Category: Drinks

Cherry Basil Limonana

If you’ve never tried limonana, you’re missing out on an amazing drink! The traditional thirst-quencher is made by mixing lemonade with lots of fresh mint and ice – for a refreshing summer treat.

But you know me – I can never just do classic. OK, maybe I can – but I still love putting my own twist on things. That’s how my strawberry limonana happened.

This year, I decided to try using my new herb obsession – basil! I’m putting it in salads, stuffing it into sandwiches, and now, even drinks! Strawberry-basil is a classic combination, but it works amazing with cherries too!

I love the idea of adding fresh fruit to my lemonade, but if you’re not fond of having bits of cherries in your drink – check out my variation for an infused version instead!

Cherry Basil Limonana

1/2 c lemon juice
1/4 c maple syrup
15 basil leaves
1 heaping cup pitted fresh cherries (about 20)
1 c water
2-3 cups ice

Method:

Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until slushy.

VARIATION: If you don’t like having the pieces of cherries in this smoothie/slush hybrid, you can boil the cherries  with maple syrup and water until the cherries are soft. Puree the mixture in the blender with basil leaves and pour through a strainer. Blend the cherry-basil infused syrup with the lemon juice and ice.

 

Other Summer Drinks:

strawberry limonana
watermelon limeade
tropical fruit smoothie

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The Hamantini

Purim has got to be every child’s favorite day of the year (and every dentists worse nightmare!). They get to dress up like princesses, go house hopping with their friends and amass an unconscionable amount of candy. It’s quite literally a kids dream come true.

But for the parents of those kids? Maybe not so much. First you got the weeks leading up to Purim where you have to wrack your brain for that perfect shalach manos gift basket. Not to mention all the kiddies, and their teachers, principals, therapists and bus drivers. It’s no wonder by the time Purim comes around, we’re meant to drink up until we don’t know the different between Haman & Mordechai.

And then you got Purim day where you’re up at an ungodly hour to dress all the kids in their Purim costumes, barely make it for Megillah reading, and run about town taking each of your kids to their list of friends, not to mention your family and friends. By the time you sit down for the Purim meal, you need a stiff drink! Enter: THE HAMANTINI, a riff on the classic Purim cookie – hamantaschen.

The 3-cornered hamantasch is customarily eaten on Purim because it resembles Haman’s hat. For more on that story, read this holiday guide. Hamantaschen are traditionally made with raspberry or apricot jam – both of which I have incorporated into my Hamantini cocktails.

For my Raspberry Hamantini, I went straight for my favorite drink of all time – Raspberry Snapple. A shot of vodka and some raspberry jam simple syrup offer a serious raspberry experience with just the right amount of buzz. Of course, the rim of the glass is dipped in raspberry jam syrup and raspberry hamantasch cookie crumbs – making The Raspberry Hamantini a most befitting name!

The Raspberry Hamantini

2 oz. raspberry Snapple
1 1/2 oz. vodka
2 tbsp raspberry jam simple syrup (recipe follows)
raspberry hamantasch cookie crumbs, for garnish

Method:

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker and shake (ice, optional). Dip the rim of your cocktail glass in raspberry jam simple syrup and raspberry hamantasch cookie crumbs. Pour the drink into your cocktail glass.

Raspberry Jam Simple Syrup

3 tbsp raspberry jam
3 tbsp water

Add ingredients to a small pot and bring to a boil, whisking to break up the jam. Simmer until slightly thickened. Set aside to cool.

If raspberry is not your flavor, give The Apricot Hamantini a try. With apricot nectar, dark rum and apricot jam simple syrup, you’ll be in apricot heaven! Of course the rim of this cocktail glass is also dipped in apricot jam simple syrup and finished in apricot hamantasch cookie crumbs for a festive finish. Apricot euphoria in a glass, if I may.

While I’m no mixologist, I had so much fun creating these festive cocktails! I found some great stuff hiding in my liquor cabinet, and I can’t wait to whip out my shot glasses come Purim. I make quite a fun drunk, I must say. So if you see me around and I’m a wee bit tipsy, you’ll can blame it all on Haman and his three-cornered hat.

So as the day dwindles down, and the kiddies collapse all shmeared in makeup and chocolate, whip out your martini glasses and let the real fun begin!


Pick the flavor that suits your fancy – Raspberry or Apricot (or both!)- and drink up and be merry! Happy Purim!

The Apricot Hamantini

2 oz. unsweetened apricot nectar (I use Ceres)
1 oz. dark rum
1 tbsp apricot jam simple syrup (recipe follows)
apricot hamantasch cookie crumbs, for garnish

Method:

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker and shake (ice, optional). Dip the rim of your cocktail glass in apricot jam simple syrup and apricot hamantasch cookie crumbs. Pour the drink into your cocktail glass.

Apricot Jam Simple Syrup

2 tbsp apricot jam
2 tbsp water

Add ingredients to a small pot and bring to a boil, whisking to break up the jam. Simmer until slightly thickened. Set aside to cool.

Other Cocktail Recipes:

whiskey cider
3 layer chocolate cake martini

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In honor of Purim, the Kosher Connection is having a cocktail linkup party! Read on for more great cocktail recipes and ideas!


Pear Ginger & Oat Smoothie

I’m always so inspired when I see people posting pics of their green detox smoothies and drinks. It makes me want to go out and buy a juicer. Today, my sister in law took me to an amazing smoothie bar on the Hollywood Beach Boardwalk. They make a mixture called Thank God Juice which includes a combination of spinach, kale, collard greens, parsley, celery, fennel and romaine. You can add Thank G-d juice to any other juice flavors, or drink it straight-up. I’m the type that needs to hide the greens in my smoothies so I added apple, beet and carrot juice.

Since I don’t yet have a juicer, blended smoothies are all I can make – but they can be just as healthy and delicious! I love adding oats to my smoothies – they turn a fruity drink into an all out breakfast. Ginger adds great flavor and brightness, not to mention various health benefits.

What are some of your favorite juice or smoothie combinations? Share it with me in the comments below!

Pear Ginger & Oat Smoothie

1 ripe bartlett pear, cored
1 frozen banana
1/3 cup quick cooking oats
1 cup coconut milk
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp freshly grated ginger (or, to taste)

Method:

Add all the ingredients to a blender or food processor and puree until smooth.

Other Smoothie Drinks:

pumpkin pie smoothie
tropical fruit smoothie
persimmon yogurt smoothie
banana, dates, milk & honey smoothie

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Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

With pumpkin season in full swing, my foodie feeds are overflowing with sweet pumpkin recipes. And I can’t get enough. I bookmark one recipe after another, promising myself to try every one. But truth be told, I’ve been too busy developing pumpkin recipes of my own. I’ve got pumpkin ricotta pancakes with cranberry maple syrup in the works. And then there’s a mouthwatering pumpkin pot pie that’s coming up.

All my pumpkin playing left me with some extra canned pumpkin that I refused to throw away, so I decided to whip it up into a delicious pumpkin pie smoothie. It came out even better than expected – with the taste of a milkshake, but the calories of a healthy smoothie. For all the pumpkin lovers out there – it doesn’t get better, quicker, or easier than this!

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

1 medium frozen banana
6 oz vanilla Greek yogurt
1/2 c milk
1/2 c pumpkin purée
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tbsp maple syrup
pecans, for garnish

Method:

Add all ingredients to a blender and puree until smooth. Garnish with pecans.

 

Other BIB pumpkin recipes:

pumpkin whoopie pies 
pumpkin cake
pumpkin crisp
pumpkin banana bread
baked pumpkin oatmeal

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Whiskey Cider

I’m really not much of a drinker. At all. I can appreciate a nice glass of red wine, but cocktails? I haven’t the faintest clue where to start. The first real cocktail I ever drank was a whiskey sour when I was dating my husband. It was sour all right. And strong. I didn’t hate it all that much and the buzz I got was kinda fun, but drinking is not really my thing.

When the Kosher Connection team decided on the theme “Spread the Joy” for the September link-up, the first thing that came to mind was inviting someone into my Sukkah to make a l’chaim (more on that later). Since whiskey sours are about the only drink I know how to make, I thought about how I could turn it into a sweeter version that celebrates the coming of fall. I decided to sub the sour element with a spiced apple cider syrup – reducing the cider with lots of  autumnesque spices. To get the real holiday buzz, I used equal amounts of whiskey and cider syrup, but if you want to go easy, you can serve the cider nice and warm (you don’t have to reduce it) and add just a splash of whiskey. Either way, you’ve got a delicious buzz-worthy cocktail to share!

First things first – what is a sukkah? A sukkah is a temporary hut constructed for use during the week-long Jewish festival of Sukkot. If you’ve passed by a Jewish neighborhood, you may have seen them topped with branches and decorated with Judaic themes.

I grew up in Brooklyn, in a modest apartment on Eastern Parkway, just a stone’s throw away from the famous 770 synagogue, the central hub of the Chabad movement. Back in the day, The Grand Rebbe of Lubavitch would draw hundreds of thousands of visitors from across the globe, all hoping to be granted a meeting or blessing from him. Living so close to where the Rebbe & his congregants gathered, our Sukkah was a regular stop for family, friends, neighbors and even strangers on their way to the synagogue. As more and more people poured in to our small little hut, it seemed to stretch itself out to accomodate more than it’s physical space. L’chaim’s were poured in abundance as beautiful melodies poured fourth from it’s plastic walls.

My mom would pass her Yom Tov delicacies through the kitchen window, homemade meals of chopped liver, stuffed cabbage, sweet and sour tongue, yerushalmi kugel and other traditional foods which she made from scratch. The smells and tastes of the Chag come back to me each year, as the weather begins to herald the coming of fall, and the leaves begin to show their first signs of browning.

Sukkot is truly a joyous time. And not just because the mess gets left outside, and our homes are filled with delicious food and loving family. But because the emotionally taxing Days of Awe are behind us, and we are certain that we’ve all been inscribed for a happy and healthy year. It’s just the time to take out your shot glasses and spread the joy by inviting others into your humble hut to make a l’chaim.

As for me, I’ll be raising my glass to wonderful memories of a time when people from all walks of life, gathered in our family Sukkah to toast the New Year and all the good things it had in store. May the blessings abound, and may we all merit to raise our glasses to happy occasions!

Whiskey Cider

1 oz. whiskey
1 oz. apple cider syrup (recipe follows)
juice of 1/2 orange

Method:

Add ingredients to a cocktail shaker and strain over ice. Pour into a cocktail glass rimmed with colored sugar (how do I do that?)

VARIATION: For a lighter buzz. make a hot apple toddy by simmering the apple cider with some spices until warm and fragrant. Add just a splash of whiskey and serve warm.

Apple Cider Syrup

1 cup apple cider
1 cinnamon stick
a few cloves
a few allspice berries
a strip of orange zest

Method:

Add all ingredients to a pot and simmer until reduced to 1/8th of a cup. Use for whiskey cider or pour over hot apple pie, ice cream, or any fall dessert!

Related Posts:

3 layer chocolate cake martini
mulled wine
sangria
mustache straws
how to decorate cocktail glasses with colored sugar

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