White Citrus Sangria

I have decided that this is going to be the summer of the sangria. Why, you ask?

I can't think of a single reason why not, so there you have it.

I have been reading and reading plenty of mouth-watering recipes for Sangrias lately. In order to give some structure to this obsession, I have made an important decision in the name of science. I feel I need to try them all out, and then decide which one is best. But then, I will have to make it several times, in order to be sure that it remains consistently the best. Right?

Come along as I check out some Sangria options.

This first one is a white wine, citrus Sangria. It's very light and the addition of fresh squeezed orange juice gives it a great flavor. However, if you are one (like me) who likes to dig in and eat the boozy fruit at the end of the glass, you may be disappointed. The orange slices are to die for, but the lemon slices aren't great snacking material.

Citrus Sangria
Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

2 large oranges
1 large lemon
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons Cointreau
l bottle Chardonnay

Slice one of the oranges and the lemon into 1/4 inch thick slices. Add them and the sugar to a pitcher. Muddle the fruit and sugar together until the sugar is mostly dissolved, but stop before the fruit is completely mutilated.

Juice the other orange, and stir in the orange juice, Cointreau, and wine.

Chill for at least 2 hours, while you think of a great toast for a perfect summer evening.

This can be poured over ice, if you wish.

kiwi lemonade

Believe me, I know it's one of those "first-world" problems to complain about too many kiwis. Especially right smack in the heart of what should be winter. (Although I hesitate to use that term, when it's warm and sunny and hasn't rained in weeks).

But the fact is, that in the past few weeks, we have had such an abundance of kiwi that I have sliced them up with breakfast, added them to my morning protein shake, put them in lunch boxes (slice in half and packed with a spoon), peeled a bowl full of them for the dinner table, and tried to offer them as an after-school snack. My kids love kiwis, but even they draw the line somewhere.

At any rate, as I started to make yet another kiwi strawberry smoothie, I was inspired. The kids love kiwi-strawberry juice. I love strawberry lemonade. Why not kiwi lemonade?

Why not, indeed.

It's delicious on its own, and it takes on a whole new level of irresistibility when a shot of vodka is added to your glass.

On a side note: In my grandmother's cookbook, the very few cocktail recipes call for a "jigger" of liquor, rather than a shot. Doesn't that sounds a bit like a work that shouldn't be used in polite company?

Whichever way you prefer to enjoy your kiwi lemonade, be aware that when you strain the kiwi, you won't get all of the fiber out of it. It is a bit thick, and some seed particles will make their way into the final product. These will settle to the bottom of the pitcher, so give it a good stir before pouring, and be prepared for a hearty beverage.



Kiwi Lemonade

1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (about 4 lemons)
5 kiwi fruits
5 cups water
1 cup sugar
vodka (optional)

Peel the kiwi and puree them in a blender. Pour the puree into a fine mesh sieve that is sitting over a bowl, and let the juice drain into the bowl.

Combine the kiwi juice, lemon juice, water and sugar in a large pitcher. Chill for a couple of hours, and enjoy!

If you want to add vodka, either add a cup to the pitcher, or if you prefer to keep it so it can be served either way, add a shot to each glass.

persimmon margaritas

For about four weeks in a row, I got persimmons in my Abundant Harvest box. I also got a little information, too.

There are two types of persimmons, fuyu and hachiya. The hachiya is heart-shaped, and the fuyu is shorter and more squat, and kinda looks like an orange-ish tomato.

The hachiya persimmon is very astringent, which means that if you try to eat it, your mouth will feel really dry, or like there is suddenly fur all over the inside of your mouth. This can be helped by letting it really ripen. And by ripe, I mean it should become something that you would think is really rotten. It should be so soft and mushy that if you break the skin open, the fruit could literally come pouring out.

The fuyu persimmon isn't nearly so astringent, but it does need to be really ripe before you try it out. It can be eaten with some amount of firmness left.

At any rate, I am not a fan of having my mouth feel like it is furry (go figure), and I am also not a fan of eating fruit that is pure mush.

So for me, the challenge is to try to find ways to enjoy the persimmons in other forms. Considering the fact that I have four bowls of persimmons in different stages of ripening on my counter, I need to find some great uses for them. I baked persimmon bread and muffins (recipes to come later...), and I quite enjoyed persimmon margaritas.  Mmm. It's a great way to take a drink that's reminiscent of a lazy hot summer day, and to give it some flavor of the season.

Persimmon Margarita 
 (from Imbibe Magazine)

1 3/4 ounces tequila
2-3 very ripe persimmons (either kind is fine, as long as they are thoroughly ripened)
1/2 ounce simple syrup (equal parts water and dissolved sugar)
1 ounce fresh-squeezed lime juice
ground cinnamon

Put the flesh of the persimmons and the simple syrup into a blender and puree until smooth. In a cocktail shaker, combine the tequila, 1 1/2 ounces persimmon puree, and lime juice. Shake well with ice, and strain into a glass (rimmed with salt, if you prefer). Sprinkle a pinch of cinnamon on top.

Peach Margarita

I think I mentioned a couple of days ago that I might need a couple of drinks to get me through the end of summer and my baby starting kindergarten. Well, despite today's post on margaritas, I would like to assert here and now that I am not drinking my miseries away. It just so happens that I had a couple of chances to make and enjoy some great fruity drinks.

When Life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

When life gives you peaches, make peach pie margaritas.

Let's assume for a minute here that you don't need all that butter and processed flour and sugar that is in a pie crust. We'll just skip over the crust, stir in some tequila, and consider it dieting.

We thought we would take advantage of the fact that the summer fruit trees are exploding and the prices are low on ripe fruit, and we bought an extra 20 pounds of peaches from Abundant Harvest. After canning most of them (to enjoy during the long winter months of citrus), and freezing some (for my morning smoothie), I still had a few left over. 

Peach margaritas are delicious. They beat the pants off of any sort of neon green stuff you mix with tequila. I am not one to ever turn down a real margarita mixed with Cointreau or Grand Marnier, but this adds a little summery twist that makes the margarita an amazing treat. This drink is basically just a standard margarita with some peach syrup mixed in. I got the recipe from How Sweet It Is, and I am heading back over there to try lots more of her stuff. Although she swears off vegetables, I think she has plenty to offer me. Like margaritas.

To make the peach syrup:

Make some simple syrup (boil equal parts water and sugar until the sugar is dissolved). Combine one cup of simple syrup with three peaches (that you peeled and chopped) in your blender. Puree until it is smooth.

You can use this syrup in the many of the same ways as the plum syrup of earlier this week.  (pour it one cupcakes, shake it with vodka, make a spritzer with club soda, and on and on).

But first, promise me you'll do this: Make the margarita. You won't regret it, and you'll have some peach syrup left over for less lofty goals.

 

To make the margarita:

Salt the rim of a glass and fill it with crushed ice. In a cocktail shaker, combine the peach syrup with 2 ounces Triple Sec or Grand Marnier, 1 1/2 ounces of tequila, 2 ounces lime juice (either fresh squeezed, or Rose's Sweetened Lime Juice in a pinch). The amount of peach syrup is up to you. I used about 1 1/2 ounce, since I didn't want the drink to be too sweet and sugary. I like a little bite to it. Also, if you use Rose's lime juice, it will make the drink a little sweeter than fresh lime juice, so you may want to scale back the peach syrup. Hey, it just means you can make more drinks in the long run!

Shake it all up and pour it over your ice.

Sit back, put your feet up, and say "aaaah."

Plum-Vanilla Syrup

My kids return to school a week from today. My baby is starting kindergarten, and I keep having dreams that the teacher has to come up to me and tell me it is time to leave, that I can't stay at school with him all day. It isn't pleasant. He is a ton of fun to have around, and I am gonna miss him. 

On the one hand, I don't want summer to end. Ever. I love taking the kids to the beach, museums, parks, gardens, and swimming pools. I love sleeping in. I love staying in pajamas well past noon.

On the other hand, if these kids lose one more pair of flip flops, or make one more mess that they don't want to clean up, or squabble one more time, I might lose my mind. It will be kinda nice to have them all gone, making their messes somewhere else for a few hours a day.

It might take a couple of cocktails to get me through the end of summer. Then again, it might take me a couple of cocktails to get me through the first day of school.

Either way, I better be prepared.

Lucky for me, I found this recipe for Plum Vanilla Syrup. It is a great way to hang on to these last days of summer. This delicious syrup is really quite simple... just vanilla simple syrup and plums. 

The possibilities for it are endless, though.

I used it to make a cocktail, by mixing it with vodka and club soda. You could make a bellini by adding it to Prosecco. Or a kid-friendly, homemade, dye- and corn syrup-free soda by just mixing it with club soda or sparkling water. I can imagine it poured over ice cream, or even pancakes, or drizzled over some toasted pound cake.

Plum-Vanilla Syrup

I got the recipe from The Farmer's Daughter, who happens to be one of the growers who contribute to my Abundant Harvest Organics box, and also blogs about what she does with the stuff she grows.

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

1 vanilla bean

8 ripe plums, chopped

First, slice the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds.

In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, water, and vanilla bean. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the chopped plums and simmer for another 5 minutes. 

Let it cool. Remove the vanilla bean, and pour the rest into a blender. Puree until smooth.

Now, have fun with it. I sure did!

strawberry lemonade

In a mad, desperate, last-ditch effort to use up all of our perishables before we head out to the great outdoors for a week, I went and bought a bunch of fruit. What?

I couldn't help it. I was driving past a farm stand on my way home from the beach, and the strawberries begged me to give them a decent place to live out their last days. So I bought a half-flat (see? Such restraint! Only a half-flat!)

I also happened to find a couple of bags of lemons in my hand as I handed over my hard-earned cash.

So what's a gal to do?

To quote the cute poster of a kitty-cat that hung in the nurse's office of my elementary school, "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!" (What a kitty has to do with lemonade is beyond me as much today as it was back in second grade while I lay there waiting for my mother to come pick up my pukey self).

Regardless of kitties and posters and second grade, I am feeling quite well these days and thusly interested in enjoying myself. Plus, life (by which I mean my own consumerism) gave me lemons. And strawberries.

Ahhhhhh.

Strawberry lemonade

1 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice (about 5-6 lemons)
4-5 cups water
1-1 1/2 pints strawberries
1 cup sugar

First, rinse, and hull the strawberries. Place them in a blender with about a half cup of water and blend until pureed.

Mix the lemon juice, strawberry puree, sugar and water in a large pitcher with ice. Taste and add more water as desired.

If you choose, you can add a shot of vodka to each serving (or if this is going to be an adults-only treat, add a cup of vodka to the pitcher). It makes a lovely way to relax after a long day of relaxing at the beach.



This post is linked to Cast Party Wednesday.

apricot martini

Okay, as promised...

Any time you make fruit jam without pectin, and you skim off some foam while it cooks, you can turn it into a fun little cocktail that you can enjoy to celebrate a job well done.

I learned this little trick from Allison at A Girl*A Market*A Meal. She did it with strawberry jam foam, and I have also done it with plum, orange, and now apricot.

Take your foamy, fruity sweet syrupy stuff that you saved while making the jam and pour it into a cocktail shaker. Add in an equal amount of vodka and a squeeze of lemon. Shake well and squeeze into a martini glass.

If you have enough for two, make a toast with your significant other. If you don't have enough to share, just sit back and enjoy a moment of quiet rest. You deserve it.

drinking my vitamins

They say that bad luck comes in threes... well this week I had a set of three circumstances that ended up in some very good luck.

1. The fruit that we have been getting in the AHO box lately is absolutely beautiful. There are peaches, nectarines, plums, cherries and strawberries. The kids are eating tons of it. I am so happy!

2. Recently we were on a day trip that took us past a honey farm. We stopped and grabbed a few jars of local honey (having heard that it might help with my husband's seasonal allergies).

3. I had a cocktail recently that contained honey syrup, and I have been wanting to play around with it ever since. Honey syrup is simple ...  honey dissolved in an equal amount of warm water.

Let's now introduce my honey, my fruit, and the concept called "cocktail" to each other. I think three is definitely company in this case.

This is a light and refreshing summer drink, best enjoyed outdoors either in full sunshine or by the light of tiki torches.

Honey and Nectarine Cocktail

1 nectarine, sliced into 8 wedges
2 ounces honey syrup
1 ounce Rose's Lime Juice
3 ounces vodka
club soda
mint

Place 4 slices of nectarine in each of two tall glasses. Pour equal amounts of the honey syrup into each glass. Mash it up a bit. Add half the vodka and half the lime juice to each glass and stir. Add ice and enough club soda to fill the glass, and garnish with mint.

The over-tweny-one edition

As I was baking, roasting, simmering, and juicing lemons this week, I decided to play a little game. It's like when you used to watch Strange Brew and drink every time they said "Eh." But in my game, I had a drink every time I cooked with a lemon.

And here are the results:

Lemon Drop (Ina Garten's recipe)

I believe this is one of the trendiest chick drinks right now, and for a good reason. It is yummy... like grown-up lemonade. Very grown up. These babies are strong!

Pour a cup of very cold vodka, 1/4 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice, and 1/4 cup sugar into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well, strain into a martini glass, and garnish with a slice of lemon. 

Lemon Margarita

I love love love margaritas. So, I decided to take this opportunity to see what would happen if I used lemon juice instead of lime juice to make my standard drink. It was a little tarter, but that is just fine with me.

Rub the rim of the glass with a slice of lemon, and dip into salt. Place 1 1/2 ounces lemon juice, 1 1/2 ounces good tequila, and 1 ounce triple sec into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well, and strain into a glass filled with ice cubes.

Whiskey Sour (Emeril Lagasse's recipe)

I think I found my new standard drink for ordering at a bar! I hate ordering something that sounds too girlie, but honestly, I like things that taste pretty girlie. Nothing too strong, nothing too bitter. Here it is: 

In an old-fashioned glass with crushed ice, combine 4 ounces sour mix (see below) with 1 1/2 ounces whiskey. Add a cherry and enjoy!

Sour mix: 1 ounce lemon juice, 1 ounce sugar, 2 ounces water. Combine the lemon juice and sugar; add the water.  

Vodka-balsmic-lemonade

I have to admit, I was a little nervous about trying this one. But now that I have tried it, I foresee a summer filled with these guys.  One of its best features is the fact that you can easily make a whole pitcher -- or more -- of this lovely concoction, and that makes it great for any time you have some friends over. Once your guests arrive, there is nothing to do but pour.

one glass:
4 ounces lemonade
1 ounce vodka
1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

a pitcher:
4 cups lemonade
1 cup vodka
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

LEMONADE, 25C A GLASS

In case you forgot, I was gifted a huge pile of lemons picked fresh from a neighbor's tree. I have been busy busy busy baking, simmering, and juicing them, and that has turned this into "Lemon Week" at my house.

Someone asked me today, "Haven't you made any lemonade with all those lemons your neighbor gave you?" I said, "Of course I have!"  "Well, I haven't seen it on your blog."

Apparently if it doesn't appear here, it didn't really happen.

So, to satisfy curious minds, here is how I made my lemonade. (There is absolutely no substitute for fresh homemade lemonade. Not the stuff in the frozen concentrate section, not the stuff in the refrigerator section. And certainly nothing that comes to your house as powder.)


Lemonade:

Juice enough lemons to make 1 cup.

Add 4 cups of water, 2/3 cup sugar, and stir.

That's it! It's a magic ratio that comes out perfect, every time. Now, let the kids sell it on the corner, so they can pay for all of the sugar you are using to make all kinds of lemon treats these days.

Stay tuned... later this week I will provide some recipes for some more, shall we say, adult lemon beverages. I do have to pace myself, though, so be patient.

Tangelo Martini

Tangelos are very juicy and slightly tart. And that makes them perfect for mixing with a little liqueur, a little  liquor, and a few friends.

First, juice your tangelos. You will need a couple of ounces of juice per drink, so keep on juicing until you have enough juice for your needs.

Next, gather your supplies. You will need the tangelo juice, triple sec (an orange liqueur), and vodka.

Pour 2 ounces juice, 2 ounces vodka, and 1 ounce triple sec into a cocktail shaker full of ice. Shake vigorously.

Sugar the rims of two martini glasses, and strain the martini into them.

Cheers!