I had a birthday recently and my husband, Todd, gave me a martini shaker because I've been known to enjoy a Lemon Drop every now and then. The problem now is that I make 100% more Lemon Drops than I ever have! I even took all my Lemon Drop making supplies and ingredients to a friend's Christmas party this year, and of course, I immediately became the most popular person at the there!
I thought since New Year's is coming up, I would concoct three different fun martinis to ring in the holiday with our friends. We have a Lemon Drop, an Appletini (what a fun name!), and a Grapefruit Martini. (My very dear friend Debbie Trammell of Newport Beach introduced me to this one!)
Here's what you'll need for each drink:
Lemon Drop:
2 & 1/2 oz. of vodka
1 & 1/2 oz. of simple syrup (You can buy simple syrup or make it just by combining equal parts of white sugar and water, warming it up in a pan and stirring. Also make sure you let the mixture cool before using it to make a martini.)
3/4 oz. of fresh lemon Juice
Appletini:
2 & 1/4 oz. of vodka
1 & 1/2 oz. of apple liqueur
2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice
3/4 oz. of simple syrup (See Lemon Drop ingredients re: simple syrup)
Grapefruit Martini:
1 & 1/2 oz. of grapefruit infused vodka
1 & 1/2 oz. of elderberry liqueur (If you don't have this liqueur, you can add 3/4 oz. more of grapefruit vodka and 3/4 oz. of simple syrup - See Lemon Drop ingredients re: simple syrup)
3 oz.of grapefruit juice
(I have to jump off track a bit and ask: Did you grow up putting sugar on your grapefruit? We did. How weird! It actually tasted really good, and even weirder still we put salt on our cantaloupe! Those southerners . . .)
Directions for all Three Drinks
*You can use a jigger to measure the ounces, but the problem is that some shots or jiggers are 1 oz. and some are 1 & 1/2 oz. (Maybe the people deciding these things were too drunk to make a clear decision.)
**For all three of these drinks, pour all the ingredients in a martini shaker with ice and shake and keep shaking. Then pour the martini into a chilled glass and serve immediately.
*** For the Lemon Drop (or either of the other two) take a lemon wedge and run it along the rim of the glass, then turn it upside down onto a small plate covered with plain sugar and rotate the glass a bit. Voila! You have a beautiful sugared rim!
**** With any of these drinks you can play around with the measurements until you get the taste you want.
Looking Back
New Year's is the perfect time not only for fun drinks but special appetizers as well. Last June Pickett's Pearls featured Stuffed Dates Wrapped in Bacon! (To find the recipe all you have to do is go to the top of this page and choose "Appetizers", then when you see this picture choose it and you will be on the right post.) Sooo very, very delectable!
Glorious Gadgets
Pickett's Pearls is going to have a new thing pop up every now and then called "Glorious Gadgets". There are lots of things that are really cool and make life easier. Not all will be "gadgets" per say, I just like the alliteration! The first one I want to feature is a lemon squeezer. With this gadget you get a ton more juice and you don't have to deal with the slippery seeds! I use it for ice tea and of course, Lemon Drops. I got mine at my regular grocery store for $8. Glorious!
Fun Saying
I want to "pick your brain". Is anyone else entirely grossed out by this saying? Funny thing is that people use it all the time!