When I was in the sixth grade I begged my parents to let me have a boy-girl party on Halloween.  They finally agreed and I wrote out the invitations and told all my girl friends that it was on.

At school the next day I gave the invitations out to the girls, but ended up being too much of a chicken to even give them out to the boys.  Us girls had lots of fun dressed up as punk rockers dancing to Thriller in my basement.

Nowadays I’m not quite as painfully shy as I was in the sixth grade, and I’ve been known to throw a few boy-girl parties since then.  I especially love a good cocktail party, since you can set out a few snacks, some wine and beer, and plan on one or two special cocktails to mix for those that want them.

A fun drink for the rum drinkers is the Dark and Stormy.  It’s made with dark rum and ginger beer or ginger ale, and is said to be a remedy for a sailor’s seasickness.  But it’s definitely better without a queasy stomach!

Dark and Stormy

from Shortbread

makes 1 drink

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 ounces dark rum
• ginger beer or ginger ale
• orange wedge for garnish (optional)

Directions

1. Fill a highball glass with ice and pour rum on top.
2. Add ginger beer/ale to fill glass.
3. Garnish with orange wedge, if desired.

PRINTER FRIENDLY RECIPE

Happy Friday!  It’s cocktail o’clock, and I want to share with you my recipe for the fun and ever-popular Cosmopolitan.  I have wowed many with this outstanding concoction that tastes not-too-sweet, not-too-strong, but packs a punch nonetheless.

Sadly, I have had more than my share of completely unsatisfactory Cosmos.  This one, however, is purely sublime.

Cosmopolitan

from Shortbread

serves 1

Ingredients

• ice cubes
• 2 ounces ounces lemon vodka
• 1 ounce Cointreau
• 1 1/2 ounce cranberry juice
• 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice

Directions

1. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice.
2. Add the vodka, Cointreau, cranberry juice and lime juice.
3. Cover and shake vigorously to combine and chill.
4. Strain into a chilled martini glass and serve.

Printer Friendly Recipe

Goodbye summer vacation, hello break of dawn.  The end of lazy mornings and fun in the sun has turned into waking before dawn to drag sleepy children from their beds and time spent on math, science and social studies.

The good?  Being able to grocery shop in peace, having time to run all my errands, and the house staying clean for more than five minutes.  The bad?  See above, in addition to the fact that the beginning of every school year makes me more aware of how each year means they are growing a little older and a little farther away.  Bittersweet.

Since I celebrated the beginning of summer vacation with a cocktail, I thought it fitting that I end it that way.  This refreshing tropical cocktail from Ina’s most recent cookbook, Back to Basics, makes it a tiny bit easier to face the end of summer vacation.  A Barefoot Bloggers pick-of-the-month from Veronica of Supermarket Serenade that combines mango, banana, lime juice and dark rum into a fun twist on the daiquiri.  The dark rum especially gives it that Caribbean taste that puts it over the top.  A perfect escape.

Mango Banana Daiquiris

from Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics by Ina Garten

serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 cups chopped ripe mango (1 to 2 mangoes, peeled and seeded)
• 1 ripe banana, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lime juice (about 4 limes)
• 1/4 cup sugar syrup*
• 1 1/4 cups dark rum, such as Mount Gay
• Mango slices, for serving

Place the mango, banana,  lime juice, sugar syrup, and rum in a blender and process until smooth.  Add 2 cups of ice and process again until smooth and thick.  Serve ice-cold in highball glasses with the mango slices.

*To make simple syrup, heat 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water in a small saucepan until the sugar dissolves.  Chill.