An Oscar-worthy drink

Naturally, a fabulous night like the Oscars calls for an equally fabulous drink to go alond with it. One worthy of both the requisite Oscar drinking games (drink everytime someone accidentally swears, or references a previous swear, or flubs, or every time that James Franco looks like he's high...), but also the elegance of the night.

Of course, I turned to Martha for such an idea. And she gave me Raspberry-Herb Cocktail. I decided on this particular drink because it was both fizzy - prosecco - and fruit - full of raspberry. Plus, I felt that the herb finish would add a sort of panache the night deserved.

Plus, it was super easy to make the drinks on the fly, or in this case, at my friend's Academy Awards party. I mushed up some raspberries, which by the way were ridiculously expensive at five dollars for a tiny box. I then added some mint to this mixture in small pieces, mushing these up as well. I dumped this mix in a pitcher and added in a bottle of Prosecco (the cheap kind of course) and a cup or so of vodka for good measure.

I thought these were delicious! And the best part was that they weren't too sweet, so you could easily go back for more. In my opinion, this made a perfect Oscar night even better. Nothing like good friends, good food, and a great drink.

Recipe (courtesy of Martha Stewart at marthastewart.com):

 

Serves 8

• 1 1/2 pints fresh raspberries (about 4 cups)
• 1 to 2 tablespoons sugar
• 6 large sprigs (about 2 ounces) fresh mint, basil, or both, plus more for garnish
• 1/2 cup vodka
• Juice of 1 lemon (about 3 tablespoons)
• 1 (750 mL) Prosecco or Lambrusco  

Directions

 

Reserve 16 berries. Mash the remaining berries, the sugar, and herbs in a large glass bowl. Stir in vodka, lemon juice, and Prosecco. Pour mixture through a sieve into a pitcher, pressing through; discard solids. Serve over ice. Squeeze 2 berries into each drink. Garnish with herb sprigs.

 

Read more at Marthastewart.com: Raspberry-Herb Cocktail - Martha Stewart Recipes

The terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day

When I was young (I feel like many of my posts start this way, but that's life) one of my favorite books was entitled, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. The title pretty much describes the premise, but it was essentially about this poor kid who suffered through the worst day ever. It begins as follows: "I went to sleep with gum in my mouth and now there's gum in my hair and when I got out of bed this morning I tripped on the skateboard and by mistake I dropped my sweater in the sink while the water was running and I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day."

Yesterday was just one of those days. Although I didn't wake up with gum in my hair, essentially everything that could go wrong, did. Thankfully, as an adult who is finally 21+, I now have a not-so-terrible way of dealing with days like this. And by that I mean I have alcohol.

My mom and I are huge fans of a good lemon drop now and again and thankfully Martha had a super easy, fast recipe that was essentially just lemon juice, sugar and, of course, vodka. Even though most of the sugar stayed undissolved at the bottom and I had to drink out of a wine glass not a martini glass, the lemon drop definitely did the trick!

I hope I never have a day like yesterday again, but it's nice to know that when I do I'll always have a good lemon drop to pick me up at the end of the day. And that, my friends, is a good thing.