Basil Watermelon Cooler

With the excess of basil growing in my backyard and the delicious watermelon in my fridge, this seemed like a lovely marriage of flavors. This drink makes me wish I was sitting on a porch in the old South on a rocking chair enjoying the hot night air. Maybe the sound of the neighbor's harmonica is wafting through the air. At sunset. While I'm wearing a loose cotton dress to keep the heat away. Just to paint a little picture. No big deal.

Basil Watermelon Cooler

Ingredients:
2 parts Grey Goose vodka
3 large basil leaves (and a little extra if you want to be fancy and garnish the thing)
1 slice peeled ginger
1-2 chunks of watermelon
1/2 part simple syrup (just boil one part water to one part sugar, let it cool, and you win)
1/2 part fresh lime juice
splish splash of ginger ale

To Assemble:
In a cocktail shaker, muddle the basil leaves with the ginger, 1 watermelon chunk, and the simple syrup. Add ice, vodka, and lime juice. Shake well and strain into a glass filled with ice. Top with a bit o' ginger ale. Garnish as you see fit (just stick the whole watermelon right in there).

I do declare that is the finest drink I done had in a fortnight.

Blushing Duchess

Happy Sunday! Here's a little cup of joy for your day. The name alone makes me want to drink it, but it does look awfully refreshing. Plus, grapefruit is in season, so you can use all the fresh ones you get from the neighbor's yard.

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Ingredients:
2 parts Grey Goose Vodka
3 wedges peeled and seeded grapefruit
Turbinado sugar for rimming the glass (can substitute a coarse-type sugar, no problem)
1/2 tsp sugar
1 part Triple Sec

To Assemble:
Rub the grapefruit around the outside of the glass and then roll around in the Turbinado sugar. Place the grapefruit and the sugar at the bottom of the shaker, and just muddle the heck out of it. Add the Vodka, Triple Sec, and ice. Shake like your life depended on it. Pour the drink--with the ice and grapefruit--into a lovely little glass with sugar around the rim.

Kisses.