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Giants Cocktail

During the second game of the World Series, my significant other concocted an easy and delicious cocktail that I've christened the Giants Cocktail in light of its orange hue and its inspiration. Taste-wise, if you loved Orange Julius as a kid, you'll love this cocktail.

  • 3/4 cup orange juice
  • 1/3 cup vanilla ice cream
  • 3 ounces vodka
  • 1 tsp vanilla syrup
  • 1 1/2 ounces Grand Marnier
  • 7 ice cubes

Combine the ingredients in a blender and blend for 20-30 seconds until frothy. Serve in the chilled cocktail glass of your choice. Makes 2 drinks.

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Coming Soon to a Cocktail Near You…Whipahol

My friend Writer’s To-Do List sent me a link to this article about a cocktail confection that you may soon see on the menu of your favorite drinking establishment (at least if you are in the Southern part of the U.S.): whipahol.

As a big fan of hard sauce on my pie and bread pudding. I’m surprised it took this long for someone to think of producing and selling boozy-sugary-fluff in a can. Coffee with Amaretto whipahol anyone?

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Margaritas: a Debate

What makes a classic margarita? Salt or no Salt? Grand Marnier or Triple Sec or neither? The SF Chronicle has a piece on the timely debate of what constitutes a margarita. My only quibble is it seems inconceivable that an article in a SF newspaper about margaritas, and tequila, would not include a peep about/from Tommy’s. Especially when it does include quotes from other less venerable drinking establishments.

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SF Cocktail Week

It's been cold and gray in the City off and on for the past few days. But news of the upcoming SF Cocktail week certainly warms my cold, libations-loving heart.

Held May 13-19, and ranging from the free cocktail at the "opening gala", to the cocktail-themed dinners around town on the 15th, it's enough to get me to pull no a sweater and venture out on a weeknight. I'm most tempted by the $15 demonstration of cocktail techniques at the Ferry Building on Wednesday the 14th. Get your tickets through Brown Paper Tickets.

Cheers!

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Lazy Sangria

Yes, my theme this week is making yummy food stuffs when you are feeling far too lazy to do much of anything in the kitchen.

Over the weekend, I made sangria for a gathering of about 20 people. It was one of the tastiest, and easiest, varaiations on my usual sangria recipe.

1 bottle of Rosenblum Vintner's Cuvee zinfandel
24 oz of cherry cider (I would have preferred cherry apple cider but couldn't find any)
3/4 or so of a bag of Trader Joe's pre-sliced apples (about 3 fuji apples worth)
1 pint of strawberries
3 shots of white rum
2 shots of grand marnier
1 lime sliced into thin circles
1 teaspoon sugar
Lots of ice

Clean and quarter ripe strawberries, and place in a a large ziploc bag. Add shots of Grand Marnier and rum, plus sugar. Seal bag and refrigerate for 2 or more hours prior to making the sangria. Pour liquids into a large punch bowll. Add fruit and stir. Add a few handfulls of ice. Drink and enjoy your afternoon.

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Salon Wants You to Share Your Favorite Summer Cocktail Recipes

Summertime evenings often call for a tall cool adult beverage. I know I have a slew of favorites that have also made dinner guests exceptionally happy (and refreshed). So you can bet I'll be emailing Salon with one of my recipes. The deadline for submitting your favorite summertime cocktail recipe is, fittingly, "cocktail hour" on Friday, Aug. 10. Per the call for recipes:

"Submissions must be sent to skarnasiewicz@salon.com and should include both a recipe and an introductory paragraph describing the drink's origins or inspirations, suggested food pairings, and most important, how many is too many. All cocktails will be evaluated within the following four categories: gin, vodka, rum and other."

Chin-chin!

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mojitos

Whenever I can obtain fresh mint at the farmers’ market, I make mojitos. Here’s my recipe.

  • 1 large lime
  • 1 bunch of fresh mint
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar
  • 2 shots of light rum
  • 1 small bottle of seltzer water

Rip the leaves off 3 stems of mint, and place in the bottom of a cocktail shaker. Add sugar, juice of 1 lime, and shots of rum. Use a muddler or spoon to mash up the mint and release its oils. Add 3 ice cubes and shake to mix. Pour mixture into 2 cocktail glasses. Add mint leaves from 1-2 stems (to taste), and crush them with a spoon. Add 1-2 ice cubes then top off with seltzer water until glass is full. Enjoy!

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Easy Frozen Strawberry Margaritas

Sometimes, you just need a slushy frozen adult beverage, yes? You don't need one of those fancy margaritaville frozen beverage machines to enjoy a frozen margarita at home.

Frozen Strawberry Margaritas

1/2 package of frozen strawberries (look at trader joe's if your grocery store doesn't carry them)
same amount of ice as strawberries to start (add more at the end if needed for texture)
1 can of limeade, still frozen (no extra water)
1 shot of grand marnier
4 shots of tequila (I prefer Herradura Silver)

Blend well. Drink immediately. Makes 4 servings.