Archive for Recipes

As my daughter pointed out to me today, I’ve had a bit of a pear fetish lately.  I’ve made pear vinaigrette and wine poached pears and have included slices in my wraps.  So, continuing on this same thread, I decided to create a pear cocktail.  Instead of using a pear liqueur for flavoring, I thought I’d try my hand at making a pear-flavored simple syrup.

Having made simple syrups before, I knew that part of the recipe would be easy.  I decided that if I just added some peeled and diced pear and allowed it to simmer it would produce the desired result.  Luckily, I was correct.

Choosing to use a pear simple syrup instead of a pear liqueur had an extra benefit.  I could mix it with plain seltzer to create pear-flavored Italian sodas for the kids.  They found them to be quite tasty.

While it will take a little extra time and effort, it is worth it for this drink.  Of course, if you prefer to keep your drink making more simplistic, I am sure some pear liqueur would be a fine replacement.

Subtle & Bubbly Pear

1/2 oz. pear-infused vodka

1-1/2 tsp. pear simple syrup*

brut champagne

Pour vodka and simple syrup into a champagne flute.  Top with champagne, and stir well to combine.

Pear Simple Syrup

2 cups water

1 cup sugar

2 bosc pears, peeled & diced

Bring water to boil in medium pot over high heat.  Add sugar, and stir until dissolved.  Add pear, reduce heat to simmering, and cook for 30 minutes.  Remove pear cubes with a strainer, pressing back of a spoon against pears to release any remaining juice.  Allow syrup to cool to room temperature.  Then transfer syrup to a storage container, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Do you know what cocktail you will be making for your valentine?  If you need a suggestion, how about the cocktail that 1,007 readers voted as the best?  Cupid’s Kiss!

With steady voting until the poll closed, it was a close race for Cupid’s Kiss and Cayo al Corazon.  However, when the votes were tallied, the whisky & rum cocktail creation pulled ahead with a 150 vote lead.

As promised, we now offer the recipe for this winning cocktail.

Cupid’s Kiss

1 ounce Canadian Club Whisky

1 ounce Cruzan Raspberry Rum

Cranberry juice

Fill highball glass with ice.  Add whisky and rum, fill with juice, and stir.

Enjoy!

Valentine’s Day.

When you hear those two words, what is your reaction?  Do you see hearts and flowers and eagerly anticipate the holiday that you will spend with your one true love?  Perhaps you roll your eyes back and wish that you could hide under the covers all day?  Or maybe you really have no opinion about it, it just is another day of the week?

Regardless to how you feel about Valentine’s Day, there’s no reason not to have a cocktail in honor of this day.  Even if you don’t like the day, you still can enjoy a delicious cocktail.  To help you find the perfect cocktail, Parched No More has collected a dozen recipes that will appeal to those who are in love and those who feel scorned.

Check out our Valentine’s Day cocktails, decide which you like best, and then share your thoughts.  On Friday, February 12th we will announce which cocktail was the most popular and share its exact recipe.  Being two days before the holiday, you’ll have time to gather all of the ingredients and make a drink for you (and others, if you wish). (more…)

As a best friend, you have varying responsibilities.  Being available to listen, helping when an extra set of hands is needed, remembering the little details that matter.  And sometimes you need to create a cocktail for you and your best friends to enjoy while you build the 1,000 piece puzzle that they received as a Christmas gift.  Seriously.

Last Saturday we had a date night planned with our friends, OT and Vicki.  After dinner at a restaurant we planned to return to their house and work on the thousand piece puzzle OT had received.  I asked, jokingly, if we would be having drinks while working on the puzzle.  The answer was, “It will be more fun.”  With that reply I decided it was time to concoct a cocktail in honor of puzzle making. (more…)

Over on Idea Offer, a request was put out for the best ideas for cocktails that have ice cream as an ingredient.  And the winning idea came from Navakanth Kanapala for his Strawberry Margarita Fizz.  Here it is as described by Navakanth:

Strawberry Margarita Fizz

Sugar for coating rims of glasses
1-1/2 cups softened strawberry ice cream
1/2 cup chopped strawberries, plus whole strawberries for garnish
1 ounce tequila, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon fresh lime juice
1/3 cup chilled club soda
Garnish: lime slices

Rim edges of two highball glasses with sugar, and set aside.  Place ice cream, chopped strawberries, tequila, and lime juice in a blender.  Mix until all ingredients are combined and smooth.  Divide strawberry mixture between the two glasses, and top each with half of the club soda.  Stir gently to combine.  Garnish with limes and strawberries, if desired.

Makes me want to get some ice cream and umbrellas and head to the beach!