Alcohol

I like this new page feature, so I'm dedicating this one to booze...

La Spritz Venexiana
Everybody everywhere in Venice is drinking this one, I feel so swanky.
Fill a glass with ice, muddle an orange in it. Add 4oz of sparkly white wine and one oz of Campari or Aperol. Top with a splash of soda water. Garnish with lemon and orange zest.

Kir
I dont know how I got to be 41 without ever having a Kir. Its just a splash of Creme di Cassis (a non-creamy blackcurrant liquer) in a glass of cold white wine (Chablis or a white Burgundy) and its LOVELY before a meal or with some creamy cheese and bread for a snack. (V. French to drink with snack...)
The title above links to the wikipedia page which will tell you more than you ever wanted to know about this drink.

Making your own liquer
If you are Italian and have fruit trees of any kind, it is critical that you make some liquer out of your home grown fruit. But there is no reason not to do this if you don't have fruit trees.... Its entirely easy and the results make lovely digestivi for after a meal.

To make 2 quart jars:
1 Quart neutral spirits. (In Italy they sell a neutral spirit just for this purpose but plain vodka will do just as well).
2 cups sugar syrup
1 lb of fruit pitted cherries, apricots, pear etc.
Herbs or spices to complement (cherry with orange peel, apricot with tarragon, pear and vanilla bean- go wild here...).
Take your fruits, remove pits and chop them into bite size pieces. Combine with herbs or spices. Separate into two quart jars. Add one cup sugar syrup to each and 1/2 the spirits to cover the fruit. Seal jars. If you want to you can shake them once in a while, otherwise, just let them sit for a couple of months. Strain. The fruit should keep in the fridge for a few days out of the booze and can be served over ice cream.



More Lemon Cocktails:
Lemon Drop
1 cup frozen vodka
1 cup limoncello
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup superfine sugar
1 lemon, thinly sliced
Ice

Combine the vodka, limoncello, lemon juice, and sugar and pour into a cocktail shaker with ice. Pour into martini glasses and garnish with lemon slices.

Limoncello Champagne Cocktail
8 (3 x 1/2-inch) lemon zest strips
8 tablespoons Limoncello
8 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 (750-milliliter) bottle brut Champagne, chilled

Sugar the rims of 8 champagne flutes. Curl each strip of lemon zest; place 1 into each flute. Add 1 tablespoon liqueur and 1 teaspoon juice to each glass. Divide Champagne evenly among glasses. Serve immediately.


Cranberry Lemonade
1 shot vodka
1 shot limoncello
cranberry juice
seltzer water
lemon wedges
ice

combine vodka and limoncello over ice, add cranberry juice. Top with splash of soda and lemon wedge.

Or you can just drink shots of it after dinner with little amerettini biscuits

Husband's Birthday Lemonade
1/2 cup any fresh lemonade
juice of 1/4 of a lemon]
shot of best-quality vodka
lemon slices for garnish
splash of soda


Wedding Beverages
Rather than champagne, we drank Lunetta Prosecco, which I was surprised to enjoy very much, it was just crispy enough to stand up to cheeses on the appetizer buffet but with a pleasant sweetness.

For whites we served a Quinta da Aveleda Vinho Verde (made from notorious grapes!) and a Riff Pinot Grigio. Both of which were crisp, bright and went well with our menus.

For a red, we served Beaulieu Vinyards Pinot Noir which was frankly not great as evidenced by the leftovers... it wasn't really a leftover booze crowd... Update: 18 months out and this wine is shaping up deliciously, we drank it at Christmas and it is VASTLY improved.


The Sidecar
4 parts brandy
1 part cointreau
1 part lemon juice freshly squeezed
garnish with lemon rind
tangy, lusciousness awaits...


Red Beer
I have this problem with beer. When it is 100 degrees (like today) beer tastes delicious at the end of the day, but only the first two sips or so because then it gets warm (ick). So making red beer allows you to pour it over ice and keep it cold through the time it takes to drink it. Win-win.
1 lager beer
about 8oz of V-8
dash of black pepper
dash of hot sauce
Garnish with celery stick
mmmm...tasty...and cold...