Virgin Pomegranate and Cranberry Bellinis

It can't be all about the food on Thanksgiving Day.  You also need to have a variety of drinks.  These Virgin Pomegranate and Cranberry Bellinis are a perfect way to celebrate the holidays.  A ruby-hued, delicious, fruity, slightly tart, and effervescent drink that pairs very well with the flavors of Thanksgiving.  You should definitely give this a try!

I'm all about a little Black Friday shopping in the wee hours of the morning, therefore I need to drink a virgin cocktail on Thanksgiving Day.  The sparkling water in these bellinis lends a wonderful bubbly and fizzy cocktail feel.  I love a drink with some good fizz.  However, if you have no place to be, jazz things up by subbing the sparkling water for a bottle of champagne, prosecco, or cava.  Either way, this is a fantastic and festive drink that should have a place at every holiday table.

Virgin Pomegranate and Cranberry Bellinis

Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis 

recipe found online here

Serves 6-8

1 cup ice

1- 1/2 cups simple syrup, recipe follows *(I used about 1 cup)

1-1/4 cups unsweetened pomegranate juice, chilled

1 (25.3 fluid ounces) bottle sparkling water, chilled

2 limes, thinly sliced

1 bunch fresh mint, for garnish

Optional garnish:  pomegranate seeds (arils) and/or fresh cranberries 

Special Equipment: 6 to 8 cup capacity punch bowl or glass pitcher

For the simple syrup:  Place 2 cups of sugar and 2 cups of water into a medium-sized saucepan.  Bring to a boil (carefully), reduce heat to low, and cook about 5 minutes, or until the sugar dissolves.  Cool for at least 20 minutes.  Place in refrigerator until chilled.  This should yield about 1-1/2 to 2 cups of simply syrup.

For the Bellinis: Place the ice in a punch bowl or glass pitcher. Add the simple syrup, pomegranate juice, and cranberry juice. Stir well. Slowly pour in the sparkling water. Garnish with lime slices, mint sprigs, pomegranate seeds and/or fresh cranberries, if using, and serve.

 Happy Thanksgiving!!

Tropical Margaritas

Yesterday was a big day for celebrations.  We celebrated Cinco de Mayo for lunch, Derby for dinner, and then followed that up with a special book signing in the evening.  It was a day full of good fun, margaritas, tacos, wine, mint juleps, ham, biscuits, and books.  Not to mention, the moon sure was gorgeous last night, wasn't it?

A frozen margarita is my all-time favorite drink.  I had my heart set on making a mango margarita, but couldn't find any mangoes in my market.  I did find a frozen mix of tropical fruit that included mango, pineapple, and strawberry and decided that was the next best option.  I ended up adapting one of Bayless' margarita recipes with my frozen tropical mix for a toned done version. This is one delicious and refreshing margarita.  It goes down easy.  Too easy.

Tropical Margaritas

Loosely adapted from Fiesta at Rick's

by Rick Bayless

Serves 8-9

3/4 cup lime juice, freshly squeezed

1/4 cup sugar (1/2 cup if you like it sweet)

3/4 ice cubes

1 cup tequila

1/2 cup cointreau or Grand Marnier

2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice

1 (16 oz.) bag of frozen fruit (mine was mango, pineapple & strawberry)

lime half for moistening glass rims (optional)

coarse salt for the rim of glass (optional)

In a blender, mix the lime juice, sugar,  3/4 c. ice cubes, tequila, Cointreau, orange juice, and frozen fruit until well blended.  Pour into glasses and serve.  Garnish with fruit if you like.

If you like salt on the rim of your glass, moisten the rims of three 6-oz. martini glasses w/ the cut side of a lime half. Spread coarse salt on a small plate, then dip the glasses into the salt to crust the rims.  Pour blended mixture into glasses and serve.

Theme: Cinco de Mayo

Vampire Cosmo

In the mood for a spooky spirit this Halloween weekend? Please head over to Cocktail Puppy, a great blog started by one of my favorite foodies, Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies.

I'm honored to say that I'll be contributing regularly along with Natashya, Heather of girlichef, and Danielle of Cooking for My Peace of Mind.

Time to get the party started!!

Watermelon Nectar with Lime Salt

Tyler Florence has so many great recipes for mixed drinks. In his new cookbook, Dinner at My Place, he has a whole chapter devoted to them. This recipe for watermelon nectar with lime salt caught my eye when I first received the book. It looks like the perfect mixed drink for summer, doesn't it?

Well, I finally found a small seedless watermelon at the grocery store. All I needed was the white tequila. Since we live in a dry county, I hardly ever get to the liquor store. I decided that I really needed a drink, so I piled the kids into the mini van and we went for a drive. I went through the drive-thru at the liquor store and bought some Jose Cuervo. The best part of it all was that my kids thought it was McDonald's or something. My two-year old was in the back seat screaming for french fries and my eight-year old was asking "Hey, where's my drink?". The guys inside the store were cracking up and I was too!! The whole thing just made my day.

Lime Salt:

2 tablespoons sea salt

zest of 1 lime

Drink:

1 small seedless watermelon

4 ounces white tequila *I bought Jose Cuervo*

2 ounces Simple Syrup

Splash of lime juice

1 lime, cut into wedges, for garnish

To prepare Lime Salt, using a mortar and pestle, combine salt and lime zest until the salt tkes on a bright green color. Set aside.

To prepare watermelon nectar, cut up watermelon flesh and place in a strainer lined with a clean kitchen towel over a bowl. Gather the corners of the towel and squeeze tightly to extract watermelon nectar. Measure 8 ounces; reserve remaining nectar for another use. Combine watermelon nectar, tequila, Simple Syrup, and lime juice in a cocktail shaker. Shake and pour drink through a strainer over ice in glasses. Garnish with lime wedges and Lime Salt.

Simple Syrup- combine 1 part water and 1 part sugar in a saucepan. Bring to boiling over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved(syrup is done when the mixture is clear and the surface is covered in bubbles). Remove from heat; cool in refrigerator until ready to use.

Serves 2-4

Time 8 minutes

Notes: You only need about 1/4 of a small seedless watermelon to get 8 ounces of nectar/juice.

I forgot to make the simple syrup ahead of time and then had to chill it in the freezer to try and rapidly cool it down. Next time, I would make the simple syrup well ahead of time. I only used 2 ounces of tequila to 8 ounces of watermelon nectar and 2 ounces of simple syrup. The drink was still REALLY STRONG. I can't imagine how strong the drink would be if you were to add the 4 ounces of white tequila that Tyler calls for in the recipe. The drink is beautiful, refreshing, and crisp. If you enjoy a strong drink, make this one!! Or, try it without the tequila. I think that would be great too!!

I am submitting this post to Tyler Florence Fridays. Click here to check out what everyone else is making this week.