Friday Favorites: Valentine martini

Today there’s only one Friday Favorite, but I promise you won’t complain.

Please stop trying to lick your computer screen, it won’t work. (I know. I’ve tried.)

Last weekend I was flipping through the latest issue of People, and came across this, which showcased three things that I find fabulous: Lisa Vanderpump, raspberries, and MARTINIS.

Ten minutes later I was in the car on my way to the store to get raspberries.
I mean, you cannot show a picture like this to me and think for one minute I will not drop everything to get it in my belly ASAP.

So I made it, and it was, indeed, delicious.
A glorious, fancy, Valentiney delight!

And since tomorrow is the big day for glorious, fancy and Valentiney types of things, I wanted to share the recipe with you while you still have time to get raspberries.

Raspberry Love Potion
simple syrup (1 cup water and 1 cup sugar)
raspberries
Orange Liquer
Grapefruit juice
Lime Juice
Vodka


1. Make simple syrup an hour or so beforehand

Simple syrup is key to making a sweet martini taste smooth.
Boil 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar until sugar is dissolved.
Let cool. (You can store in the fridge in a jar.)

2. Chill your glasses!

As I’ve told you before in previous martini posts (HERE, HERE, and HERE — no, I do not have a problem), chilling your glasses is key making your martinis frosty, which makes them even more delicious.
You can either rinse the glass in water and stick it in the freezer for a few minutes, but if your freezer is like mine—filled with tubs of ice cream that are 1/8 full and bags of freezer burned tater-tots from 2013—there isn’t any room.
I just fill the glasses with ice water and let them chill while I’m mixing the magic.

 

3. Muddle the raspberries

I love muddling things. Take 4 raspberries and muddle with a muddler, or with the end of a wooden spoon, because it’s basically the same thing.
Add 3/4 oz simple syrup.

4. Mixing time!

Add 3/4 oz grapefruit juice (I used canned), 3/4 oz lime juice, and 3/4 oz orange liquer.
This is my favorite (what I use for cosmos).

5. Add ice to shaker and shake until your arm gets a cramp
(Because then you can justify mixing martinis as working out.)

6. Dump ice water out of glass and strain into chilled glass

Obviously the People magazine food editors/stylists must’ve used tiny glasses in their picture or poured a double dose in each glass, because as you see, the recipe—made as instructed—only yields enough to fill half a regular sized martini glass.
But hey, I’m all for doubling up.

The only other hiccup in this delightful drink is the raspberry pulp that gathers at the bottom.

I suppose you could try to strain it out, but once it was poured in my glass I had no interest in doing anything other than getting it to my lips.

Especially when I was serving it with this:

I kind of set my husband up, didn’t I?
Now the pressure is on for him to top it tomorrow night.

Although, I won’t be disappointed if he makes me another one of these.

But this time, he better fill it to the rim.

 

Happy Valentine’s Day! 
xoxo