for another 30 minutes or until jello has just slightly thickened.
3. Set aside about 3/4 cup of your jello and champagne mixture for creating the foam top and put it back in the refrigerator. 
4. Pour jello and champagne mixture into your shot glasses, then drop a few sliced berries in each glass.
5. Refrigerate overnight. Before serving whip your 3/4 cup left over jello until it becomes white and fluffy and resembles foam. Spoon “foam” on top and serve.

* – NOTE: I did not find step 3 and the 2nd half of step find necessary. My jello shots foamed up when I poured them into the cups (maybe because they are bigger than shot glasses?) and stayed foamy looking overnight.

Thirsty Thursday: Thanksgiving Edition

This drink doesn’t really have a name. It was created 3 Thanksgivings ago in a kitchen in a student dorm in London.

It was a particularly memorable Thanksgiving. We had a lot of friends on our graduate program from various parts of the globe and not all of them had the opportunity to celebrate the world’s greatest holiday. My friend and fellow American, Lauren, and I were determined to celebrate regardless of London’s numerous attempts to thwart our plans. One meal for nearly 25 people required nearly a month of planning, numerous tube and taxi rides, trips to parts of London we never knew existed before (I swear we ended up in Wales at one point) and even mailing in supplies from the States. Now add on the fact that there is only one kitchen big enough for that many people and it only has one functioning European sized oven (the 2nd oven was replaced the next day… perfect timing by the management) and Lauren and I were both dealing with a lovely case of meningitis. It was pretty epic adventure and it will always remain one of my favorite Thanksgivings.

So, it was under these circumstances that this cocktail came about. It was partially out of necessity and partially out of what we had left on hand. You most definitely need a cocktail after dealing with all that. You might need a cocktail after dealing with family the kitchen all day. I would highly recommend this little concoction, as it turned out perfectly and has become a little Thanksgiving tradition of mine.

The Perfect Holiday Cocktail

• 1.5 ounce vanilla vodka (or regular vodka for a less sweet version)
• 1.5 ounce berry juice (like cranberry, raspberry, or even cranberry-raspberry if you’re feeling wild)
• champagne/prosecco/any kind of sparkling wine

Pour a shot of vodka and a shot of cranberry juice into a champagne glass and fill glass with champagne. Top with raspberries or cranberries if desired. Serve and enjoy your Thanksgiving!