The Weekend Cocktail: It’s Sweet Martini Time!

BY GWEN KENNEALLY

The kids are back at school and busy with their social lives so we have a few moments to be, well, grown-ups. I mostly sip on a glass of wine, but for an alternative, here are a couple simple, fun and elegant cocktails.

If you don’t want the alcohol, shake some cranberry juice and a splash of lemon juice and pour into a sugar rimmed martini glass. To create such a glass, take a lemon wedge and rub the drinking surface of the glass so it is barely moist. Dip the edge of the glass into the superfine sugar.

I love the subtle citrus and spice flavors of Cointreau, but Triple Sec or Grand Marnier work well. No matter what your pleasure, enjoy good drinks with good friends.

Lemon Drop Martini

Lemon Drop Martini

3 ounces vodka

1 ounce Cointreau

2-teaspoons superfine sugar

2 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice

Ice cubes

Superfine sugar for dipping

Twisted peel of lemon

Mix the vodka, orange liqueur, sugar, and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker half-filled with ice; shake well. Pour strained liquor into sugar-rimmed martini glass and garnish with a twisted peel of lemon.

Cosmopolitan Martini

Cosmopolitan Martini

2 ounces vodka

1 ounce Cointreau

1 ounce Rose’s® lime juice

1 ounce cranberry juice

Shake vodka, triple sec, lime and cranberry juice vigorously in a shaker with ice. Strain into a martini glass, garnish with a lime wedge on the rim, and serve.

Gwen Kenneally is the owner of Back to the Kitchen, Full Service Catering and Party Planning. Check out her website and blog www.Backtothekitchen.net and www.gwenkenneally.blogspot.com. She wrote for the Sun Community Newspapers.