drink: watermelon gin fizz slush

ah, memorial day. summer is finally here. it was a long/late winter here in colorado and I couldn’t be happier to have the final snow melted and the sun blazing. along with the rest of the country, I spent the weekend outdoors, playing tennis, swimming and celebrating with friends. welcoming summer again with open arms. and cocktails. I recently have been obsessed with watermelon juice and knew that i had to come up with a cocktail using it. These watermelon gin fizz slush drinks (or water-fizzes, as I now refer to them) are delicious, refreshing and summery. Here’s the recipe:

• 4 cups of watermelon juice (from approximately half a watermelon)
• 1/2 cup of fresh lime juice (approximately 4 limes)
• 1/2 cup of water
• 1 cup of sugar
• Zest of two limes
• 1/4 cup of fresh mint leaves chopped
• Soda Water
• Gin (or Vodka if you prefer)

Juice approximately half a watermelon. This can be done with a juicer or by cutting into chunks and using a food processor or blender. I used my stick/immersion blender. After it is pureed, run through a mesh strainer/sieve to remove any pulp or seeds. There can be some pump but you want it to be mainly juice.

Then make simple syrup by combining the juice of 4 limes, zest of 2 limes, 1/2 cup of water, 1 cup of sugar, and 1/4 of chopped mint leaves in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil making sure to stir until the sugar has dissolved. Allow to cool to room temperature and either strain the mint leaves or use your stick blender to puree them into the syrup.

Combine simple syrup and watermelon juice with 1 cup of Gin (or Vodka is you prefer). Pour into quart containers leaving at least an inch of room at the top and freeze over night.

To assemble, remove the frozen quart container from the freezer and using a spoon flake it and scoop into a glass. Then pour a shot of gin or vodka and enough soda water into the glass until the slush is covered, stir until they are combined and have a slurpee-esque consistency. Add a straw, garnish with a lime if desired and serve. This recipe should make about 12 healthy servings.

If watermelon’s not your thing, I highly recommend you check out my summer drink from last year, frozen drunk arnold palmers.

enjoy!

xo

kw

Happy National Tequila Day

 

In the spirit of National Tequila Day, I wanted to repost my aunt’s famous Margarita Recipe. I’ve made it countless times this summer and it’s the perfect drink to sip on a hot summer day.  Cheers! xo Kristi

drink: Ranch Ritas

In honor of Cinco de Mayo, or what I like to refer to it as Cinco de Drinko, I wanted to share my Aunt’s famous margarita recipe. It’s good. Really good. As in, slide off the couch good if you’ve had one too many. Not speaking from experience of course, but as someone who has witnessed it first hand.

Ranch Ritas Ingredients:

1 can of frozen limeade
1 can (limeade can) of tequila –  Herradura Silver or Patron is best
1/3 to 1/2 can of tripple sec – Cointreau is best

Mix above ingredients in a blender then either add ice, blend and serve OR serve it straight up on the rocks. Happy Cinco de Drinko!  xo Kristi

drink: frozen drunk arnies

Spring is here and with it those first few afternoons filled with warm sunshine,  good friends and drinks outside somewhere.   There’s not much that I love more than summertime happy hour.  This winter, I tasted a bourbon slush for the first time and my mind started spinning thinking about how it would make the perfect frozen drunk arnold palmer.  After a few different attempts, I finally have the recipe.  This drink is just plain delightful and I’m going to go out on a limb and declare these my cocktail of the summer of 2012.  You can make these in advance and whip them out when needed, plus as a bonus, these are blender free.  So this summer if you find yourself in Boulder, come on over, I’ll be sure to have a batch in the freezer waiting for ya!

The ingredients:

+ Sweet Tea Vodka

+ 3 large cans of frozen lemonade concentrate

+ 10 Black tea bags

+ 4 or 5 quart containers with lids

Boil 6 cups of water and add to 10-12 black tea bags.   Let it steep while it comes to room temperature (about 20-30 minutes).  Then in a large pitcher, pour the tea and 2 cans of the  frozen lemonade mix.  Using one of the empty lemonade cans as your measuring cup, add 2 cans of water and 2 cans of vodka (this will use up nearly an entire 750ml bottle of vodka).  Stir until combined and pour into quart containers making sure to leave a good inch at the top so that it can expand in the freezer.   Freeze overnight.   Then make one pitcher of straight lemonade, according to the directions on the can and refrigerate.  You can make the lemonade just before serving if you prefer.  It doesn’t matter.

To assemble, remove the frozen quart container from the freezer and using a spoon flake it and scoop into a glass.  Then pour lemonade until the slush is covered and stir until they are combined and have a slurpee-esque consistency.  Add a straw, garnish with a lemon if desired and serve.  This recipe should make about 12 healthy servings.

I can’t wait for summertime, may have to make today a sunday, funday…

xoxo

Katie

drink: champagne jello shots

There was a time around the fall of 2000 that I became obsessed with alcoholic jell-o shots.  I brought them to every holiday party I went to that year, I experimented with flavors and layering.   I even bought special star shaped ice cube trays at Ikea.  Needless to say, sometime around the spring of 2001, one too many hangovers later, I stopped making them. Then this fall, they started popping up everywhere again but instead of being run of the mill jell-o and vodka shots, they were great flavors like Arnold Palmers (or John Dalys), Watermelon and Rootbeer.  Inspired,  I knew I had to figure out how to make Champagne Jell-o Shots for New Year’s this year. I found a few different recipes online but most of them seemed over the top fruity and sugary and I wanted to make one that still tasted like champagne.

Ingredients:

3 boxes 3 oz. Peach Jell-o

1 box (4 packets) plain gelatin

3 c. boiling water

5 c. or about 1 1/2 bottles of sparkling wine (try to find a Brut or Dry version)

Sprinkles

In a bowl, combine the Jell-o and gelatin packets, pour boiling water over, stir until combined refrigerate 15 minutes.   Then slowly pour in 5 cups (about 1 1/2 bottles of champagne).  Don’t be alarmed when this foams, just make sure you are using a large enough bowl to accommodate it.  Refrigerate for another 30 minutes.  Then pour into your pan.  Depending on how large you would like your shots you can either use one 9×13 Pyrex or multiple smaller pans. Refrigerate at least 4 hours, longer if possible.  Just before serving, add sprinkles (optional).

These were a crowd pleaser and would be a festive addition to your New Year’s Celebration.

Hope you all have a happy new year!

Katie