It’s about time the weather got warmer and it looks and feels more like Spring!

In celebration of a beautiful weekend, start with a Happy Bitch Wine Spring Sensation.  Recipe is compliments of River Grill on the Newburgh Waterfront.

Fill wine glass with ice. Pour in 1oz of citrus vodka (can use melon, strawberry or berry vodka too) Fill glass with Happy Bitch Rose  and top with a little seltzer and add a wedge of lemon and lime.

Enjoy the weekend!

My mom recently had a birthday and we had her over for dinner.  It was one of those HHH days – Hazy, Hot, Humid.  I wanted to make something for her that was refreshing, special and would cool us down.

While in the grocery store I picked up a can of  wild berry juice concentrate.  I was really looking for a raspberry lemonade type concentrate but the store didn’t carry it.  I figure I could get that little bit of citrus I was looking for from a vodka.  I stopped in next door to Fox & Hound Wine & Spirits (who also carries Happy Bitch Wines Rose) and told Tom what I was looking for.  Just like wine, there are so many choices in vodka I wasn’t sure what brand to choose for the mixology experiment.  Tom guided me to Pucker Citrus Flavored Vodka and that was the vodka choice for the evening to satisfy the citrus flavor for my drink.

Not sure how this concoction was going to turn out I waited for mom to arrive and pulled out the blender.  In it I threw two handfuls of ice cubes, the 12 oz can of wild berry juice concentrate, 1/2 pint of red raspberries, 2 oz of Pucker Citrus Vodka and a bottle of Happy Bitch Wines Rose.  (almost an entire bottle, had to stop when the blender got to the line). I hit blend and we were off.

The end result was fantastic!  Nice, fruity and refreshing.  In fact, mom wanted the leftovers in a sippy cup to go so she can finish it at home.  I had to explain to her the open container law and what would happen if she got stopped.  No worries, mom only had one drink and we served her lobster for dinner with her favorite, beets baked in a balsamic reduction and blue cheese, coleslaw, sugar snap peas, garlic bread and of course chocolate mousse cake for dessert.

A few tips on this drink

• When purchasing a bottle of vodka that is packaged like Pucker, don’t leave it on the counter when your husband comes home.  He might think it’s a bottle of shampoo.
• Don’t fill the blender up to the top, leave enough room for expansion.
• When you know mom likes these drinks, make them at her house so she can enjoy more than one glass and keep the blender pitcher in her fridge for a late night drink.