Summer Cocktail Month: June 28, 2013

The Pineapple Upsidedown Cake Martini - As with most cocktails that include fruit juice, you can always lighten it up with ice and some soda water for those hot summer days!

1 part vanilla vodka
2 parts pineapple juice 

Combine in a shaker with ice, shake over ice and strain into a martini glass. Drizzle in a little bit of grenadine and garnish with fruit! Be careful...this one's a quick drink... 

Summer Cocktail Month: June 27, 2013

The Bees Knees! Another classic cocktail from the archives! Honey syrup can be made on a drink-by-drink basis - 1 T honey plus 1 T water, heat in a glass for 30 sec in the microwave, cool slightly before using. In honor of our favorite insect: the bee (wild or native, you rule our world!)

2 parts gin 
3/4 honey syrup 
Juice of 1/2 a lemon

Combine in a shaker and shake over ice and strain into a glass, with or without ice (our new fave is to pour over a ginormous ice cube made with some fancy-schmancy new silicone ice cube tray!). 

Summer Cocktail Month: June 26, 2013

 The Margarita Royale - 

1 part Don Pedro anejo tequila 
1/2 part Cointreau 
juice of 1 lime

Combine all in a shaker with ice; shake over ice and strain. Or you can add some extra ice and blend it up! An interesting drink for an interesting day... 

Summer Cocktail Month: June 25, 2013

Conner Fields Cream Lager - something a little calmer after last night's excitement (Go Hawks!) - Cream Lager (5.5% alc, 15 IBU) from local organic brewer Conner Fields. It's not Little Kings, my DG friends (some would think that's a good thing), but it's a nice light lager after a dicombobulated kind of day... 

Summer Cocktail Month: Stanley Cup Edition

GO HAWKS!!! In honor of our Chicago Blackhawks, winners of the 2013 Stanley Cup Championship, I give you the Joe Sakic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Sakic)  

1 part Sambuca 
1 part Bacardi 151 
2 parts Peppermint Schnapps 

Combine all liqueurs in a shotglass. This one's for you,Priscilla Hader Rose, Julia Burnham, TJ Kren, Meg Bracco Liebreich, Barb Mungovan Koch, Helen Tentler Cooper,Sue Clough, Daria Depa, Ann MacIntosh Baker, Melinda S Haag...and the rest of you Hawks fans!! Woo Hoo! 

Summer Cocktail Month: June 24, 2013

The Classic Daquiri - for a rainy day! To make the frozen version, you may want to add some sour mix so the ice doesn't dilute the lime too much. But before you go frozen, try this version. You'll like it!

1 1/2 oz light rum 
3/4 oz fresh lime juice 
1T simple syrup in a shaker 

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice; shake over ice and strain.  

Summer Cocktail Month: June 23, 2013

The Bellini - for you bubbly-wine lovers!  Prosit! 


2 oz pureed fruit (peaches to be classic, but mine is strawberry-lemon!) 
4 oz Prosecco or sparkling wine or champagne.

Combine the pureed fruit and champagne in a champagne glass. Enjoy!