I made this delightful cocktail for Mother’s Day last weekend. It was quite a hit (meaning my mom and I both liked it). This is really the perfect summer brunch cocktail. Raspberries and lemons are a great combination of sweet and tart and they work really well together here. The drink is not overly sweet, has delicious fruit flavors and is very refreshing. I’m definitely planning on making this many, many more times over the next few months.

It’s my dear friend Amanda‘s birthday next week, so this one’s for her. HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMANDA!!

Piña coladas are not my favorite drink in the world, but they do hold a special place in my heart. Not only are they a featured in the refrain of one my favorite karaoke songs (thanks Jimmy Buffet), but they remind me of a magical summer in Budapest. That’s where piña colada obsession began. At Morrison’s 1 to be exact. (If you are ever in Budapest, you have to go to Morrison’s (the one by the opera, not the other one)). It took us a while to discover the piña colada at Morrison’s. We tried and failed with our regular go tos, but an impulsive decision lead to a wonderful discovery.

There is something extremely satisfying about a cool and frothy piña colada on a hot and humid summer night. Budapest is both extremely hot and extremely humid during the summer, so it’s pretty much the perfect drink.

Piña Colada

• Ice cubes
• 1 cup rum
• 1 cup coconut cream
• 1/2 cup pineapple juice
• 1/4 cup pineapple chunks
• Sliced pineapple, for garnish, optional
• Maraschino cherry, for garnish, optional

1. Fill blender halfway with ice cubes. Add rum, coconut cream, pineapple juice and pineapple chunks. Puree.
2. Serve, garnished with a slice of pineapple and maraschino cherry, if desired.

This a delightful little concoction I came up with over the weekend. It was light, fruity and perfect for an 80/27 degree Easter day. I really liked the fruit combination I used ( strawberries, raspberries, and mandarins), but you can use absolutely any fresh fruit you have on hand. My only suggestion would be to let it sit a little bit before serving. The first glass I had was only so-so, but the second glass was a million times better. It definitely improved as the flavors had some time to mix together.

Champagne Punch

• 2 750 ml. bottles of champagne/sparkling wine/cava
• 1/2 cup amaretto
• 1/2 cup orange liqueur/triple sec/cointreau
• fresh fruit (I used sliced strawberries, raspberries, and mandarins)

Pour the amaretto and orange liqueur into a large pitcher, add fruit and top with champagne. Let sit about 15 minutes before serving.

Tis the season for all things New Orleans and cajun, so here we go. The first time I had a Hurricane (the drink variety), was during an actual hurricane (the storm variety). It was actually my first encounter with both variations, and hopefully my last and only encounter with the later. Apparently, it was a mild one, well according to the locals (I found that to be an arguable description). I happened to be in Nassau waiting to leave on my first semester of study abroad adventures and a hurricane decided to swing on through. This particular study abroad program involved a ship, hence the hanging out in cruise port in the middle of hurricane season. Once the hatches were battened down, Señor Frog’s in Nassau found it the appropriate time for drink specials . Bad weather be damned, one dollar for a drink is quite frankly too good a deal to pass up.

I have to admit that I was rather surprised by how difficult it was to find passion fruit juice around here. I eventually settled on a delicious passion fruit/mango blend from Trader Joe’s. Not 100 percent authentic, but tasty. To be honest, I’m not that big of a rum fan. Hurricanes have a lot of rum, but the rum is masked up by a sweet blend of juices and a tart bit of lime. Lime improves just about everything if you ask me.

Hurricane

• 2 ounces light rum
• 2 ounces dark rum
• 2 ounces passion fruit juice
• 1 ounce orange juice
• juice of one lime
• 1 Tbsp simple syrup
• 1 Tbsp grenadine
• orange slice and cherry for garnish

This is a pretty indulgent drink. It’s not overly heavy, just rich. The coffee and the liquors definitely make a for a full-bodied combination. It’s a drink that you need to take your time with. I think it would make a nice substitute for dessert after a big meal or a fancier nightcap. I could definitely imagine serving this after a dinner party so everyone can hangout and chat a bit longer.

I served mine iced, only because I don’t like hot drinks (weird I know). I threw in 2 heaping teaspoons of decaf instant coffee into a cocktail shaker and added in the alcohol and shook, shook, shook. I then poured it into a mason jar, added a big handful of ice and topped with a bit of whipped cream.

Keoke Coffee
(This is for a 32 ounce mason jar sized coffee, I would cut it in half to fit a normal glass)

• 2 ounces brandy
• 2 ounces Kahlúa
• 2 ounces crème de cacao
• 16 ounces coffee
• whipped cream

When I first checked out this drink, I really wasn’t too sure how amaretto and cranberry would go together. I love amaretto! So I was a little hesitant to make this only to have it be a ‘waste’ of amaretto. If you’ve never had amaretto before, you are missing out! It is a sweet, almond liqueur from Italy. It is delicious and definitely underutilized.

I found this cocktail to be a bit on the sweet side for my taste. I think in the future, I would use orange liqueur/triple sec to cut the sweetness or squeeze in a lime if I was using fresh orange juice. That said, this was a very smooth cocktail and the amaretto really complements the cranberry and vodka. If you like your drinks on the sweeter side, this is definitely perfect for you, but if you like a little less sweet, it might take some adjusting to get the flavors right.

Amaretto Cranberry Kiss (from Epicurious)

• 2 cups cranberry juice
• 1 cup vodka
• 1/2 cup amaretto
• 3 tablespoons fresh orange juice (orange liqueur could be substituted)
• Ice cubes
• Clementines, peeled, separated into segments

Mix cranberry juice, vodka, amaretto, and orange juice in pitcher. Cover and chill until ready to serve. DO AHEAD: Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated.

To make 2 drinks, fill cocktail shaker with ice cubes. Pour in scant 1 cup vodka mixture. Cover and shake vigorously. Strain into 2 Martini glasses. Garnish each with clementine segment. Repeat 3 times with ice cubes, remaining vodka mixture, and clementine segments.

I love blood oranges. LOVE. Well more like borderline obsessed. For some reason they are super hard to find around here. When I was living in Budapest, I was going through nearly 2 kilos a week and every other fruit stall in the big market sold them. In Southern California, I have to hunt for them! And they are so expensive here, $4.99 for 3 pounds! They were way cheaper in Budapest.  (Another reason to move back!) I have been looking for blood oranges around here for over 2 months. Every time I have asked at farmers’ market or in grocery stores, they look at me like I am a crazy person. Considering how much citrus is grown in California, I didn’t think blood oranges would be too difficult to acquire, but apparently I am mistaken. I finally found a bag of them last week and promptly set about using them in any way imaginable; margaritas, salads, straight up, but mainly margs. Blood oranges are just meant to be consumed in margarita form.

My love of blood oranges is only rivaled by my love of margaritas. Margaritas trump just about everything in my book. I would totally be more than happy to consume nothing but blood orange margaritas for the rest of my life. That would be the best life ever. You see blood orange margs are superior to most margs. They are sweet and tart and perfect. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off in search of blood oranges to hoard.

Blood Orange Margaritas

• 3 ounces blood orange juice
• 2 ounces fresh lime juice
• .5 ounce simple syrup (optional)
• 3 ounces silver tequila
• 1.5 ounces triple sec

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker over ice. Shake, shake, shake, and then shake a little more. You can rim the serving glass with salt if you feel like it. Strain into a glass filled with ice. Serve and enjoy!

 This is one of my favorite days of the year. I know that is a pretty bold statement to make on this, the 5th day of the year, but you see, tonight is the season premiere of Jersey Shore. There is no possible way for this day to be bad. Feel free to pass judgement on my love of Jersey Shore. While you are busy judging me for that, you can overlook my unnatural obsession with pickles. I am in no way ashamed of either. I’m actually quite proud that I found a way to combine the two. The Dirty Snooki, is simply a picklitini or a dirty martini made with pickle juice instead of olive juice. I love a good dirty martini. I have read about picklinitis before, but never tried one. So, I figured it was only appropriate to honor one of my favorite days of year and everyone’s favorite pickle loving guidette with a Dirty Snooki.

The Dirty Snooki

• 4 ounces gin (or vodka if that’s your thing)
• 1/2 ounce dry vermouth
• 2 tablespoons Kosher dill pickle juice or spicy pickle juice
• 1 pickle spear, for garnish

Combine all ingredients, except the pickle spear, in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake, shake, shake, and shake some more. Strain into a martini glass. Garnish with pickle spear.