Posts in campari
friyay happy hour: spring splash

the countdown is on till mother's day. and long gone are the days where the only ladies i am celebrating are my mother and grandmothers. 

these days, there are beautiful mommies all around me. many of my coworkers, best friends and family are now mommies. and i don't know a better way to celebrate all the lovely moms in my life than with a very pretty, very delicious cocktail. (especially for those new mommies & mommies of teenagers). 

the great thing about this cocktail is that while it is bright and tangy, you can easily adjust the sweetness of the drink to your liking. not a huge lavender fan? not a problem! you can easily tailor this drink to your taste by using whatever fresh herbs you love in your garden. the goal isn't necessarily a lavender cocktail, but one that reflects your favorite herb form your spring garden! all you need to do is sub the lavender for the same amount of your favorite herb. thyme, marjoram or basil would be great options. 

spring splash
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 3 minutes
active time: 2 minutes
total time: 5 minutes
*author's note* if you already have simple syrup on hand you can soak some of your simple syrup with the fresh herbs for thirty minutes to an hour. if you need to make simple syrup, add in an additional half hour to make the syrup and allow it to cool to room temp before use. you can store your simple syrup on hand in the fridge for a month. 

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ingredients: 2 oz vodka. 1 oz fresh pink lemon juice. 1 oz lavender simple syrup (use this simple syrup recipe just add .25 cup fresh lavender leaves or any of your other favorite garden herbs, strain and use or store). .5 oz campari. club soda to taste. lavender sprig for garnish. shaker. 2 cups of ice divided. serving glass of choice. 

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start by combining half your ice with the vodka, lemon juice and simple syrup in your shaker. if you know you like a sweater cocktail, i would recommend using 2 oz of the herb simple syrup. 

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shake well till bubbly. about 10-15 seconds. fill your serving glass with the remaining ice. 

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pour the contents of your shaker over ice. 

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top with club soda till just sparkling. 

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top with campari. 

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garnish with lavender sprig and enjoy!

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xo, a

spring splash
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 3 minutes
active time: 2 minutes
total time: 5 minutes
*author's note* if you already have simple syrup on hand you can soak some of your simple syrup with the fresh herbs for thirty minutes to an hour. if you need to make simple syrup, add in an additional half hour to make the syrup and allow it to cool to room temp before use. you can store your simple syrup on hand in the fridge for a month.
ingredients: 2 oz vodka. 1 oz fresh pink lemon juice. 1 oz lavender simple syrup (use this simple syrup recipe just add .25 cup fresh lavender leaves or any of your other favorite garden herbs, strain and use or store). .5 oz campari. club soda to taste. lavender sprig for garnish. shaker. 2 cups of ice divided. serving glass of choice.
tart by combining half your ice with the vodka, lemon juice and simple syrup in your shaker. if you know you like a sweater cocktail, i would recommend using 2 oz of the herb simple syrup. shake well till bubbly. about 10-15 seconds. fill your serving glass with the remaining ice. pour the contents of your shaker over ice. top with club soda till just sparkling. top with campari. garnish with lavender sprig and enjoy!

friyay happy hour: tangerine campari soda

woah. what a week. 

i arrived home from a pretty action packed and emotionally draining trip to chicago on monday afternoon. i went straight home to blog, teach a swim lesson and prepare for my wednesday morning photo shoot. tuesday morning i woke up before the sun to teach my 6 am class, then hit the ground running. shopped all FOUR stores necessary for wednesday's shoot and thursday's dinner deliveries. 

let's take a pause from my rant to really hammer it home that i can't wait till i make enough money to have my supplies delivered. the super market is not my friend. neither is its buddy, the out of control parking lot. 

so back to tuesday. came home from many stores, cooked well into early wednesday morning and went to bed with the alarm set with plenty of time to get everything finished up, packed up and out the door for my 8 am call time. 

queue my eyes slowly opening to bright light and the sheer panic that came over me as i realized it was way to bright for 6:17 am. it was of course 7:17 am. one hour after my alarm was SUPPOSED to go off. 

so after all that running and working and so, so much sugar, i was a half hour late to the shoot. and the whole way down i was having a total freak out. we are in the very infancy of our business and i couldn't believe i was going to be late. so unprofessional. and of course in my rush to get out the door not everything was finished and accounted for so i knew i would be scrambling. basically, i was starting to feel like i really wasn't good enough to make it in this hard industry. 

but then i showed up. and i was the second person there. the shoot came together beautifully. as usual, i had over prepared and even with some things missing and some things undone it ended up being perfection. everyone was so cool and it was amazing to spend the day with smart, talented, women business owners who deal with the same struggles i am going through every day.
the rest of wednesday, thursday and this morning were pretty much a blur and here we are. drink time. 

we all deserve this bad boy. 

satsuma tangerine's are only in season for a month or two around the holidays and they are citrus perfection. usually no seeds, so easy to peal and always tender and juicy. and now, they are turning your friday around. 

tangerine campari soda
serves: 1 cocktail
total time: 2 minutes
ingredients: 2 oz vodka. 1.5 oz campari. 1 oz satsuma tangerine (or other citrus) juice. 2-4 oz club soda. tangerine section for garnish. cup of ice. 

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in a tumbler with the ice, combine the tangerine juice and club soda to taste. 

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pour in the campari.

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garnish with tangerine segment and enjoy. 

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xo, a

tangerine campari soda
serves: 1 cocktail
total time: 2 minutes
ingredients: 2 oz vodka. 1.5 oz campari. 1 oz satsuma tangerine (or other citrus) juice. 2-4 oz club soda. tangerine section for garnish. cup of ice.
in a tumbler with the ice, combine the tangerine juice and club soda to taste.
pour in the campari.
garnish with tangerine segment and enjoy.