Something For the Weekend

So usually I don't bother much with cocktails - they're great to drink and I'm a sucker for vodka slush in summer, but generally speaking they always seem like a bit too much effort to make.

However, during a recent flick through of one of my old Sainsbury's magazines I discovered an appealingly simple recipe for a 'Raspberry Sparkle' cocktail which, I decided, must be made. As per usual, I'm unable to just leave a recipe alone, so here's my version...

Ingredients (serves 1):
- 25ml raspberry vodka (or normal)
- 50g fresh raspberries
- juice of 1/4 lime
- ½ tbsp honey
- soda water
- sprig of rosemary, to serve (optional)

The thing with this recipe is that, as well as being easy, it's incredibly adaptable. For example, I love the flavour combination of blackberries and thyme, which would be a great Autumnal alternative. Also: I'm currently in possession of raspberry vodka, but it's so easy to make your own with ANY flavour, and the internet is full of recipes telling you how. So there is absolutely no excuse!

Method:
1. Grab a stick blender a blitz the raspberries, then use the back of the spoon to push it all through a sieve (I love raspberry seeds, but I don't want a drink full of them). If you don't have a stick blender, then with a little extra work just use the sieve and spoon - you'll get the same end result, it'll just take a little longer.
2. Mix your raspberry purée with the vodka, honey and lime juice.
3. Pour the mixture into a glass, add ice cubes (and a couple of frozen raspberries if you happen to have some), then top up with more soda water. Garnish with the rosemary and an extra raspberry or two if you don't have any frozen ones. 
4. Repeat as needed and get gloriously drunk in our new-found sun.
 

Happy Birthday To Us (now have a cocktail)

A year ago today, we sat in the kitchen and wrote about how much we were kicking ourselves for not having blogged sooner. Today, we've reached over 10,000 page views, have a facebook page and twitter account and 148 followers that we're aware of, as well as a recommendation from the Vegetarian Society. LIFE IS GOOD. Now have a cocktail.

My Dad and his partner Andy just got back from a spectacular holiday in Brazil, which seems to me to have mainly consisted of drinking alcohol on a beach. And in Brazil, they drink Caipirinhas. Like so.

The recipe is a bit rough, as it's word-of-mouth from Dad who got it from his Brazillian friend Benjamin, but here goes...

Ingredients: (per glass)

- 1 lime

- 1½ tbsp caster sugar

- 4/5 ice cubes

- enough cachaça to fill your glass 

Also, if you can't get cachaça I think the closest match would be white rum (though then it's technically called a Caipiríssima. Yeah).

1. Give the lime a good scrub, then cut into eight pieces. Then go and find the nearest thing you can to a pestle and mortar. I suggest a jug and the end of a rolling pin.

2. Add the sugar, and smush. That's a technical term. SMUSH IT GOOD. Then add the ice and smush some more. 

3. Add the cachaça and mix, then pour into a tumbler and voila! You can obviously adapt all the quantities depending on how you like it. There's a chance that I like it A LOT and so am currently a bit tipsy. But I am a student after all...

Rosemary G&T

Gin. Officially sanctioned by the British government until 1751 to use up bad grain. Then they decided it was probably causing a whole bunch of new problemsand they should really stop letting just about anybody make it.

BUT just about anybody can still make a Gin and Tonic.

Somewhere over the last year or so I read the words "Rosemary" and "Gin and Tonic" in the same sentence. I think it was in a Sunday newspaper. But I can't remember which one or when. Point is, this is amazing. Someone called it "pure genius" on Friday night.

Also this particular Rosemary G&T was followed by a rather epic evening and I think this proves how truly amazing this cocktail is.

What you need:

Gin.

Tonic Water.

Sprig of fresh Rosemary.

What to do:

1. Put your Gin in your glass (I had a small glass so I used two capfuls of gin but if you've got a bigger glass, add more accordingly.)

2. Crush the Rosemary slightly and put it in your gin. Mix it up and let it sit for a minute or so for the flavour to come out a bit.

3. Top up with Tonic Water. You could add a splash of lemon juice at this point but you should be alright without it.

4. Drink. 

It's turned out oranges and lemons again

Sometimes the world is trying to tell you something. 

Yesterday it told me I needed to make Lemon and Orange Vodka Slush. 

FOR THESE REASONS.

1. Lady Grey Tea. Made with orange and lemon peel. And awesomeness. 

2. The Student Union fruit and veg market. FLIPPING NORA how huge are these lemons?

I have never seen a lemon dwarf an orange to such an extent before. Just wow.

There was no way I couldn't buy a couple.

3. The Vodka bit. Because Bryony needed motivation to get her butt back here to uni and I know she likes cocktails.

SO I made Lemon and Orange Vodka Slush.

What You NEED: (Also quantities can be a bit vague, depending on how much you want and whether you like it sweet or sharp. This made a big tub to keep in the freezer for the rest of this term.)

350 ml of Vodka.

200 ml of Pineapple Juice.

100 ml of Limoncello (optional, I put it in because I had it but you don't really need it).

3 MASSIVE Lemons or 5 normal sized ones.

3 (disappointingly normal) Oranges.

Simple Syrup (I made two cups worth using this recipe).

A splash or two of Concentrated Lemon Juice.

WHAT to  do:

1. Pour the Vodka into a freezer safe container. Add the Pineapple Juice and the Limoncello.

2. Juice your Oranges and Lemons. I just squeezed them into a jug then poured it into the main container through a sieve. (Mine got a little bit mutilated in the process...)

3. Make up your Simple Syrup. Add as much or as little as you want. I added around 250 ml. 

4. Splash in some concentrated Lemon Juice.

NOW. What you're left with will look like a massive, uninspiring container of juice. With Vodka in it...

BUT the next step is the clever part...

5. Stick it in the freezer overnight. The Vodka stops the whole mixture from freezing so when you stir it it has the consistency of a slush puppy. But for grown ups/students/not children...

6. Go and live your life for a while. Mine involved baking, The Hundred Years War and dressing a certain Miss Hilsdon up as a cake. True story. (Come back tomorrow for more on two of those topics...)

7. Revisit your freezer excitedly at 9am. Take a teaspoonful and realise that this is far too early for vodka even when disguised in slush. 

8. Come back later and serve.

How to serve it?

We came up with two methods:

On the left, Bryony is enjoying the Ice Cream Method. Where one eats it out of the tub with a spoon.

On the right, I added Grenadine Syrup and a straw. Mix before serving. 

(Also you can use a glass, I just found a jar first...)

Lovely.

(Inspiration via Pinterest.)

Rainy Saturday Cocktails

It's Saturday night and it's raaiiiinnning.

You've just eaten an epic meal cooked by the lovely Bryony and you can't be bothered to go anywhere or do anything. What do you do now?

Our fridge just happened to be full of other peoples' alcohol after friday night dinner-and-pre-drinks, and we maaay have decided to charge a little rent. In the form of three shots of gin and two of grenadine. (THANKS ED/JAMES :D)

And we came up with a super sweet cocktail I'm calling the Rainy Saturday.

Whatchoo need for one Rainy Saturday:

1 and 1/2 shots of Gin.

1 shot of Grenadine Syrup.

EITHER the juice of 1/2 a lime OR the juice of 1/4 of a lemon. (If you want it extra sweet, go for the lemon.)

Lemonade.

4 Mint leaves.

2 Frozen Raspberries. (Just put a pack of fresh raspberries straight in the freezer.)

3 Slices of Cucumber.

What to do:

Put the gin, grenadine syrup and the lemon/lime juice in a glass.

Grab the mint leaves to crush them ever so slightly. Add to the glass along with the raspberries and two slices of cucumber. 

Top up with lemonade, add ice and stir thoroughly.

Cut a slim triangle out of the remaining cucumber slice and stick it on the side of the glass. So it looks pretty.

And ta daaaa one rainy saturday cocktail. 

I have to admit it was slightly too sweet for me so next time I'll try it with carbonated water or something instead of lemonade. Its was still raather yummy though.