DIY Nonalcoholic Cocktails for the Holidays!

Watch my appearance on Good Morning New Orleans to pick up some nonalcoholic cocktail tips for your holiday entertaining!!

Drink and Drive SAFELY this summer!

If you are throwing a party or attending someone else's, why not bring along some alcohol-removed champagne and wine to add a festive sparkle without any risk of DWI?

During my coast-to-coast promotion of non-alcoholic cocktails with Fre by Sutter Home, I appeared on morning shows in Seattle and Rochester singing the praises of non-alcoholic cocktails. In Rochester, Holly and Evan (the dynamic duo on 13 WHAM TV) tied the story to drunk driving around holidays, and I did two segments showing their viewers how to make "safer" drinks for the summer. Watch the segments on their website to see how to make the cocktails and hear more about being a "Thoughtful Entertainer," (the new-and-improved "Hostess With the Mostess!")

And, if you're tempted to whip up intoxicatingly fun non-alcoholic libations for your summer celebrations, here are those recipes:

The Liquid Muse Signature Cocktails
Designed for Fre by Sutter Home, Summer 2008
(all rights reserved by The Liquid Muse, LLC)

Tokyo Dreams (Martini Glass)

1 chopped lychee
1/4 ounce lime juice
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1 1/2 ounces mandarin orange juice
3 ounces Fre Alcohol-Removed Premium White
Garnish: 1 tablespoon powdered sugar, 1 whole lychee on a cocktail skewer

Rim a martini glass with powdered sugar. Muddle lychee, lime juice, sugar and ginger in the bottom of a mixing glass or cocktail shaker. Fill with ice, add wine. Shake vigorously and strain into a chilled martini glass. Place the cocktail skewer across the rim of the glass.

Tropical Tease (White Wine Glass)

1 heaping tablespoon diced fresh mango
3 torn mint leaves
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 ounce lime juice
3 ounces Fre Alcohol-Removed White Zinfandel
Garnish: 1 lime wheel

Muddle mango, mint, sugar and lime juice in the bottom of a mixing glass or cocktail shaker. Fill with ice, add wine. Shake vigorously and strain into a chilled champagne flute. Place the lime wheel on the rim of the glass.

Sparkling Sangria Cooler (Collins Glass)

1 tablespoon Marinated Summer Fruit
4 ounces Fre Alcohol-Removed Brut
Garnish: Sprig of fresh mint and colorful straw

Prepare Marinated Summer Fruit at least 2 hours before a party (serves 10): Dice 8 strawberries, 2 large (peeled) peaches and 3(peeled) kiwis into a large bowl. Sprinkle fruit with 2 tablespoons raw brown sugar, and pour in1 cup of peach juice, Refrigerate.

When ready to serve, spoon 1 tablespoon of Marinated Summer Fruit mixture into each glass, along with at least 1 tablespoon of the liquid from the bowl. Fill glass with ice and top with Fre Brut. Garnish each glass with a sprig of fresh mint and a colorful straw.

Yankee Doodle Candy Cocktail (Champagne Flute)

1 package pop rocks
1 ounce mango juice
1 ounce pineapple juice
1/2 ounce lime juice
1/2 ounce grenadine
2 ounces Fre Alcohol-Removed Spumante or Brut

Rub the rim of a champagne flute with a lime, then dip the rim onto a small plate sprinkled with pop rocks, set aside. Pour juices into an ice-filled cocktail shaker, shake vigorously, then gently strain into the champagne flute. Slowly add the Fre sparkling wine, then the grenadine. Let the fireworks begin!

Presenting Preggatinis(tm)!

Non-Alcoholic Cocktails for Stylish Moms-To-Be

You know when you have a secret and you're just dying to tell everyone but you have to hold back a little but its just killing you not to tell?

That's how I have felt about my line of Preggatinis (tm). I've been sitting on these butt-kicking "mocktails" for months now, as I worked on a book proposal for my Preggatini concept.

Things move quickly in the cocktail fast lane and I have since re-structured my cocktail book to focus on alcoholic drinks (duh, right? I am The Liquid Muse, and the world of spirits is where I draw so much inspiration...) But, there will be some Preggatinis(tm) in my book.

Preggatinis(tm) are perfect baby shower cocktails (aka: Preggatini Parties(tm)). They are also great for anyone laying off the sauce (with or without an inhabited uterus...) I started a new blog devoted to Preggatinis(tm), which I encourage you to check out often, if you or someone close to you, is expecting!

Here is one, to get you started:

Pamper Me Preggatini(tm)
1/2 oz. Freshly squeezed mandarin orange juice
2 oz. Guava nectar
Orange-flavored mineral water
Grenadine
2 tsp. fine sugar
sprig mint

Pour a small amount of grenadine onto a small plate. Pour sugar onto another small plate. Take a champagne flute and dip the rim into the grenadine first, and then the sugar. Let it dry for a few seconds. Pour mandarin juice and guava nectar into the flute. Slowly add the orange-flavored mineral water until glass is full. Garnish with a sprig of mint.

(*alcoholic version for non-pregnant friends: top with sparkling wine instead of orange flavored mineral water)