Cheers | Frosé.

Did y'all know that tomorrow is National Rosé Day? I didn't know that when I started planning today's post, but I'm quite pleased with the timing!

I'll admit that when I first heard about frosé (frozen rosé), I rolled my eyes. But after a few weeks of seeing it over and over in my Instagram feed, I decided to investigate. Turns out there are lots (seriously, google frosé and you get nearly 1,000,000 results!) of variations. Freezing the rosé ahead of time, adding fruit, adding simple syrup, mixing in other liquors ... long-time readers probably know that "make ahead" is not my favorite kind of cocktail and I don't go for sweet. I also love to use more than one bottle from my liquor cabinet.

After a lot of searching and a little experimenting, I think I've found one that meets all my criteria.

Frosé - serves 2
(inspired by Southern Twist)

6 oz rosé (nothing expensive ... think like you're making sangria)
1 oz vodka
1 oz St. Germain
1 oz lemon juice
6 strawberries, hulled and halved
3 cups ice

Add everything to the blender and blend until smooth.

Cheers! and have a wonderful weekend!!

Cheers | Frozen Negroni.

First, to all of you who've left comments on recent posts and haven't heard back from me - I apologize! Apparently, Blogger has stopped notifying me about comments. and ugh, I'm not sure how to fix this. Please know I appreciate all of you and I hope to get back to personal replies soon.

And now on to today's topic. In honor of the first weekend of summer, I have a frozen cocktail to share!

I started researching summer cocktails a few weeks ago and quickly found one to try first - my favorite Negroni, blended with fresh juice and crushed ice.

The first time through, I followed the recipe as written, including squeezing blood oranges and chilling the liquids prior to blending. It worked beautifully.

The second time through, I didn't have any more blood oranges, so I substituted ruby red grapefruit juice (not even fresh-squeezed) and didn't wait to chill. It worked beautifully. And for my taste, I actually liked the grapefruit better than the orange.

Frozen Negroni - makes 2 drinks
(inspired by Kitchn)

1 oz gin
1 oz Campari
1 oz red vermouth
3 oz ruby red grapefruit juice
1-1/2 cups coarsely crushed ice

Put the ice in the blender and add the rest of the ingredients. Blend until smooth.

Cheers!!

and have a wonderful long weekend. I'll see you back here Tuesday!

Beaufort 2018 | Part Two.

aka "the one with the food and a cocktail". and note I am writing this post on Friday afternoon, to be sure it lands in your feed reader at just the right time 😉.

As I shared last week, our dining routine has been fine-tuned over many years. We did add in two new meals this year and we're planning to repeat them:

First, Thursday night - I picked up a ready-to-heat pasta/spinach/sausage casserole and a caesar salad from Costco (before we left). It was nice to settle into the house, visit with Charlie and not have to think about going out. Also, the meal was delicious!

Second, Friday's lunch at Lowcountry Produce. I'm not quite sure how we managed to miss this one for so many years - except that there are lots of great restaurants and we only have a few meals there! We all shared the housemade chips with blue cheese and bacon to start

and then Lydia and I shared a slice of tomato pie and the pimiento cheese trio.

This is hands-down the best tomato pie I've ever had. Of course lunch out with four foodies (three of whom actually cook ... um yep, all but me!) means trying to deconstruct the recipe and all I can say for sure is that it was chock full of tomatoes and cheddar cheese and maybe no mayonnaise. It might be next year before I get to have it again since all my recipe searches have yet to turn up anything that looks close. If any of y'all have a suggestion, please share!

...the rest of the weekend followed in the steps of previous years...

Friday night's dinner is Emily's. for tapas. Here's our first course - oysters, bruschetta, smoked salmon and tuna tartare

it was followed by two more, with lots fewer dishes ... and sadly no photos, but I think we all have very fond memories of the single plate of soft-shelled crab that was the most perfect "dessert".

Saturday's lunch is Wren's. because of the big round table in the back, I think. This year I had the fried green tomato stack - the tomatoes are layered with goat cheese and that's bacon onion jam drizzled (?!) over the top. This is a recipe I would never even try to make at home!

Saturday's dinner is Old Bull Tavern. because lamb shanks, which are my mom's favorite. We started with cocktails (see below) and smoked mullet dip. Then Lydia and I shared this delicious gnocchi with shrimp and a pizza (they have a huge brick oven and the pizzas are A-mazing).

and somehow, we all managed a few forkfuls of tiramisu for dessert.

Sunday's brunch is takeout from Blackstone's. because crab cakes benedict. Only on Sundays, they make crab cakes and the crab cake benedict is (for those in my family who love eggs) the best. Charlie told us that the original owner had retired and sold the restaurant, but we certainly couldn't tell from the food or the service. We did arrive a little later than normal this year to place our to-go order and they'd just run out of crab cakes! Still, I had a tuna salad (not pictured). Lydia had Saturday night's leftovers (also not pictured). The rest of the crew had good reports about Eggs Benedict (without crab cakes - also not pictured). I do however, have a photo of my mimosa and knitting.

Sunday's dinner is Saltus River Grill. Charlie is friends with the restaurant's owner and we are most jealous he gets to dine here more than once a year! The menu is a seemingly odd mix of sushi and low country dishes; I guess it all works because it's fresh and predominately seafood. We shared a round of specialty cocktails

and two sushi rolls to start.

We were midway through that first course when we learned the kitchen had run out of shrimp (?!?) Lydia, Karen and I had all planned to order shrimp and grits so we had to re-group. We landed on the crab cake, with a side of grits. It was a great choice.

Beaufort is not a big town, but it's a very popular destination. If you go - and I hope you do! - be sure to make dinner reservations. We saw folks turned away all three nights. Lunch isn't quite as necessary - unless you have a special table and/or time in mind!

And now the cocktail. Saturday night, I ordered "Snoop Juice" from Old Bull Tavern's specialty cocktail menu. It listed grapefruit juice, gin, cocchi american rosso and rhubarb bitters as ingredients and of course it had me at grapefruit juice and gin. It was delicious; I had two (and then of course thought "I can make this"). I got home and googled "snoop juice" hah! (clearly not in my comfort zone). But I have the four listed ingredients in my liquor cabinet and with my sister's help, I present

Gin and G-juice 
(inspired by Old Bull Tavern)

1-1/2 oz gin
1 oz amaro
3 oz grapefruit juice
rhubarb bitters

Fill a double rocks glass with ice. Add the gin, amaro and juice and stir well. Top with two dashes of bitters and a squeeze of orange peel.

Cheers and Happy Friday!

Three on Thursday | Holiday Food and Drink.

Carole is taking a well-deserved break from her blog today, so there's no official Three on Thursday, but it's what I've planned and I'm going with it anyway!

1. 19 Crimes. Yes, it's still a thing and now, with more flavors! Lydia brought a bottle of The Banished to our party on Saturday and we enjoyed it immensely. I checked out Costco's selection on Tuesday. They still only carry the Red Blend, but it's still (only) $8.49 a bottle. I had Sara pick out two and hopefully I'll have another cork to add to my collection by the time 2018 rolls around.

2. Giada's Roasted Pork Loin Stuffed with Spinach and Prosciutto. Sara made this for Christmas Eve dinner. It was hands down one of our best meals (and not only because Sara did the cooking!).

making the sauce

We also had green beans (steamed and seared) and wild rice with pecans and cranberries. Marc and I will have the leftovers tonight (he's finally feeling a little better - thank you for all your kind get well messages!) and I'm sure it will all be delicious the second time around.

3. Spiced Pear Martini.
Inspired by the leftover spiced simple syrup (from Bonny's Spiced Rum Cocktail), I had planned to make these Christmas Day ... but when I ended up being the designated driver, I saved them for last night.

2 oz gin
1 oz spiced pear liqueur
1 oz cranberry juice
1/2 oz spiced simple syrup

Shake over ice and serve straight up.

Enjoy!

Cheers | To Bonny (again!)

As promised, today I have the second installment of cocktails inspired by Bonny's liquor cabinet.

When Karen and I were brainstorming ideas, she said she had that Malibu Rum in her cabinet, too, because it was a necessary ingredient in one of her favorite vacation cocktails, a Charleston Sunset from Fleet Landing (in Charleston)

Fleet Landing uses Peach Schnapps, which Bonny doesn't have, but Karen substituted a little syrup from a can of peaches and declared it a success.

Sunset Cocktail
(inspired by Fleet Landing)

1 oz vodka
1 oz coconut rum
1 oz pineapple juice
1 oz orange juice
1-1/2 oz cranberry juice
1/2 oz peach juice (from a can of peaches)

Fill a glass with ice. Add all the ingredients and stir.

Our fourth suggestion was the hardest to pull off - because we had a really hard time finding ginger apple cider. My sister finally tracked down a six-pack of cans (made locally - who knew?!). She tried a version of our cranberry mule, but it wasn't good. I tried a simpler version and think it works. Honestly, the ginger cider is not my favorite and I'm not sure if it's ginger cider in general, or just this one... so I'm sharing the recipe - thinking that if you like ginger cider, you'll enjoy it!

Cider Mule

1 oz vodka
6 oz ginger cider
1 lime wedge

Fill a glass with ice. Combine the vodka and cider. Squeeze in the lime wedge and then it add to the glass. Stir just to combine.

Cheers to Bonny and Happy Saturday!

(and now my NaBloPoMo is done - I'll see you back here on Monday!)

Cheers | To Bonny.

A couple of weeks back when I shared my Old Fashioned recipe, Bonny and I ended up exchanging a few emails in response to her comment. The gist of our discussion was that the drinks always looked good, but she never had the ingredients ... and honestly, my love of gin and bourbon didn't really appeal. A few emails in, I wrote:

"It seems like our cocktail habits overlap a lot less than ALL the other things we have in common might suggest. So I’d like to challenge myself (probably with the help of my sister) to come up with a Cheers that you 1) would like and 2) could make with ingredients on hand. Interested? If yes, what liquor(s) should we use? and is there anything we should be sure NOT to include?"

She replied with this

On hand currently: 

• Malibu rum (it has coconut flavoring added and I bought it only to make a pina colada cake for my mil. I've tried adding it to smoothies made from frozen fruit, and that's about the only way it's drinkable.) 
• St. Germain, because I like elderflower cordial that my sil and I make from elder flowers, but never know quite what to do with this liqueur. 
• Regular rum 
• Campari (Ryan somehow ended up with this from his 21st birthday. I've had it in orange juice and used it for photos with my Campari hitchhiker, but would welcome a good way to use it in a cocktail.) 
• Regular Jack Daniel's 
• Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey (it's never even been opened.) 
• A couple bottles of Angry Orchard cider 
• A Guiness 
• One Yuengling

and said she'd be willing to add vodka, more Angry Orchard (the bottles she has are the Ginger Apple flavor) and simple grocery store items. She did request we not use gin or bourbon.

Karen and I thought that was plenty to work with! Over Cranberry Mules, we brainstormed ideas and came up with four cocktails. We focused on the Angry Orchard (a new-to-me ingredient, but wow, versatile!), rum, Campari, St. Germain, vodka and prosecco (which wasn't on Bonny's list, but a basic Angry Orchard could stand in for it in a pinch).

Today, I have the first installment and hopefully (oh my y'all - I'm planning to post next Saturday!) I'll have the other two next week!

Spiced Rum Cocktail
(with inspiration from Angry Orchard and The Spruce)

1 oz rum
1/4 oz spiced simple syrup*
4 oz Angry Orchard Crisp Apple
a lime wedge

Fill a glass with ice. Add the rum and syrup and stir well. Top with Angry Orchard and squeeze in the lime.

*I chose The Spruce's recipe (which I followed exactly, except used just 3/4 C light brown sugar) because I had all the ingredients in my cupboard and it didn't include ginger. The flavor is amazing - it would be delicious in the cider (without the rum) or with prosecco ... or maybe even added to coffee. After I strained the spices, I put them back in the pan with about a cup of water. Simmering over low, my kitchen still smells wonderful!

the spiced syrup on the stove

and now shifting gears ...

Campari Spritz
(inspired by the traditional Aperol Spritz - a 3-2-1 ratio of prosecco, aperol and sparkling water)

4 oz prosecco
1 oz Campari
1/2 oz St Germain
sparkling water
orange slice

Fill a glass with ice. Add the ingredients in the order listed and stir gently.

Cheers to Bonny! and happy Saturday!

Cheers | Cranberry Mule.

I was a little late to the Mule Party because I was under the most mistaken impression that Mules were vodka drinks. But once I tried one with gin, and found a spicy ginger beer (that comes in diet!) ... well, it's now a favorite.

For warm weather mules, I use lemon juice, gin and ginger beer (the classic recipe uses lime juice, vodka and ginger beer). With the holidays approaching, I started looking for something that wasn't quite so citrusy. I found a delicious recipe that uses apple cider in place of some of the citrus (of course I substituted gin for the vodka, but I kept the lime). And then I started looking for one with cranberry. This one fit the bill - and it's so pretty! - but it was too sweet (and I never even made those sugared cranberries). I tinkered a bit and tried out my much simpler version with Karen this week. We agree - it's a winner!

Cranberry Mule
(inspired by Home Sweet Jones)

1/2 oz rosemary simple syrup*
1/2 oz unsweetened cranberry juice
1-1/2 oz gin (or vodka)
3 oz ginger beer
lime wedge

Fill a glass with ice. Combine first three ingredients, and pour over ice. Top with ginger beer. Squeeze in the lime wedge and then it add to the glass. Stir just to combine.

*I like a not-so-sweet syrup - 2 parts water to 1 part sugar. Once the sugar has dissolved, I take the pan off the heat and add a few rosemary sprigs. Once the syrup cools, I remove the rosemary. This syrup keeps in the refrigerator for weeks. It's also quite nice with prosecco and little splash of spiced pear liqueur.

Cheers | Running with Scissors.

For several months, now, my sister and I have been trying out cocktails when we get together for our regular Wednesday evening knitting. It was my turn to host this week and I wanted to use Spiced Pear Liqueur (because finally fall). The helpful folks at St. George Spirits have compiled a bunch of recipes and I decided to riff the Running through Orchards.

It was delicious, so I'm sharing my version with y'all. I thought about calling it "Everything but the Kitchen Sink" because the list of ingredients uses about half the bottles in my liquor cabinet, but Running with Scissors seems much more fun!

Running with Scissors
(inspired by St. George Spirits)

1 oz Botanicals Gin
1/2 oz St. George Spiced Pear Liqueur
1/2 oz elderflower liqueur
1/8 oz Cointreau
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz fresh orange juice
a dash of Angostura Bitters

Shake all ingredients well with ice, then strain into a martini glass. Enjoy!

we tried it with the grated cinnamon that the original recipe suggests, but agreed it wasn't necessary

Looking back through my Cheers archive, I realized I also have all the ingredients for the Fall Classic. You might, too! Happy Saturday!

Think Write Thursday | Staying Cool.

Today's Think Write Thursday topic is tell us what you do to beat the heat! We're deep into summer here and some of us love the heat and some of us hate it but either way we all have to cope with it. What do you do that works for you? Share your tips, stories and more on coping with summer heat!

I've lived in the South for most of my life (which still seems crazy, but it's most definitely true!) and I have to say that the number one thing is air conditioning. I do love fresh air and sunshine, but when the heat index gets into triple digits, I stay inside. We have ceiling fans running non-stop as well.

Some places (church, the grocery store, Starbucks) do air conditioning a little too well, but I don't mind that either. It's the perfect opportunity for a hand knit shawl, scarf or cardigan.

The other idea I have is a cold, icy drink. Last night, I mixed up a batch of Watermelon St-Germain Slush (thanks to A Beautiful Mess).

It only took a couple of hours to freeze the watermelon chunks (I layered them in a glass pan with plastic wrap between the layers to keep them from freezing together). I squeezed a little more lime over the slush before serving. Delicious and refreshing! and pretty, too!

Head on over to Carole's blog to see what ideas others have shared.

One Word Wednesday | Another!

Cheers | 19 Crimes.

Have y'all heard about this wine? I discovered it at Costco last December. It's $8.49 a bottle and remarkably drinkable. Everyone I've shared it with loves it ... even more when I tell them how much it costs!

It wasn't until I was well into the second case, though, that I read the story. ...and a few bottles later that I discovered the corks.

My collection has been stalled for the last couple of weeks (in spite of buying a bottle at Sara's TJ's last weekend ... I was sure Wisconsin would offer up a different crime, but nope, it was another #4.)

...until last night!

Truly, the only thing better than a good daily drinker, is one that makes opening each new bottle a game!

Cheers to Friday! Happy Weekend!

Cheers | Seven Dials.

Waterlogue's Illustration

My sister found the recipe and shared it with me last week. I only had to buy grenadine and apple juice to mix it up today.

It's kind of a crazy mix of flavors, but it works! ...and it was the perfect accompaniment to our typical Wednesday evening conversation (family. books. knitting.) and tonight, the weather. She's driving to Florida tomorrow and I'm flying to Madison.

I think I'm going to have the easier time packing ... Madison looks like Atlanta right now!

Hope your week is going well. Cheers to Wednesday!

Cheers | Spiced Pear Collins.

I had a different post planned for today, but my sister-in-law made this cocktail for our gathering this afternoon and I knew it was what I really needed to share. 

Because I'm guessing - like me - y'all have the ingredients in your post-Thanksgiving refrigerators. and you might - like me - be ready for something other than wine. and of course - it's Friday!

Here's the link to the recipe; Lydia said she followed it pretty much as written, except she used more pears for the purée.

Once we got home, I realized I only had one pear left, but plenty of applesauce, so I added that to make the cup (plus) of purée. I also used allspice and cloves for the simple syrup (because I had both and really...I'm not sure  when I'll use whole allspice?!) The simple syrup is still steeping, so I can't report on my changes, but I'm pretty sure these ingredients can stand a bit of "interpretation".

Happy Day After - and a huge Thank You, Lydia!

Cheers | Fall Classic.

I was inspired by Carole a few weeks back to pickup some apple cider and ginger beer and try a new bourbon cocktail. I found the cider, but not the beer and my sister suggested I try her favorite fall cocktail - a Fall Classic.

Thank goodness the apple cider keeps well, because it took me a while to track down the rest of the ingredients (apple brandy and thyme simple syrup). I finally mixed up a batch of these last weekend and knew I had to share it with y'all.

Fall Classic
(from Bon Appetit, November 2012)

1/2 cup sugar
15 sprigs thyme
2 tablespoons apple brandy (I used Laird's)
2 tablespoons bourbon
2 tablespoons fresh apple cider
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 dash of Angostura bitters

Make a 1:1 simple syrup with sugar and water. After mixture boils, remove pan from heat. Add thyme sprigs and let syrup cool completely. Remove thyme sprigs.

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add 1 tablespoon thyme simple syrup and the rest of the ingredients. Shake well and strain into a martini glass (I kept a few ice cubes - I like my bourbon really really cold). Garnish with an apple slice.

I mixed another batch yesterday so I could take the photos. Delighted how well the cocktail goes with my knitting. (and that so much stockinette goes well with a cocktail!)

Cheers to the weekend. and to happy hours!

Cheers | Roxborough.

...yep, I've remembered. finally. to share the cocktail that Thea posted when she debuted that squirrel pattern last week.

I did make it last Thursday night. I remember thinking it didn't taste much like scotch at all. but I did taste licorice. Fast forward to today and Wednesday knitting with my sister. She was surprised to see scotch...and absinthe. We enjoyed the cocktail, but agreed we'd like to try it with bourbon and no absinthe. (hummmm... not a strong recommendation!)

I think that means we both prefer a nice bottle of red wine :-) Nonetheless - cheers!

And in case you're still interested - here's the recipe:

1 oz. scotch
1/2 oz. dry curaçao
1/2 oz. absinthe

combine with ice in a shaker and serve while it's frothy and cold. (I added one of the cubes from the shaker and it was a welcome addition to keep the drink really cold.)

Cheers | Summer Cocktails.

As part of my Summer Bucket List, I'm on a quest to find a new-favorite summer cocktail. Turns out I don't have a favorite (or maybe it's hard to pick just one?!) So how about four?

clockwise from upper left - Moscow Mule, Thyme Salty Dog, Strawberry Mint Sparkler and Peach Fuzz Buzz

Moscow Mule. This is the easiest drink of the bunch. especially if you keep Ginger Beer on hand. My favorite brand is Reed's, but I've had trouble finding it lately; my local grocery carries Cockn' Bull and it's a great stand-in (they must know it, too, because it says right on the bottle that it's for Moscow Mules). I follow a traditional recipe - fill a chilled cup with ice (I don't have copper mugs, but my pewter julep cups work fine), add the juice of half a lime, 2 ounces of vodka and top with ginger beer. One bottle of ginger beer works for about two drinks.

Thyme Salty Dog. This was the first fancy cocktail I tried. I followed this recipe exactly (even to styling the photo!). My sister and I both thought it was delicious - and worth the trip to the store for thyme and fresh grapefruit. Now that I'm getting more confident with my cocktail skills, I want to try a wintery version with gin and rosemary syrup.

Strawberry Mint Sparkler. This one I created all by myself (a first!) for Friday evening snacks with Sara.  For each drink, I muddled 1-2 strawberries in the bottom of a cocktail shaker then added ice, 1/2 ounce of mint simple syrup (made following the same technique/proportions as the thyme syrup for the Salty Dogs), the juice of half a lime and 2 ounces of gin (Death's Door of course since it's local to Sara) and shook to chill. I poured the chilled mixture over ice in a highball glass and topped with sparkling water.

Peach Fuzz Buzz. My sister and I both remember our parents making this when we were kids. I don't have my mom's recipe, but I remember gin, unpeeled peaches, limeade concentrate and the blender. Here's my version - it makes four drinks (perfect for entertaining!)

Add the following to a blender:

3/4 cup simple syrup (3/4 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar)

1/2 cup lime juice (2-3 limes)

2-3 sliced peaches or nectarines (2 if they're big, 3 if they're smaller)

1 cup gin

Blend until the peaches are almost pureed, then add 4 cups ice and blend until frozen.

Easy, cool, and tastes like summer - Enjoy!!