FRIDAY COCKTAIL - CROWN OF ROSES!

With the Royal Wedding in the record books can we please move on.....The Kentucky Derby is rapidly approaching...and let's face it the Mint Julep just doesn't taste good. So here's a sweet treat to serve.

Ingredients:

1 oz Crown Royal

1/2 oz Amaretto

1 oz pineapple juice

3 dashes of bitters

garnish with maraschino cherry

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and add all ingredients. Shake for 15 second and pour in a chilled cocktail glass and add garnish.

RUN FOR THE ROSES!

ENJOY!

EASTER FRIDAY COCKTAIL - CUCUMBER MINT GIMLET

Great signature cocktail for your Easter crowd. You could substitute vodka for the gin, but then it isn't quite a true gimlet. These green-checked napkins are a perfect match to the color of this cocktail.

Ingredients:
4-1/2 cups Cucumber Gin (see below)
2-1/4 cups fresh lime juice
1 cup plus 2 tbl Mint simple syrup (see below)
Cucumber peels
Mint sprigs

Cucumber Gin: Steep 2-1/2 cups peeled cucumber in 4-1/2 cups gin. Cover and chill 8 hours to 4 days. Strain out cucumber and store in the refrigerator until you Drink It Up.

Mint Simple Syrup: Mix 1 cup sugar with 1 cup water and heat until the sugar dissolves. Add 1 cup mint leaves and remove from heat. Cover and let steep for 30 minutes to an hour. Strain and discard mint leaves. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.

To prepare cocktails: In a 2 quart pitcher combine gin, lime juice and syrup. Refrigerate for about an hour. Fill cocktail shaker with ice and cocktail mixture. Shake and pour into ice filled cocktail glasses. Serve with a cucumber peel and mint sprig. So refreshing!

HAPPY EASTER!
ENJOY!

FRIDAY COCKTAIL - KENTUCKY 95 BOURBON

An option for the first Saturday in May if the Mint Julep isn't your thing. First Saturday in May you ask - The Kentucky Derby silly!!!! This recipe is from Bobby Flay's "Bar American" restaurant and sounds delicious.... 3/4 oz Makers Mark Bourbon 3/4 oz lemon juice 1/2 oz orange juice 3/4 oz simple syrup champagne Shake first four ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into a martini glass and add champagne.... ALL ABOUT THE COCKTAILS! ENJOY!

FRIDAY COCKTAIL - SEATTLE'S THE LAST WORD

In honor of the upcoming ROAD TRIP to Seattle by Rachel and friends, here is what historians call the "definitive" Seattle cocktail. Discussed and dissected, this cocktail has crossed the country, the Atlantic and is very popular in Australia. A prohibition era drink, if it were red wine it would be a full bodied red.

Few Seattle establishments make this once-forgotten cocktail perfectly. So Rachel go to Liberty, Vessel or Spur Gastropub for the best.

1/2 oz gin

1/2 oz lime juice

1/2 oz green Chartreuse

1/2 oz Maraschino liqueur

Shake all in a cocktail shake with ice, serve in a martini glass.

GO MARINERS!

ENJOY

FRIDAY COCKTAIL - THE AMARETTO!

This is not your mother's Amaretto! This is a vodka drink...YES VODKA....Now you could just go out and buy Amaretto if you like, but this seems a lot more fun and I already have all the ingredients.

Ingredients:

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 cups vodka

2 tbl almond extract

2 tsp vanilla extract

Combine water and the sugars in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil and heat until all sugars dissolve. Remove from heat and let cool about 10 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients. Stir and pour over ice!!!!

THE OTHER AMARETTO!

ENJOY!