Cocktails

Any excuse to celebrate is a valid one in my book. Because why not? This sweet Kentucky Derby drink station is the perfect way to welcome friends over to watch the race in style.

This easy white wine sangria recipe is made with peaches and pineapple, making it a refreshing summer cocktail. Make a pitcher of this white wine sangria to share at your next summer party or to invite neighbors over to sip on the front porch.

My college boyfriend and I used to make our own beer and wine and bottle them in our tiny little rundown apartment, which was more of a shack attached to the back of an old falling down frat house. (True story.) Making and bottling beer was something we loved doing, and while it’s not a hobby I’ve kept up, it was absolutely my initial inspiration for making my own bottled cocktails.

When it’s peak season, I like to hoard blood oranges. They’re like a burst of sunshine in the thick of the end-of-winter doldrums, don’t you think?! Today we’re talking blood orange cocktails. Also known as, “Here are eleven reasons to stock up on blood oranges at the grocery store this week.” 

The countdown to the holidays is officially on, friends, and by super popular request I’m sneaking in a couple more Christmas cocktails before all the merriment commences! Champagne cocktails are, of course, perfect for Christmas and also make the ideal New Year’s Eve cocktail. Might I suggest this blueberry bubbly sparkler? It’s the loveliest, tastiest champagne cocktail for either holiday…or both!

This cheerful Christmas Moscow mule recipe is a fruity, tart cocktail made with cherry juice, ginger beer and festive garnishes galore.

One of the questions I get a lot from my friends is my recommendation for the best Christmas cocktail to serve up at all their various holiday parties. Apparently my reputation precedes me! Making seasonal holiday cocktails is my favorite, but jazzing up a classic White Russian recipe in particular is kind of my thing. Over the years I’ve made sugar cookie White Russians, gingerbread White Russians and my super popular salted caramel White Russian recipe. This year I’m raising the bar with this white chocolate peppermint White Russian recipe that tastes a bit like Christmas itself swirled into a glass.

Fall is one of my favorite times of year, for all the obvious reasons. The foliage, the crispness to the air, trips to the apple orchard, homemade apple pies and, naturally, apple cider beermosas. A beermosa, if you’re not aware, is kind of like a classic champagne mimosa, only you’re using beer instead of champagne. I also like to add a dash of flavored vodka to really make it good. And, yes, they’re as tasty as they sound. Here’s how I make mine!

It’s hard to believe that we’re in the last few days of official summer before the calendar flips over to fall. With fall temperatures in the forecast it seems like the perfect time to raise one last glass of something summery and tropical. This my mango sunrise piña colada recipe! It’s fruity and sweet and a bit like a vacation in a glass.

There used to be a bar tucked into the hill on the walk up to the Carrier Dome where they served the most over the top fish bowl drinks. They were loaded with booze, topped with twisty neon straws and feature Swedish fish floating in brightly colored liquid. And they made the rest of the cold walk up the hill to watch Syracuse basketball a whole lot more entertaining. That bar has since closed their doors and I’ve since grown a bit older, but those cocktails still remain imprinted in my memory as legendary. Usually tiki bar inspired and tropical flavored, there’s nothing quite like a good fish bowl cocktail. Until today, because I’ve gone and made them even better. These mermaid water fish bowl cocktails are the slightly classier, fairly grown adult version. Fair warning – they’re still loaded with booze. Oops!

It was my dad who first introduced me to the beauty of really good gin cocktails. Late in my college career, I’d go home summers to work an internship at a local architecture firm. My dad and I would often meet on the back porch in the evening after work and he’d make us each a perfect gin and tonic. Perfectly refreshing. Perfectly summer. I’ve been a gin fan ever since. But today I’ve upped the game on the classic gin and tonic with these blueberry beet slushies made with Prairie Organic gin. They may just be the single tastiest cocktail I’ve ever concocted and with blueberries currently in season, you’re going to want to fire up that blender!

When you live in the Northeast, you live every minute of summer to the fullest because while short, I’d argue that they’re some of the most beautiful summers of anywhere. It’s a season that brings me to life and rightfully so we make it a point to soak up every last second of the sunshine that we can. Hitting the weekly farmer’s market for freshly squeezed lemonade is one of my favorite summer traditions. They serve it up in big cups full of ice and you can sip it while you walk through the stalls collecting farm fresh produce for that night’s dinner. That farmer’s market lemonade is the inspiration behind this cocktail, made with the tastiest homemade strawberry lemonade and Prairie Organic vodka. Taking just a few minutes to make hand crafted cocktails is one of my favorite parts of a weekend happy hour. Fresh, farm grown ingredients totally elevate the cocktail sipping experience which is my way of saying, make this cocktail. Find the ripest local strawberries you can find, make them into lemonade and sip these Moscow mules all summer long.