Now that it’s unofficially summer, I think we can officially call it sangria season! It’s likely that sangria season is my favorite time of year. Fruity, boozy, winey, super refreshing and perfectly party-ready! Sangria is made for front porch sipping, slow and easy back patio happy hours, and prepping in advance for all of your summer parties. This kiwi limi mint sangria recipe might just be my favorite one I’ve whipped up yet! It’s made with fresh kiwi purée (which is a cinch to make) and loaded with refreshing lime and mint so it’s basically summer’s new best cocktail recipe. Don’t be intimidated by the kiwi purée, friends, please! The addition of simple but fresh ingredients like that make a cocktail recipe come alive and it’s really easy to do. Scout’s honor! (Ooo! Do we think I could earn a badge in cocktail mixing?!) I’ll toast to a long, hot awesome summer with a glass of this one, pals, I hope you do the same!
Cocktails
Over my last decade of blogging I have had the incredible privilege of making friends with loads of amazingly talented people. The camaraderie and the community in this wild little industry of ours is what made me fall in love with blogging from the very beginning, way back in 2008 when I took at stab at writing my very first post. Melissa Coleman of The Faux Martha is one of those people. She’s a tiny little whisp of a lady with an impeccable eye, a knack for making delicious food and a brand new cookbook, The Minimalist Kitchen, among her credits. A couple months ago I received an advance copy of her book, which is now available for sale, and I can’t get enough of it. It’s loaded with tips for how to stock your pantry and your kitchen so you can make really delicious, wholesome meals without having to run out to the store for a bunch of exotic ingredients every time you cook. If your kitchen is anything like mine, it can get overrun with containers of this and cans of that, too many of which go bad before they ever get used. I’m absolutely going to spend some time revisiting those sections of Melissa’s book and purging my kitchen of a lot of the nonsense, because I hate unruly cupboards and that’s precisely how mine are looking and feeling at the moment.
With Cinco de Mayo in just a few days, shouldn’t we be talking about margaritas? Well, you’re in luck! These raspberry swirl pineapple mango margaritas are everything you’ve been waiting for and more. I am such a fan of frozen cocktails in the spring and summer months, especially when I’m trying to channel those tropical vibes that we so desperately need here in our neck of the woods about now. (Although it’s finally warm this week! Hooray!)
This fruity and refreshing strawberry mojito is the perfect summer cocktail. Made with homemade strawberry simple syrup, this is the ultimate strawberry mojito recipe.
Friends, did you know that my birthday falls on Easter this year? Ok, I didn’t really think anyone was tracking that so guess what? My birthday is on Easter this year! That’s never happened before, but it feels kind of fun, so since I’m a grown adult (turning the big 3-5 no less), it seems only appropriate that there be some kind of booze involved. Cut to me walking through Michaels and spying the cutest little silicone bunny molds and, welp, we’ve got these boozy bunny jiggler shots! They’re made with rosé, raspberry vodka and strawberry simple syrup so the result is super fruity and equally festive! Keep reading for the recipe, and click through to check out a few of my blogging buds and their festive Easter creations, too! My friends know how to celebrate and I’m crazy for all their recipes and decor ideas.
With New Year’s Eve just a few days away, what better time is there to talk about festive bubbly cocktails?! Although, in all seriousness, I am advocate of a good bubbly cocktail precisely 100% of the time. Or just a good bottle of bubbly by itself. That’s always a fully acceptable option. Today though, we’re …
‘Tis the season for the most festive of Christmas cocktails and I’m serving up one of my new favorites! I’ve dubbed these frothy little concoctions sugar cookie White Russians and with good reason. They’re loaded with yummy vanilla flavor and topped with whipped cream, sugar cookie crumbles and sprinkles! This is the type of cocktail that is sure to wow your friends and makes the perfect addition to your hosting repertoire this time of year. I’m partnering with Walmart to bring you the recipe, which boasts my personal favorite vodka, Tito’s Handmade. (Any other Tito’s fans in the house?!) So let’s get to mixing, because this cocktail is going to make your actual sugar cookies at least a teeny bit jealous this year.
The sweet little old lady whose family owned our home for more than 50 years before we bought it was well into her 90s when she passed, but her reputation for hosting a great cocktail party still lives on. We refer to her affectionately as Mrs. T, and let me tell you, Mrs. T was famed for inviting all the neighbors over for Christmas Eve cocktails, which is a tradition we’re determined to continue through the years in her honor. Today I’ve teamed up with Walmart to share my tips on how to stock the perfect holiday bar cart! A few fine spirits, a handful of great mixers and some festive seasonal touches will create the sweetest station for mixing your favorite holiday cocktails at all your gatherings throughout the season. From more casual cocktails with the neighbors to your rockin’ New Year’s Eve bash, these tips will take you straight through the holidays in fine fashion.
Last year my sister Ash and I sat down before the holidays and came up with The Sweetest Occasion’s first annual holiday wine guide featuring some of our favorite wines, all of which come in at under $25 a bottle. This year we’re back at it again, with an updated wine guide just in time for Thanksgiving! We kept a lot of our old standbys, but freshened up the list with some of the new wines we’ve discovered and grown to love over the last year. We have wines here for just about every holiday occasion whether it be for sipping while binge watching Christmas movies, gifting your mother in-law, mulling with citrus and spices or for pairing with your holiday dinners. Neither of us claims to be a sommelier, we just really love trying and discovering new wines, and we both fully believe that you can get a great bottle of wine for a great price. For what it’s worth, you could gift either of us any of these bottles and we’d be super happy campers! Do you have any favorites to add to the list? Chime in below so I can give them a try!
While I am definitely one who generally passes up on seasonal coffee concoctions (no offense, pumpkin spice lattes), I am very definitely someone who loves playing with fun seasonal cocktails throughout the year. This time of year in Upstate New York is still prime apple season, not so much for picking them since the season has passed for that, but certainly you can still find loads of fresh local apples. Making an apple sangria seemed like a requirement this year, but I wanted to keep it light and really refreshing so I added lemons and made it with rosé so it’s crisp and fruity and not at all heavy like fall sangria recipes tend to be. Add brandy, triple sec and simple syrup and you’ve got a pretty perfect fall cocktail. It would even be ideal for making up a big batch early in the day on Thanksgiving so your guests can serve themselves while you’re finishing buttering up the mashed potatoes. Want try another great apple cocktail? Give my caramel apple sangria recipe a whirl. It’s one of my all time most popular cocktails!
You guys know by now that I simply can’t refuse a well-made summer cocktail. Trying out new recipes and making friends act as my personal test subjects while sipping cocktails on our back patio is one of my personal favorite things! Today I’ve teamed up with Master of Mixes to share this perfectly summery and seasonal blueberry mojito recipe with you. Because of their sincere commitment to quality, Master of Mixes allows you to enjoy naturally flavored, scratch-quality cocktails at home, even if you’re not like me and concocting your own simple syrups from scratch sounds like zero fun. And let’s be honest! Even if that is fun, sometimes you just want something quicker and easier that’s still crazy delicious, and that’s where this mojito comes into play!
A few years ago Bob and I made our maiden voyage to Key West, which sparked a completely unexpected love affair with the Keys. I’ve been back since and have only fall more in love with the carefree, Cuban meets Caribbean vibe each time I go. This frozen tropical cocktail is entirely inspired by that same salt air in your hair, Jimmy Buffet music playing in the background experience that makes you never want to leave the Keys. In essence, this cocktail is a vacation in a glass. Because it’s sweetened with Truvia Nectar, it’s also a reduced sugar alternative to the typical sugar laden frozen drinks that seem to make the rounds ad nauseum in the summer months. Take it next level with a garnish of fresh pineapple and you’re ready for vacation mode.