HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVE 2014!

A new year comes ringing,
New promise it's bringing,
So lift up your glasses
As the old year passes,
And greet the New Year,
It's finally here!

May your New Year be filled with hope, joy, promise, prosperity and, most if all, love!

Happy 2014 from The Martini Diva!

HAPPY NATIONAL SANGRIA DAY!

We need Sangria recipes for National Sangria Day, right? Because there's nothing quite like a good wine punch loaded up with lots of fruit.

Sangria is named after "Sangre", the Spanish word for "blood" because of it's typically dark-red color.  Traditional sangria is made with red wines but there's no hard and fast rule today in making your sangria and you can use wines of all types and colors. A white wine sangria is called a "sangria blanca".

The most popular fruits used in Spain and Portugal are mainly citrus though sangria recipes vary as much as dialects and can be made from all types of fruits and wine combinations.  In addition to the fruits, sangria recipes typically include a sweetener, such as honey, sugar or simple syrups, and another alcohol including brandies, sparkling wines or even liqueurs. If you want to keep the proof down you can fizz up your sangria with a soda of some type instead of another alcohol.

Spices can also be added, though it's not as common, and your summer sangria recipe can be easily converted to a heated, spiced mulled wine recipe for the holidays!

I am quite partial to berries in my red sangria and the citrus fruits in my white, but it all depends on what fruits are in season and what wine I'm using.  Below are some of my favorites:

WHITE WINE & CHERRY SANGRIA BLANCA
CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY SANGRIA
A WESTEROS VERSION OF SANGRIA
SHAKESPEAREAN STYLE SANGRIA
SPARKLING SKELETON HALLOWEEN SANGRIA
FRESH BERRY SANGRIA
Berry Sangria Edible Cocktails
Berry Sangria Shortcake
Sangria Berries

Mix up a Pitcher (in one of my adorable Pop Art Pitchers or Cocktail Art Pitchers).

I like Sangria so much I even created a Sangria Coloring Page in my
COLOR YOUR COCKTAILS Cocktail Recipe Coloring Book

National Sangria Day is December 20th.

Updated 12-2018
PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY

CUPCAKE MARTINIS & COCKTAILS

Like everyone else, I love cupcakes. I just prefer to drink mine.

CUPCAKE

Inspired

COCKTAILS

THE CHOCOLATE CUPCAKE MARTINI

THE VANILLA CUPCAKE MARTINI

THE RED VELVET CUPCAKE MARTINI

ICE CREAM CONE CUPCAKES with BOOZE

If that's not quite enough cupcake madness for you, try some of my CAKE COCKTAILS and just say they're Cupcake Cocktails of the same flavor, I won't tell on you.

And, if you insist on baking, in addition to shaking, try my

PINA COLADA CUPCAKES

POP ART CUPCAKES

or my savory

SALMON CUPCAKES

National Cupcake Day is December 15th and National Cupcake Lovers Day is June 13th.

Updated 12-2018

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SAUCY CHRISTMAS CRANTINI COCKTAIL RECIPE

 

 I actually found a good use for canned cranberry sauce. (Please don't ask me what I was doing with a can of that jellied cranberry sauce in the first place.)

The

SAUCY CHRISTMAS

CRANTINI

INGREDIENTS:
2 Oz. London Dry Gin
2 Tbsp. Rosemary Infused Cranberry Syrup*
2 Oz. Orange Juice

GARNISH
5 - 6 Gin Soaked Cranberries
1 Sprig Rosemary
Orange Slice

DIRECTIONS

Shake ingredients with ice until chilled. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass, garnish and serve.

VOICEOVER VIDEO WITH INGREDIENTS AND DIRECTIONS:

* ROSEMARY INFUSED

CRANBERRY SYRUP 

INGREDIENTS:
1 Cup Cranberry Sauce
(I used the canned, jellied kind)
1/2 Cup Water
Leaves from 2 Large Sprigs of Rosemary
1/2 Teaspoon of Orange Zest

DIRECTIONS:

Make your Rosemary Infused Cranberry Syrup by dissolving a cup of cranberry sauce in a saucepan with 1/2 cup of water.
  Pinch the rosemary leaves between your fingers to release the oils and drop in.
Add the orange zest.
Reduce on medium until the syrup is the consistency of maple syrup.
Strain into a container and chill.

Updated 12-2021 

PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY

SANGRIA BERRIES - Berry Madness Part IV

The last three days I have shared with you a bounty of boozified berry recipes inspired by a little Berry Madness some months ago. Inundated with berries I went a little over the edge and took berries with me as Fresh Berry Sangria, Berry Sangria Cocktail Gels and Berry Sangria Shortcake. And I still had a few berries left so.....

SANGRIA BERRIES

INGREDIENTS
12 Fresh Strawberries, Halved
24 Fresh Blackberries
1-1/2 Tbsp. Butter
2 Tsp. Brown Sugar
1/4 C. Blackberry Puree
1/4 C. Balsamic Vinegar
1/4 C. Merlot (or other red wine)*

(leave out the wine for non-alcoholic berries)
Honey

Pinch of Kosher Salt

TOOLS
Medium Saucepan
Metal Strainer
Wooden Spoon

DIRECTIONS
Take a cup of blackberries and puree them in a blender.
Strain out the seeds and put the puree aside.
Melt the butter, brown sugar and honey in the saucepan, then bring to a boil for a minute or two.
Add the blackberry puree, balsamic vinegar, wine and salt and bring back to a boil.
Lower heat to medium and continue to reduce the sauce until it coats the back of a spoon (Nape)
Cool in the refrigerator until time to serve.
When ready to plate pour a little of the sauce into your serving dish.
Position one to three strawberry halves on the plate.
Top strawberries with a blackberry.
Drizzle with some honey.

So marks the end of my Berry Madness.  I'm better now but I still have berry stains in odd places.....

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BAD HAIR DAY COCKTAIL RECIPE

We've all had them. Those bad hair days are enough to dampen your spirits to flood proportions.

Yes, your hair may still look like a tornado hit your head, but after two of these you probably won't care that much anymore.

BAD HAIR DAY
COCKTAIL

INGREDIENTS
1-1/2 Oz. Vanilla Vodka

1 Oz. White Chocolate Liqueur

1/2 Oz. White Creme de Cacao

1 Oz. Half & Half

1/8 Tsp. Sea Salt

Chocolate Syrup

Chocolate Shavings
1 Candy Bar of Your Choice

DIRECTIONS

Dip your glass rim in the chocolate syrup, then into some chocolate shavings.

Chill your glass in the freezer.

Add a cup of ice to your cocktail shaker then pour in the vanilla vodka, the white chocolate liqueur, the white creme de cacao, the sea salt and the half and half.

Shake until well chilled then pour into your chilled cocktail glass.

Drop in your favorite candy bar and enjoy.

Voiceover Video Recipe with Ingredients & Instructions: 

National Bad Hair Day is both March 25th and December 8th (which makes sense because we all know we can have more than one bad hair day a year), National Hair Day is October 1st.

I've had so many bad hair days that I included this recipe in my COLOR YOUR COCKTAILS COLORING BOOK:

Updated 3-25-2022

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CHOCOLATE CANDY CANE VODKA & MARTINI RECIPES

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN

CHOCOLATE CANDY CANE 

VODKA

&

Chocolate Candy Cane Martini

Love Chocolate and Peppermint?

Want to enjoy this martini tonight?

Well, guess what? You can!

In just a few steps and within a few hours 

you can be enjoying my yummy Chocolate Candy Cane Martimi (recipe  below).

FIRST, you need to get some of these

Chocolate Mint Candy Canes:

Then you take those and plop them into this:

 HOW MANY? DEPENDS.

I used 2 candy canes per 2 ounces of vodka and was sipping in 4 hours.

More Candy Canes = More Flavor Faster.

If you crush them up you speed up the process even more.

THEN you stick all this boozy chocolate mint goodness in the fridge to chill.  Shake it up every 1/2 hour or whenever you open the fridge.  After a few hours start tasting a small sip for flavor depth.

THE, a few hours later, when you've hit Choco-Minty yum level, strain to remove any chunks of candy cane left and you're ready to make your

CHOCOLATE

CANDY CANE

MARTINI

INGREDIENTS:

2 Oz. Chocolate Candy Cane Vodka

1 Oz. White Creme de Cacao

1 Oz. Half & Half

1 Oz. Chocolate Milk

2 Chocolate Mint Candy Canes, Crushed Rough

1 Chocolate Mint Candy Cane, Whole

DIRECTIONS:

• Crush your 2 candy canes so you have some chunky bits & pour those into a flat plate.
• Pour some of your new Chocolate Candy Cane Vodka into another flat plate then dip the rim of your martini glass into the vodka, then into the crushed candy cane.
• Place your pretty rimmed glass in the freezer to chill.
• Pour 1 cup of ice into your cocktail shaker then add the Chocolate Candy Cane Vodka, the white creme de cacao, the half & half and the chocolate milk.
• Shake like a bowl full of jelly (ya know, 'til it's good and frosty!)
• Pour into your chilled, rimmed martini glass.
• Hang the whole Chocolate Mint Candy Cane off the rim or across the top.
• Serve and Enjoy!

 (P.S. leave out the chocolate milk and the half & half and this makes a really great ice cream topping!)

BTW, National Candy Cane Day is December 26th - save some of your vodka.

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