Spiked Cranberry Lemonade

Today = Yard work, Beyond Scared Straight marathon, football, beer and crescent roll appetizers!  Word Up!

The weather is just about perfect for cocktails around a pinion wood fire.  I think I’ll fix up a batch of this for fire time.

Spiked Cranberry Lemonade

Ingredients

1 (64 oz) bottle chilled cranberry juice cocktail

2 cups vodka

½ to ¾ cup chilled lemon-mint simple syrup (recipe follows)

Sliced lemon

Granulated sugar

Preparation

In a large pitcher, combine cranberry juice cocktail, vodka and lemon-mint simple syrup, stirring to combine.  Gently stir in ginger ale.  Add lemon slices.

On a small plate, pour a small amount of vodka.  On another small plate, place sugar.  Dip rim of each glass in vodka and then in sugar.  Add ice and cranberry mixture to glasses.  Serve immediately.

Lemon-Mint Simple Syrup

Ingredients

2 cups water

2 cups granulated sugar

3 tablespoons lemon zest

2 (1 oz) packages of fresh mint

Preparation

In a medium saucepan, combine 2 cups water and sugar over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves.  Add lemon zest, and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes.  Cover and seep for 15 minutes.

Into an airtight container, pour mixture through a fine wire mesh strainer, discarding solids.  Cool completely.  Cover and chill for up to 2 weeks.