Chocolate is a traditional Valentine’s Day gift. And while there isn’t really such a thing as bad chocolate, Valentine’s Day is an occasion to show you put more thought into your gift than running to Target and grabbing the last sampler box! This year make the one you love a mouth-watering cocktail to share. Enjoy, and Happy Valentines Day!

Chocolate Soufle-tini

1 ½ parts Vodka
1 ½ parts Chocolate Liqueur
Splash of Frangelico (hazelnut Liquor)

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass
Garnish with a powdered chocolate rim (optional).

With Christmas just a few weeks away It’s time for parties and gatherings. This classic champagne cocktail is wonderful for Holiday entertaining. Light and refreshing, the Poinsettia Cocktail ads an extra bit of holiday cheer to any get together. Enjoy!

Poinsettia Cocktail

Champagne
1/2 oz. Cointreau
3 oz. Cranberry Juice

Add chilled Cointreau and Cranberry to chilled champagne glass. Stir and top with Champagne just before serving.

Now that Thanksgiving is over, it’s time to think Christmas! The Holiday season is one for gathering. Punches are a quick, easy way to let your guests serve themselves. I hope you enjoy this one. Salute!

Christmas Punch

1 (750ml) bottle light rum
1 oz. triple sec
2 cups orange juice
2/3 cup lemon juice
1 4 oz. jar maraschino cherries, with juice
1/2 cup sugar
1 orange, sliced into rounds
1 lemon, sliced into rounds
1 8oz. ) can pineapple chunks
1 liter carbonated water

1 In a punch bowl combine sugar, orange and lemon juice, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add cherries, triple sec, light rum, orange slices, lemon slices, and pineapple chunks. Set for 1-2 hours to allow flavors to blend.
2 Add carbonated water and ice just before serving.

This fall cranberry cocktail is perfect for Thanksgiving. It’s light enough that it won’t compete with a plate full of turkey, mashed potatoes and of course, pumpkin pie. The unique mixture of cranberry, honey, bourbon, green tea and ginger ale is full enough to satisfy any taste bud. Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy!

Grateful Cranberry Cocktail

1 1/2 oz. bourbon
1 oz. cranberry-honey syrup (recipe below)
Green tea flavored ginger ale
Frozen cranberries
Crushed ice

Fill collins glass three-quarters full with crushed ice and frozen cranberries.  Pour in bourbon and syrup, then top off with ginger ale.

Cranberry-honey syrup

Boil equal parts water, honey and cranberries. Strain out solids, then refrigerate the liquid syrup.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I mean, who doesn’t love the excuse to pig out on all sorts of yummy treats?  I know I do! Looking around for Thanksgiving dessert inspiration, I found some mouth-watering pumpkin desserts that incorporate a wee bit of booze. I hope you enjoy this one, it looked so good!

Pumpkin Mousse Parfaits

Ingredients:
1/4 cup dark rum
1 packet (2 teaspoons) unflavored gelatin powder
1 (15-ounce can) pumpkin (not pie filling)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
2 extra-large egg yolks
2 teaspoons grated orange zest
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups cold heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Sweetened whipped cream
8 to 10 chopped ginger cookies
Crystallized ginger, for decoration, optional

Directions:
Place the rum in a heat-proof bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over it. Set aside for 10 minutes for the gelatin to soften.

In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, granulated sugar, brown sugar, egg yolks, orange zest, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Set the bowl of gelatin over a pan of simmering water and cook until the gelatin is clear. Immediately whisk the hot gelatin mixture into the pumpkin mixture. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream and vanilla until soft peaks form. Fold the whipped cream into the pumpkin mixture.

To assemble, spoon some of the pumpkin mixture into parfait glasses, add a layer of whipped cream, then some chopped cookies. Repeat, ending with a third layer of pumpkin. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight. To serve, decorate with whipped cream and slivered crystallized ginger.

In honor of opening deer hunting here in Minnesota, I thought I’d put the most popular drink for the guys at the good ol’ hunting shack. I starting thinking that Ive never looked up the definition of beer and got curios. So, here it is: Beer is the world’s oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic beverage and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from cereal grains-most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), and rice are widely used. Most beer is flavoured with hops, which add bitterness and act as a natural preservative, though other flavourings such as herbs or fruit may occasionally be included. So… Good luck hunters, be safe, and when you get back to the shack after the big kill, have one for us!

Halloween is one of the biggest Holidays for Parties, and that means cocktails! Here’s a Halloween cocktail you’ll want to drink any time of year! Blood oranges give the drink its red color, but this is no novelty cocktail. So if you want to stay away from the dyes and syrupy red stuff, this is a great choice for Halloween.

Bloody Blood Orange Margarita

1 1/2 oz tequila
1 oz Grand Marnier (or triple sec)
1 1/2 oz blood orange juice
1 slice of blood orange to garnish

In a shaker, combine the tequila, Grand Marnier, and blood orange juice. Fill the shaker halfway up with ice. Shake thoroughly and strain into a glass. Garnish with a slice of orange! Mmmmmm!

Halloween is right around the corner!  Halloween is not just for kid’s anymore, adult’s like to dress up too! Halloween is also one of the biggest Holidays for Parties, and that means cocktails! Hope you enjoy this one!

Jagermonster

Fill a mixing glass with ice.

1 oz. Jägermeister
1 oz. Grenadine
Fill with Orange Juice

Combine all everything in the mixing glass. Mix well, and serve in a beer mug!

Keeping with the spirit of Halloween, I thought this drink sounded really good, yet kinda sassy! With a zombie-green pallor, the Spider’s Kiss is a sweet Halloween cocktail with a spooky appearance. Enloy!

Spider’s Kiss

1 oz. Midori melon liqueur
1 oz. vodka
Squeeze of fresh Lemon
Grenadine (optional)
Chocolate syrup

Draw a chocolate web into a cocktail glass. Place in freezer and chill. Shake Midori, vodka and lemon juice and strain into glass. For a blood effect, drizzle grenadine down the side of the glass. Garnish with a chocolate-dipped orange slice.