~ Four...Seasons ~ Recipe

How to make it

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• ~ SPRING ~.
• One Bottle Sauvignon Blanc
• 1 and 1/2 Cups St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur...or...Cordial
• 1/4 Cup Cointreau
• 6 Strawberries...sliced one fourth inch thick
• 6 Raspberries
• 2 Peaches...sliced one fourth thick
• 1 Orange...thinly sliced crosswise
• 1 Pound Red and Green Grapes
• Ice
• Combine all of the ingredients in a pitcher and let stand at room temperature for 3 hours, or cover and refrigerate overnight...Serve in wineglasses over ice.
• ~ SUMMER ~
• Pick what looks best to you...peaches? Fine...use a lush white wine,and a peach friendly bourbon...Watermelon looking tasty? Fine...use a white wine and freshly blended watermelon juice with citrus syrup
• One Bottle Dry Rosé Wine
• 4 Ounces Brandy
• 2 Ounces Maraschino Liqueur
• 3 Ounces Guava Nectar
• Ice
• 8 Ounces Ginger Ale...chilled
• 8 Orange Wheels
• 8 Maraschino Cherries
• In a pitcher, combine the wine, brandy, liqueur and guava nectar...Chill about two hours... Stir well and pour into ice filled highball glasses...Top each drink with one ounce of ginger ale and garnish with an orange wheel and a cherry
• You say your a 'Beer Drinker' ?
• Fine!
• Just skip the wine and make your sangria with a brewsky
• 2 Bartlett Pears...peeled and chopped
• 1 Cup...plus 2 Tablespoons Fresh Lemon Juice
• Four...12 ounce Bottles Lager...chilled
• 1 Cup Triple Sec
• Ice
• 2 Bosc Pears...sliced for garnish
• In a food processor, combine the Bartlett pears with two tablespoons of the lemon juice and process to a puree...Slowly pour the beer into a pitcher...Stir in the remaining one cup of lemon juice, the triple sec and the pear puree...Fill pint glasses halfway with ice...Add the sangria and garnish with the Bosc pear slices.
• ~ FALL ~
• Apple season makes one think of hard cider...so...use both apple juice and applejack
• 1 Cup Red...Green...Yellow Apples...quartered...unpeeled...and...thinly sliced
• 1 Navel Orange...quartered and thinly sliced crosswise
• 1 Cup Apple Juice...chilled
• 2 Tablespoons Fresh Lemon Juice
• 1/4 Cup Apple Brandy
• One Bottle...22 Ounce Hard Apple Cider...chilled
• Ice
• In a pitcher...combine the apples with the orange, apple juice, lemon juice and brandy...then just before serving, add the hard cider...Serve in tall glasses over ice
• You say you are not fond of Apples?
• Fine!
• You want an overnight macerating?
• Fine!
• This strong and not overly sweet sangria is nicely spiced with cinnamon...anise and cloves...and...it has just enough crushed red pepper to give it a bit of a kick :o)
• 1 Cup Water...filtered
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper
• 1 Large Cinnamon Stick
• 4 Allspice Berries
• 3 Whole Cloves
• 1 Star Anise Pod
• 2 cups Cranberries
• 2 Granny Smith Apples...diced
• One bottle Spanish Rosé
• 1/3 Cup Ruby Port
• 1/3 Cup Cointreau
• 1/3 Cup Cranberry Juice
• Ice Cubes
• In a saucepan...mix the water, sugar, crushed red pepper, cinnamon, allspice, cloves and star anise...Simmer the syrup over low heat for about fifteen minutes...Strain into a bowl and add the cranberries and apples...Cover and refrigerate overnight...Next day,strain,and reserve the spiced syrup...in a large pitcher,mix the strain fruit, reserving the spiced syrup. In a large pitcher, mix the rosé with the port, Cointreau, cranberry juice, fruit and three fourth cup of the spiced syrup...Refrigerate until chilled,about one hour...Serve over ice.
• ~ WINTER ~
• Feel the chill!
• Not So Fine!
• You have sat...talked...and...talked...until early morning light and there are opened bottles of wine sitting about...then you just infuse them with a very nice sugar syrup to warm you from the inside out :o)
• You shall fine that this will make more then enough and you may wish to sweeten hot tea as well as sparkling water.
• SUGAR SYRUP...
• 2 Cups Water...filtered
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 4 Star Anise Pods
• 1/2 teaspoon Black Peppercorns
• 1/2 teaspoon Whole Cloves
• 1...Ten Inch Cinnamon Stick
• 1 Inch Slice Fresh Ginger
• SANGRIA...
• One Bottle Dry Red Wine...such as Grenache,or Syrah
• 1/2 Cup Fresh Orange Juice
• 1/2 Cup Light Rum
• 1/4 Cup Brandy
• 1/4 Cup Cointreau
• 1 and 1/2 Cups Club Soda
• 2 Navel Oranges...peeled,halved,seeded and cut into large dice
• 1 Lime...peeled,halved,seeded and cut int large dice
• 1 Granny Smith Apple...halved,cored,and cut into large dice
• 1 Bartlett Pear...halved,cored,and cut into large dice
• Ice
• To make the sweet spice syrup...combine the water,sugar,star anise,peppercorns,cloves,cinnamon stick broken in half,and the ginger...bring to a simmer and stir until the sugar dissolves...then boil to reduce down to one third and slightly syrupy...let it cool...then strain into a small crystal decanter.
• Pour the red wine into a lead crystal pitcher...stir in the orange juice,rum,brandy,Cointreau,club soda and one fourth cup of the spice syrup...add more syrup if you prefer a sweeter sangria...Add the diced oranges,lime,apple,pear...cover,and chill overnight...Serve in tall glasses over ice...Garnish with a tablespoon of the diced oranges,lime,apple and pear.
• If you wish...and...if he is contemplating another all night marathon of dialogue...which,rest assured,there will be!
• This sinsational sangria will stay quite nicely chilled.