I love Christmas – I can’t wait to hear the Snoopy Christmas song, that’s when I know Christmas is just around the corner! Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without some egg nog.
There is more to Christmas than egg nog though and I have my whole collection of Christmas Cocktails waiting for you at Christmas Cocktails, for a sneak peak I’ll let you know one of the recipes right now.
Shake all of the liquid ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into a martini glass and garnish with a mini candy cane for that festive feel.
If you’re having a decade party do you need a hand with the drinks? As I get older my friends are hitting milestones which we never thought we’d see when we were younger. Consequently we’re having 70s parties and 80s parties and trying to relive our youths.
I was thinking of this and I thought you know I was born in 1969, but I would like to have a 60s party because it would be quite cool. Then I thought about the 20s and doing the Charleston…………..or rather trying to do the Charleston!
It really doesn’t matter what decade you want to recapture, you could have a fantastic time – getting the music, dressing up in costume – but what to drink?
This article contains cocktails throughout the decades. Now all you need to do is look up what food to serve.
Do you like rum? Give the rum and coke a miss today and try a daiquiri instead. There are heaps of variations on the daiquiri.
The biggest tip for a delicious daiquiri is to use a good quality rum. A really nice rum will have caramel flavors in the background which will make your daiquiri really smooth.
Here is a basic daiquiri recipe:-
Daiquiri
3 parts rum
1 part lime juice
1½ parts sugar syrup
Put all of the ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice and shake well. Strain into a glass to serve.
There are too many different variations of daiquiris to list them all here so for a number of different daiquiri recipes check out my Daiquiri Diva site.
I was driving back from dropping my daughter at school today and I heard Papa Don’t Preach on the radio. Although it was ‘uncool’ to like Madonna in those days (or should I say to admit to it) I DID like her! It was ironic that I should hear the song today as I just published this yesterday. It’s all about Madonna in the 80s.
The 80s were when I first tried a cocktail and I have been scratching my head trying to think what the first one I tried was. It may have been a Snowball or a Toblerone, but I think it was Sex on the Beach. Sex on the Beach was a real 80s cocktail, it was creamy and rich and suggestive – the ultimate 80s cocktail
Sex on the Beach
4 parts vodka
3 parts peach schnapps
6 parts cranberry juice
6 parts pineapple juice
Pour all of the ingredients into a highball glass filled with ice cubes and stir well. Garnish with a cherry to serve.
Enjoy a Sex on the Beach today and take a nostalgic walk down memory lane. Or just try a truly retro cocktail!
I received my first Christmas card of the year yesterday – I can’t believe it’s that time of the year already. I haven’t even started my Christmas shopping yet, although I have started looking online at what’s out there (mainly so I could write my own Santa list )
Have you started your Christmas shopping yet? I have come across some delightful cocktail glasses that come with their own cocktail recipes – that would be sooo cool (if anyone’s wondering what to get me for Christmas, I’ll take any of them!!).
Look at Gifts for Shopaholics for an idea of what I’m talking about. If you click on the Shopaholic cocktail glass it will take you to the site where you can find all sorts of different versions. It is so much cooler than the usual cocktail shaker or cocktail recipe book!
If you’ve already done your Christmas shopping – lucky you, sit back and relax, maybe even sip on a relaxing cocktail.
Creamsicle
4 parts vanilla liqueur
8 parts fresh orange juice
4 parts half’n’half
Put all of the ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice and shake well. Strain and serve, over ice cubes, in a highball glass.
I’ve rediscovered Sloe gin recently, I hadn’t had it for………….well over a decade. The first time I drank it I had it straight on the rocks, but the next day was not great so I always had it with lemonade after that! Finding a bottle of Sloe Gin in the local liquor shop got me thinking of new ways of drinking it and a Sloe Screwdriver is a really refreshing way.
Sloe Screwdriver
1 part Sloe gin
4 parts Orange juice
Another way would be the Sloe Comfortable Screw
1 part Sloe Gin
1 part Southern Comfort
1 part vodka
3 parts orange juice
Does anyone remember Dubonnet? This was an aperitif that was very popular for a while in the 1980s. Young ladies would order a Dubonnet and lemonade and it would be served in a red wine glass.
Well I have another way for you to enjoy Dubonnet and it’s called a Chocolate Soldier.
Another cocktail that has Dubonnet in it is:
The Appetizer
3 parts Dubonnet
1 part Orange Juice
Pour the ingredients into a mixing glass with ice and stir well. Strain into a cocktail glass to serve.
This weekend I was at a 21st and decided to have a Screwdriver (well, that’s the short version anyway) and I really enjoyed it. It got me to thinking sometimes the simple classic drinks are the best.
The Screwdriver
4 parts vodka
orange juice
Put the vodka in a highball glass over ice and top up with orange juice, simple and refreshing.
Gin and Tonic
I used to drink G&Ts all the time until someone gave me flat tonic water which is when I switched to Gimlets.
Gin and Tonic
4 parts gin
tonic water
Pour the gin into a Collins glass and top up with tonic water. Add the ice cubes last, I’m not sure why but it does taste better. Call it an old barman’s trick.
Gimlet
6 parts gin
2 parts Rose’s lime juice
Combine in a cocktail shaker, shake well and strain into a cocktail glass. For a simpler version I just serve it in a Collins glass.
On May 9th 1955 Sam and Friends debuts on a local television channel and we get our first glimpse of Kermit. In honor of the little green ones I’m going to give you a couple of Green Cocktails today.
Grasshopper
4 parts green crème de menthe
4 parts white crème de menthe
4 parts half-n-half
Put all of the ingredients into a cocktail shaker with cracked ice and shake well. Strain into a cocktail glass to serve.
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