My husband and I are having dinner out with some good friends tonight. I’m so excited about it – not only because it’s a night out, with no kids, but because I don’t get to see these friends outside of work very often. We all have kids, and we all work a lot, so it’s hard to coordinate our schedules after 5pm. Our dinner will be at an Italian restaurant here in town that I’ve heard very good things about. We’re eating later than usual, mostly because that major university in town is having spring graduation weekend.
Which means we didn’t plan our choice of evenings very well.
This town isn’t very big – just under 131,000 people – so there aren’t many celebration-worthy, non-chain restaurants. For tonight’s outing with friends, I called each of those restaurants I could think of – there are six, maybe? – and there were no reservations to be had. None. Those darn college students and their parents took up all the good seats.
That’s okay. I remember being one of those college students on graduation day.
Well, with that flashback, I think it’s time for a cocktail. Who’s with me?
This is a drink called The Jasmine. If you love grapefruit, this is the drink for you. If it weren’t for that alcoholic kick, you’d think you were drinking a full glass of grapefruit juice. A great summertime sipping drink.
This is a wonderful cocktail for sipping. In fact, it tastes best when consumed on your front porch while sitting in that lovely white rocking chair you have.
1 1/2 ounce gin
1 ounce Cointreau
3/4 ounce Campari
1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
lemon peel for garnish
In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine gin, Cointreau, Campari, and lemon juice. Shake well and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with lemon peel and serve.
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Just a quick note: For the next two weeks, my posts here may be scarce. I’m headed into an intensive work schedule starting on Sunday until closer to the third week of May. I hope to come up for breaths of fresh air periodically, and I plan to sneak in some cooking – and photographing and writing! – when I can.
