yeah yeah. i know. it's saturday. well i'm late for good reason. 

yesterday, i catered an elopement at one of my favorite places. the ocean institute in dana point, where wes and i got married. every time i'm there it feels very surreal. it feels like a place i keep being pulled back to. i first went there as a nine year old for a field trip. over the years, i visited it for random reasons. a charity event when i was twelve, a party i attended as my dad's date when i was a teen, getting married there. wes and i worked a wedding for another catering company there last year and even rented the couple the marquee letters from our wedding. 

and yesterday, i went back. to serve my own food. it was a total trip. it doesn't hurt that the locations is stunningly beautiful. it perfectly embodies the expression "breath taking." but what was supposed to be an easy job was of course way more difficult than expected. instead of serving food up by the kitchen, i had to trek four styled food platter & a beverage dispenser 500 yards down the beach. over rocks. so this friyay cocktail is now your saturday libation. trust me, it will be just as good. 

naranja margarita
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 3 minutes
active time: 2 minutes
total time: 5 minutes ingredients: 2 oz blanco tequila. 1 oz lime juice. 1 oz orange juice. 1 oz triple sec (or other orange liquor). zest of 1 lime. 2 tsp kosher salt. 1 cup ice. shaker. tumbler glass. lime wedge (or dried blood orange in my case) for garnish. 

*note that you could serve this margarita three ways. you could serve it straight up with no ice since you are shaking it over ice. you could serve it on the rocks (over ice). or you could take all the ingredients and blend them for a blended margarita. 

start by combining the lime zest and salt on a shallow dish or on plate. rub the rim of your glass with a lime and then dip the limed rim into the zest and salt mixture. 

coating the rim of the glass. set aside.

fill your shaker with ice. 

pour in the tequila, juices and triple sec (if you are blending your marg, just place all ingredients in a blender and blend till smooth). 

shake well.

strain into your prepared glass straight up or over a large ice cube or additional cup of ice. 

garnish with lime wedge and enjoy. 

xo, a

naranja margarita
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 3 minutes
active time: 2 minutes
total time: 5 minutes ingredients: 2 oz blanco tequila. 1 oz lime juice. 1 oz orange juice. 1 oz triple sec (or other orange liquor). zest of 1 lime. 2 tsp kosher salt. 1 cup ice. shaker. tumbler glass. lime wedge (or dried blood orange in my case) for garnish. *note that you could serve this margarita three ways. you could serve it straight up with no ice since you are shaking it over ice. you could serve it on the rocks (over ice). or you could take all the ingredients and blend them for a blended margarita. start by combining the lime zest and salt on a shallow dish or on plate. rub the rim of your glass with a lime and then dip the limed rim into the zest and salt mixture. coating the rim of the glass. fill your shaker with ice. pour in the tequila, juices and triple sec (if you are blending your marg, just place all ingredients in a blender and blend till smooth). shake well. strain into your prepared glass straight up or over a large ice cube or additional cup of ice. garnish with lime wedge and enjoy. 

it's friyay, but admittedly i've been in a pretty funky mood the last few days. i'm guessing my foul mood is due to a lack of yoga or post vacation blues, but regardless of the reason, i've been feeling pretty funky.

we catered our first ever wedding on tuesday, and come wednesday morning i was feeling pretty deflated. so i gave myself a couple days off to sulk around, but it's time to shed these funky feeling and move on to bigger and better things. 

and there is no better way to change a mood than the perfect cocktail. to me, the perfect cocktail is refreshing and vibrant, with just a hint of sweet and tang. this little sparkler nailed it. 

grape & sage sparkler
serves: 2 cocktails
prep time: 5 minutes (unless you have the grape juice on hand, then it takes about a minute)
active time: 5 minutes
total time: 10 minutes (unless you already have the grape juice on hand, then about 5 minutes) ingredients: 1.5 oz vodka. .25 cup grape juice (i don't like my grape juice with all the add ons so i made it myself. i popped 1 cup black grapes into the food processor till pulverized. then i strained the juice and flesh in a strainer pressing out all the juice. it took me less than 5 minutes to do). 1 oz lemon juice. 1 tsp fresh sage, roughly chopped. 1 tsp sugar. .25 cup club soda. lemon wedge for garnish. extra grapes for garnish. muddler. shaker. 3 cups of ice (two for serving, one for the shaker). 2 serving glasses of choice (tumbler or a collins glass would be great). 

in the base of your shaker, combine the lemon juice, sage and sugar.

muddle until the sage is well broken up and the oils have released into the lemon juice and sugar. thirty seconds to a minute. 

then add your grape juice and vodka to the shaker. 

add in one cup of ice and shake well till foamy. about 20-30 seconds. 

fill each glass with half of the remaining ice. pour half the liquid in the shaker into each glass. 

top each half the club soda. 

garnish with grapes and a lemon wedge. enjoy!

xo, a

grape & sage sparkler
serves: 2 cocktails
prep time: 5 minutes (unless you have the grape juice on hand, then it takes about a minute)
active time: 5 minutes
total time: 10 minutes (unless you already have the grape juice on hand, then about 5 minutes) ingredients: 1.5 oz vodka. .25 cup grape juice (i don't like my grape juice with all the add ons so i made it myself. i popped 1 cup black grapes into the food processor till pulverized. then i strained the juice and flesh in a strainer pressing out all the juice. it took me less than 5 minutes to do). 1 oz lemon juice. 1 tsp fresh sage, roughly chopped. 1 tsp sugar. .25 cup club soda. lemon wedge for garnish. extra grapes for garnish. muddler. shaker. 3 cups of ice (two for serving, one for the shaker). 2 serving glasses of choice (tumbler or a collins glass would be great).
in the base of your shaker, combine the lemon juice, sage and sugar.
muddle until the sage is well broken up and the oils have released into the lemon juice and sugar. thirty seconds to a minute.
then add your grape juice and vodka to the shaker.
add in one cup of ice and shake well till foamy. about 20-30 seconds.
fill each glass with half of the remaining ice. pour half the liquid in the shaker into each glass.
top each half the club soda. garnish with grapes and a lemon wedge. enjoy!