Strawberry Blueberry Mint Spritzer

This refreshing drink is a wonderful summer cocktail and although it's not red, white, and blue, it's got the red and blue component!  Fresh strawberries, blueberries, and mint leaves are muddled together then mixed with freshly squeezed lemon juice, champagne, sake, and seltzer water. I fell in love with the recipe when I saw it called for Sake! A friend gave us a bottle of Sake as a going away present since we will be living in Japan in less than a month. This cocktail was the perfect use for it!

 I served these cocktails when we had a dinner party and everyone loved it! It can also be made without the alcohol, just substitute additional seltzer for the champagne and sake.

Strawberry Blueberry Mint Spritzer
Modified from LindaWagner.net
Printable Version
Ingredients
1 bottle of Sake
1 bottle of champagne
1/2 pint of strawberries
1/2 pint of blueberries
6 lemons
6 sprigs of mint
2 cans or 24 ounces of seltzer water

Directions
Slice strawberries into vertical slivers and halve the blueberries. Tear the mint leaves roughly and all all to a large pitcher. Squeeze the lemons into the pitcher and gently muddle using a fruit muddler or wooden spoon. 

Add the seltzer water in and stir. Add equal parts sake and champagne. Pour into individual glasses and garnish with additional fruit if desired. 

Mango Mimosa Martini

Hubby and I concocted this yummy half martini half mimosa cocktail this weekend while my parents were visiting. Frozen mango puree blended with vodka, seltzer, and topped with champagne result in a thick bubbly fruity drink that is sweet and tart. Perfect for toasting 30th birthdays!

Mango Mimosa Martini
An Ashley's Cooking Adventures Original
Serves Two
Printable Version

Ingredients
2 cups frozen mango puree (We used 2 packs from Trader Joe's Mango Puree)
2 shots vodka
1/2 can seltzer
Champagne to top off drinks

Directions
Place mango puree in a blender with vodka. Pulse to blend. Add in seltzer and pulse to liquify. Pour into cocktail glass and top with champagne.

Orange Crush

This drink is wildly popular at Waterman's, one of our favorite restaurants on the boardwalk in Virginia Beach. Waterman's makes it with fresh oranges instead of orange juice. I always order this luscious drink when we eat at Waterman's but hadn't thought of making it myself. That was until this weekend when we were hanging out on our friend's Keith's boat and Keith made one for me. On the way home I made my hubby stop so we could buy the ingredients, which means I may or may not have consumed more than one Orange Crush this weekend. Warning: these are so gooooood you won't want to stop drinking them and could wake up the next morning with a slight headache.

Orange Crush
Printable Version


Ingredients
Vodka (the more expensive the better)
Triple Sec
Orange juice
Sprite
Fresh Oranges

Directions
For each drink pour 1 shot of vodka and 1 shot of triple sec into a glass. Squeeze the juice of 1/2 an orange into the drink (or go crazy and juice an entire orange). Top off the glass with Sprite and orange juice. Stir and enjoy!

Strawberry, Lime, and Coconut Popsicles

I scored the most adorable popsicle molds when I won a giveaway from CSN Stores and decided to make my first popsicles "adults only. We had fresh strawberries in the fridge so I mashed them up with fresh lime juice, coconut rum, vanilla rum, and a little seltzer. I wasn't exactly sure how much I would need to fill the molds, so I ended up with extra. I couldn't let such goodness go to waste, so made the leftovers into cocktails for hubby and I. 

The hubs isn't a huge fan of strawberries (he's crazy, isn't he?!?) but he really liked the drinks and popsicles. The lime and seltzer balance out the sweetness of the strawberries. You can taste the coconut but you really can't tell it's alcohol. My first popsicles were a yummy success and even though summer is just about over (tear!), I am going to keep the feeling alive with popsicles all year round. 

Strawberry, Lime and Coconut Popsicles

An Ashley Original

Printable Version

Ingredients

About 8 fresh strawberries, cleaned 

The juice of 2 limes

1/2 cup coconut rum

1/4 cup vanilla rum

Seltzer

Directions

Mash the strawberries in a bowl. Add in the lime juice, rum, and a splash of seltzer. Stir to combine. 

Pour into popsicle molds and freeze for at least 2 hours or until ready to enjoy. 

Use the leftovers for yummy drinks by pouring the strawberry/lime mixture into cocktail glasses and adding in a splash more of the rum and seltzer.

Watermelon Martinis

Watermelon is such a classic summer fruit.  I bought the watermelon for these martinis from a farmer's roadside stand- fresh fruit directly from the farms are really the best way to go in my opinion. I wish I would have bought a Sugar Baby Watermelon because they were at the stand and BunnyCooks recommends using the sweetest watermelon you can find. These drinks are refreshing and fun, perfect for Labor Day weekend! 

Watermelon Martini
From BunnyCooks
(serves 2 -3)


Printable Version


Ingredients
1 cup of strained sweet, fresh, watermelon juice
1/2 cup Vodka
Squeeze of fresh lime juice
Sugar to rim the glasses
Watermelon slices for garnish

Directions
Dip the rims of the martini glasses in a little water and then immediately dip into sugar. Set aside. Quickly mix ice with the watermelon juice, vodka, and fresh lime juice in a cocktail shaker. Only shake two or three times or else it will become very watery. Pour into the sugar rimmed glasses. Garnish with watermelon slices. 

Bahama Mama

This weekend my Mom, Aunt Chris, and cousin Lindsey came to visit. I did a lot of cooking (with tons of help from them!) and a made a couple new drinks, including this Bahama Recipe that I found on Tasty Kitchen from Steamy Kitchen. This drink is a vacation in a glass. So fruity and sweet and perfect for a girls' night! This recipe makes 6 drinks but you can modify it on Tasty Kitchen for whatever amount you want.

Bahama Mama
From Smitten Kitchen
Printable Version
**Makes 6 cocktails


Ingredients
1 cup dark rum
1 cup coconut rum
2 tablespoons vanilla flavored rum
1 1/2 cup pineapple juice
1 1/2 cup orange juice
3 tablespoons grenadine
Marashino cherries for garnish

Directions
Combine all ingredients and stir with crushed ice. Serve in individual cocktail glasses and garnish with a cherry. 

Kamikaze Cocktail

I hosted a Girls' Night at our house this weekend and my fabulous friend Jen brought the ingredients for this fun summer cocktail.  Jen and I are both big fans of Tasty Kitchen, which is where Jen found this recipe from Cookin' Canuck. I had actually been eyeballing this recipe myself on TK and was excited to try it. Jen played bartender and I took the pics, so Jen is my guest blogger on this one since she actually created these cocktails. Fresh lime juice is definitely the way to go on these drinks - it takes about 2 limes per martini glass and the results are yum yum yum but oh so very potent. Cookin' Canuck warns you to hand over your keys before partaking in these drinks and she is 100% correct! 


Kamikaze Cocktail 
Thanks to Cookin Canuck and my lovely friend Jen B
Printable Version

Ingredients For 1 Cocktail
1 1/2 ounces fresh lime juice (the juice of two limes)
1 1/2 ounces Vodka
1 1/2 ounces Triple Sec
3/4 ounces Simple Syrup

Directions
For the simple syrup combine 1 cup of granulated sugar and 1 cup of water in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool completely.

For the cocktail fill a cocktail shaker halfway with ice. Add lime juice, vodka, triple sec, and 3/4 ounces of simple syrup. Shake well, about 15 second to chill the mixture. Strain into a highball glass or martini glass for a single drink, or if you prefer into 4 separate shot glasses. Garnish with a wedge of lime and serve cold. 

French Martini

I don't know why it hadn't dawned on me before to blog about fun drinks that my husband and I try! We mostly drink wine, but every once in a while we like a nice martini. I prefer the more tropical varieties and my obliging and wonderful husband will not only go and buy the ingredients for my fruity drinks, but mixes them up for me. This recipe from Ina Garten had been sitting in my Food Network recipe box for about 2 years and so this weekend I finally decided it was time to try it.

CAUTION: This martini is very strong. I couldn't even finish one. I guess that is what 2 1/2 cups of vodka will do! My husband actually said, "Who would have thought the Barefoot Contessa is a booze hound?" Next time we make this recipe we will definitely scale down the vodka, probably to just 1 1/2 cups. The Chambord is my favorite part and I put a little extra in on the top of mine to make it pretty.

French Martini

From Ina Garten

Ingredients

2 cups fresh pineapple juice

2 1/2 cups vodka

1/4 cup Vermouth

2 teaspoons raspberry liqueur (Chambord is recommended)

Directions

Combine the ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Fill a martini glass with ice and pour the cocktail over the ice. 

Look closely in this picture for my baby Wendell. :)