The Thirsty Diva ™

This is perfect for a Halloween get together, game day or anytime  46 oz, jar vegetable or tomato juice (regular or low sodium) 1 - 2 T.  lime juice Tabasco sauce (to taste) 1/2 tsp. each: Worcestershire sauce,  horseradish (prepared) 1/4 tsp. salt, pepper 1 clove diced garlic (optional) 4 - 6 oz. tequila  Ice 1 jar cocktail olives Juice 1 lime. Peel, rinse, chop garlic.  Wet shooter glasses with a clean wet napkin. Sprinkle pepper, salt on a clean plate and place rim side down of shooter glasses on plate to coat rims with pepper and salt. In the bottom of a clean pitcher, place ice and add remaining ingredients.  Stir to mix and place in refrigerator until ready to serve. Pour in shooter glasses. Thread cocktail olives on a toothpick and garnish glasses with an olive. Serves 8.

This is perfect for fall or anytime. 1 - 2 quarts cider  1 tsp. each: whole cloves, chopped fresh ginger Pinch: nutmeg  1 orange, zested and sliced 1 - 2 cinnamon stick, broken in half Rinse and zest orange.  Cut orange into slices, set aside. Break cinnamon stick in half. Rinse and chop ginger. Heat saucepan over medium heat.  Lower heat to medium low, pour cider into pan.  Add spices, ginger, orange zest, some of the orange slices into the cider and let simmer for 5 - 10 min. Remove pan from heat. With a slotted spoon, remove spices, zest and orange slices. Ladle cider into mugs and garnish with remaining orange slices. Serves 4 - 8.

This is perfect for tailgating, girls day, spa day or anytime. I’ve used vodka but this is also good with gin. 4 - 6 c. prepared pink lemonade 4 - 6 oz. vodka  Ice Red food coloring sugar In the bottom of a clean pitcher, place ice. Add vodka and lemonade, stir to mix and place in refrigerator to chill. While lemonade is chilling, wet the rims of 4 clean glasses with a clean wet napkin. Place enough sugar to coat rims of glasses on a clean plate.  Add 1 drop of food coloring to sugar and stir to mix in color. Place rim sides down of glasses on sugar to coat glasses and place glasses in freezer to chill for a few minutes. To serve: Remove lemonade from refrigerator and glasses from freezer and pour lemonade into glasses. Serves 4.

1 - 1  1/2 c. fresh lemon juice 4 large lemons (adjust amount needed). 1/2 - 1 c. prepared simple syrup (adjusted amount needed) 4  c. cold water Cut lemons in half.  Put halved lemon in microwave for 10 sec. You can roll lemons on the kitchen counter with your hands for a few seconds too. Squeeze lemon juice into a measuring cup.    I’ve used an electric citrus juicer, but you can squeeze juice through sieve with your hands or a manual citrus squeezer.  Pour lemon juice through a sieve  into a pitcher. Add 1 c. of the simple syrup and water.   Mix well. You can can add more simple syrup if desired.  Serves 6 - 8.

This is perfect for a Labor Day get together, company, tailgating or anytime. 1 bottle dry red wine 4 c. club soda  Ice 1/8 c. sugar 1/2 c. each:   strawberries, pitted sweet cherries, blackberries, blueberries 2 tangerines Rinse strawberries, remove stems and cut in half, place into a clean pitcher. Peel, separate tangerines and add to pitcher. Rinse, pit, cut cherries in half and add to pitcher. Rinse blackberries, blueberries under cold water and place into pitcher. Add sugar to pitcher, muddle fruit and sugar together with the back of a wooden spoon. Add ice, wine, club soda to pitcher and place in refrigerator to chill until you’re ready to serve. Serves 4.

Who doesn’t love coffee? This is perfect for summer or anytime. I’ve used regular coffee, because that’s all I had on hand. You can use coarse ground coffee for this too. You can serve this cold or hot. 1 - 3 oz. ground coffee 4 - 6 c. cold water In the bottom of a clean jar, pour coffee.  Run cold water for a few seconds and put water into jar.  Screw lid on jar and place in refrigerator to steep for 12 - 15 hrs.  When you’re ready to serve, remove jar from fridge, unscrew lid from jar, strain coffee through a tea strainer into coffee cups or into a glass over ice for iced coffee.  Serves 2 - 4.

This is perfect for summer or anytime. 4 - 6 oz. rum 1 T. each: sugar, lime juice 8 mint leaves 4 c. approx ( 1 liter bottle) club soda Ice Place 4 clean glasses in freezer to chill for a few minutes. Rinse and pat dry mint leaves, set aside. For each drink: Remove glasses from freezer. In the bottom of glass, place some of the sugar, lime juice, 1 mint leaf. With the back of clean spoon, muddle mint leaves, lime, sugar together. Add ice, rum and top off drink with club soda. Garnish glasses with remaining mint leaves. Serves 4.