I created a couple of signature cocktails and a mocktail for the Harmony Boards Launch Party last week.

photo credit: Robert Westerman

This first recipe was the big hit of the night. You’ll know why when you see the ingredient list:

• Fresh lemon juice – check.
• Sugared rims – check.
• Fresh ginger – check.
• Everyone’s favorite alcohol, Vodka – check!

Of course, not everything can go off without a hitch. I’d made the Ginger-Lemonade and other components for the cocktails at home earlier in the week. Then Kim and I transported and prepped everything at the venue on Tuesday, the day before the party.

(I should stop here to say that the venue is one of the charming Airbnb that Kim’s son and daughter-in-law, Cody and Chanté, operate. Cody and his Chisel Built company do the remodel and Chanté does the interior design. You can visit this home, known as the Zona Rosa, and their other vacation rentals at Chisel Built Stays.)

Late Tuesday night, around midnight, I woke up from deep sleep to remember that the lemonade had to be poured onto sheet pans and frozen. Oops!

photo credit: Robert Westerman

I was so concerned that I’d forget in the morning, that I got up and put the sheet pans in my car. It wasn’t until I arrived at the house, pans in hand, that I realized they would not fit in the freezer. Now what?

I poured the lemonade into a couple of dozen small plastic cocktail cups and put them in the freezer. I knew I wasn’t going to get the same easy effect as I’d get by spreading it on sheet pans, where the frozen slushy-like mixture could be simply scraped off into a pitcher. I was going to get frozen lemon cubes. But, in a pinch, a girl’s got to do what a girl’s got to do!

photo credit: Robert Westerman

When it came time to mix up the cocktails, a few of the cups were still slushy in texture, which is what we needed. But most were rock hard. Poor Kim took on the task of breaking and mashing those lemon ice cups down. It all worked out in the end – everyone raved.  Thanks, Kim!

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Photo courtesy of griffithimaging.com

The newlyweds!

Photo courtesy of griffithimaging.com

It’s the day many of you have waited for. Today I post several photos of the newlyweds. I also share Chanté’s Signature Cocktail. It is called “The Fox” because Fox is Chanté’s maiden name.

Photo courtesy of griffithimaging.com

Cody knew he wanted a skinny margarita for his signature cocktail from the beginning. Chanté knew she wanted a vodka-based drink but it wasn’t until about 2 weeks before the wedding that she, Kim, and I visited Culinary Dropout and Doughbird to figure out exactly what that drink would consist of.

After trying the “Between You & Me” at Culinary Dropout and “The Local” at Doughbird, we came to the unanimous decision on “The Local.”

I had gone up to the bar at each restaurant and taken a video of the bartenders making the specific cocktails. This made it much easier to recreate for the wedding.

Of course, they were making a single drink. You might think that basic multiplication would get you the exact drink when making 100 servings, but it’s not quite that simple.

There is more than math and science involved, you have to taste and adjust as you multiply. So I took it from one drink to 100 and now back down to 10 servings here for you.

I used Absolut Grapefruit Vodka for the wedding cocktails because the drink is the perfect light pink shade. When I made the cocktail at home for this post, I only had Deep Eddy Grapefruit Vodka. It is already a darker color than the finished wedding cocktail was, so the end drink color is not as pretty. Tastes great, just not that subtle and inviting pretty pink.

Enjoy.

P.S. I saved my favorite photos of the gorgeous couple for the end of this post, so keep scrolling!

Photo courtesy of griffithimaging.com

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This was our Easter cocktail. For the non-drinkers, I made up a batch of the citrus mix, sans the brandy, and added flavored La Croix sparkling water instead of Prosecco.

The lemonade ice cubes make the drink so festive. Since I have this long ice-cube tray to work with, I served the cocktail in champagne glasses. If I was using a standard tray, I’d have used wine glasses instead.

Sparkling Citrus Brunch Cocktail

Ice Cubes

• 1 lemon, thinly sliced
• 1 lime, thinly sliced
• 1 orange, thinly sliced
• 1 to 2 cups prepared lemonade

Cocktail

• 1 ½ cups fresh orange juice
• 1 cup fresh Ruby Red grapefruit juice
• 1 (750-milliliter) bottle Prosecco, chilled
• 1/4 cup (2 ounces) brandy
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• Citrus slices for garnish

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Tram & Steve invited me over for Taco Night, they are the sweetest! I asked Tram if I could contribute an exotic margarita for the night. She, of course, said yes.

I found a recipe on Epicurious.com. I made one cocktail as written and found it to be much too strong and not as special or exotic as I had hoped. It needed some lime juice and some sweetness to bring it up to the place I knew it could be.

This photo does not include the additions I made to the cocktail, lime juice, and a berry simple syrup, but those ingredients are there in the final version of the cocktail that I brought to dinner.

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I am in Chicago this week helping my dear friend, Lori, pack up her Lake Shore Drive penthouse, in preparation for her move back to Arizona.

I came in a few days early so I could visit family before the pack-a-thon began. I first drove to my mother-in-law’s home in Rockton, Illinois, and spend the night with her. We played games, went out to eat, went to church, and had a lovely visit.

The next day, I was off to my brother and sister-in-law, Tom and Beth’s, home in Barrington to spend time with them. The three of us drove into Chicago on Sunday night for dinner with their two daughters, Katie and Maureen, and their beautiful families.

Our first stop was at Katie and Eddie’s home, where I had the pleasure and joy of meeting my newest grand-niece, 4-month-old Emily. While Emily napped, her big sister, Kody, who is almost three, entertained us in the backyard. By the way, the weather here has been glorious! What a relief after enduring the heat wave, including the 120-degree day, I left back in Arizona!

Next, we jumped into our cars and headed downtown to Mo (new mamma to be!) and Brandon’s loft condo. My other brother-in-law, Roger, joined us there.

Here is Roger giving baby Emily her bottle, so sweet!

Brandon, a YouTube-Self-Taught craftsman has been transforming their space. He bought himself a circular saw and went to work crafting barn doors, along with kitchen and bath cabinets, like a pro. Seriously amazing!

The other amazing thing was the signature cocktail Brandon served us.

He found the recipe HERE. Brandon had visited the High West Distillery in Park City and brought home a bottle of their spiced syrup. The syrup is what makes the cocktail so special. How very generous the folk at High West are to share the recipe to make the syrup at home. Enjoy!

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Honestly, it’s more of a dirty little tip that I have for you today.

It’s no secret that one of my favorite cocktails to make is Mules. Everyone knows that Mules are best served in copper cups. They’re hip, and on-trend and they keep the cocktail ice-cold for a very long time.

The most recent Mules I made were for Steve and Tram’s St. Patrick’s Day Dinner. Here are links to some of the Mule recipes I’ve posted:

• Classic Moscow Mules
• Pomegranate Moscow Mules
• Housecooling Peach Mule
• Dublin Mules

My collection of copper mugs has grown to 20. Most are vintage. Seventeen of the twenty are as shiny as a new penny. They stay that way because they are sealed.

Sadly, the sealant has come off the other three and they tarnish quickly. But there is a fix for that.

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On Friday night, Tram and Steve had a St. Patrick’s Day dinner party that was also a going-away party for a special Irish chef we all know and love. Chef Michael Cairns and his beautiful wife, Dar, are moving to Napa, California today. You will now be able to find Michael at the gorgeous Silverado Resort. The last time I was at The Silverado was in 1990-something for the Napa County Wine Auction. Knowing that Michael is there makes me want to go back. The 2017 Auction is on the first weekend in June… very tempting!

Michael and Steve cooked up a delicious traditional St. Patrick’s Day meal; corned beef, cabbage & carrots, soda bread, Shepard’s pie, roasted potatoes, boiled potatoes, and colcannon (which is another potato dish – you know, for good measure!)

I contributed my favorite things to bring to parties, a cocktail, and an appetizer. Today you’ll find the cocktail recipe and tomorrow I’ll post the appetizer.

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On Christmas Eve eve, December 23rd, I hosted my annual Holiday Appetizer Pot-Luck party. It’s a great format for a fun stress-free holiday party. To find out exactly how it works, go to This Post from the 2015 party and get all the “How To” details.

In the days to follow, I’ll post the recipe for each. As an added bonus – at the end of today’s post you’ll find my signature cocktail for the evening.

Here is a rundown of the dishes made and brought by the guests … with a few contributed by me.

Antipasto Skewers

Greek Quesadillas

Bacon Wrapped Maple Brussels Sprouts

Smoked Salmon-Cucumber Rounds

Spicy Chicken Cheeseballs

Caesar Dip and Crudités

Bacon Candy

Shrimp Scampi Dip

Holiday Brie en Croute

I’m calling my signature cocktail “winter berry” but in all honesty, these are summer berries. Oh well, summer or winter, it’s a keeper!

Winter Berry-Rosemary Cocktail

• 1 pint fresh raspberries
• 1 pint fresh blueberries
• 1 pint fresh blackberries
• 1 cup fresh small rosemary sprigs
• 6 limes, cut into wedges
• 3 cups simple syrup *
• 4 cup vodka
• Juice of 8 more large limes
• Ginger ale, chilled
• Garnish
• 16 small fresh rosemary sprigs
• 8 lime slices, cut in half
• Reserved berries

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This is the cocktail that, Cay, the hostess of the gourmet group that I am now a member of, served for the December gathering at her gorgeous home. Co-host, Susie is on the left and Cay is on the right, as we toast ourselves for a job well done. To be honest, this selfie was taken before the party began, but once we had cocktails in hand, we knew it would be a success!

Pomegranate Moscow Mules

Candied Mint Leaves

• Water
• 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

Mule

• Crushed ice
• 1 ½ cups ginger beer
• 2/3 cup pomegranate juice
• 4 ounces vodka
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

Garnish

• Fresh pomegranate arils
• Candied Mint Leaves

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I first created this cocktail for the last class, a Comfort Food-themed menu, in my 3-week cooking series at Les Gourmettes. I served it again as my Signature Cocktail on Thanksgiving. If ever there was a Comfort Food Menu – it is Thanksgiving!

To me, it’s important to use one big ice cube for this cocktail, either a square cube or a round ice ball.

I have both types of ice molds, but my round ball mold only makes one at a time, whereas the square mold makes 6 cubes at once. Since I had 16 cocktails to make for the cooking class and 12 more for Thanksgiving, of course, I went with the square cubes.

I did find THIS cool multi-round ball mold on Amazon. I’m adding it to my Christmas list!

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