As with fashion, cocktails always go in and out of style. At a recent party, we brought back the cosmo, but with a little twist...because why not?!

During the Sex and the City craze, the cosmo was definitely one of my go to cocktails. It's easy, but just enough flare and served up, martini style, so a sexier drink than just your standard cranberry vodka for sure. 

But as usual, we were looking to switch it up a bit, and lighten it up a bit too (literally), so I wanted to use a white cranberry. I feel the white cranberry on its own can get a bit too tart though, so the white cranberry peach adds just enough sweetness. And being married to a southern boy, I'm all about embracing the south and figured let's make this drink a Georgia Peach Cosmo and also swap out the orange liqueur with peach schnapps. 

Ingredients:
2 oz vodka
1 oz white cranberry peach
3/4 oz fresh lime juice
3/4 oz peach schnapps
Slice of fresh peach and lime for garnish

Directions:
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and add the first 4 ingredients and shake until very cold and icy. Strain into a martini glass with a slice of fresh peach and lime and enjoy!

What's your favorite classic cocktail? Share a photo of you drinking it and we'll feature that drink on our blog.

Happy Friday Everyone!
Adrienne
​xoxo

Happy Friday everyone! We are off to style our local swim team's end of season party very soon, but not before making sure you all have a fun cocktail to get your weekend started! 

A couple week's ago, I hosted a small weekend brunch, and to go with the delicious croissants and brie we were serving, I thought I'd get a little fancy and make my own jam (trust me, it's really not fancy at all, because it is so simple to do!). I decided to make a blackberry jam with just a little hint of heat from jalapeño. It was delicious, but I made way too much, and now I need to use it up before having to toss it. My mistake is your gain, and today I've made Blackberry Gin and Jam.   

This recipe is super versatile though, because you can use with ANY jam you have...even if it came from the store; we won't tell!

All you really need is a few ingredients, your favorite gin obviously, and flavor jam, fresh squeezed lemon juice, simple syrup, and I added a sprig of basil as a garnish just to make it a little more interesting, but it's totally not necessary

Ingredients:
2 oz. gin
1 oz. lemon juice
1/2 oz. simple syrup
1 tsp of jam
Sprig of basil for garnish

Directions:
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and add all ingredient (except basil). Shake vigorously; you want some to the ice to melt down and become part of your drink. Pour it into a coupe and rub a few basil leaves between your fingers before dropping them into your cocktail to release the flavor. If you'd like something not quite as strong, this would also be great by just leaving out the simple syrup and pouring it over ice and topping it with tonic - totally refreshing and equally delicious! 

What's your favorite jam? Try this drink with it and tell us what you think.

We hope you all have an awesome weekend. Make every day a party!
xoxo
​Adrienne

With some talk of a rainy weekend upon us, we really wanted to capture all of the sunny summer feels while we had it today!

Not sure about you, but one of our favorite summer guilty pleasures is a rum punch…preferably served in a bucket built for 2 (but really just for one!) at one of our local waterfront tiki bars. We wanted to share this easy super adaptable recipe, which is perfect for clearing out your liquor cabinet of random little bits of rum, or your fridge of whatever juices you may have on hand.

Do not be intimidated by this crazy photo of ingredients. You do NOT need all of them, and yours may be different. That’s the beauty of this recipe! If you stick to a general ratio of 1/3 rum, to 2/3 juice, you’ve got yourself a tasty beverage. 

​For the rum, get creative, mix flavored rums like coconut, mango, or pineapple, white rum, and a little dark rum (this one really brings out the flavor of the rum, so if you don’t want that, just skip it). My favorite go to juices for a rum punch are pineapple juice, orange juice, mango nectar, and then my secret calorie saving ingredient – coconut water! Our juice options weren’t my favorite today, but still made for a perfectly delicious poolside drink.

Garnish your rum punch (which I hope you’re having in a bucket) with a skewer of lime, orange, and a cherry and try to enjoy outside in the sunshine!

Happy Friday everyone!
​Adrienne

As I write this post, it is officially 5 years, almost to the minute, that I married the greatest guy in the whole world. That day was truly one of the most fun days of my entire life, and in addition to being filled with love from family and friends, it was also filled with awesome cocktails and food (hey, the name "The Boastful Host" had to come from somewhere!). So I figured, why not share one of our signature drinks from that night with all of you!

Much of our wedding had components that focused on the water - taking the plunge (we first met at a polar bear plunge), we live at the beach, and you'll see by our photo later the reception ended with a big splash! It was most fitting that we chose the name "A's Strawberry Splash" for this drink.

You can get out some of your pent up aggressions, because you have some muddling to do for this drink. Other than that though, it's pretty simple, and more importantly, super tasty!

Ingredients (serves 4 modest size drinks or 2 giant ones as shown here):
4 shots of vodka
Juice from 1/2 orange
Juice from 1/2 lemon
4 big juicy strawberries
Small handful of mint and basil leaves
Simple syrup to taste (my strawberries were not as sweet as they could be)
Club soda (optional)

Directions:
In a large cocktail shaker, place the strawberries, herbs, and 1/2 of the vodka, and then muddle to get all of the flavors released and delicious. Fill the shaker with ice, the remainder of the vodka, and the orange and lemon juice, and then shake until it is icy cold. Take a tiny taste to see if you need to add any simple syrup. Fill two glasses with ice (highball would be the proper glass of choice, but like me, use whatever glass makes you happy), and pour. I added a little club soda on top for some bubbles, but that's totally optional. 

Be forewarned, this drink is yummy and does not taste like alcohol. After a few of these and being on the natural high of your wedding day, you too could find yourself swimming, fully dressed, in the middle of the night!

We hope you all love this drink as much as we did. Happy Friday!

xoxo
​Adrienne

Actual wedding photos courtesy of Cengiz @AdagionStudio

It's finally starting to resemble summer again, so perfect excuse to celebrate with a seasonal cocktail! My basil is growing much better than my strawberries, so I figured let's use what we have! 

A couple of fresh ripe peaches, just begging to be eaten, seemed like a perfect pairing, especially when teamed up with bourbon!

Fairly short list of ingredients on this one, so really the most important thing is just to make sure they are fresh so each ingredient can really shine. 

Ingredients:
!/4 of a ripe peach, diced
4 basil leaves
Juice from 1/4 of a lemon
3/4 oz of simple syrup
2 oz bourbon

Directions:
In an old fashioned glass or a pint size mason jar like we've used, add the peach, basil, lemon juice, and simple syrup and muddle. Add your bourbon and stir. Top with crushed ice, and give it another stir.

When The Boastful Host was recently asked to pull together a last minute 40th birthday party, we jumped at the chance. Amy recently hit the big 4-0 and mine is quickly approaching, so we absolutely understand the necessity of celebrating this big day (but then again, we also think Tuesday is a good enough excuse to throw a party)!

We didn't have much time, and we needed a theme, so we used the birthday girl's love of fun Mexican food as inspiration for a Fortieth Fiesta!

While Amy started crafting, I immediately went into menu planning mode. Knowing we were doing a fiesta, I assumed a tequila cocktail would be a perfect compliment until the guest of honor said that she doesn't like tequila.Obviously there are tons of other options out there, but what to do that still felt on theme and paired well? How about a Hibiscus Tea and vodka based cocktail to feel tropical? 

To make this even more perfect, I had just made a ton of mint simple syrup, so we were going to put all of that deliciousness to work in this cocktail as well. 

This isn't the quickest cocktail to put together, but with a little planning, it is well worth it!

Ingredients

Hibiscus Tea Syrup
3 cups water
3/4 cup of loose hibiscus tea 
1/2 cup sugar
Small bunch of mint

For Two Cocktails
4 oz hibiscus syrup
4 oz vodka
1.5 oz of fresh lime juice (about 1 large lime)
Sliced jalapeño rounds
Few sprigs of mint
Lime sliced into wheels

Directions:
Hibiscus tea syrup - You'll first need to make the hibiscus tea syrup (you can do this up to 2 weeks in advance). In a saucepan, add ½ cup sugar to 3 cups water and bring to a boil. Add dried hibiscus and stir until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat add a small bunch of mint, and let steep for 15 minutes. Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a jar or glass container and chill until cold.

Cocktails - Fill a cocktail shaker with ice, chilled hibiscus syrup, lime juice, and vodka and shake vigorously to combine. Pour into glasses filled with ice and garnished with a couple of slices of jalapeño, a sprig of mint, and a wheel of line.

Feedback from the party was that this cocktail was a HUGE hit! A flavor a bit out of the ordinary, not too sweet, and a little bit of heat seemed to be a recipe for success. We'd love to know if you try this one and what you think.

Make every day a fiesta!
​Adrienne

Will you be hosting a royal wedding viewing party? If so, I'm guessing you are obviously either a HUGE wedding fan, or love the fantasy of the royal lifestyle. The moms of The Boastful Host will likely (sadly) be up, but that's that's just an affect of children! We will be super excited to see the dress and flowers and all of the beautiful celebratory style that goes along with it...just when we're a little more awake.

Even if you aren't hosting a party, we do have a drink worthy of a royal celebration (even if it is for much later in the day!) for you in honor of the wedding.

I felt when choosing a drink for this occasion, it should definitely involve gin, by far the most popular spirit in London, but elevated since it is a wedding, so how could we not suggest a bit of bubbly?! 

You can see from the photo that we are supporting one of our favorite semi-local American gins (from Philly), along with a French sparkling wine (not technically Champagne based on the region it's produced), and a personal favorite St. Germain.

Our drink, The Royal Cup, is adapted from Lobby Bar in London. 

Ingredients:
1 1/2 oz. Gin
3/4 oz. St. Germain Elderflower Liquor 
Rosé Champagne or your favorite sparkling wine

Directions:
Fill a cocktail shaker half way with ice and add your gin and St. Germain. Shake vigorously until icy. Pour into a champagne flute, and fill to the top with Champagne. 

This is not exactly your typical, light "ease in" brunch cocktail, so be forewarned should you chose to start making these in time to watch the wedding festivities live!. 

We'd love to hear what your most excited to see in the wedding! Let us know in the comments.

Till next time, make every day a party!
Adrienne
​xoxo

Spring is finally in the air, and everywhere you look is something about Mother's Day - buy this gift, send these flowers, make these reservations. For me personally, Mother's Day has always been a tough holiday, definitely feeling a void, since I lost my mom when I was just a little girl. But now that I'm a mom, while I do still have my sad moments, most of those have been replaced with lots of warm fuzzy feelings, as my daughter and husband do everything to let me know how special I am. 

For these special days, some of the things I love the most, are handmade and home cooked. I'm not saying I don't love a great meal at a restaurant, but there's something to be said about knowing your family has put the time in preparing to make you the "perfect" meal. We all know that "perfect" may mean the pancakes are funny shaped, or the kitchen gets a little messy, but what is going into that preparation, is LOVE, and NOTHING beats that in my mind.   

So if you'd like to whip up a little love in the kitchen for your mom, we have a tasty little brunch appetizer and a nice light cocktail that pairs perfectly with it. 

I actually got this idea after buying a cantaloupe for my daughter, because she loves it when we're out. Of course, now that we bought one, cut it all up, and served it to her, she no longer likes it (oh the joys of toddlerhood!). Now I felt stuck with lots of this fruit (that I typically believe is just the boring "filler" to fruit salad...it's no one's favorite). So what do to with it? My head immediately went to make a cantaloupe infused vodka cocktail.

We're sharing this Mother's Day brunch cocktail with you now, because even though this is a pretty easy recipe, it does require a bit of prep time in advance for the infusing.

Making the cantaloupe infused vodka
You'll need to determine how much vodka you need first, based on how many adult guests will be at your family brunch for mom, how many cocktails per guest (unless your family is like mine, 2 each will probably be more than enough!), and how crazy you've made your poor mom all year long! To get you started, we're going to make a quart, which will fill up a standard decanter when complete.

Step 1: About 3-5 days before you plan to use the vodka, cut your melon into bite size pieces. If you have a melon baller, it will make for a prettier presentation. (Since I was just cutting mine up for my toddler to eat, mine is not so fancy).

Step 2: Place 1/2 of the melon in a quart size mason jar, and the other half wrap up and save for the appetizer the day of the brunch

Step 3: Pour your preferred vodka over top of the melon, and add about a tablespoon of sugar. Screw the lid on and give it a good shake. Store it in the refrigerator for 3-5 days, giving it a good shake once a day. You do not need to be precise in the number of days, but you won't want it to go much more than 5 days or it can start to get bitter.

Step 4: Strain out the melon from the vodka and store the vodka in a decanter (if you're feeling fancy), or you can now just store it in a clean mason jar until your ready to make your cocktails. You should continue to store the vodka in the refrigerator though to ensure it doesn't spoil 

Now that you have your cantaloupe infused vodka, it's ready to use when it's time to make the cocktails.

So assuming you're making this for brunch, we're going to suggest putting together the appetizer the morning of, before shaking up your cocktails (we're not going to stop you though if you make one for yourself while you prep the food). 

Since we had that other half of the cantaloupe leftover, let's put it to good use with a salty sweet little starter. 

Salty & Sweet Skewers Recipe
Ingredients
1/2 cantaloupe
Approximately 1/2 4 oz.package of prosciutto 
Fresh mozzarella balls
Basil
Balsamic glaze
Short appetizer skewers

Directions
Cut the slices of prosciutto into thirds using kitchen shears. Fold so they are approximately the same width of balls/chunks of melon. Wrap the melon, place one basil leaf on, and top with mozzarella ball and stick the skewer through. Stand them up on a platter and drizzle with balsamic glaze (you can reduce balsamic vinegar in a pot on the stove, but I highly recommend making your life easy and buying a premade glaze. Trader Joe's makes a great one!)

Once your appetizers are ready, you can set them aside so you can make your cocktails.

Ingredients
3-4 basil leaves
2 fl oz cantaloupe infused vodka
3 T simple syrup (equal parts sugar & water just heated till sugar is dissolved, and then cooled)
Juice of 1/2 of a lime
Splash of sparkling natural mineral water, such as S. Pellegrino or Perrier
For garnish:
Prosciutto
Reserved vodka soaked melon ball
Additional basil leaves 

Directions
Muddle the basil leaves in the bottom of cocktail shaker with the lime and simple syrup. Fill the shaker most of the way with ice and add the vodka. Shake vigorously until everything is good and icy. Strain into prepared glass. Serve straight up as we did and splash of sparkling mineral water. If you want to get really wild and crazy, you can replace the sparkling water with champagne...depends how much you want to spoil mom! Garnish with skewers of prosciutto, vodka soaked melon ball (from when you infused the vodka), and fresh basil leaves.

We hope you enjoy this drink with mom or just with people you love. Let us know what you think of this hybrid of the caprese salad and prosciutto and melon. We always love to hear feedback and if you have questions, don't be shy...just ask!

XOXO
​Adrienne

I'm sure for all of the golf fans out there, you already know it's one of the most important weekends of the year...the Masters golf tournament. While not the biggest golf fans ourselves, the Masters has actually still managed to become an important sporting event for us. The men that love us and our party lifestyle, actually went to the Master's back in 2013 for my now husband's bachelor party. I knew all of that golf paraphernalia would come in handy someday! 

Last year, it became even more special, when it offered a really fun and unique theme for Amy's little one's first birthday party. Here's just a glimpse of the adorable party. To see all of the photos, click here for our Party Portfolio. 

So as the annual spring event concludes this weekend, we thought why not bring you their signature drink so you can feel like you're right there watching (even if it is from the couch in your living room). 

You can see from an actual screenshot from the Masters, that there are beautiful bright pink Azalea bushes all over the course. So, with that in mind, the official cocktail of the event is aptly named the Azalea.

Ingredients
4 oz vodka
2 oz pineapple juice
2 oz of fresh squeezed lime juice
1/4 oz grenadine
2 wheels of lime for garnish

Directions:
Start by squeezing some fresh limes (you'll need approximately 2 limes). Fill a cocktail shaker half way with ice and add lime juice, pineapple juice, vodka and grenadine. Strain into highball glasses or mason jars filled with ice. Serve each with a wheel lime slice

In my humble opinion, golf can be a bit of a slow sport, so why not go ahead and make a double batch of the Azalea cocktail to make your golf watching even more enjoyable! 

We hope you enjoy this cheery, spring-like cocktail while watching the Masters or just while hanging out with friends! As always, let us know what you think!

XOXO
Adrienne

Happy St. Patrick's Day Eve! Whether you're Irish or just like an excuse to drink like you are, it's a fun low key holiday that everyone can enjoy!

As a non beer drinker, and not a fan of doing Jameson shots (those used to get passed around at the bar pre-baby days), I never quite knew what to order to still feel like I was having a proper Irish drink. Then I went to Ireland and did the tour of the Jameson factory, and I got a whole new appreciation for drinking Jameson Irish whiskey. When they did the tasting portion, they actually offered it as a cocktail, served with either cranberry juice or ginger ale! I was stoked! It made me happy to know that they didn't look down their nose at you like you were messing up their prized whiskey. 

With that awesome trip to Ireland as today's inspiration, we are going to stay true to Jameson's own recommendation  for a refreshing St. Patrick's Day cocktail - a Jameson, Ginger and Lime. Nothing tricky about this one friends!

Ingredients:
1 part Jameson
4 parts Ginger Ale
Wedge of lime

Directions:
Fill a pint glass or mason jar with ice. Add your Jameson. Top with ginger ale. And give it a little stir to mix. Squeeze in your wedge of lime and drop it in. Enjoy! 

Let us know what you think! How do you choose to celebrate St. Patrick's Day? Guinness or Whiskey? However you celebrate, we hope it's with friends...even if they're just Irish in spirit!

Cheers to finding your pot of gold!
​Adrienne