Red Sangria

Awhile back, I posted a recipe for white peach Sangria (which I highly recommend by the way), but I think everyone should have a good recipe for both white and red sangria handy for when you want to serve some fun drinks to your guests....or to yourself :) 

I've probably made about 10 pitchers of this red sangria since I first tried the recipe.  It's now my go-to red sangria recipe, and it is great for company.  It takes only a few minutes to mix a pitcher together, and then you can let it sit in the fridge until you're ready to drink it.

Ingredients:

1 (750ml) bottle red wine (I always use cabernet savignon because that's what we mostly drink)
1 1/2 cups orange juice
1 1/2 cups Sprite or 7up
1/4 cup Triple Sec
1/2 cup brandy
1 orange, cut into slices
1 apple, chopped into small chunks
2 limes (1 sliced, 1 juiced)
2 T. grenadine (optional)
2 T. sugar

Directions

Mix together all ingredients except for the Sprite/7up in a pitcher.  Let sit for a few hours or overnight.  Add Sprite/7up and serve (or you can add Sprite/7up earlier with the rest of the ingredients, but it just won't be fizzy).

Source:  Adapted from Circle B Kitchen

White Wine Peach Sangria

I loooooove sangria!  Drinking it reminds me of being in Barcelona, strolling down Las Ramblas and stopping for some tapas and sangria al fresco.  Man, I miss my college days!  I was lucky enough to backpack through Europe for a month with my little sister when I was twenty years old, and Barcelona was a 4 day stop for us.  In addition to the tapas and sangria, we saw the beautiful Mediterranean Sea, went on a biking tour to see all of the historical sites, and partied until 6 in the morning.

Even though it's been more than five years since I visited Spain, I still love to get sangria whenever I'm eating tapas at my favorite tapas place here in Chicago, Cafe Ba Ba Reeba.  I decided I wanted to make some sangria at home.  This recipe from Bobby Flay is so good that I made it twice this month.  It has a great flavor and is very similiar to one of the white wine sangrias that I order from Cafe Be Ba Reeba.

Ingredients:

1 bottle white wine (I just used Savignon Blanc)
3 ounces brandy
2 ounces triple sec
1 cup orange juice
1 cup pineapple juice
2 ounces simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water brought to a boil for 2 minutes in a small saucepan) and cooled (leftover syrup can be stored in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator for 1 month)
3 ounces white peach puree (peel peaches, remove pit and puree in a blender with a small amount of water - BUT, I just bought some peach nectar from the grocery store and used that instead)
Fresh peaches, oranges, and apples sliced

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a pitcher and stir to mix. Refrigerate at least 8 hours or up to 48 hours. Serve over ice.  This recipe will make 1 small pitcher.  The first time I made this, I wanted to make a big pitcher so I doubled the recipe:

The second time I made this recipe, I made it for a family party and wanted to make sure we had a bunch so I tripled it:

This is a delicious white wine sangria!  I highly recommend it :)

Mai Tais

I love Mai Tais, but I've never actually made them at home before.  They were actually one of the signature cocktails at Kevin and my wedding reception (along with mojitos) so I decided to look through a few recipes to figure out how to make them.  The Mai Tais turned out really yummy, and I will definitely be using this recipe again.  These would be great for a party since you can make a big pitcher instead of having to mix individual drinks, plus you can make them a few hours before the party starts.

The recipe below made one small pitcher of Mai Tais.  If you want to make a large pitcher of this, I would double the recipe.  Here's a picture of the pitcher that this recipe made to give you an idea of how much it is (it's in one of those pitchers with a hole from Crate and Barrel):

Ingredients:

2 cups pineapple juice
2 cups orange juice
2/3 cup coconut rum (we used Parrot Bay)
2/3 cup dark rum (we used Meyer's)
juice from 2 limes
splash of grenadine (probably a couple of tablespoons)

Directions:

Mix all of the ingredients together in a pitcher and serve over ice (you can also make this ahead of time).

Mojitos!

I absolutely LOOOOVE mojitos!  Any time I see these on the drink menu at a restaurant, chances are I will end up with one (or three).  I like regular mojitos, and I've also had some great flavored mojitos (mango mojitos, pineapple mojitos, coconut mojitos).  YUM :)

Anyways, I'm growing a pot of mint out on our deck this summer, and pretty much the reason for growing this mint is so that I would be able to make my own mojtos at home.  Well, the mint is growing like crazy so I finally bought a few ingredients so that I could make my mojitos.  I found this recipe on my go-to recipe site (allrecipes.com) and I was set to go.  I used my muddler that I use when I make guacamole, and these turned out delicious :)  They were a little time consuming to make so I would probably never make these if we had company over, but now I'm glad I'll be able to make these for me and Kevin this summer.

PS - My pictures may not be too great because I'm using pictures I've taken with my cell phone (although I have to say the quality is much better than what my old phone took), but I have waited way too long to update my blog so I figure cell phone pics are better than nothing!)

Ingredients:

10 fresh mint leaves (I actually used 11 or 12)
1/2 lime, cut into 4 wedges
2 tablespoons white sugar, or to taste (I probably ended up with 2 1/2 tablespoons)
1 cup ice cubes (or as many will fit into your glass)
1 1/2 fluid ounces white rum
1/2 cup club soda (I used a little more - enough to fill the glass to the top)

Directions:

Place mint leaves and 1 lime wedge into a sturdy glass. Use a muddler to crush the mint and lime to release the mint oils and lime juice. Add 2 more lime wedges and the sugar, and muddle again to release the lime juice. Do not strain the mixture. Fill the glass almost to the top with ice. Pour the rum over the ice, and fill the glass with carbonated water. Stir, taste, and add more sugar if desired. Garnish with the remaining lime wedge.