Bee’s Champagne Coven Cocktail – Recipe

With Halloween just a few days away, I wanted an easy, delicious and festive halloween cocktail, to sip the night away! And in sticking to my bee routes, I kept it bubble based — and found a recipe that I adapted to give me everything I was looking for, not to mention perfect to serve up to your entire coven.

This creation is essentially a puree for your bubbles, that will add some fun flavors to your cocktail, while giving your bubbles an evil poition-y look! Not to mention it has ginger, fresh lemon and blueberries, so it’s like adding a healthy cleanse to your bubbles, right?

Ingredients:
– 1 Lemon
– 3/4 cup of Blueberries
– 2 TSP of Sugar
– 1 TBS of Ginger (minced)

You’ll also need, a muddler, fine wire strainer and handheld juicer.

Step-by-Step Instructions:
1. In a measuring bowl, add your blueberries, sugar, and freshly squeezed lemon – do this by cutting it in have and juice each half into bowl.
2. Prep your ginger by cutting off the skin so that it’s completely bare — then utilize a garlic mincer to get juice out, finely cut the rest of your ginger – add this to the rest of the ingredients.
3. Once all the ingredients are in your mixing bowl, use a muddler to crush blueberries and mix ingredients together – it will still be a little chunky, but you should have a nice purple color of juice (see middle picture above).
4. This is when you can get your fine mesh strainer, to strain your mixture into a new bowl. I do not have one, so B had the brilliant idea of using the top of a cocktail shaker — this helped strain the puree pretty well!
5. Once it’s all strained, you’re ready to serve! Add a splash of your puree to your champagne flute before adding the bubbles — this helps get a nice mixture. Next, slowly pour your bubbles in, I say slowly because the puree will have a reaction to the bubbles and will overflow. Continue until you’re topped off and then garnish with blueberries to serve!

Cheers witches!

This recipe was inspired by Self Proclaimed Foodie’s Recipe

Latest Obsessions 08.20 – Bubbly Edition

Since National Prosecco Day 🥂 was August 13th and this year of quarantine and new normal has been anything but normal — I’ve pretty much been treating every one of the last 165 days like National Prosecco Day! So to keep on a good theme of 2020, I wanted to share my favorite accessories for bubbly drinking.

Freezable Travel Tote: I was gifted a PackIt freezable wine bag, that also happens to perfectly fit a cold bottle of bubbly! The tote, closes up nicely and is easy to carry – you can even through it over your shoulder. In between use you can just throw it in the freeze and it’s ready to go for your next trip. Best part of all is they come in a variety of colors and fun patterns to fit anyone’s personality.

Champagne Seal Stoppers: This is a must have, and you must have at least two! This is also a go-to travel piece that I throw in my purse, is that bad 😬 ? But seriously, it helps save a bottle for multiple nights – which helps give your bottle of bubbles some extra life. I’ve used two different types and they both seem to hold a good seal and deliver bubbles and a significant pop when reopening (watch out, sometimes it’s packs a punch!) Shop the stainless steal stopper and the silicone expander — you can’t go wrong with either!

Bubbly Glassware Options: I recently splurged some worn glassware that I purchased from Marshall’s — don’t get me wrong, they were great bubbly flutes, but after time the gold decals wore off. So, I thought it was time to invest in some nicer champagne flutes and decided to get a few different styles — because sometimes I love the stemless route and sometimes I like something a little fancier 🤷🏼‍♀️. I went for these timeless stemless champagne flutes with a gold rim from Pottery Barn. And for something a little fancier, I couldn’t resist these Monique Lhuillier Gaberielle coupes and flutes etched glasses, they’re stunning and also scream special occasion. They’ll be perfect for the holidays.

Even if you’re not a bubbly connoisseur, but maybe know one — these make great gifts and can easily be paired with a nice bottle of bubbles! So whether you’re celebrating National Prosecco Day (every day) or just celebrating a birthday or love bubbles, like me, these are a few essentials that you’ll want to add to your bubble drinking arsenal.

xox,

Prosecco Margarita Recipe

Cinco De Mayo celebrations will be a little different this year — although we don’t typically celebrate this day normally like most anyway, May 5th is special to us for another reason, it’s the anniversary of our first date! So looking ahead at this year, I thought it would be fun to create a fun and fancy fiesta to celebrate with some of our favorite Mexican dishes we make at home! But, before we get to the decor and our favorite Taco Pizza recipe, we needed to make sure we had a festive beverage for our fiesta first!
This fresh margarita inspired recipe is easy, delicious and in my opinion a no brainer since it’s topped with Prosecco instead of Tequila.  I had my one night of Tequila fun, and don’t ever need to enjoy it ever again *grins* — you have had one of those nights too, right?

Shopping List:
– Bottle of Prosecco – Freixenet is my go-to
– 2 cups of Fresh Strawberries
– 1/4 cup of Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice
– 1/2 cup of Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice (about 2-3 limes depending on size)
– 1.5 – .75 Oz. Agave Nectar
– 1 cup of Ice (2 for 4-servings)Step-by-Step Directions:
1. Make sure to wash your fresh fruit well, I ended up slicing my strawberries in half since we had some big ones.
2. Place all your ingredients into a blender. If you want to make a double batch, add two cups of ice — also I used about half as much agave nectar than the recipe I found because I know it’s sweet. Blend well until completely mixed.
3. Get ready to serve! Pour the fruit mix into goblets or cocktail glasses about 2/3rds full and then top off with your bubbles — pour slowly, the Prosecco will bubble quickly with your marg mix. Top off your glass gradually!
4. Slice the center of your strawberry and garnish on the rim of your glass, get ready to cheers and sip away!
This recipe was sooo easy and will be delicious to sip on this summer! Not to mention I love my new Monique Lhuillier Gabrielle Etched Champagne Coupes, they’re give a little bohemian chic vibe for our fancy fiesta and these bubbly margaritas. My next blog is going to be sharing our new go-to make at home Taco Pizza Recipe that will be the perfect taco fix for your at home Cinco De Mayo party — plus I’ll be sharing my fancy fiesta decor!

 

Easy Birthday Inspired Cocktails

Let the birthday fun continue! Whether you’re having a big birthday bash or keeping it low key with a close group of friends, a fun and festive birthday inspired cocktail can be a delicious addition to the celebration! So I did a little research and had some fun experimenting to bring together a few of my favorite things for a tasty treat for these two easy and super cute cocktails.
Sprinkled Cranberry Rum 
Take your rocks glass and have some frosting in a dish, flip your glass upside down and twist the glass in the frosting so the rim is lined with frosting. Then take your vanilla frosted rim and roll in sprinkles to cover! Once your rocks glass rim is lined, add your ice cube ball and get ready to add your beverages. Add a shot of Bacardi Rum and then top off with your pink lite cranberry.

For both of these drinks I was looking for a cranberry mixer, but a lot of them had high sugars and a lot of carbs. I stumbled upon the Ocean Spray Pink Lite Cranberry cans at Target and read the ingredients and was pleasantly surprised and picked up a 6-pack!

Ingredients:
– Bacardi Rum
– Ocean Spray Pink Lite Cranberry
– Ice Cube Ball
– Vanilla Frosting (homemade or store bought)
– Sprinkles
Pink Birthday Bubbles
This one is pretty easy, all you need is some bubbles and again lite pink cranberry and your frosting and sprinkles for your champagne flute rim. With frosting your a dish, flip your champagne flute upside down and twist the glass in the frosting so the rim is lined with frosting. Then take your vanilla frosted rim and roll in sprinkles to cover! Once your sprinkle rim is covered – just liking making a mimosas, fill your glass about 75% with you bubbles and then top off with your cranberry. Cheers!

Ingredients:
– Prosecco of your choice, I used Freixenet
– Ocean Spray Pink Lite Cranberry
– Vanilla Frosting
– Sprinkles

The frosted rim is so tasty and a yummy treat to enjoy as you sip or have once your glass is empty. I bought store made frosting, but would love to make my mom’s frosting recipe for this, especially if you’re already making a cake!  Of course the rim would also taste great with just a glass of plain ol’ delicious bubbles 🍾.

Now that you have a festive and fun birthday drink the birthday celebrating can officially commence — Cheers 🎉!

Granny’s Whiskey Sours – The Recipe

I can’t believe I haven’t shared this recipe with my fellow bee readers.  Before I share this with you all, I have to give you some of the history, why this recipe is so sacred and why it’s so fricken good. And also, I’m sharing this with you because it’s still summer despite what the rest of the social world seems to think!

Urban legend has it, this is my great-grandma’s recipe – it’s unclear whether this was a family staple, or a staple that was also shared at the bar (Marty’s) they owned in St. Louis near Anheuser-Busch.  Helen was born September 11, 1911, she was the woman who told you to ear your crust otherwise you’ll have long saggy ear lobs, like she did (although, I’m pretty sure they were from the clip-on earrings she rocked) the woman that also smiled, was always dealing cards and laughing.  This recipe is so detailed and specific that you must follow the rules and directions to a tee, or you will mess up the whole thing!  The most important rule to remember is 1-to-1-to-1.

What You’ll Need:
– Ten High Whiskey
– Frozen Lemonade Mix
– Water
– Maraschino Cherries
– Ice

Step-by-Step:
1. Dump your frozen lemonade mix into the blender.  Measure out your whiskey by filling up the empty lemonade canister, pour into blender over top frozen mix.  Fill up empty lemonade canister with water and pour over top.
2. Blend up, until nicely mixed together.
3. Over rocks, in a scotch glass pour mixture – garnish with some cherry juice & cherries.

The recipe is so simple and so DELICIOUS, it’s one of the reasons I love it so much plus it was my Granny’s so that’s just the cherry on top (literally).  Another fun little story about my great grandparent’s bar near Anheuser, is a lot of the brewers and workers from the brewery would come for lunch or after work to the bar.  Which meant my mom and aunts as children had special visits to the Clydesdale barns and were even able to ride the horses!   This recipe is a staple at most gatherings and family events, whether it’s summer or we’re cooped up inside — we always cheers to ‘Granny’ after a batch is poured.

So go ahead and enjoy this delicious drink and don’t feel bad when you’re whipping up your second batch of sours.

Cheers!

Champagne Cocktails for NYE

We are in the final countdown of days for 2016 so that means it’s time to start planning for your last night of the year.  And in my opinion, every occasion is an occasion for champagne, although some occasions call for a little more expensive champagne than others.  But there is always one occasion that demands champagne and that is New Year’s Eve!  I love champagne straight, all day long, but found some fun, easy cocktails to try for your NYE celebration for those who might want a little more “umph” to get the party started.

Pomegranate Cranberry Champagne Punch – This cocktail will be tasty for everyone, and requires minimal ingredients beyond what you may already have stocked on your bar. Garnish this with some cranberries and mint leaves and you’ve got a fun drink to be enjoyed by all!

Champagne Punch – I love this punch because it has a bit more flavor paired with rum and pineapple juice for a little more exotic flair to kick off your evening of celebrating. Not to mention the recipe allows for a larger portion, perfect for the family party or night with friends.

Raspberry & Ginger Beer Champagne Cocktail – This cocktail is something even your honey won’t mind drinking… well maybe besides the pink color.  Mixing a taste of raspberry with ginger beer and champagne this cocktail is sure to be refreshing and light and perfect to enjoy the whole night!

If your like me and have a love for champagne, these are fun ways for other guests and friends to enjoy some bubbles as well – or even more simple buy some garnishes to throw in your bubbles – frozen cranberries, raspberries, blue berries, or even a strawberry garnish and some greenery to give your champagne a sophisticated look for your NYE party! And don’t forget to WOO when you pop that bottle!!

Cheers!

 

 

Photo sources linked above.