JULY 4th FIREWORKS MARTINI and Other Red, White & Blue Cocktails

FOURTH OF JULY COCKTAILS

JULY 4TH MARTINI RECIPE CARDS

Stay safe this Fourth of July - Don't Drink and Drive or Drink and Do Fireworks!

Updated 2-2017 PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY & DRIVE RESPONSIBLY

The PINA COLADA MARTINI - Pineapple, Coconut & Rum = Martini Booty

 

This is my take on a classic Pina Colada - The Pina Colada Martini! The Pina Colada cocktail that we're familiar with today is claimed to be the invention of many cocktail aficionados, among them Don Ramon Portas Mingot in 1963 and Ramon "Monchito" Marrero of the Caribe Hilton Hotel in Puerto Rico in 1954 - but this cocktail has it's roots way back with the Pirates in the early 1800s!

In the 1820s El Pirata Cofresi (the Puerto Rican pirate Roberto Corfresi), served a concoction of pineapple, coconut and white rum to his crew to keep morale high. This is the first historical mention of the combination of these ingredients so I think the pirate wins - besides it's about pirates and who doesn't love the idea of pirates and rum?

Shiver me timbers! Thar be treasure in them thar martini glasses! And if you have one too many just remember that dead men tell no tales - Yo ho, Yo ho!

The
PINA COLADA MARTINI

Tropical Martinis - BLUE HAWAII MARTINI

I bought a bottle of berry flavored, turquoise blue Maraschino cherries and was looking for new recipes to use them. Anything with Blue Curacao is a natural for a blue cherry and I always think "tropical" when a drink is colored blue so I tossed in some coconut rum, vanilla vodka and some pineapple juice with the Blue Curacao for a variation on the famous Blue Hawaii cocktail created by bartender Harry Yee at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Resort and Spa in 1957 for Bols new liqueur, Blue Curacao.

Here is the authentic original recipe for a Blue Hawaii cocktail - note there is no coconut in it:

• 3/4 oz. Light Rum
• 3/4 oz. Vodka
• 1/2 oz. Blue Curacao
• 3 oz. Pineapple Juice
• 1 oz. Sweet & Sour Mix

Cheers and ALOHA!

PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY.
 

The GARDEN IN A GLASS Vegetable Martini Cocktail

This cocktail is almost a small liquid salad (which doesn't require a fork!) Think of it as a lovely blend of all sorts of fresh veggies dressed in tomato vodka that you drink instead of eat.

The
GARDEN IN A GLASS
MARTINI

INGREDIENTS
1-1/2 Oz. Homemade Heirloom Tomato Vodka
3 Oz. V-8 Juice
2 Drops Scrappy's Celery Bitters
1 Dash of Cholula Chipotle Hot Sauce

Pinch of Garlic Salt

Garnish: Fresh Oregano and Basil,
Assortment of Veggie Garnishes

DIRECTIONS
Pour the ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice cubes and shake until well chilled.
Pour into a chilled cocktail glass, sprinkle on some of the fresh herbs, garnish with some fresh veggies and serve.

If you're lucky enough to have a garden, make your own V-8 Juice as well as the tomato vodka!

It's a really fun, fresh and healthy martini that might even save you from having to serve up canapes.

VOICEOVER VIDEO WITH INGREDIENTS AND DIRECTIONS:

Cheers, M'Dears. To your health!

Updated 6-2021

PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY

CUCUMBER MARTINI - Vegetable Martinis - to your health!

I got a good deal on cucumbers last week and decided to try making another cucumber martini. A few months ago I developed a great martini - actually one of my favorite savory martinis now - The Gazpacho Martini and it has cucumbers in it. Since I enjoyed that martini so much and I had a ton of cucumbers I decided to try another Cucumber martini - this one a savory one. I posted a sweeter based Cucumber Thyme Martini in April, but I wanted something salty this time.

I wanted to give the martini a little herbal touch out of my own garden and wavered between my fresh dill and my fresh oregano until I decided that the dill would make this martini taste like a dill pickle. Now, that's not actually a bad flavor but I wasn't in the mood for a liquid dill pickle so I chose the oregano and it was a good choice.
This Cucumber Martini would be a great martini to serve with crudités and other veggie inspired appetizers - many of which you can find at my sister site, The Diva of Tiny Foods.
All in all, it was a perfect martini for a warm summer night out on the deck - refreshing and freshly made - Cheers and To Your Health!

PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY

The STINGER Cocktail Recipe

The Cocktail Recipe for

THE STINGER

has moved here.

 PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY

Brandy Old Fashioned - Classic Cocktails

The Brandy Old Fashioned is a cocktail that I was introduced to by a lovely lady who was a neighbor of mine decades ago. I was going to San Jose State and living downtown in an apartment near the police department. It was a great old apartment building with wonderful architectural accents so it was worth all the sirens at all hours of the day and night.

My neighbor, Mrs. Smothers, was a grand, older lady who happened to have been one of the first female deputies in the area at a time when women were still relegated to home and hearth. She was a kick and an inspiration to a young woman like me - I was career minded and wanted to be a professional artist.

Mrs. S invited me over one evening for a "cocktail" and I accepted. Her apartment was across from mine, reversed in layout but our decors were like us - separated by decades and a lifetime of memories. Her memories were all about her home while mine hadn't been made yet. My apartment was modern, bright and furnished from second hand shops, hers was lace, antiques and photos of famous people and places. I felt like I had walked into a movie set from another era and I loved it.

After I arrived and sat down, Mrs. S tottered over to her kitchen and mixed up a couple of drinks. She told me they were Brandy Old Fashioneds and were her favorite, did I like them? I said I'd never had one but was willing to try. She put a couple of extra cherries in mine - I loved it and it's been a favorite cocktail of mine ever since that night.

Whenever I have a Brandy Old Fashioned, I raise my glass to Mrs. S and remember those happy hours filled with her memories and those cocktail dates that are now a nostalgic memory.

MORE OLD FASHIONED COCKTAIL RECIPES
PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY