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Kentucky Derby Mint Julep Recipe

27 Apr Mint Julep
Mint Julep

Mint Julep/photo-foodnetwork.com

Celebrate the Kentucky Derby with this recipe for the staple Derby drink– The Mint Julep!

Recipe: www.foodnetwork.com

Ingredients

  • 4 cups bourbon
  • 2 bunches fresh spearmint
  • 1 cup distilled water
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • Powdered sugar

Directions

To prepare mint extract, remove about 40 small mint leaves. Wash and place in a small bowl. Cover with 3 ounces bourbon. Allow the leaves to soak for 15 minutes. Then gather the leaves in paper toweling. Thoroughly wring the mint over the bowl of whisky. Dip the bundle again and repeat the process several times.

To prepare simple syrup, mix 1 cup of granulated sugar and 1 cup of distilled water in a small saucepan. Heat to dissolve sugar. Stir constantly so the sugar does not burn. Set aside to cool.

To prepare mint julep mixture, pour 3 1/2 cups of bourbon into a large glass bowl or glass pitcher. Add 1 cup of the simple syrup to the bourbon.

Now begin adding the mint extract 1 tablespoon at a time to the julep mixture. Each batch of mint extract is different, so you must taste and smell after each tablespoon is added. You are looking for a soft mint aroma and taste-generally about 3 tablespoons. When you think it’s right, pour the whole mixture back into the empty liter bottle and refrigerate it for at least 24 hours to “marry” the flavors.

To serve the julep, fill each glass (preferably a silver mint julep cup) 1/2 full with shaved ice. Insert a spring of mint and then pack in more ice to about 1-inch over the top of the cup. Then, insert a straw that has been cut to 1-inch above the top of the cup so the nose is forced close to the mint when sipping the julep.

When frost forms on the cup, pour the refrigerated julep mixture over the ice and add a sprinkle of powdered sugar to the top of the ice. Serve immediately.

Cinco de Mayo Sangria Party Ideas! Sangria recipes, skinny sangria and more

27 Apr Sangria Recipes

Need a summer party idea? Sangria parties are a great way to ring in warm weather, celebrate friends or add a theme to any housewarming, Cinco de Mayo, engagement party, birthday, or summer BBQ. A variety of options, recipes, decor and flowers will make your sangria party pop! Fruit is an inexpensive way to add decor and impress your party guests. Cheers!

RECIPES:

Sangria Recipes

Sangria Recipes

1) Traditional – Easy Sangria Recipe

(Double or triple recipe for large parties)


Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes

1 Bottle of red wine
1 Lemon cut into wedges
1 Orange cut into wedges
1 Lime cut into wedges
2 Tbsp sugar
Splash of orange juice or lemonade
2 Shots of gin or triple sec (optional)
1 Apple (diced)
1 Small can of diced pineapples (with juice)
4 Cups ginger ale

Preparation:

Pour wine into a large pitcher and squeeze the juice wedges from the lemon, orange and lime into the wine. Toss in the fruit wedges (leaving out seeds if possible) and apples then add sugar, orange juice and gin. Chill overnight. Add ginger ale, berries and ice just before serving. To serve right away, use chilled red wine and serve over ice. For the best sangria, allow the mixture to cool in the fridge for 24 hours.

2) Low Sugar Sangria (Skinny Sangria)- with Agave Nectar

(Double or triple recipe for large parties)


Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes

Whether it’s a dietary restriction or you’re just trying to find a low calorie, low sugar sangria recipe, this sangria is based on agave nectar.

Ingredients:

  • 1 Bottle of red wine
  • 1 Lemon cut into wedges
  • 1 Lime cut into wedges
  • 1 Orange cut into wedges
  • 3/4 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen)
  • 2/3 cups Agave nectar
  • 2 cups sparkling water or club soda

Preparation:

Pour wine in the pitcher and squeeze the juice wedges from the lemon, orange and lime into the wine. Toss in the fruit wedges (leaving out seeds if possible) then add agave nectar. Chill overnight. Add sparkling water or club soda, raspberries and ice just before serving. To serve right away, use chilled red wine and serve over ice. For the best sangria, allow the mixture to cool in the fridge for 24 hours.
White Wine Sangria

White Wine Sangria

3) Simple White Wine Sangria Recipe

(Double or triple recipe for large parties)

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes

White wine sangria is delicious, light and looks beautiful with every fruit added. 

Ingredients:
  • 1 Bottle of white wine
  • 2/3 cup white sugar
  • 3 oranges (sliced)
  • 1 lemons (sliced)
  • 1 limes (sliced)
  • Handful of green grapes
  • 1/2 liter of ginger ale or club soda
Preparation:

Pour wine in the pitcher and squeeze the juice wedges from the oranges, lemons and limes into the wine. Toss in the fruit wedges (leaving out seeds if possible) and add sugar. Take the grapes, and any extra oranges, limes and lemons (if you choose) and add to the pitcher. Chill overnight. Add ginger ale or club soda just before serving. To serve right away, use chilled white wine and serve over ice.

Extras: sliced strawberries, peaches, and berries make great garnishes for the punch as well. For an extra punch, add rum to taste.

DECORATION:

Fruit party arrangements - sangria party ideas

(credit: theknot.com)

Sangria parties should be all about fun, good weather, friends and color! Reflect the beautiful colors found in sangria in your flower arrangements and decor.

1) FLOWERS:

Take colorful daisies (or any flower of choice)  and add pops of colors to the vase by using fruit. Placing limes, clementines, lemons and cranberries in your arrangements will make the flowers look as good as the sangria!  Vary the vase size and fruit choices in each vase to add variety. To further carry out the sangria theme, purchase inexpensive plastic pitchers and use them as vases for the flowers.

Fruit party arrangements - sangria party ideas

(credit: mbanyumili.com)

2) ADDITIONAL DECOR:

Carry the fruit theme into additional decor ideas by filling empty jars, vases and bowls with colorful fruit. Using vases of varying size, create an eye catching display with 4 vases filled each with a different color fruit. Vases will make a great display for the sangria tables, kitchen counters or as centerpieces for larger parties.

DIY: Hunger Games Feast! Recipes from Panem

22 Mar MV5BMjA4NDg3NzYxMF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNTgyNzkyNw@@._V1._SY317_

Inspired by The Hunger Games, these recipes are sure to resonate long past the evening’s cannon fire.

Goat Cheese
Prim, Katniss’ little sister, helped the family survive thanks to the milk from her pet goat. The morning of reaping day, Katniss wakes to find goat cheese wrapped in fresh basil leaves. Bring this delicious appetizer (or breakfast treat!) to your table in one-bite form. We bet the mint leaves in this appetizer would remind Katniss of evenings at home.

Herbed Goat Cheese Bites Recipe

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon fresh flat-leaf thyme leaves
1 tablespoon fresh parsley leaves
1 tablespoon fresh tarragon leaves
1 tablespoon fresh mint leaves
1 (8-oz.) goat cheese log
1 (8-oz.) French bread baguette, cut into
1/4-inch-thick slices
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped
1/2 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves

Combine and finely chop first 4 ingredients. Roll cheese log evenly in herb mixture; wrap in plastic wrap. Chill at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.

Preheat oven to 350°. Drizzle baguette slices with olive oil. Gently press slices into 24 muffin cups in muffin pans.

Bake at 350° for 7 to 9 minutes or until crisp and lightly browned. Remove from oven; let cool in pans 5 minutes. Spread goat cheese into baguette cups; top with sun-dried tomatoes and basil leaves.

(more…)

New Year’s Eve Punch Recipes

21 Dec New Year's Punch
New Year's Punch

New Year's Punch

Throwing a New Year’s bash on a budget? A punch is a great option to keep your alcohol costs down. Below are some festive holiday punches to help ring in the new year!

(more…)

Mad Men-Inspired Cocktails From People.com

16 Sep John Slattery (left) and Jon Hamm /  Frank Ockenfels 3/AMC

John Slattery (left) and Jon Hamm / Frank Ockenfels 3/AMC

By Sara Hammel / People.com

The characters on Mad Men, AMC’s hit show about an advertising agency in the 1960′s, seem to spend a lot of time imbibing old-time concoctions.

So when mixologist – and cocktail historian – Nick Van Tiel wanted to give a nod to the upcoming Emmy Awards, he pulled together a series of cocktails that best match the characters on the show (Mad Men that led the pack with 19 nominations).Van Tiel, Beefeater’s U.S. Brand Ambassador, shared his ideas and recipes with PEOPLE:

1. Don Draper (played by John Hamm, who was nominated for leading actor in a drama) is an old fashioned man, so his drink is …

Old Fashioned
According to Van Tiel, the Old Fashioned represents what is perhaps the oldest form of cocktail known. The first alleged use of the specific name “Old Fashioned” was for a whiskey cocktail in the 1880s, at the Pendennis Club, a gentlemen’s club in Louisville, Kentucky it was later brought it to the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel bar in New York City.

• 2 oz Chivas Regal
• 1 dash angostura bitters
• 1 cherry
• 1 slice orange

Express oils of one large piece orange peel into old-fashioned glass. Combine ingredients over ice and stir. Add a garnish with a maraschino cherry.

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