Ghoulish Grape

(I was sent a bottle of Smirnoff Ice Grape to try for myself.  I was not asked to create a post for it or paid for my opinion.  My opinion is mine and completely honest.)

Have you ever tried flavored Smirnoff Ice before? 

Did you know it comes in GRAPE?!?!

I was unaware that Smirnoff Ice had so many new flavors.

Back when I used to drink it there was only original.  Then some time later I remember seeing it in a flavor.....raspberry maybe?  

I'm not 100% sure because by then I didn't drink them anymore.....and kind of forgot about them.

Fast forward to now.

Grape?!?!  I looooove the flavor of grape!  Grape jolly ranchers, grape lollipops.........oh grape.

I was sent a couple recipes with these 2 bottles (one was another flavor.......stay tuned for that post!!)

This cocktail is an interesting combo and an interesting color.

All of that aside, I really enjoyed it!  I can totally taste the grape flavor, which was what I was really really hoping for.

Despite it's color, it's a winner in my book!

So basically you add the Smirnoff Ice Grape.

Add some Chambord.

Some orange juice.

Mix it up and pour it into a fun glass.

You could always put some unlit candles near your cocktail.

Or go crazy and light them, it's really up to you!

But seriously, this is a tasty grape flavored cocktail with a color that I think is perfect for Halloween!

Ghoulish Grape (makes 2)

ingredients:

• 1 bottle Smirnoff Ice Grape
• 1 1/2 ounces Chambord
• 1 1/2 ounces orange juice

instructions:

1. In a shaker, add ice and all of the ingredients above.
2. Stir up well.
3. Into a glass filled with ice, strain in the cocktail.

Created using The Recipes Generator

If you find Smirnoff Ice Grape at the store give it a try, either on it's own or in a cocktail.

TDD - AKA The Drinking Dead

TDD - The Drinking Dead

Who watches The Walking Dead?

The Drinking Dead is a perfect Halloween cocktail that is delicious in flavor but looks a bit scary in color to drink.

OK, so I don't watch the Walking Dead (insert gasp here).  

My husband does and just about everyone else in the world seems to.....except me.  

When it came to naming this cocktail, I drew a blank.  

One of my daughters (who will be the pink dino ranger for Halloween......even thought she's never seen the show.....but thinks her gun is cool, therefore that's what she'll be) came into my office to help me name it, she had a few suggestions and together we came up with The Drinking Dead.  

So, Thank You my Pink Dino Ranger for helping mommy name tonight's cocktail!!

The week before Halloween around here is usually insane.  

It's filled with costume planning, last minute tweeks to costumes, Trick-or-Treat planning, Haunted "Garage" set up (my son and his friend did an AWESOME Haunted Garage/Driveway/Front Yard last year and they're doing it again this year), candy buying.......then doubting I have enough......then purchasing more, Halloween party planning (yeay it's on a Saturday this year!!).  

Through all of that (and more that I know I'm totally forgetting), I wanted to make a couple cocktails this week to share.  

I am happy to say that tonight's cocktail is #2 of the week and that makes me happy!

Tonight's cocktail........um, YUM!!  

Oh this is a good one!  

The color might not look fantastic, but hey it's a Halloween cocktail.......it's not supposed to.  

The taste though, cha-ching winner!!  

Although it doesn't look like it, you can taste the pineapple juice in this cocktail which is a nice surprise!  

I really like this one and know you will too!  

If you do have a bottle of black vodka at home and decide to try this cocktail, please let me know!  

I'd love to hear what you think!

Here is a photo of the end result:

Here is a photo of the ingredients:

Here is my recipe for a TDD:

• 1 1/2 ounces black vodka
• 1/2 ounce Chambord
• 2 ounces pineapple juice

In a shaker filled half way with ice, pour in all three of your ingredients.  Shake up this cocktail really well to get some foam.  Strain into a martini glass and once it's all in the glass shake the shaker up and down to get the foam to drip in.

Here's to Halloween going as smoothly as possible!!  I hope you all have a fun and safe night!!

Cheers!!

The Cocktail Lady

Santa's Kiss

Santa's Kiss

I am completely convinced that we lost 3 months this year.  

They didn't happen.....they could not have happened, because Christmas can NOT be in 3 days.  It just can't.......can it?

Once Halloween hit this house it feels like the hands of time went 3x's faster then normal, skipping every other hour.  

Somehow Thanksgiving was here and gone and now Christmas is about to do the same thing.  I'm embarrassed to say.....this is my first Christmas cocktail of the season.

Knowing this was my first (and hopefully not only), I knew I needed to make it AMAZING!  

Mission accomplished!  

I had a good friend over and we were talking cocktails (surprising, I know).  She mentioned lemon drop, I said I have a recipe for that (another surprise, right?).  We wanted to create something with a little bit more then a regular lemon drop.  I said Chambord, she said X-Rated Fusion and then this beauty was born!

You are going to love it!  

It tastes so delicious.  

The lemon juice, Chambord and X-Rated Fusion go beautifully together it's almost a crime!  

I hope you are all enjoying the holiday season.  Let me know if you try any new cocktails over the holidays.  Make sure you get the recipes so I can try them too!

Here is a photo of the end result:

Here is a photo of the ingredients:

Here is my recipe for a Santa's Kiss:

• 2 ounces whipped vodka
• 1 ounce lemon juice
• 1 ounce simple syrup
• 3/4 ounce Chambord
• 1/2 ounce X-Rated Fusion
• superfine sugar for rimming

Rim a martini glass with superfine sugar.  In a shaker, add ice and all of the ingredients above, except the sugar.  Shake and strain into sugar rimmed martini glass.  Sit back and enjoy this amazing cocktail.

I hope you are able to spend time with your family and friends during the holiday season.  Be safe and happy!

The Cocktail Lady

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Vampire Shot

I will be the first to admit it....Halloween is totally sneaking up on me.  

I thought I had a month to get ready and prepare for it.  Turns out I only have a little over a week.  

Things To Do:

-Get both girls Halloween Costumes : Check

-Get youngest sons mask and hair dye: Check

-Get more hair dye for youngest son as he's "changed his mind a little": Still need to do that

-Figure out a non-messy costume friendly dinner: Still need to do that (any ideas are welcome)

-Get Halloween Candy: Check

-Make sure we have Trick or Treat bags/pumpkins: Still need to do that

-Create Halloween Cocktails for blog: work in progress

-Create a blog post listing good Halloween Cocktails: Still need to do that

OK, so I can at least say that I have completed some things on my Halloween Checklist.  

Onto today's Halloween Cocktail.  

This little shooter isn't half bad.  

It does not make you quiver what so ever after you shoot it, which is something that I like about it.  

The mixture of the three ingredients is OK, I think if you used less Chambord it would taste better in my opinion.  If I make this one again, I will definitely be changing the amounts to my liking.  

I have read the first two books in the Divergent series.  The first book is coming out in the movie theaters soon (fist pumping) and I am very excited to see it!  

The third book just came out yesterday and I have already heard that the ending may not be what I was hoping for....apparently a friend of mine has read a lot of bad reviews on it, which is disappointing, but I know I will still read it anyways.  

OK, just wanted to share that news with you all, in case there are other Divergent fans out there.

Here is a photo of the end result:

Here is a photo of the ingredients:

Here is the recipe for a Vampire Shot:

• 1/2 ounce vodka
• 1/2 ounce black raspberry liqueur
• 1/2 ounce cranberry cocktail juice

In a cocktail shaker, add ice and all three ingredients above.  Shake and strain into a shot glass.

Here's to another Halloween Cocktail.

Cheers!!

The Cocktail Lady

Pineapple Vanilla Martini

OK, so yes it's been a while.  

But I swear I have been busy.......insanely busy to be exact!  

Wait a minute, I thought summer was supposed to be the relaxing time of the year?  

On a good note, we got tickets to Monday's Giants game and Tuesday's double header as well.  

Three Giants games in two days?  Not bad if I do say so myself.....and I do.

Besides attending three baseball games, one of my best friends is coming up tomorrow and then we are going out to dinner with a couple old friends that I talked about here.  

I am really looking forward to tomorrow night.  Then we have a bunch of things to do to get ready for our oldest's graduation party.  

OK, I'm exhausted just typing all that out, good thing I made myself a new cocktail.

I gave this cocktail 4 shots out of 5.  

I created this cocktail by simply thinking, what have I not used in a while?  

Pineapple juice (or at least I don't remember using it in a while).  Vanilla vodka and pineapple just are great together.  Adding the Chambord on the bottom was a nice twist.  

I did not stir in the Chambord, but next time I think I will to see how that tastes as well.  

All in all, it was a good cocktail to make after not making once since my last post (I hear your gasps, yes I have not made one since my X-Rated Sunrise).

Here is a photo of the end result:

Here is a photo of the ingredients:

Here is my recipe for a Pineapple Vanilla Martini:

• 1 ounce vanilla vodka
• 1 ounce pineapple juice
• 1/2 ounce Chambord

In a shaker, add ice, vanilla vodka and pineapple juice.  Shake and strain into a martini glass.  Pour your Chambord down the side of your glass and enjoy!

Here's to a hot hot day here and a cocktail to break up my week!

Cheers!

The Cocktail Lady

White Chocolate Raspberry Kiss

Day 363

White Chocolate Raspberry Kiss

4 shots out of 5

White Chocolate Raspberry Kiss is a perfect Valentine's Day blend of white chocolate and raspberry flavors to have your taste buds going wild!  It's a perfect twist to the common milk chocolate cocktails that are served on Valentine's Day.


Speaking of Valentine's Day, the day before always marks our oldest daughters birthday.  Tomorrow she turns 4.  


Thursday is Valentine's Day and Friday is the very last day (Day 366 thanks to Leap Year) of my year long challenge.  


I knew I would make it, as I am NOT a quitter..........but I just didn't realize how quickly this year would go by.  I am kind of in shock that I am mere days away from the end.  I will not be tossing away this blog by any means, but with the extra time on my hands (total joke.......I have 4 kids) I do want to add extra things to my blog and maybe even change things around a little.

I gave tonight's cocktail 4 shots out of 5.   


With Valentines Day vastly approaching, I decided to create a Valentine's cocktail.  I call it, White Chocolate Raspberry Kiss (before you ask, YES I could have made it longer, haha).  


This cocktail is a bit strong and every 3 sips gives you a little bit of a vodka bite, but I like it.  I hope you like it too if you do decide to try it.  I hope you are all enjoying your Tuesday evening.......with a cocktail of course!

Here is a photo of the end result:

Here is a photo of the end result:

Here is my recipe for a White Chocolate Raspberry Kiss:

• 1 oz vanilla vodka
• 1 oz Godiva white chocolate liqueur
• 1 oz Chambord
• 1/2 oz white cream de cacao
• white chocolate shavings

In a shaker, add ice and all of the ingredients above except for the white chocolate shavings.  Shake and strain into a white chocolate shavings rimmed martini glass.

Here's to the 3 more days that remain of my year long challenge.  I'm proud of myself for sticking to it and blogging every single day for a year.  I'm proud of you for sticking with me too!!

Cheers!!

The Cocktail Lady

Bramble

Day 352

Bramble

3.5 shots out of 5

Oh Friday how I have waited for you all week long!  In two days we get to sit in front of our TV and watch our San Francisco Forty Niners play in the Super Bowl!  I'm very very excited to watch the game!  I need to make sure all of our Niner gear is washed and ready to go for the big game.  Win or loose, we are very proud of our guys!  What a great season!!

I gave tonight's cocktail 3.5 shots out of 5.  I received and email from Matt telling me about a new cocktail he had recently tried.  I will say that when I started this blog, if you would have told me to mix gin and Chambord I would have given you a look of "Are you kidding me?".  Now when I read the recipe that Matt sent me I thought, "WOW, that sounds interesting, I can't wait to try it!".  I am glad you sent this one in Matt, at first the lemon is kind of the only thing I taste and I have to say that I do NOT mean that in a bad way at all!  Some of these cocktails I have made have too much lemon juice in them and I honestly can't finish them.  This cocktail is different.  If you allow yourself to inhale the smell of the Chambord while sipping it, it makes it quite interesting.  If you do try this cocktail, please let me know what you think about it.

Here is the recipe for a Bramble:

• 1 oz gin
• 1 oz Chambord
• 1 oz lemon juice
• 1/2 oz simple syrup

In a cocktail glass filled 3/4 with ice, pour in all of your ingredients.  Stir them up very well.

Here is a photo of the end result:

Here is a photo of the end result:

Thank You Matt for sending me this recipe!

Cheers!!

The Cocktail Lady

French Kiss

Day 348

French Kiss

4.5 shots out of 5

I had one of my children sick over the weekend.  


I kept him home from school today and now a second child woke up from their nap today with a fever.......yikes!  I sure hope it does not make its rounds in this house any more then it already has!  I have a high school registration to do on Friday and I can not risk getting sick for that.

I gave tonight's cocktail 4.5 shots out of 5.  


I have seen this one on Pinterest time and time again and to be honest......I don't know why I haven't made it yet.  


This cocktail is delicious!  I followed the pin and found this recipe on Hostess With The Mostess.  


I miss the flavor of Chambord.  Gosh I like Chambord.  Excuse me while I suck down the rest of this cocktail right now!  


Needless to say, this is a great cocktail.  I am thoroughly enjoying enjoyed it.  This cocktail is very easy to make and I have a feeling that I will be making it again, very soon.

Here is a photo of the end result:

Here is a photo of the ingredients:

Here is the recipe for a French Kiss:

• 1 oz vodka
• 1 oz Chambord
• 1 oz dark creme de cacao
• 1 1/2 oz half and half (once again I used half milk and half cream)

In a shaker, add ice and all of the ingredients above.  Shake and strain into a martini glass and enjoy!

Here's to an early Valentines Cocktail!

Cheers!!

The Cocktail Lady