Homemade Vanilla Simple Syrup

This recipe for Homemade Vanilla Simple Syrup is so super simple to make you'll want to make it all the time!  

Vanilla Simple Syrup can be used in cocktails and food recipes alike.

Here are the simple steps to follow to make this recipe in under 15 minutes!

You are going to combine equal parts of water and sugar.

Heat them together on the stove until the sugar is completely dissolved.

Now add in the vanilla extract.

It will turn your mixture to a yellowish-brownish color.

Let the vanilla infuse into the water and sugar mix for a few minutes while it cools.

Jar it up and stick it in the fridge.

See, simple as that!  You can make as much or as little as you would like.

Here is my recipe for Vanilla Simple Syrup.

Author: The Cocktail Lady

Vanilla Simple Syrup

ingredients:

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

instructions:

1. In a pot add the water and sugar.
2. Heat up until the sugar is completely dissolved.
3. Turn off the burner and add the vanilla extract.
4. Let it cool and then store it in a mason jar or other air tight container.

Created using The Recipes Generator

Now you can use this fun flavored simple syrup in your next recipe!

Mulled Wine

Have you ever had Mulled Wine?  You know hot wine.......spices.......citrus.  Ever?

OK, I will admit.......I was very scared to try it.  The thought of hot wine with different spices......well it kinda scared me.

A few weeks ago.......or a month ago......OK, no a month and a half ago, a friend of mine and I did a paintnite.

It was fun!  Another things that I honestly wasn't sure that I'd like, but decided to do my first one about a year ago and have done 3 more since!  Love it.

Anyways, back to the last paintnite.  Well this was the first ever paintnite where they had a raffle. 

How fun!

What's even more fun?  The fact that I won a bottle of wine, that's what!  Since I hadn't opened the bottle yet, I decided to use it in my first ever creation of Mulled Wine.  Glad I did!

OK, so how exactly do you make mulled wine?  It's actually pretty simple, I must say.

Get all of your ingredients together.  Slice the orange and stick two cloves into one slice and two into another.

Add most of your ingredients.  Warm it up on the stove.  Give everything a good stir.  Once it's all ready, add in the Cointreau.  Mmmmmm.

Be prepared to really like this recipe!  I mean it.  Don't be fooled like I was and think you won't like it.  

OH AND YOU KNOW WHAT?!?!  Later on in the evening, we poured a glass and stuck some ice in it to cool it down and make it cold.

GUESS WHAT?!?!

IT WAS DELICIOUS!!!!!!!  I MEAN REALLY DELICIOUS!!!!

Author: The Cocktail Lady

Mulled Wine

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 750 milliliter bottle of red wine (I used Merlot)
• 2 cups apple cider
• 4 cloves
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 orange (cut into slices)
• 1/4 cup Cointreau

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Slice the orange into even 1/4 inch slices.
2. Stick two cloves into the skin of one of the orange slices and two into the skin of another orange slice
3. In a pot on the stove, pour in the wine, apple cider, sugar, cinnamon sticks and orange slices (including the slices that have the cloves in them).
4. Heat on medium until it begins to simmer, once you have a simmer, turn the burner to low and let it cook for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.
5. After 30 minutes of cooking, add the Cointreau, stir and serve.

Created using The Recipes Generator

So whether you try it hot or chilled.  I say try it both ways!  This here is the best mulled wine I've ever had.  Granted I've never had Mulled Wine before this, but I can't imagine any other Mulled Wine being better!

Silent Night

Day 284

Silent Night

5 shots out of 5

**This cocktail right here was one of my most favoritest Christmas cocktails that I have made......plus it's blue, how could you go wrong with a blue cocktail?**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'll tell you something, it won't be a silent night if you're making a batch of these for friends!  

One of my best friends found this cocktail and pinned it on Pinterest for me to see, the link led me here to Grin and Bake It.  

It sounded delicious and once again, I had to wait for Thanksgiving to be over to make it.  

Oh and our soccer season is officially over and we now can start having family time during the weekends!  

Just in time for the holidays!!

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

This is a very good cocktail.  

I think it would be just as good even better if it was blended!  

Yum.......perhaps I'll go try that right now?  

OK, finish this blog post and then go try it, got it.  

I already knew that Malibu and pineapple went well together, add the creme de cacao and blue curacao.....amazing, plus a sugar rimmed glass.....genius!  

This will be another holiday (or any day really) crowd pleaser!

Here is a photo of the end result:

Here is a photo of the ingredients:

Here is the recipe for a Silent Night:

                   (makes 2)

• 2 oz coconut rum
• 2 oz pineapple juice
• 1 oz blue curacao
• 1 oz white creme de cacao
• 1/4 oz whipping cream
• sugar (super fine or regular)

Rim your martini glass with the sugar listed above.  In a shaker, add ice and the rest of the ingredients above.  Shake and strain your cocktail into your rimmed martini glass and enjoy!!

Thanks Natty for fining tonight's cocktail, and YES I will make you one when you come up next time.

Cheers!!

The Cocktail Lady

Apple Cider Margarita

Happy Friday everyone!  

We've made it, another week in the books.  

This week in our home our oldest completed his last day of his Freshmen year of High School.  We officially have a Sophomore!  

WAIT...........what??  

I just can't believe how quickly these past 15 1/2 years have gone by. 

Also on Saturday our second oldest tests for his brown belt in Tae Kwon Do!  We're all super excited about that!  

He also only has 2 more weeks of school left until he becomes a 5th grader....breathe.

My girls love drinking apple cider.  

We always have an open container in the fridge so I thought, why not use it in a cocktail?  

My husband and I have had margaritas on the brain lately, so I decided to try creating an apple cider flavored margarita.

I learned that with this cocktail I had to add more apple cider then I initially thought because the flavor of it just doesn't come out as well as I had thought.  

As a last minute idea, I threw some cinnamon into the mixture, which greatly improved it.  

This margarita is good.  

Not my favorite flavored margarita, but still good.

Here is a photo of the end result:

Here is a photo of the ingredients:

Here is my recipe for an Apple Cider Margarita:

• 1 ounce tequila
• 1/2 ounce cointreau
• 1/2 ounce orange juice
• 3 1/2 ounces apple cider
• 1 pinch of ground cinnamon

On a separate plate put equal amounts of super fine sugar and ground cinnamon.  Mix it up well and rim your cocktail glass with the mixture.

In a shaker, add ice and all of the ingredients above.  Shake and dump everything into your rimmed cocktail glass.

Here is to a fun filled weekend!  I hope you all enjoy it!

Cheers!

The Cocktail Lady

Lemon Champagne Cocktail

Day 319

Lemon Champagne Cocktail

1 shot out of 5

One more day, one more day until New Years Eve!  

We've been running errands and picking up the Christmas toy explosion that happened here, all day long!  

Time for a cocktail and some dinner....yes we're eating late.  

I am sticking with another recipe from tablespoon.com for tonight's cocktail.

I gave tonight's cocktail 1 shot out of 5.  

WOW, I really didn't like this cocktail and either did my husband.  

Some sips make me react with full on convulsions........and some not as dramatic, but still make me squinch up my eyes and face.  

I don't use gin a whole lot, so I was really hoping that this cocktail would be a winner.  

Oh well, one more champagne cocktail to go before the New Years Eve countdown, let's hope it's a winner!!  

I'm going to post it earlier tomorrow just in case it's a good one so that it can be an option for you all.

Here is a photo of the end result:

Here is a photo of the ingredients:

Here is the recipe for a Lemon Champagne Cocktail:

• 4 oz champagne
• 1 oz gin
• 1/2 oz lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tsp superfine sugar

In a champagne flute add all of your ingredients except the sugar.  Give it a quick stir and then add your sugar.  You want to stir your cocktail until your sugar is gone.  Stir it well, but you will want to stop part of the way through to let you cocktail settle, and then continue stirring.

Here's to a 1 shot rating.......haven't had one of those in a while!

Cheers!!

The Cocktail Lady

Apple Champagne

Day 317

Apple Champagne

3.5 shots out of 5

Three more days until New Years Eve.  

My husband got his costume today and my oldest son and myself need to get ours very soon.  

I am really looking forward to New Years Eve, I almost can't stand it!  

One of my very best friends is driving three hours to be here with us for the party which gets me all happy and excited when I think about it.

I gave tonight's cocktail 3.5 shots out of 5.  

I am not the biggest champagne fan.  

On New Years Eve I usually take my couple of sips and then pick back up my beer or cocktail that I have been drinking and move on with my night.  

This cocktail is one where you don't get a nosefull of bubbles when you drink it.  

The apple juice takes that away and the sugar sweetens it up just a wee bit.  

This is a pretty good cocktail, not an overly flavorful cocktail......but not one that would make me think of New Years due to the fact that it's not really bubbly.  

I found tonight's cocktail at tablespoon.com.

Here is a photo of the end result:

Here is a photo of the ingredients:

Here is the recipe for an Apple Champagne:

• 4 oz champagne
• 3 oz apple juice
• 1/4 tsp superfine sugar

In a champagne flute or bud vase pour in your champagne and apple juice and stir.  Then stir in your sugar until it is dissolved.

Here's to enjoying the last three days and so many hours of 2012.

Cheers!!

The Cocktail Lady

Drunken Ghost

Day 257

Drunken Ghost

3.5 shots out of 5

The Giants did it!  

They won the World Series and I couldn't be happier!  

The parade (no I'm totally not going to be able to go......sad face) will be on Halloween and it will be packed!  

Speaking of Halloween, we only 2 days (3 cocktails including tonight) left until the night of candy!!

I gave tonight's cocktail 3.5 shots out of 5.  

So I found a cocktail online that had milk and half and half in it and decided to amend it because I was really in the mood for ice cream.  

Changed some ingredients and the name and now I have my own creation.  

This cocktail is pretty good.  Not great, I won't lie, but pretty good.  

I like it and will finish it, but wouldn't pay $9 at a bar for one, but I'd definitely let someone else spend $9 at a bar and buy me one!

Here is a photo of the end result:

Here is a photo of the ingredients:

Here is the recipe for a Drunken Ghost:

• 1 1/2 oz vanilla vodka
• 1 1/2 oz Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur
• 1 oz white creme de cacao
• 1 oz cream
• 1 cup vanilla ice cream
• 1 TBS of sugar

In a blender add all of the ingredients above.  Blend until the ice cream is smooth and the sugar is blended in really well.  Drip some cake decorating gel down the top of your glass for effect and enjoy.

Here's to the 2012 World Series Champions, the San Francisco Giants!!  What a great year guys and I can't wait for next season!!

Cheers!!

The Cocktail Lady

Jen's Banana Daiquiri

Day 163

Jen's Banana Daiquiri

4.5 shots out of 5

So I had a few really ripe bananas and decided to skip the banana bread and head straight to the blender and make a Banana Daiquiri.  

I'm glad I did!!  This daiquiri was more then called for tonight!

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

My only complaint.........and it's not really a complaint....is that I wish I had a banana that wasn't as ripe as mine was.  

I can taste the difference and would totally have given this cocktail 5 shots out of 5 if my banana wasn't so ripe.  

Otherwise, I think I concocted a pretty darn good Banana Daiquiri (rewarding myself with another BIG sip).  

As you know I do love the taste of banana in my cocktails and this one is right up my alley.  

I'm definitely going to try this one again with a not so ripe banana real soon!  

If you do try tonight's cocktail, please let me know what you think, good or bad, I just want to hear what you think about it!

Here is a photo of the end result:

Here is a photo of the ingredients:

Here is the recipe for Jen's Banana Daiquiri:

• 1 ripe (but not too ripe) banana
• 1 Tbs. sugar
• 2 oz light rum
• 1/4 oz lime juice
• 1 oz banana liqueur

In a blender add 1 cup of ice and all of the ingredients above.  Blend until all of the ice is gone and sit back and enjoy!!

Here's to "yet another" scrum-dittily-umptous banana cocktail!

Cheers!!

The Cocktail Lady