Skinnygirl ® White Cranberry Cosmo

My next endeavor on the Skinnygirl bottled cocktail list was the White Cranberry Cosmo. I was completely apprehensive about this one because Cosmos can be quite sweet and I am not a fruity or sugary cocktail kind of person, despite being constantly mistaken for one. I will explain – Out at the bar with my boyfriend he will get the drink that is named something like the pink sparkle razzle jumping butterfly and I, a simple martini and invariably the pink nonsense gets set in front of me, trimmed with fruit and umbrellas and he gets the martini. My aversion to sweet drinks is only made stronger by these actions. That said, as promised I continued to embark on my Skinnygirl bottled cocktail voyage.

I have to say I will go back on what I said in my Skinnygirl Margarita post … the White Cranberry Cosmo is the smoothest Skinnygirl product going down (so far). Totally OK to drink without too much doctoring or really any at all and actually I started my taste test just simply pouring the chilled cocktail into a martini glass and was totally fine enjoying it as a relatively legit Cosmo! Needless to say, I am impressed – not too sweet and definitely tasty. The cocktail being good solo, however, did not stop me from trying out some new recipes.

Here are my three favorite recipes that came out of my taste test:

Pomegranate Cosmo
1. Fill a chilled martini glass with cold Skinnygirl White Cranberry Cosmo

2. Next add 1-2 tablespoons of Pom Pomegranate Juice*

3. Stir slowly and garnish with a thinly sliced lime wedge or a few seasonal berries (NOTE: I usually use blueberries or pomegranate seeds, and during the winter months: cranberries)

*I have not tried it yet, but Pom makes several flavors of juice – It might be fun to try the Blueberry Pomegranate Juice and garnish the drink with blueberries

The Fizzy Cosmo
1. Fill a chilled martini glass with two and a half shots of Skinnygirl White Cranberry Cosmo

2. Next add two and a half shots of Champagne or Prosecco (NOTE: I used Cupcake Prosecco and it complemented the Cosmo mix quite nicely)

3. Serve and Enjoy!

The Midday Cosmo Teaser
For a lighter version of the Fizzy Cosmo
1. Fill a highball glass with ice and two and a half shots of Skinnygirl White Cranberry Cosmo

2. Next add two and a half shots of soda water

3. Stir slowly and garnish with a lime wedge after squeezing the juice into the glass

The Non-Skinnygirl Recipes
Since I am already posting about the cocktail, I will share a couple of my homemade cosmo recipes.

Pomegranate Lime Cosmo
1. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and add two shots of vodka

2. Next add a shot of Pom Pomegranate Juice and half a shot of fresh lime juice

3. Shake and pour into a chilled martini glass*

*NOTE: You can also put this mixture into a highball glass and serve as a cocktail over ice

Kate’s “Traditional” Cosmo
1. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and add three shots of vodka

2. Next add a shot of Cranberry juice

3. Shake and pour into a chilled martini glass

4. Garnish with a lime wedge in the summer and spring and frozen cranberries or pomegranate seeds in the winter and fall

5. Enjoy!

Hope all of you enjoy my post and varied Cosmo recipes! Cheers! Next be on the lookout for my National Gallery of Art Jose Andres Pop Up Restaurant Post and my Skinnygirl Piña Colada post – Definitely curios about this one given my aversion to sweet drinks!

Skinnygirl® Margaritas

Recently I have been fascinated by the hype surrounding pre-mixed, ready to serve bottled cocktails and in particular, the craze for Skinnygirl products. Full disclosure, I was one of the people who rushed out to buy the Skinnygirl Margarita when it hit the shelves and I definitely religiously watched Bethenney Frankle’s TV shows. That said, however, I have come to question the necessity of these products, largely because I have found they require copious amounts of doctoring and are rather expensive – ranging from $20 to $35 for 750 ml bottles.

I have decided it would be fun to embark on a quest to try all of the Skinnygirl products and will periodically do a post on each one – noting how I improved the drink and giving readers some additional recipes to try (either homemade or one’s that I go to regularly). Today, I start with the Skinnygirl Margarita. Out of all the Skinnygirl products I have tired, I feel that this one requires the least amount of doctoring.*

*It is important to note here that the first time I tried it I did not realize the alcohol was already in it, so I promptly prepared the margarita using a shot and a half of tequila. Needless to say, one drink that time around was more than enough for me.

Here are my two go-to recipes, using the bottled Skinnygirl Margarita:

Original Margarita
1. Fill a tall glass with ice and add the juice of one lime (two if you particularly like the lime flavor). (Note: If you are using bottled lime juice, I put in 2-3 tablespoons)

2. Next fill the glass with the Skinnygirl Margarita

3. Finally add two pinches of salt and stir, combining all ingredients

Spicy Margarita
1. Fill a tall glass with ice and add the juice of one lime (two if you particularly like the lime flavor). (Note: If you are using bottled lime juice, I put in about 3 tablespoons)

2. Next fill the glass with the Skinnygirl Margarita

3. Add two pinches of salt and stir, combining all ingredients

4. Finally, add 3-4 thin slices of fresh jalapeño

The Non-Skinnygirl Recipes
Since I am already posting about margaritas, I thought I would share my homemade margarita and one of the coolest, most unique margarita recipes I have ever tried.

Kate’s Homemade Margarita
1. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and add the juice of three limes (an extra half a lime if you particularly like the lime flavor). (Note: If you are using bottled lime juice, I put in about two ounces)

2. Add one ounce of Tres Agaves Agave Nectar (this is my go to brand)

3. Add two ounces of Tequila and two pinches of salt – Shake to combine all ingredients

4. Put contents of shaker into a tall cocktail glass and garnish with a lime wedge or some thinly sliced jalapenos

Nadia G’s Spicy Vodka Margarita
(This recipe was cut out from the 28 May 2012 issue of People Magazine)
1. Combine 1 ½ ounces of vodka, 1/3 cup fresh squeezed lime juice, and two tablespoons maple syrup and some crushed ice in a cocktail shaker.

2. Shake well and pour into a salt-rimmed highball glass.

3. Drop two thin slices of fresh jalapeño pepper and serve.

I will say with regards to Nadia G’s margarita, you must add the jalapeño, as it combines well with the vodka and maple syrup to produce a delicious margarita – Who would have thought vodka with the right ingredients, could taste like an actual margarita.

Hope all of you enjoy my post and varied margarita recipes! Cheers and I look forward to hearing if you try any of the above recipes or have a great margarita recipe of your own.

Homemade Peach Brandy

Last year, a good friend of mine and fellow blogger recommended that I try making his peach brandy. I had never made my own alcohol before so I thought why not, this would be the perfect time to start. So, six months ago I set about making peach brandy. I carefully peeled the peaches, stacked them in a jar, and poured in an inordinate amount of sugar. Next, I waited, and waited, and waited—It takes six months for the peaches and sugar to combine into a wonderful concoction of peach brandy. When the beginning of March hit, it was time to taste the fruits of my labor (pun intended). So based on the instructions, I strained the peaches in cheesecloth (twice) and poured the brandy into an air tight jar. I immediately wanted to taste it, but I have to be honest, I was a little nervous—what if I had done it wrong and it was dreadful? So I put a very small amount in a shot glass and took a sip…

Success! It was delicious. It is very sweet, but also a little syrupy. Instantly ideas started running though my head on what to do with the brandy (besides the obviously—drinking it straight). Some recipes and ideas were obvious—like putting it over ice cream with fresh peaches, but some surprised me. I have included a few of the recipes below of what I have done with the brandy. Note for all the recipes below: Do not use a large pint glass—the peach brandy, because it is thick, sinks to the bottom which does not allow you to enjoy the full flavors. I used a thin, tall glass similar to those that Pom tea is sold in. Also I mixed the drinks by pouring them into a pint glass and back into the Pom tea glass to ensure they were properly mixed.

Mint Peach Brandy Tonic

1. Put four to five mint leaves in a glass and muddle them to release the oils

2. Fill the glass with ice

3. Add 2.5 ounces of homemade peach brandy

4. Next add tonic water (I prefer Q Tonic because it has a cleaner taste)

5. Stir vigorously to combing the drink

6. Enjoy!

Coconut Peach Brandy Cooler

1. Fill a tall glass with ice

2. Next add 1 ounce of coconut vodka (I used Smirnoff)

3. Add 1.5 ounces of homemade peach brandy

4. Stir vigorously to combine the drink

5. Enjoy!

Lime and Peach Brandy Soda

1. Fill glass with ice

2. Next add 2.5 ounces of peach brandy

3. Add juice of one lime (anywhere between 0.5 ounces and 1 ounce of lime juice)

4. Fill the glass with soda water

5. Stir vigorously to combine the drink

5. Enjoy!

I hope you enjoy these drink recipes. I think they are fun summer drinks that are great to enjoy in the warm weather out on a porch or balcony. It must be said, however, that the brandy is delicious on its own as well—a perfect after dinner or dessert drink. Next up is pear brandy, which will be ready the first week of July, so look this summer for some fun drink ideas!

The recipe for the peach brandy can be found on my friend’s blog at: http://thehipflask.wordpress.com/peach-brandy-pictorial/

The Mid-Morning (or Anytime) Michelada

I woke up early this morning, around 730am and was instantly productive—cleaning my apartment, doing the laundry—basic Saturday chores. By 1100am, however, I was starving and ready for lunch. I went to the fridge and found a left over vegetable quesadilla from my dinner party the other night and thought I would have a Mexican lunch. As I was pulling out all the fixings (sour cream, hot sauce, salsa) and warming the quesadilla I noticed a Corona Light staring back at me. Hmmm, I thought, that would really compliment my lunch and be a refreshing treat, but as I looked at the time, 1100am seemed a bit too early for a beer. Don’t get me wrong, I very much enjoy morning and lunch time drinking—I am obsessed with bloody marys at brunch and having a glass of wine or pint of beer at lunch is always a treat (mind you the latter two drinks are generally enjoyed around or after noon).

I tried to reason with myself, but I just could not pull the beer out of the fridge at 1100am. But wait! About a month ago I was watching the Food Network and looked on curiously as Marcela Valladolid made her version of a Michelada—beer with lime juice and salt. I thought to myself that a Michelada sounded a bit more appropriate at 1100am, than say, just a straight beer. I didn’t feel like turning on my computer, so I thought I would wing it and try to make my own version of it (recipe below).

The Michelada

1. Wet the rim of a glass by dipping it in a shallow plate filled with water. Next take the glass and dip it in a plate filled with salt (make sure there is enough salt to coat the rim).

2. Fill the glass with ice—be generous.

3. Put in ¼ cup of lime juice (note: I just used store bought lime juice, but fresh squeezed might taste better).

4. Add about ½ of a Corona (or any other light beer).

5. Stir, serve, and enjoy!

Much to my surprise, it was delicious and refreshing and complimented my quesadilla perfectly. While I was drinking it, I realized it would also be the perfect cocktail to enjoy outside on a nice, hot summer day. Regardless, I didn’t feel the least bit bad about having a beer so early in the day, although by the time I actually sat down to enjoy it, it was about 1130am, close enough to noon, right?