I recently attended my company’s annual Holiday party, which thankfully included cocktails.  Yes, unfortunately I am forced to work for the man at a large international company to pay the bills and secure decent health insurance.  But it gets me out of the house and most of my co-workers are pretty cool, so I can deal with it.  However, that doesn’t mean that we’d rather be toiling away at the office as opposed to indulging in a little lunchtime drinking on a Tuesday, especially during the holiday season.
So the holiday party (God forbid we call it a “Christmas” party) was held at a rather nice restaurant called Ralph’s of South Philly.  As we all settled into our seats, I ordered a blood orange Cosmopolitan, which according to our waiter, is their signature cocktail.  And as sometimes is the case, the ingredients of the drink were listed on the menu.  Restaurants as a rule don’t (or won’t) tell you the amount of each ingredient that goes into their concoctions. But if you like to experiment with cocktail mixing, this is a challenge and not a hindrance to making an equally tasty version of the restaurant’s drink at home. Seeing as I was one of the designated drivers, I enjoyed only one of these cocktails at Ralph’s and waited for the encore until after I got home, where I created my own rendition.
Here’s how to prepare the Thirsty Gal’s version-
3 oz Svedka Clementine vodka
1/2 oz triple sec
2 oz cranberry juice
2 oz orange juice
1 oz Rose’s lime juice
Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice and shake until mixed.  Strain into a martini glass and garnish with a slice of orange.
Check out that splendid blood orange color! Okay, so that color is created from mixing the orange and cranberry juices instead of actual blood orange juice, which I doubt really has the same hue as blood. But it’s striking, don’t you think? And the tart/sweet combination of flavors will delight your taste buds.
Try one at home and let me know how it turned out. And if there’s a drink at a restaurant you enjoy but haven’t tried to recreate at home, be adventurous and give it a try!