Note: I was sent a bottle of Valdo Marca Oro Prosecco DOC Brut and a bottle of Valdo Marca Oro Rose Prosecco in order to write this post and recipe for Rosemary Grapefruit Prosecco Cocktail. Opinions are mine alone.
I love a simple cocktail that still somehow feels celebratory. That’s where Prosecco cocktails come in! Prosecco tends to be my sparkling wine of choice. A little bubbly always makes everything feel a bit more special, don’t you think?
Later this month, (June 24-30) is National Prosecco Week so I wanted to celebrate a bit early! National Prosecco Week is the largest nationwide celebration of Prosecco DOC. It’s a nationwide campaign that is supported by the Prosecco DOC Consortium. Every year, National Prosecco Week reaches 1,000+ e-commerce, restaurants, and brick-and-mortar stores across the US!
For this Rosemary Grapefruit Prosecco Cocktail, I’m using Valdo Marca Oro Prosecco DOC Brut. Made with 100% Glera grapes and aged for three months using the Charmat method, this bubbly is characterized by a crisp palate and fine effervescence. This prosecco is structured yet bright, making it a beautiful pairing with the woody rosemary and tart grapefruit.
Ingredients (serves 1, multiply as needed):
Rosemary Syrup (makes enough for about 5 cocktails):
I’m so excited to finally share this Halloween-inspired spooky recipe with you! Last year, I attended a Halloween party at a friend’s house, and they had quite the spread of Halloween-themed treats, as well as an awesome Bloody Prosecco Cocktail, which I’ve been thinking about ever since!
The recipe is super easy and only includes two ingredients! My friend’s version was made with pomegranate juice, so I took a bit of liberty with their original version and adjusted it to use a pomegranate liqueur instead.
What makes these so “bloody” and perfect for your next Halloween party is that you add the pomegranate liqueur to a syringe (paid link) for a creepy Halloween spin. If you don’t want to do so, feel free to just pour it into the prosecco; it will still taste delicious!
You can also substitute pomegranate juice or grenadine for the pomegranate liqueur if you’d prefer a slightly less boozy version. To make a kid-friendly version, you can also substitute in ginger ale or something similar for the Prosecco.
Ingredients (makes 5 servings, multiply as needed):
Note: I was sent samples and giveaway items in order to write this post. Opinions are my own.
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and is having a great start to the new year! I wanted to share a fun party idea to keep the merriment going throughout these chilly months: a Bravazzi Hard Italian Soda Bar!
Bravazzi (pronounced “brah-VAH-tsee”) is a hard Italian soda brand with yummy flavors like Clementine, Blood Orange, Lemon, and Grapefruit. Inspired by gourmet Italian sodas, Bravazzi excites the senses with its naturally sweet, fizzy essence and fruity aroma. The sodas are gluten free, contain 4.2% ABV, and are made with simple ingredients like cane sugar and real fruit juice.
The name Bravazzi is derived from the Italian word for good, Brava, and Fizzi, which is the perfect way to describe these hard sodas! The flavors are super tasty and are delicious on their own, but are also great for mixing to make cocktails.
Bravazzi sent me some goodies just before New Year’s Eve, so I decided to make a simple Cocktail Bar. All you need to make a few different cocktails is the Bravazzi Variety Pack, some sparkling wine, Aperol, Gin, Elderflower Liqueur, and Bourbon, and you have a Bravazzi Hard Italian Soda Bar!
Plus, I have some items to give away! Details will be at the end of this post.
As I said, these really are fantastic on their own, but if you have extra champagne (or prosecco) lying around, add one part bubbly and one part the Bravazzi of your choice for a fun and easy champagne cocktail!
For the Clementina, which has the fragrant essence of freshly-peeled citrus with a kiss of subtle sweetness, I suggest the Clementina Aperol Spritz – one part Aperol and three parts Bravazzi Clementina poured over ice, for a taste of summer to keep you warm in these colder months.
More of a lemon fan? The Limonata Fizz is calling your name. Bravazzi’s Limonata has the crisp, clean bite of real lemon with a touch of natural sweetness. Add one part Gin to four parts Bravazzi Limonata in a glass filled with ice for a wonderfully refreshing cocktail.
If you love the flavor of grapefruit, Bravazzi’s invigorating blend of tart and tangy grapefruit is refreshingly bittersweet and going to become a favorite choice. Whip up a Bravazzi Cordial by adding one part elderflower liqueur to three parts Bravazzi Grapefruit over ice.
My favorite is the Blood Orange, a burst of distinctly bold yet delightfully sweet citrus flavor. Enjoy the flavors of an Old Fashioned by mixing one part bourbon with four parts Bravazzi Blood Orange in a glass over ice.
There’s a little bit of something for everyone, don’t you think? Bravazzi has more suggestions on different cocktail combinations on the Bravazzi website, so be sure to check them out. You can also find out where Bravazzi is sold near you!
On to the giveaway! Bravazzi provided me with some fun gear to help one lucky winner set up their own Bravazzi Hard Italian Soda Bar!
Enter to win a Bravazzi metal bucket, two Bravazzi tumblers and a Bravazzi T-shirt below. Good luck!
I have never been one to shy away from sharing all of the awesomeness that the Philadelphia area has to offer. I am pretty darn proud of my city, especially when it comes to our rocking food and beverage scene. So it should come as no surprise that my gin of choice is always Bluecoat Gin.
Why yes, Bluecoat IS made in Philadelphia! What sets Bluecoat’s flavor apart from others is their use of organic juniper berries, which give off a more spicy, earthy tone versus pine-tree flavors found in regular juniper berries. Bluecoat is finished off with a premium blend of organic American citrus peels and spices which adds a nice citrusy finish to the spirit.
Bluecoat must have known my affinity for them, because I was asked to develop a Valentine’s Day themed cocktail using this yummy gin. Because Valentine’s Day is all about the love, I threw in a bunch of my favorite cocktail ingredients to make the “perfect” cocktail for me! (Here’s hoping you agree)
This recipe for a Blue Rose Cocktail starts with a strawberry mint simple syrup, adds in some sparking wine, and finishes off with some pomegranate juice.
My fiance (and considerably more creative half) dubbed this a “Blue Rose Cocktail” — Bluecoat Gin + rose coloring from the simple syrup and pomegranate juice.
Happy New Year!! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season! My boyfriend and I had a New Years Eve party this year, complete with a champagne bar, dessert bar, and a DIY photo booth!
Minted sent me the banner and signs as well as paper cups, plates, and napkins to really snazz up our party. Aren’t those signs so cute? The theme shown in the photos is “Sparkle Everywhere”
Their party decor is really great; Minted has decor for any party you can imagine! You can build your own package or choose from three suites: unique party, perfect party, or dream party. Minted has you covered from the napkins to the table confetti to even adorable paper straws and cake plates. You can also order invitations that match your theme!
The Champagne Bar was a huge hit. I included suggested champagne cocktails but creativity was encouraged. My favorite combination was St. Germaine filled with sparkling wine and topped with some cranberry juice.
We had a blast in the photo booth and people had fun with all of the props!
The dessert bar turned out great too! I will be sharing recipes that I made for it over the coming days but I wanted to start with a particularly appropriate New Years Eve cupcake, although these are so good you will want to make them all year round 🙂
This recipe for Champagne Cupcakes was sent to me by Golden Blossom Honey. Golden Blossom’s honey is composed of honey from three flowers — extra-white clover, sage buckwheat, and orange blossom so the flavor profile is unique and really tasty!
These cupcakes highlight the taste of the honey with the addition of orange and dry champagne, making for a really moist and flavorful cupcake.
Philadelphia is a food lovers dream. The city is filled with amazing restaurants around every corner. I love living here because no matter where I go to eat, I am inspired by what the restaurants are able to deliver. I do my best to emulate my favorite dishes and drinks throughout the city, with a bit of a twist.
I recently attended a new menu launch event at Serrano. An Old City staple, Serrano has been open for over 25 years. I’ve only eaten here once before, before attending a show at Tin Angel upstairs, so I was excited to revisit the restaurant. Serrano is a cozy restaurant that’s warm atmosphere feels like miles away from the busy Old City streets.
from Serrano’s website
Chef Gina Rodriguez has compiled a truly delicious spring seasonal menu. The restaurant was also debuting two new cocktails, The 6th Thyme and Jim Dandy in the Everglades. The 6th Thyme is made with in house made mead (made with locally sourced honey), Aperol, thyme, and white cranberry juice. The drink was garnished with a sprig of thyme, a perfect spring drink. Jim Dandy in the Everglades, made with orange vodka, peach bitters, and Proscecco was refreshing and right up my alley.
The 6th Time (Left) and Jim Dandy in the Everglades (Right)
I decided to do my own spin on the Jim Dandy in the Everglades to go along with my review of Chef Rodriguez’s menu. My recipe uses a homemade cranberry-orange vodka but keeps the rest of the drink true to form. (The addition of the cranberry is why my drink references the Cape instead of the Everglades).
I still have some prosecco sitting around after New Years Eve that I don’t want to go to waste. It’s already open so there’s really no way to save it. I usually use leftover wine in my risotto, so why not use sparkling wine instead? After all the food I ate in the past week, I thought I should probably incorporate some vegetables into my risotto as well. I adapted a Weight Watchers recipe to incorporate the sparkling wine.
Ingredients:
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 zucchini, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 cup uncooked arborio rice
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup champagne, prosecco, or other sparkling wine, divided
New Years Eve is a great time to add a little bit of glitz and glamor to your life. I, naturally, feel the need to do that to my drink. This is actually a take on a local restaurant’s delicious champagne option. I hope I remember it correctly, but when I first had this drink at Farmicia in Old City Philadelphia I fell in love. It’s such a girly drink so I had to save it for a special occasion.
Ingredients:
Rosewater
Blueberries
Prosecco
Add about 1/2 teaspoon rosewater to the bottom of a fluted glass. I apparently do not own any champagne glasses (who knew?) so I actually made mine in the martini glass with a bit more rosewater.
Add blueberries or any berry of your choice to the glass. If you’re using a traditional glass, three should be plenty.
Open your sparkling wine and pour into the glass, filling to the top.
Enjoy 🙂
I absolutely love the smell of rosewater. The taste can only be described as what you’d expect a rose to taste like (sorry). The berries add a nice little touch too; I love saving them for last!
I’d suggest adding rosewater to taste. I am very fond of it, so I might have a heavy hand with it. Start with 1/4 teaspoon and work your way up.
Coming back to the Philadelphia heat after nearly two weeks in Ireland was a bit of a shock to my system. I was in desperate need for a way to cool down, and what better way than through a cool dessert? Cooking Light‘s Sparkling Strawberry Pops seemed to be the perfect choice. (Please excuse the quality of these photos. I managed to lose the battery charger for my new camera, and am waiting for the replacement to be delivered so these were taken on a pretty crummy alternative.)
Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
3 cups sliced fresh strawberries (1 pound) or a 1 lb mixture of berries
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2/3 cups chilled Sparkling Wine (I used Prosecco)
I had to change the original recipe (linked above) a bit because I realized I didn’t have any corn syrup and was just too darn lazy to go out and buy some. This recipe is also halved from the original. You will need to have a Popsicle mold to make these. If you don’t have one, this might also work just as a “water ice” type treat; try just freezing the mixture in a bowl (if anyone tries this, please let me know how it turns out).
To make, combine the sugar and water in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 3 minutes or until it begins to boil. Remove from the microwave and stir until the sugar dissolves. It will have almost a corn syrup-like texture. Let cool.
Chop your berries.
Combine the berries, lemon juice, and half of the sugar-water mixture in a food processor and process until smooth.
Using a fine mesh strainer, strain the mixture over a bowl.
Use a spoon to press down on the strainer to help push all the juices through.
This will remove all seeds and any parts of the strawberries that didn’t fully blend.
Discard the solids left behind.
Add the rest of the sugar syrup and the sparkling wine to the strawberry mixture. Mix to combine.
Divide among 4 ice-pop molds.
Cover with tin foil. Using a knife, carefully make a small slit in the tin foil on top of each Popsicle.
Insert a Popsicle stick into each slit (this helps to keep the sticks centered).
Freeze for 4 hours or until frozen.
To remove from the molds, run under hot water for a few seconds to loosen the pops.
These pops were really refreshing. I was never a fan of Popsicles growing up because of that fake fruit taste that they all seemed to have, so the fresh strawberries really added a nice natural taste that I appreciated. This recipe can be adapted to use any berries you prefer, or even a mixture of a few types of berries. I hope these help beat the heat!
