Summer Cocktail Month: June 30, 2013

The Last Word - for my friend, Kathy Moore. An appropriate drink for the last day of Summer Cocktail Month! 


1 part gin 
1 part green chartreuse 
1 part Luxardo maraschino liqueur (not the cherry juice...look it up)
1 part fresh lime juice. 

Combine in a shaker and shake over ice; strain into a chilled martini glass. A shout out to Lynn Beimdiek Morris for the wicked awesome display plate!! 

Summer Cocktail Month: June 29, 2013

Sex on the Beach - This particular drink has several variations (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_on_the_Beach), but the classic is the simplest. Don't omit the peach schnapps...

1 part vodka 
1 part peach schnapps 
Cranberry juice
Orange juice

Combine vodka and peach schnapps with ice in a tall glass; fill with equal parts cranberry juice and orange juice. 

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!