my favorite season is finally upon us. i'm not even going to pretend i'm not 100% biased towards summer. summer is my season. i love light weight, flowing dresses, wearing my bikini every day and summer produce. 

as a kid, i was a bit freaked out by fruit that had some fuzz, but as an adult i have developed a true appreciate for fuzzy stone fruits. that juicy, summer sweetness is undeniable. and right now, my local produce stores are bursting at the seems with tasty peaches. 

i love the sweetness of peaches, but i do not love super sweet cocktails. the heat from jalapenos brings the perfect balance to the sweetness of the peaches and the boozy kick of the vodka. bring it all together in a chilled glass and you will have a cooling cocktail that also packs a bit of a punch but goes down way to easy. drinker be warned. 

spicy peach martini
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 5 minutes
active time: 2 minutes
total time: 7 minutes
ingredients: 2.5 ounces vodka. 1.5 oz peach juice (i used hand juiced white peaches, but you can buy peach juice at the grocery store). 1 oz lime juice. .5 oz simple syrup. 5 thin slices of jalapeno (seeds removed). 1 peach wedge for garnish. 1 lime twist for garnish. shaker full of ice. chilled martini glass. 

start by filling your shaker with the vodka, peach juice, lime juice, simple syrup and 2 of the 5 jalapeno slices. shake well to combine. 

place the remaining jalapeno slices in the bottom of the martini glass. 

pour your liquid into the martini glass. 

garnish with peach wedge and lime twist and enjoy. 

xo, a

spicy peach martini
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 5 minutes
active time: 2 minutes
total time: 7 minutes
ingredients: 2.5 ounces vodka. 1.5 oz peach juice (i used hand juiced white peaches, but you can buy peach juice at the grocery store). 1 oz lime juice. .5 oz simple syrup. 5 thin slices of jalapeno (seeds removed). 1 peach wedge for garnish. 1 lime twist for garnish. shaker full of ice. chilled martini glass.
tart by filling your shaker with the vodka, peach juice, lime juice, simple syrup and 2 of the 5 jalapeno slices. shake well to combine. place the remaining jalapeno slices in the bottom of the martini glass. pour your liquid into the martini glass. garnish with peach wedge and lime twist and enjoy. 

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.