I spent this past weekend at the lake in New Hampshire. In addition to getting some much needed rest, my girlfriend and I got creative with our drinks and cooking. The festivities started on Friday which happened to be Cinco de Mayo. We decided to have taco night with some friends and siblings and made margaritas to accompany the meal. The berry margs followed the classic patron recipe (link) which my mom has been using for many years and as they say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. The only change was swapping out the simple syrup for a blackberry syrup. We took the leftover squeezed limes, threw them in a bag with some white sugar for garnishes throughout the weekend. They made their first appearance on Saturday in a blackberry gin & tonic which accompanied our beautiful cheese board.
Now, my favorite drink of the weekend. The goal here was to make a cocktail with bourbon and Aperol since we had what I'm calling the largest bottle of Elijah Craig Small Batch I've ever seen for sale. As per usual, I went to the internet for some inspiration and stumbled upon this link. With a few small tweaks, we ended up with a very refreshing cocktail that paired well with the beautiful weather at the lake.
Bright Bourbon Aperol Cocktail
2 oz Bourbon
1 oz Aperol
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
1 blood orange wedge
Club Soda
1) Muddle simple syrup and orange wedge in a shaker
2) Add Bourbon, Aperol, and Ice
3) Shake to chill
4) Pour over ice in a rocks glass and top of with club soda
5) Garnish with Blood orange wedge and a cherry
To end the weekend, we made an amazing black truffle risotto which needs little introduction. As I was feeling a little under the weather, there was no cocktail to pair here although my girlfriend did have a glass of wine. Without going into detail of the making of this dish, I'd just like to share the end result...enjoy!
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