if you have been watching my instagram story, or you know me in real life, you know that my current obsession is my passion fruit vine. it was a gift from my mother-in-law nancy, and it has been growing in our garden for about two years now. it started off slow, but in the last year has grown to become a full on covering over our side yard. and it is COVERED in hundreds of purple passion fruits. since we have had it, it has produced some fruit here and there, but nothing like this season. this season it took off. the fruits have been sitting on the vine for months now, just teasing me as they slowly start to change colors from green to purple before they finally fall to the ground.

well, it is finally happening. the fruit are falling and they are falling in mass. i've woken up to as many as eight at a time littering the garden floor. no joke, i feel like a kid at christmas. but now that i have them all and then are starting to ripen left and right, it's time to put them to use. and before i did anything fancy, i just wanted to enjoy some passion fruit in all it's glory. and for me, that means with vodka. i'm keeping it simple this week. passion fruit and my favorite cocktail. a classic vodka soda. no muss or fuss here. just delicious, refreshing, tropical fruit and crisp vodka soda. 

passion fruit vodka soda
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 2 minutes
active time: 1 minute
total time: 3 minutes
ingredients: 1.5 oz vodka. 5 oz club soda. 2 passion fruit. 1 tsp sugar. 1 cup crushed ice. edible flower for garnish.

start by slicing both your passion fruits in half. reserve 1 half for garnish scoop out the pulp and seeds of the other 1.5 passion fruits. combine the fruit and sugar and mix well.

then pour your vodka over ice in your serving glass. 

add in the sweetened passion fruit pulp and seeds. 

top off with the club soda. 

garnish with the remaining half a passion fruit, edible flower if you are using and serve. 

enjoy!

xo, a

passion fruit vodka soda
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 2 minutes
active time: 1 minute
total time: 3 minutes
ingredients: 1.5 oz vodka. 5 oz club soda. 2 passion fruit. 1 tsp sugar. 1 cup crushed ice. edible flower for garnish.
tart by slicing both your passion fruits in half. reserve 1 half for garnish scoop out the pulp and seeds of the other 1.5 passion fruits. combine the fruit and sugar and mix well. then pour your vodka over ice in your serving glass. add in the sweetened passion fruit pulp and seeds. top off with the club soda. garnish with the remaining half a passion fruit, edible flower if you are using and serve. 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.