Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone.

Pink Lady

A change of pace.

2 oz. gin
1 tsp. grenadine
1 tsp. half and half
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 egg white
Ice

Combine all ingredients with cracked ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake vigorously and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

The cocktail shaker as we know it today was in use by the late 1800's. Their popularity really exploded after the repeal of Prohibition in 1933. They were a symbol of sophistication and the good life.

Merry Christmas

 

 

Eggnog

Erin Phraner

A great Christmas treat.  This is an eggnog recipe without eggs. Sounds easy to make. 

Easiest Ever Eggnog

Yields 8 to 10 servings
Total time 1 hour

1 container (1 3/4 quart) vanilla ice cream
1/3 cups of rum or bourban.  [Can also use brandy]
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, plus more for sprinkling.
[Can also use cinnamon instead of nutmeg]


Directions:

1.  Put ice cream in a large microwave-safe bowl.  Microwave 2 to 3 minutes or until just melted, stirring ocasionally.
2.  Add rum and nutmeg and whisk until combined.  Cover tightly with plastic wrap and  refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 1 day.
3. Whisk well before serving.  Transfer to a punch bowl or individual glasses.  Sprinkle with more nutmeg, if desired.

Read more: Easiest Ever Eggnog Recipe - Good Housekeeping

Tracking Santa:
http://noradsanta.org/

Winter Breeze

                                                     

Winter Breeze

1 oz. Creme de cacao
1 oz. Vanilla Schnapps
1 oz. Irish Cream
Milk

Pour liquors into a beer mug and fill with milk.  Stir, and serve.


(drinksmixer.com)

Spiced Apple Cider



(photo source: Thinkstock)
 

Seems like Winter arrived a bit early. Another hot drink.

Ingredients:
(non-alcoholic)

1 gallon apple juice or cider
6 cinnamon sticks
1 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon whole cloves
1 slice of orange rind

Directions:  Throw all of the ingredients into a slow cooker or into a large pot on the stove and heat. Once hot, ladle into mugs and garnish with a cinnamon stick.


(recipe: Minnesota.cbslocal.com)

Christmas Movies

A Christmas Carol (1938)

A Christmas Carol (2009)
A Christmas Story (1983)
A Christmas Tale (2008)
Arthur Christmas (2011)
Christmas in Connecticut (1945)
Elf (2003)
Holiday Affair (1949)
Holiday Inn (1942)
Home Alone (1990)
How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
It's A Wonderful Life (1946)
Joyeux Noël (2005)
Love, Actually (2003)
Meet Me In St Louis (1944)
Miracle On 34th Street (1947)
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)
Prancer (1989)
Santa Claus: The Movie (1985)
Scrooge (1935)
Scrooge (1951)
Scrooge (1970)
Scrooged (1988)
The Bishop’s Wife (1947)
The Family Stone (2005)
The Lemon Drop Kid (1951)
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
The Polar Express (2004)
The Santa Clause (1994)
The Shop Around The Corner (1940)
White Christmas (1954)

Baby, it's cold outside

Kentucky Coffee

A great new wintertime coffee

Ingredients:
1 oz. Wild Turkey 101 bourbon whiskey
1 oz. Wild Turkey Honey liqueur
Hot coffee to fill
Whipped cream (optional)




1. In a coffee mug, add bourbon and liqueur
2. Top with hot coffee
3. Add whipped cream, if desired.  
Serve and enjoy.

(cocktails.about.com)

Snowshot recipe

3 oz Absolut® Citron vodka
1 scoop lemon sherbet
Juice of 1/2 lemons
1 sugar cube


Throw all ingredients into a blender.  Add sugar to taste.  Sweet lemons don't need more than one cube.  Blend until the consistency resembles a daquiri.  Serve in a highball glass.

(drinksmixer.com)

Autumn Leaves

Autumn Leaves Recipe

1 oz. Pisco Porton
1 oz. Drambuie
1/4 oz. Campari
1/4 oz. Lime Juice

Combine ingredients in a mixing glass filled with ice.  Stir well. Strain into a martini or cocktail glass.
Garnish with an orange wedge and a lime twist.

(About.com Cocktails)

Pisco is a colorless or yellowish-to-amber colored grape brandy produced in winemaking regions of Peru and Chile.

There are other drink recipes that go by the same name as Autumn Leaves.

Happy Thanksgiving

photo: J. Messerschmidt                             

Thanksgiving Spice

Thanksgiving Spice

2 oz. Brandy
4 oz. Apple Cider
½ oz. Aperol®
1 oz. Cranberry Juice

In a shaker with ice mix all ingredients well.  Strain over ice in a tall glass with apple slices and garnish with an apple slice.

(drinksmixer.com)

Apple, Ginger and Cranberry Vodka

Apple, Ginger and Cranberry Vodka Cocktail
 

This drink sounds so delicious that I just had to post it.  Good for Autumn also. 

Ingredients:

2 cups (500 ml) apple juice (use the cloudy type)
2 cups (500 ml) cranberry juice
100 ml Vodka (roughly equivalent to 3 ounces)
2 cups (500 ml) ginger ale
Ice, to serve

Method:

Place the apple juice, cranberry juice and vodka in a blender and whizz until pale, pink and frothy.  Pour into a large serving jug, add the ginger ale and a good handful of ice.

The original recipe is at What Katy Ate.

(whatkatyate.com)
(savvyinsanfrancisco)
(riverbender)

Apple Martini

Apple Martini

More drinks for Fall.

Apple Martini (original recipe makes 1 serving)

1 fluid ounce apple schnapps

1 fluid ounce vodka
1 fluid ounce apple juice
 
Directions:

In a cocktail shaker full of ice, combine apple schnapps, vodka and apple juice.  Mix well.

Pour into glasses and garnish with a slice of Granny Smith apple.

(allrecipes.com)

Martian Martini

This is the easy recipe for a Martian Martini which should taste out of this world. 

1 oz. Midori liqueur
2 oz. Gin

Combine gin and midori in a cocktail shaker with ice.  Shake and strain into a cocktail/marinti glass.  As simple as that.

(drinksmixer.com)

Apple Manhattan recipe

2 oz. Maker’s Mark® bourbon whiskey

1 oz. Berentzen’s® apple liqueur

Stir the whiskey and liqueur in a mixing glass with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Garnish with a slice of apple, and serve.

Read more: Apple Manhattan recipe http://www.drinksmixer.com/drink7377.html#ixzz2kbD0d1Tw

Manhattan Skyscraper recipe

The legend behind this drink revolves around the young artist Simone Weingarnter and her time spent in the bars in Manhattan, NYC. Apparently her favorite cocktail was, of course, the Manhattan but she found that it produced too much appetite when drunk during the day. She wanted a Manhattan, but something she could sit on for a while without the hunger and the quick heating of the classic Manhattan. This was her solution, a tall Manhattan with a ginger ale throw that by association became the Manhattan Skyscraper.

1 1/2 oz. bourbon whiskey
1/2 oz. sweet vermouth
3-8 oz. dry ginger ale
1 fresh orange peel
1 cocktail cherry
 

Fill glass with 3/4 ice. Run orange peel around rim. Pour bourbon then red vermouth in the glass over the ice then stir. Twist peel into glass, then spike the twisted peel and cherry on a tooth pick and throw into glass. Pour ginger ale according to taste/glass size. Stir, then pull the garnish back up so it sits on top of the ice.

Read more: Manhattan Skyscraper recipe http://www.drinksmixer.com/drink1c5d759.html#ixzz2kbDXpa7s

Dark and Stormy

The official Dark 'n Stormy uses only Gosling's black rum.  If you don't have Goslings, use a dark rum.

Ingredients-
- ice
- 1/4 lime cut into two thick slices, one for garnish, one to squeeze over the ice (optional)
- 2 ounces Goslings Black Seal Bermuda black rum
- 4 ounces ginger beer (Gosling's makes one just for this purpose)

METHOD

Fill a highball glass with ice.  If using lime, squeeze a slice over the ice.  Add the rum.
Add the ginger beer and place a slice of lime on the rim of the glass for a garnish.

Yield- Makes 1 drink

(simplyrecipes.com)

An icy rescue

This is so cute!  I found this the other day on MSN under MUST-SEE PHOTO.

 

MUST-SEE PHOTO

 
An icy rescue

An exhausted & freezing owl clings to the front of a canoe after being rescued by a surprised paddler from the cold waters of a lake in Finland.

Nov. 7, 2013: Pentti Taskinen was paddling on Lake Tuusula when he spotted something strange moving in the water. As he drew closer, he was shocked to discover an exhausted Northern Hawk Owl struggling to keep its head above water. Pentti lifted the bird out of the water and lay it on the front of his canoe as he paddled back to shore. When he got to dry ground, he headed to a nearby museum, where the owl was wrapped in a coat and placed in a cardboard box next to the stove. One of the museum guides took it home and, once it had recovered, released it back into the wild.

 

http://photos.msn.com/slideshow/news/must-see-november-2013/23yz3pw8

 

 

Fall in Tennessee

Fall in Tennessee

2 oz. Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey
4 oz. Apple Cider
Cinnamon stick
Apple slices

In a shaker with ice, add Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey and cider.  Shake well. 
Strain into highball glass and garnish with apple slices and cinnamon stick.

Jackdaniels.com

Pumpkin-Tini

Ingredients:

1 part vodka
1 part pumpkin liqueur
sugar and cinnamon rim
sprinkle of pumpkin spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger)

With only two main ingredients, this martini is pretty much no fuss. Put the vodka and pumpkin liqueur in a shaker with ice. Shake it up! Then dip your martini glass in simple syrup and rim the glass with cinnamon and sugar mix. Stain the vodka-pumpkin mix into your glass, sprinkle the pumpkin spices on top and enjoy!

 
And here is another version. 
http://cocktails.about.com/od/vodkadrinkrecipes/r/pumpkin_martini.htm

Sour Apple Martini

Apple Martini as a sour.

2    ounces vodka

½  ounce sour apple liqueur or schnapps

1 ½ tsp. lemon juice

 Assemble ingredients in a cocktail shaker and shake well with ice.

Strain into a chilled cocktail glass, garnish with a slice of apple and serve.

 

This is just one version and there are many.

L.A. Iced Tea

The L.A. Iced Tea drink is made from Midori melon liqueur, vodka, gin, rum, triple sec, lime juice and club soda, and served in a highball glass.

Ingredients:

2/3 oz. Midori Melon Liqueur
1/2 oz. Vodka
1/2 oz. Gin
1/2 oz. Rum (Light)
1/2 oz. Triple Sec
2/3 oz. Lime Juice
1 tsp. Sugar Syrup
Club Soda/Sparkling Water
Garnish: Lime Wedge
Glass: Highball Glass

Instructions:

Shake everything except the club soda with ice in a cocktail shaker.
Strain into a highball glass full of ice and top with club soda.
Garnish with lime wedges.

(spiritdrinks)

Love Junk

The Love Junk drink is made from Midori melon liqueur, peach brandy and apple juice and is served in a highball glass.

Love Junk Ingredients

1 oz. Midori Melon Liqueur
1 oz. Peach Brandy
Apple Juice
Garnish: Apple Slices
Glass: Highball Glass





Fill a highball glass with ice.  Add the Midori and peach brandy and top with apple juice. 
Garnish with decorative apple slices.


Credit: Midori

Purple Haze

There are quite a few versions of this drink. 

½ oz vodka
½ oz Chambord
Dash Sweet & Sour Mix
Dash Cranberry Juice

Pour into a shaker glass filled with ice, shake, and drain into chilled
glasses with ice. While this is normally served in a shot glass, you
can adjust the amount of the ingredients to fit in a highball glass.
Garnish with a raspberry.





Purple Haze #4 recipe  (drinksmixer.com)

2 oz vodka
3/4 glass orange juice
 blackberry schnapps

Mix vodka and orange juice together in an old-fashioned glass. Add
blackberry schnapps, ice cubes, and serve.

Serve in: Old-Fashioned Glass

Cairo Cooler

1 oz. vodka
1 oz. light rum
1/2 oz.lemon juice
1/2 oz. Lime Juice
Club Soda
Maraschino cherry

Combine all ingredients, except for club soda and cherry, in a cocktail shaker with cracked ice.  Shake well and strain over ice. Fill with soda and garnish with a Maraschino cherry.


Rum is made from sugar cane or molasses (a by-product of the sugar refining process). It is aged in barrels that once contained whiskey or bourbon, and can take from one to 30 years to mature.

1969 Woodstock rock festival begins in New York

Pink Lemonade

Another refreshing drink for those hot summer days.

Ingredients:
1/2 oz. citrus flavored vodka
1/2 oz. raspberry liqueur
2 oz. fresh squeezed lemonade

Directions:
In a shaker glass with ice, pour in Vodka, Liqueur and Lemonade.  Shake well and pour into a Collins glass.
Varnish with a lemon wedge.

http://www.midnightmixologist.com/

English Summer

2 oz. gin
2 slices of honeydew melon
1/4 English cucumber (peeled & sliced)
4 large fresh mint leaves
1/4 oz. fresh lime juice
Tonic water

In a blender or food processor, puree melon, mint and cucumber. Push through a sieve into a shaker.  Add lime juice and Gin.  Shake well and pour into a Collins glass and top with Tonic Water. Garnish with sliced cucumbers and mint.

http://www.midnightmixologist.com

Ice Teas

Ice Teas with alcohol
Different variations

Long Beach Ice Tea recipe

1 oz triple sec
1/2 oz rum
1/2 oz vodka
1/2 oz gin
fill with cranberry juice
1 splash 7-Up® soda
ice cubes

Garnish with fresh lime cuts. (Or lemons)
http://www.drinksmixer.com/drink4885.html#ixzz2b4a0zU4v

Carolina Iced Tea recipe

1 1/2 oz Southern Comfort® peach liqueur
1 oz Captain Morgan® Original spiced rum
1 oz peach schnapps
1/2 oz vodka
5 oz sweet iced tea

Add alcohol and stir lightly. Pour in iced tea. Stir a few more times
and serve.

Note: Add a splash of lemon and garnish with a twist for a classy drink
or serve in a mason jar for a real down-home feel.

Read more: Carolina Iced Tea recipe
http://www.drinksmixer.com/drink219.html#ixzz2b4agUye9

Alcoholic Sweet Tea

This tangy and sweet drink packs a real punch, with all the comforts of
down home.

Ingredients
1 cup sweet tea
1/2 cup lemonade
1/2 cup vodka

Directions
1.Pour all of the ingredients over ice, stir well and serve immediately.

Recipe created by SheKnows on Nov 30, -1
http://www.sheknows.com/recipes/alcoholic-sweet-tea

Lipton
http://alcohol-drinks-recipes.com/category/coffee-and-tea/tea/lipton-brisk-iced-tea

Long Island Iced Tea

 Long Island Iced Tea recipe

1 part vodka
1 part tequila
1 part rum
1 part gin
1 part triple sec
1 1/2 parts sweet and sour mix
1 splash Coca-Cola®

Mix ingredients together over ice in a glass. Pour into a shaker and give one brisk shake. Pour back into the glass and make sure there is a touch of fizz at the top. Garnish with lemon.

Read more: 

Long Island Iced Tea recipe http://www.drinksmixer.com/drink590.html#ixzz2b84cgjP9

 

Heat wave

Myer’s Heatwave

INGREDIENTS:

¾ oz. dark Rum

½ oz. Peach Schnapps

6 oz. Pineapple Juice

Splash of Grenadine

INSTRUCTIONS:

Pour rum and schnapps over ice in a tall glass.  Fill with juice and a splash of grenadine. 

Stir.  Garnish with a pineapple wedge and a maraschino cherry.

Source: cocktail.uk

Red, White and Blueberry Smoothie

This is a non-alcoholic beverage.

Red, White and Blueberry Smoothie

This frosty and patriotic delight is an effortless treat. Enjoy the sweet summer berries and try something unique for dessert.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup whipped cream
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1/2 cup frozen strawberries
1 dash of lemon juice
Sugar, to taste
A few small, fresh strawberries, to garnish

INSTRUCTIONS

1.      Mix together all ingredients in a blender and blend until desired thickness.

2.      Wash fresh strawberries and slit at the bottom to use as garnish for individual glasses.

From Homemadesimple

 

 

Tangerini

Tangerini 

2 oz. vodka
2 oz. simple Tangerini mixer
1 cup ice

In a cocktail shaker, combine vodka, simple Tangerini mixer (available in many wine and spirit stores) and ice.   Shake well and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.


(There are different versions of a tangerini.  This one uses vodka and a mixer.)

Summer Songs

A Summer Song - Chad & Jeremy ('64)
A Warm Summer Night - Chic ('79)
All Summer Long - The Beach Boys ('64)

Beach Baby – The First Class ('74)
Bummer in the Summer - Love ('67)
California Nights – Leslie Gore ('67)

Circle in the Sand - Belinda Carlisle ('88)

Cruel Summer - Bananarama ('84)

(cover by Ace of Base in '98)

Dancing Days – Led Zeppelin ('73)

Dancing in the Street - Martha Reeves & the Vandellas ('64)
(Cover by Mick Jagger & David Bowie (1984)

Endless Summer - Oceana ('12)

Evening in June - Van Morrison ('03)

Farewell My Summer Love - Michael Jackson

Here Comes Summer - Jerry Keller ('59)

Hot Fun in the Summertime - Sly and the Family Stone ('69)

I love it - Icono Pop ('13)

In the Summertime - Mungo Jerry ('70)

In the Sun - Blondie ('76)

Indian Summer - The Doors ('66)

It's Summer - The Temptations ('71)

It's Summertime - The Flaming Lips ('02)

Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini - Bryan Hyland ('60)

(covered by Sha Na Na)

Long Hot Summer Days - Sara Watkins ('09)

Long Hot Summer Night - Jimi Hendrix ('68)

Magic - The Cars ('84)

Me And You and a Dog Named Boo - Lobo ('71)

My Summer Love - Ruby & The Romantics ('63)

Never Dreamed You'd Leave In Summer - Stevie Wonder ('71)

Night Moves - Bob Seger ('76)

One Summer Dream - Electric Light Orchestra ('75)

One Summer Night - The Danleers ('58)

Our Last Summer - Abba ('80)
People Say - The Dixie Cups ('64)

Remember Walking In The Sand - The Shangri-Las ('64)

Rockaway Beach - The Ramones ('77)
Save Your Heart For Me - Gary Lewis & The Playboys ('65)

Saturday in the Park - Chicago ('72)

School's Out - Alice Cooper ('72)

Sealed with a Kiss - Bryan Hyland ('62)

See you in September - The Happenings ('66)

Suddenly Last Summer - The Motels ('83)

Summer's Almost Gone - The Doors ('68)

Summer - Dido ('08)

Summer - War ('76)

Summer Breeze - Seals & Crofts ('72)

Summer Breeze - covered by The Isley Brothers ('74)

Summer Fever - Donna Summer ('76)

Summer in the City - Lovin Spoonful ('69)

Summer in Siam - The Pogues ('90)

Summer Moved On - a-ha (2000)

Summer Night City - Abba ('78)

Summer Nights by Olivia Newton John & John Travolta ('78)

Summer Nights - Marianne Faithfull ('65)

Summer of '69 - Bryan Adams ('84)

Summer of Love - Melanie

Summer Rain - Johnny Rivers ('67)

Summer Rain by Belinda Carlysle ('90)

Summer Wind - Frank Sinatra ('66)

Summer Wine - Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazelwood ('67)

(Summer Wine covers by Lana Del Rey ('13), The Coors & Bono)

Summerday Sands - Jethro Tull ('75)

Summertime - Billie Holliday ('36) and Janis Joplin ('68) (my favorite versions)

According to Wikipedia there are over 250,000 versions of "Summertime".

Summertime by The Sundays ('97)

Summertime Blues - Eddie Cochran ('58)

(Covers by The Who ('67) and the trippy version by Blue Cheer ('68)
Summertime Rolls - Jane's Addiction ('86)
Summertime Sadness - Lana Del Rey ('12)

Summertime, Summertime - The Jamies ('58)

Summer Snow - Lou Christie ('63)

Summer Soft - Stevie Wonder ('76)

Summer Sunshine - The Corrs ('04)

Sunny Afternoon - The Kinks ('66)

Sunshine and Summertime - Faith Hill ('06)

Sweet Summer Lovin' - Dolly Parton ('79)

The Boys of Summer cover by The Ataris ('02)

The Boys of Summer - Don Henley ('84)

The Green Leaves of Summer - Peter & Gordon ('60)

The Hissing of Summer Lawns - Joni Mitchell ('76)

The Last Day of Summer - The Cure (2000)

The Other Side of Summer - Elvis Costello ('91)

That Summer - Garth Brooks ('93)

That Sunday, That Summer - Nat King Cole ('63)

Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer - Nat King Cole ('63)

Under the Boardwalk - The Drifters ('64)
Unemployed in Summertime - Emiliana Torrini (2000)

Wipe Out - The Surfaris ('63)

Wonderful Summer - Robin Ward ('63)

Your Summer Dream - The Beach Boys ('63)