4th of July

We had the in-laws over for the 4th. Great time. I was going to make some True Blue Sparklers,  but decided to make a Sangria instead – something I can easily scale up and make a batch of.  (4th of July + In-Laws = a lot of booze.)  Cantaloupes are in season, so I made a Cantaloupe Apple Ginger Sangria … that was gone within an hour.

Ingredients Needed:

1 ripe cantaloupe

2 apples, red (cored and cut into bite-sized pieces)

1/2 cup honey water

1 cup orange juice

2 bottles inexpensive Riesling (I used Barefoot Riesling)

1 cup Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur (available at many grocery & liquor stores and online)

1 cup club soda (added to individual servings)

First step: Ball one cantaloupe and add to a punch bowl (or pitcher)

Step 2: Core and cut 2 apples into bite-sized pieces. Place on top of the cantaloupe. This is optional, but I added 1/2 cup of honey water using a local orange blossom honey. Simply mix 1/4 honey with 1/4 HOT water. Stir until dissolved. Add to fruit.

STEP 3: Add 1 cup of orange juice.

STEP 4: Top with 2 bottles of inexpensive Riesling. (I used Barefoot Riesling.)

STEP 5: Then, one cup of Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur.  Stir well.

STEP 6: Cover and refrigerate for a few hours.

Enjoy!  Stir again and ladle into iced wine glasses. Top with a splash of club soda, stir and serve!

I also made … Proscuitto wrapped Bocconcini drizzled with Queen Creek Red Chile Olive Oil, minced red onion and basil.

Watermelon Gazpacho (got this from Tyler Florence’s Ultimate Cookbook … one of our cookbook bibles around here.)  AWE-SOME.

Proscuitto-wrapped melon drizzled with Queen Creek Blood Orange olive oil.

And a side of Maddy-cakes and Holdenite Fireworks