We had an end of summer bash recently; we were celebrating new changes, and Joe's birthday too. We invited a bunch of our close friends over for dinner. On the menu was brisket, corn on the cob, pecan pie and biscuits. But I think the best part was the mocktails we mixed up! So I thought I'd share those recipes with you guys today! I found the recipes in the August issue of Bon Appetit, and made just a few adjustments to make them easier to serve for a crowd. (Jenn provided the photos for the post! Thanks Jenn!)
First up! "Salted Lemon and Sage Presse". This one was a favorite!
Ingredients: 3 Lemons, 1/2 Cup Sage Leaves, 1 Cup Simple Syrup, 1 tsp Kosher Salt, Club Soda, Ice.
Directions: Quarter the lemons. Muddle lemons, sage leaves, simple syrup and salt in a pitcher. To serve, fill a glass 3/4 full with ice, pour mixture up to top of ice, top off glass with club soda. Garnish with a sage leaf and lime wedge!
The other one we made is called "The Rehydrator".
Ingredients: 1/2 cup pitted fresh cherries, 1/2 cup preserved cherries*, 2 Tbsp honey, 1.5 cups Aloe Vera Juice, 1 cup unsweetened cranberry juice, 1/2 cup of lime juice.
*We used Amarena Cherries, they're a little spendy, but delicious!
Directions: Muddle the cherries and honey in a pitcher. Add aloe vera, cranberry and lime juice - stir to combine. Place 1 cup of the mixer in a shaker, fill the rest of the way with ice. Cover and shake until outside of the shaker is frosty. Strain into 2 glasses. Garnish with a cherry on top! (Note: we tried making this one easier by pouring over ice and adding club soda, which was ok... but the original way I described above was much better!)
To help everyone keep their drinks straight, we added little washi tape flags to the straws and wrote the guests' names on them with a sharpie. We kept the decorations simple - some string lights, a "party" sign, and a few pink flamingos. We also took Instax pictures of everyone! It was a really fun evening!
Hope you have a chance to try one of these before the warm weather is gone! Looks like we will be having one more nice week here in Seattle!
And if you like these recipes, you might like the other mocktail recipes featured in the Bon Appetit article here.