Gordon and Julie Libations, Beverages, and Spirits

Gordon and Julie Libations, Beverages, and Spirits

 

 

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Cheers!

Welcome to Gordon and Julie’s Libations, Beverages, and Spirits of our own creation.

Although we have cocktails featured all over our website in our many pages,

this is a fun page of delicious cocktails, teas, and concoctions that we do expect to add to for the foreseeable future that will work for most any occasion.

We are Holiday Seasonal Drinkers

Red wine is our choice for most days but every now and then we do get out the cocktail shaker and some tasty alcoholic ingredients and go where temptation takes us.

Hope you enjoy and maybe try one on for size.

My most favorite Irish toast:

(Seeing as how I am Scotch-Irish)

Irish Cream_small my claddah ring_small

“Here’s to your enemies, enemies.”

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Here are just a few of our cocktails.

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We hope you enjoy!  Stay tuned for more.

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Yours,

Gordon and Julie

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Barefoot Prosecco at the Beach

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Sometimes just a bottle of bubbly at the beach is all you need.

The Prosecco is very fizzy which reminds me of mermaid foam on the beach.

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Legend has it that mermaids turn to foam when they die.  🙁

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Lychee Martini’s on the Beach at Sunset

 

 

Shaken, not Stirred

Recipe:

-1 part vodka

-1 part white rum

-2 parts lychee liqueur

-ice cubes

-whole canned lychees on picks for a garnish

You just want to combine all ingredients into a cocktail shaker. 

Shake until chilled then pour into a glass and add your garnish.

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Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice

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Gordon does create the nicest martini’s.  🙂

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This one tasted great with our pumpkin/raisin/cranberry/pecan bread.

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Pumpkin Bread with Pumpkin Spiced Martini’s

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The Ingredients:

First you want to make a simple syrup.

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You do this by combining equal parts sugar and water.

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Heat them over medium heat to combine for about 3 min. then remove from the heat to cool the mixture while you make the drink.

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For the rim topping I used Keebler Fudge Stripes Pumpkin Spiced cookies. 

Crush the cookies with a fork, then spread them out in an even layer.

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First in goes the cold pumpkin spice coffee that we made that morning.

I used about 1 Cup.

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This is “Pumpkin Juice” that we bought at Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, at the Harry Potter section of the park at the restaurant, The Three Broomsticks.

I used about a Cup of this also.

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Use about 1/3 Cup of this Pumpkin Spiced Kahlua.

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Now, pour in about 1/4 Cup Fulton’s Harvest Pumpkin Pie Cream Liqueur.

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To go with the Kahlua, I used about 1/3 Cup Vodka.

To give it a little sweetness, I used 1/3 Cup sugar free Skinny Syrups Pumpkin Caramel.  You could also use Pecan Caramel flavor.

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Now pour in 2 Mr. Stacks Pumpkin Spice Liqueur.

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To give the drink a creamy taste, pour in 1/2 Cup Almond Breeze Unsweetened Vanilla flavor.

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Mix with a whisk to combine.

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Dip your glass rim into the cooled sugar syrup letting any residue drip off.

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Now, plunge the glass rim into the crushed cookies to coat the rim.

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Place about 5 ice cubes into your cocktail shaker along with some of your Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice drink.

Place you strainer and top onto the shaker.

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Shake until you can barely hold the shaker due to the chill.

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Remove the top and pour your drink into the glass without hitting the rim.

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Top with some freshly grated nutmeg and a dash of cinnamon.

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Definitely a Thanksgiving Treat!

Try not to eat the rim of the glass.

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Never Be Afraid to Break out the Wine and Cheeses

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This is just a simple white wine with some cheeses and crackers, and some turkey sausages, and delicious mustard’s. 

The key lime one is a favorite of mine.

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We had these right after Thanksgiving as a way of eating light and still reminiscing in the holiday.

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Cocktails are more than just a good tasting drink. 

The atmosphere, the company, the accompaniment’s, all make it special.

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‘Twas The Night Before Christmas……..

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Gordon has created for me the nicest drink this Christmas.

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The Cinderella Slipper

(It is of course for adults.  Write up by Gordon.)

To make this drink, I thought of the color in conjunction with the flavor profile.

With the drink needing to be light blue, Blue Curacao would be a must.  I also wanted something creamy which led me to Silk Almond milk with vanilla flavoring.

The Blue Curacao has a orange flavor and along with the creaminess of the almond milk made me think of an Orange Popsicle.  This then led me to add Triple Sec with its orange taste.

Now, I thought of Cinderella’s character and Orange Popsicle came up with Whipped Cream Vodka.  It’s amazing all the various flavors of vodka offered today.  I was also thinking of Birthday Cake flavored vodka, but Whipped Cream won out.

Using Reddi Whip, a cherry, and blue and white sprinkles, make a great garnish and keeps with the color scheme.  I also found a blue and white straw, so Cinderella wouldn’t get it all over her face when she drank it.

Recipe makes 2 drinks

3 parts Whipped Cream Vodka

1 part Triple Sec

1/2 part Blue Curacao

4 parts Silk Almond Milk (vanilla flavored)

Canned Reddi Whip

Blue and White Sprinkles

Maraschino Cherries

In a Medium shaker add about 6 ice cubes and all the other ingredients.  Shake well and pour into a wine glass.  Top the drink with Reddi Whip.  To apply, use a circular motion starting in the center working out to the rim of the glass, then up and back to the center.   Top off with sprinkles, a cherry, and a blue and white straw.

Enjoy!

The alcohol in my Cinderella Slipper_small the other ingredients in my Cinderella Slipper_small

Pictured are the Ingredients Used

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I used a shot glass to keep the measurements equal.

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Here you can see the blue color of the drink which closely matched Julie’s colors.

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I hope you enjoy the drink I made… we did!

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The Christmas Naughty and Nice Cocktail

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For the garnish, cut orange slices and some licorice stick soft candy.

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Slice through the rind of the orange so it will go over the glass NICE, then for the naughty, place beside it some licorice candy that has been sliced in half so it will go over the glass.  This candy is hollow which makes it easy to stay on the glass.

You could also fold the orange over and using some twisted rind, place it inside the round of the orange then on either side of the orange, attach some of the sliced in half licorice candy.

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Looks like he’s sticking his tongue out.  🙂

For the drink, I used 1 part Vodka to 4 parts Ruby Red grapefruit juice. 

Next use 1 part Aperol and 1/2 part Triple Sec and a splash of Grenadine syrup.

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Mix in your shaker with a few ice cubes until thoroughly chilled and pour into your glasses.

Enjoy the naughty and nice!

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Julie’s Octopussy Cocktail

Julie’s Octopussy Cocktail

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The Siren’s Song

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Our Christmas Fountain

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Julie’s Mermaid Drink

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I like it fizzy, kind of like the mermaid foam that you see on the beach.

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The Ingredients for the Drink

1 Bottle of Prosecco Wine

2 shots of Raspberry Liquor

3 shots of Grenadine

2 cans of Diet Cranberry Gingerale Soda

-Lots of cherry and blue berry adornments

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First you take some Prosecco wine, I’ve got Barefoot here.

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You open it up carefully without the cork flying around the room.

I was so proud of Julie… I believe this was the first one she opened by herself.

The scream she let out when the cork gave way was great!

(Has been known to happen.)

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Adding the Gingerale to the Prosecco Wine and all the rest of the ingredients!

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I really liked the color of this drink and it tasted great!

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Tropical Mulled Cider Punch

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This is a favorite holiday drink of ours, not necessarily because of the way that it tastes, although it is delicious, but because of the way it makes your entire house smell of the most wonderful aromas.

We have two versions of this punch, here we have made it more topical.

Ingredients:

We really do just eyeball this because you can’t go wrong with your measurements.

-2 Gallon Jug of Apple Cider

  • 1 bottle of white wine, any size, depends on how much alcohol you want in the punch.
  • 4 – 5 Clementines, or 2 large Oranges, sliced in half. 
  • 1 can of sliced Pineapple rings, add however many you like.  You can also dump in the juice from the can if you like.
  • Last but not least, my little spice jar ingredients that I give out during the holidays. 
  • Just dump one in!

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My Little Spice Container Gifts

I make these up every year to include with Christmas gifts. 

I especially love them because I am recycling our old spice containers. 

I fill them with:

Cinnamon Sticks

Whole Cloves

All Spice Berry’s

Star Anaise

Nutmeg

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This is so simple to make because all you do is to dump everything into a large pot on the stove top on a low heat and then leave it alone.  Let it work it’s magic and smell up your entire house with the most wonderful holiday scents.  Much better than any perfume of air freshener. 

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I made this when I was out at the beach condo last December and it really did ‘hit the spot’ after a walk on the beach with that slight chill in the air.

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I let this simmer away for hours on the stove top.  The alcohol content from the wine does burn off so all that is left is the taste. 

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In this version I added oranges and key limes in addition to our usual ingredients.

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Yes, you can serve this to children as it is.

The pineapple rings in this are so good to dig out and eat alone.  Yum!

BUT, I liked a little added ingredient just for me.  🙂

Malibu Coconut Rum Liqeur

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Add a Cinnamon Stick and you have perfection!

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Sunday Night Garden Mojitos

I love spring here in Florida as it is always the perfect temperature to be outside.  Not too hot, not too cool, just right.  So we do tend to spend a lot of time outside.  Mojitos in the garden with our own mint and some farmer’s market blackberries that I picked up on Saturday.  Notice the pretty floral headband that I have around my glass?  It is a child’s headband that I picked up at the Dollar Tree, I thought it was cute but I would never use it if we had children here.  It was just me and Gordon so I placed it on the glass to distinguish which one was mine.  I do think that if a child were here and saw that it might temp the child to drink it.  So I don’t recommend making alcoholic drinks look “fun” when children are around.

In both photos top, you can see our mint.  In the photo top left in back of our little table you can see our spearmint, that mint was used in our mojitos.  In the photo top right, we have a big pot full of chocolate mint, great in drinks and desserts.  The old black metal chair belonged to my great-grandfather.  I think at one point it was red because red paint is showing through.  It’s old and rusty but I love it.

Mojitos aren’t that hard to make.  Just buy a ready made mix and add a good rum, some herbs and some berries.  We’re using a Shellback brand rum here.

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Photo I took in the backyard with our drinks.

A Perfect Hibiscus

The Rosa-Senesis

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Perfect Limoncello Cocktail

This is made with an Italian lemon liquor.

Very pretty so serve, especially for spring, and especially with one of my daughters paintings in the background.

The Ingredients:

750 mil. chilled Limoncello liquor

Lemon Lime Sparkling Water (As much as you want.  We probably use about 3/4 of the 2 liter bottle).

Volcanic Lemon Juice (About a cup or so).

Fresh blueberries, optional.  Don’t use frozen as they will cloud your cocktail.

Fresh mint, although I don’t have any pictured above.  Again, another way to have fresh herbs.

Honorable Mention

Limoncello With Dessert

Although this may look rich it isn’t.  It is just a slice of angel food cake, some sugar-free cool whip, sugar-free blueberry syrup and some fresh blueberries.  We tend to eat our desserts very plain and sugar free but very tasty.  You don’t need all that sugar to enjoy something sweet.

A good rule when shopping for food is if it is over 5 grams of sugar put it back on the shelf.  That is the rule for a “normal” person.  I however, am a borderline diabetic so I can only go up to 3 grams of sugar.  Anything over that I place back on the shelf.  Sugar is everywhere so all of us need to go out of our way to avoid it as much as possible.  No wonder we are a nation of diabetics and future diabetics.

Perfect Limoncello Cocktail

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These are but a few of our many cocktails on our website. 

We hope you have enjoyed them as much as we did.  🙂

Cheers!

Julie and Gordon