Tag: D.C.

White Wine Sangria… Yes Please!

This weekend I was on the hunt to find a simple and refreshing cocktail recipe to celebrate the summertime! The weather here in D.C. was less than stellar on Friday and Saturday ( it rained for 48 hours straight essentially) so I wanted something to bring the sunshine inside. After some Pinterest digging, I landed on what looked like an amazing White Wine Sangria Recipe on The Lemon Bowl and tried it out…

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It was so so so SO tasty.

White Wine Sangria by Liz Della Croce
Ingredients
  • 2 bottles dry white wine i.e. sauvignon blanc or chardonnay
  • Ginger Simple Syrup see below
  • 1 cup fresh orange juice
  • 1/2 cup lime juice
  • 1/2 cup lemon juice
  • 24 ounces ginger beer
  • slices orange lemon and lime – garnish
Ginger Simple Syrup
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 6- inch piece ginger root cut in large chunks
Instructions
  1. To make Ginger Simple Syrup, place water, sugar and ginger root in a small sauce pot and bring to a simmer. Stir for 60 seconds or until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and let ginger steep while syrup cools.
  2. Place white wine in a large pitcher and add in orange, lime and lemon juice. Add additional orange, lemon and lime slices to the pitcher for garnish and added flavor.
  3. Once ginger simple syrup has cooled, strain ginger root from the mixture and add the syrup to the pitcher of wine and citrus juice. Stir well and let mixture chill for 4 hours or up to overnight.
  4. To serve, pour mixture over ice until glass is 3/4 full. Top each glass with ginger beer before serving.
  5. Garnish with extra citrus slices if you wish.

 

Isn’t it beautiful? And it tastes as good as it looks! I highly recommend using Gosling’s Ginger Beer, it was just wonderful. I put mine in a stemless wine glass to feel a little fancy but I could also see this drink looking amazing in a mason jar for an indoor or outdoor party!

If you are a ginger fanatic like me, I recommend simmering it a tad longer than recommended to really get that flavor in the sangria. Also, more is MORE when it comes to the lemon, lime, and orange slices. Not only do the citrus slices make the beverage gorgeous, they also infuse the sangria with more flavor the longer they soak!

Try it, drink it, love it!

 

 

 

Super Simple Margarita Recipe

You know when you get an overwhelming craving for Mexican food and your body is like “QUESO. NOW.”? If you don’t you’ve probably never lived in a place where amazing Mexican food or Tex-Mex is available. If this is you I suggest you travel somewhere where you can experience the delights of melty cheese in a bowl served with chips ASAP.

For me, this Mexican food craving is accompanied 99.9% of the time by the need for a margarita. I run into an issue though every time I try to order one at a restaurant, most use some sort of margarita mix. This is a problem for me because each sip I take tastes like a sugar bomb mixed with a powdered lime sports drink. In other words, an insta-hangover. The flavor of the tequila is totally lost, my taste buds go into shock, and I’ve already consumed a day’s worth of calories before my tacos even arrive! Unacceptable.

Not to worry though, I have a solution to this problem that doesn’t take hardly any time at all!  Over this past weekend while my parents were visiting, we got a hankering for Mexican food and decided to do a taco bar at my apartment. To accompany this food fiesta, we chose a margarita recipe out of our Death & Co. Modern Classic Cocktails book and it was so simple and delicious I had to share!

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The Margarita Cocktail

  • 2oz Blanco Tequila (Siempre Azul)
  • 3/4oz Cointreau
  • 1oz Lime Juice
  • 1/4oz Agave Nectar

Shake all ingredients with ice and then strain into a rocks glass filled with ice cubes and rimmed with kosher salt.  Garnish with a lime wedge. 

We used the tequila that we had on our bar, Jose Cuervo Especial Tequila Silver, and it was absolutely delicious. I did not rim my glass with salt but most everyone else did! You do you, not everyone is into the salt.

So if you are like me and don’t care for margarita mixes (aside from Skinny Girl for when I’m at the lake), make your own! This super simple recipe is a great place to start.

Happy Shaking- let me know what you think! 🙂