Buona Vita

Buona Vita

Buona Vita

makes 1 drink

1 oz Beefeater (or your favorite) Gin
1 oz Campari
1 oz St. Germain Elderflower liquer
5 oz Fresh White Grapefruit Juice

Put in cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake vigurously, this cocktail needs to be really cold

You could also serve it on the rocks

This drink comes from a menu that I "retrieved" at The Palace Hotel Bar in San Fransisco on one very memorable girl's night--"the after party."    This hotel, a Beaux Arts gem in historic downtown SF, was built in 1875 and is a stunning place to have a cocktail after dinner. The Buona Vita is a delicious drink and, really, who doesn't want to sip on a cocktail that means: "The Good Life" in Italian?

CHEERS!

Hibiscus Blood Orange Margarita

June's Margarita

Hibiscus Blood Orange Margarita

4 Oz Don Julio Silver Tequila
2 1/2 Tablespoons Agave Nectar
Juice of 2 limes
7 Oz of freshly squeezed Blood Orange Juice 

Blend together the agave nectar, lime juice & Tequila, pour on the rocks, add blood orange juice and stir

I was in Chicago a couple of years ago for a friend's wedding. We were staying at The Four Seasons and went down to the bar for a Bourbon tasting, which was really fun. I wore my new summer dress and my husband and I sat in a corner, chatting and sipping Bourbon. ("like a lady" -that's for you Guidi)

A couple of weeks after we returned from our trip, I went shopping for some new pajamas. As I was going through the jammies and nightgowns, I saw my "dress." I saw several of my "dresses." When I asked the clerk in so many words...." what the hell?" She said: "Oh, a customer must have put one of those nightgowns in the dress section. But, yes that is definitely a nightgown!"   So, uh, yes, to my horror I apparently wore a nightgown walking all along Michigan Avenue, to Ralph Lauren for lunch and then to a bourbon tasting at a swanky hotel bar.  classy.

Despite my treacherously embarrassing faux pas, at least I didn't find out until after the fact and AT LEAST I slipped the cocktail menu from the Four Season's bar into my purse for future liquid enjoyment. 

So, viola, this is one of the creations I tried to mimic from their menu while vising my friend Virginia in Santa Cruz last weekend. She and I drank one on her deck, talked and enjoyed the sunset, in our nightgowns.

Dubonnet Citrus Shandy

Dubonnet Citrus Shandy

Dubonnet is a French Apéritif (pronounced Dube-O-NAY)

Apéritif is a word originating from the Latin word aperio, which means to revel, bare, uncover, make clear.  Apéritifs were originally conceived to "open" or prepare the appetite for a meal. Dubonnet is mix of fortified wine, a proprietary blend of herbs, spices and peels, and the medicinal quinine. I 1st discovered this drink in my early 30's, over lunch with a devastatingly interesting French Canadian professor whom I worked with. A great memory of a sunny day at a French restaurant discovering a new drink.

Dubonnet is delicious on the rocks with just a squeeze of lemon, but I made this mixture as a fun way to drink Dubonnet Rouge in the summer.

Dubonnet Citrus Shandy

1 Cup Dubonnet Rouge
1 Cup Lemonade
4 shakes of orange bitters
juice of 2 limes
6 torn basil leaves

add all ingredients to a large cocktail shaker
pour over crushed ice, top with Pellegrino
garnish with a lemon wheel and a piece of basil

CHEERS!

Skinny Hawaiian

For those of you who know me, you know that I rarely do low-calorie, low-fat anything.  I know I should, but it sort of goes against my hedonistic philosophy in the way of food and drink.  HOWEVER, I have a lot of health-savvy, in-shape friends (Riina) who deeply care about their libations not setting them back 1200 calories.  I get it.  I have promised to feature such a drink but can't seem to bring myself, in good conscious, to recommend anything containing bubble gum vodka.  I just can't do it.  So, this is a "skinny" drink that actually has some complexity and flavor.  This drink accomplishes a lot.  It isn't an affront to my pallet while simultaneously not being a caloric affront to my in-shape chicas.  And it is, after all, swimsuit season.

Skinny Hawaiian

2 shot glasses of your favorite vodka
2 shot glasses of pineapple juice
3 shot glasses of Cherry-Pomegranate Crystal Light
(add 2 tsp Agave Nectar for a sweeter drink)

Shake in shaker with ice and serve up in a Martini Glass
top off with a generous splash of diet 7-up

you can garnish with blueberries or a pineapple ring & mint goes well with this too

Cheers!