Goblet of Fire

This was so cool! I was really surprised this worked as well as it did. The flame looked awesome coming out of the glass, it really was a bright blue. Adding cinnamon made it spark, which was also very awesome, it did look like something that could have come from the Harry Potter movie. Thanks to Kayla for the awesome pictures on this one.

This idea is on Pinterest a lot, but I found instructions here.

Ingredients:
-1 oz vodka

-1 oz blue curacao 

-3 oz lemonade

-151 

-Pinch of cinnamon

Check out the video we made of us lighting the goblet of fire.

                                          

Mix the curacao, vodka, and lemonade.

Flammable!

We did ours outside, I was nervous about doing
this one indoors.

Pour the 151 on top and quickly light.  We had to try
a few times, but if you hold the lighter on top of the drink
for a few seconds it eventually caught on fire.

A sprinkle of cinnamon made these
awesome sparks.

The flame lasted for a really long time! The original post said to be careful because the drink can still be on fire after the flame looks like it is out, so make sure to wait before you drink it.

Our first try of this was admittedly not good, we tried at least 5 or 6 times and it didn't light. The second try we used less lemonade and just used alcohol. That worked much better. We used a lot of cinnamon for the sparks, so we couldn't drink it afterwards, but it was so worth it.

Blood Orange Tequila Drink with Lime

It's starting to get warm out, and summer is the perfect time for fun cocktail recipes. This one uses blood oranges and is perfect for the beach or a summer party. The blood orange gave it a really deep red color, I thought this was fun for a different orange cocktail. The original recipe comes from Food fashion and fun.

Ingredients:

-1/2 cup Blood Orange Juice (this took us about 3 oranges)
-1/4 cup Lime Juice
-1/2 cup Tequila
-1 cup Sparkling Limeade
-Extra Blood Orange Slices for garnish

Cut the oranges. They are really a deep red on the inside.

Add the ingredients with some ice to a shaker.

Pour into a glass.

Garnish with an orange slice.

Find a good spot to enjoy your drink!

The color in this was pretty cool. If I made this again, I would use a little less lime juice, it had a pretty strong citrus taste.

Mimosas made with Cara Cara Oranges

I love mimosas, they're the perfect drink when you want a beverage that's light. This recipe from What's Gabby Cooking? is perfect for your next brunch or bridal shower. This recipe called for using blood oranges, but we had some issues finding blood oranges (which has been all figured out for next time, they're at my grocery store and not at Becky's) so we used Cara Cara oranges instead, which also have pink flesh, like a grapefruit.

Ingredients: 
-1 bottle pink chamagne
-3 Cara Cara oranges

Juice your oranges, there should be several tablespoons worth of  juice. 

Top with champagne. 

  

Garnish with slices of Cara Cara oranges.

I really wish that we had been able to find blood oranges, but the pink flesh of the Cara Cara oranges was really pretty with the pink champagne. It was a nice twist on a traditional mimosa.

Chocolate Covered Cherry Martini

This cocktail recipe comes from The Sweetest Temptations.

For an extra dose of chocolate-cherry goodness enjoy with Chocolate-Covered Cherry Cupcakes.

Ingredients:

-1 1/2 oz Cherry Vodka

-1 1/2 oz Chocolate Vodka

-1 ounce Creme de Cacao

-1 1/2 oz Half & Half

-Chocolate Syrup

-Grenadine
-Cherries

Assemble the ingredients. 

Drizzle as many cocktail glass as needed with chocolate.
Mix ingredients in a shaker with ice, pour into prepared glasses.

Garnish with a cherry.

This will make one cocktail. 

Enjoy!

Like any martini, this drink is strong. The flavors went perfectly together, this martini is a perfect after dinner drink and the ingredients are ingredients that you probably have on hand if you have a decently stocked bar at home, I think we only needed to buy a few ingredients for this recipe.

Birthday Cocktail

Happy Birthday to Alecia!

                                                

In honor of her birthday we whipped up this delicious Birthday Cocktail. You can find the original blog at Sips, Etc. She's going to be really busy the next few days celebrating with her family and J. but there will be a new restaurant review on her Sunday blog.  

This is another blog with great photos from Kayla.

Other recipes Kayla has guest photographed for: Lucky Charm Doughnuts, Poutine with Guinness Gravy, Rust City Buffalo Sauce, Twice Baked Red Potatoes, Corn Risotto, King Cake Cocktail and Smore's Cake.

Ingredients:

-2 shots pineapple juice
-2 shots cranberry juice
-1 shot vanilla rum
-Ice
-Vanilla frosting
-Sprinkles

Rim the glass with frosting.

Pour sprinkles on a plate.

Dip the rim in the sprinkles.

The sprinkles really give it a good touch.

Add the juices, vodka, and ice to a shaker.
Pour in the glasses.

Drop a spoonful of
frosting in the glass.

Quickly add a candle. It should
be able to stand up in the frosting.

This was one of the best cocktails we have made so far. It was really fun to have a candle and frosting in a glass. It also tasted the best, I think because it was more juice than it was alcohol.

A Hamless Holiday -- Red Velvet Cake Martini

                                             

I love red velvet cake and this martini is sure to pair well with any Christmas meal, but especially with the red, green and white theme that is the meal that's been prepared for the Christmas series. This recipe comes from Pillsbury.

Sorry about the glasses!! I know it's a martini, but I don't have martini glasses yet, don't worry, I asked Santa for them :)

A Hamless Holiday:
Appetizer: The Melting Pot's Spinach Artichoke Cheese Fondue

Drink: Red Velvet Cake Martini

Ingredients:
Makes Two Drinks
-Whipped cream cheese frosting (from 12-oz container)
-Christmas Sprinkles
-2 teaspoons chocolate-flavor syrup
-Crushed ice
-1/4cup cake-flavored vodka
-1/4cup crème de cacao
-6 tablespoons buttermilk
-1 to 2 drops red food color or red frosting gel

This drink can be two ways -- with food coloring or with gel frosting swirled in the glass. I didn't have food coloring so I just drizzled the red gel into the glass.

Frost the rim of the glass.

Dip into the sprinkles.

Christmas-y goodness.

Put a little chocolate syrup into the bottom.

Drizzle the inside with red gel.

Mix the liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice.
Strain the liquid into the glasses and serve.

This was a strong drink (as are most martinis), but it tasted good. I think if I made it again I would color it red with food coloring, but it's also nice to have a white drink with a splash of red.

Check back tomorrow to see the main dish!

Mike-a-Rita

Ingredients:-4 shots of Margarita Mix
-1 shot of Tequila
-¼ cup sugar
-1 Mike’s Hard Pink Lemonade

Rim a margarita glass with sugar.

Mix the tequila and the margarita mix.

Pour the tequila/margarita mix into a glass.

Open a pink Mike's Hard and quickly turn it over into the glass so that the opening of the bottle is against the bottom of the glass.

Enjoy!

It's homecoming at my college this weekend so I needed to put together a fun cocktail because my roommate was back in town. The ingredients were simple and this couldn't have been easier to make. Make sure to tip the Mike's Hard into the margarita quickly so that the drink doesn't overflow...also make sure to fill the margarita glass half-way so that the Mike's Hard doesn't make the drink overflow.

Happy weekend!