there may be a hurricane brewing over texas, but here in socal, we are headed into a heat wave. costa mesa is heading into our hottest time of the year and with no air conditioning and cake orders that require the OVEN, i'm looking for anything cooling these days. 

my friyay cocktail is no exception. cucumber makes this floral gin + st. germain combination very soothing for a sweltering summer day. bonus points if you serve it in a chilled glass. 

lemon + cucumber gin fizzle
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 2 minutes
active time: 3 minutes
total time: 5 minutes
ingredients: 2 oz gin. 1 oz fresh lemon juice. 10 thin slices of cucumber. .5 oz st. germain. 3-5 oz club soda. edible flowers for garnish (i used borage). shaker. muddler. strainer. 2 cups ice. 

in the bottom of your shaker, combine 8 of the cucumber slices, lemon juice and st. germain. 

muddle together until the cucumber is completely crushed. about 2 minutes. 

pour in half the ice and the gin and shake well till combined. about 30 seconds. 

fill your serving glass with the rest of the ice and the remaining cucumber slices. strain your cocktail over the ice. 

top off the drink with club soda to taste. 

garnish with edible flowers. 

enjoy! 

xo, a

lemon + cucumber gin fizzle
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 2 minutes
active time: 3 minutes
total time: 5 minutes
ingredients: 2 oz gin. 1 oz fresh lemon juice. 10 thin slices of cucumber. .5 oz st. germain. 3-5 oz club soda. edible flowers for garnish (i used borage). shaker. muddler. strainer. 2 cups ice.
in the bottom of your shaker, combine 8 of the cucumber slices, lemon juice and st. germain.
muddle together until the cucumber is completely crushed. about 2 minutes.
pour in half the ice and the gin and shake well till combined. about 30 seconds.
fill your serving glass with the rest of the ice and the remaining cucumber slices. strain your cocktail over the ice.
top off the drink with club soda to taste.
garnish with edible flowers.
enjoy!

i arrived home from teaching and taking yoga at eleven this morning ready to get busy in the kitchen. it's friyay, so duh, i had to make and enjoy a cocktail with wes. and then it was time toprep, prep, prep for the baby shower we are catering for my good friend lish tomorrow morning. 

but as soon as i started fiddling around at the bar, wes told me HE wanted to make our cocktail. 

you got it buddy! i'll happily enjoy the fruits of your labor and spend a couple minutes relaxing on the couch before the madness. so he got to creating. 

after we shot the cocktail, we headed out to our garden to enjoy it and some last moments of calm. as i edited the photos, i couldn't help but laugh. that sweet man has spent so much time watching me style photos, there was the perfect amount of props and garnish. too bad he didn't use most of them. so don't mind the muddler, long spoon or that rogue pineapple wheel in the corner of the ingredients shot/the background of many of these shots. they are pretty, but not required. 

while his styling might need work, his bartender skills are well honed. try this orange blossom for a fresh, easy drinking, summer cocktail. 

orange blossoms
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 2 minutes
active time 1 minute
total time: 3 minutes
ingredients: 2 oz vodka. 2 oz fresh squeezed orange juice. 1 oz st. germain. .5 oz hibiscus syrup (you can purchase it HERE). lime wheel for garnish. orange peel for garnish. 1 cup ice. boston shaker. ice for serving. 

fill your boston shaker with 1 cup of ice. 

pour in your vodka, orange juice, st. germain and hibiscus syrup. shake well. 

pour the liquid over ice. 

garnish with lime wheel and orange peel and enjoy. 

xo, a

orange blossoms serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 2 minutes
active time 1 minute
total time: 3 minutes
ingredients: 2 oz vodka. 2 oz fresh squeezed orange juice. 1 oz st. germain. .5 oz hibiscus syrup (you can purchase it HERE). lime wheel for garnish. orange peel for garnish. 1 cup ice. boston shaker. ice for serving.
fill your boston shaker with 1 cup of ice. pour in your vodka, orange juice, st. germain and hibiscus syrup. shake well. pour the liquid over ice. garnish with lime wheel and orange peel and enjoy.