Peach Sangria

The Best Sangria

I love a good Sangria. It’s always so refreshing. And, what’s there to complain about? Ingredients include Red Wine, Lemonade, cold soda, Brandy, schnapps and fruit. Everything about this recipe screams party. Though it’s normally a drink served in the summer time, I created this Peach Sangria for the fall. I felt like this would be a great Thanksgiving holiday drink served with all of the traditional recipes that have been handed down to us throughout the years and once you try it, I think you’ll agree.

My Sangria Secret

A good Sangria recipe is going to be packed with flavor and sweetness that balances your meal and should always be served cold. That’s why I like to make this chillable red wine with Frozen Fruit, instead of fresh. Sliced peaches can act as ice cubes if they’re previously frozen and they add a wonderful flavor to the mix. The Lemonade, Mountain Dew and Peach Schnapps adds a wonderful sweet and sour to the wine. The Brandy binds all of the ingredients together and makes this drink what it is. Technically, it’s not a sangria with out it.

Be sure to check out some of my favorite vegetable and Thanksgiving recipes, that are in season this time of year, like this Acorn Squash, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Croissant Stuffing with Mushrooms, Sweet and Sour Brussels Sprouts, and folks rave about this Green Bean Casserole.

Peach Sangria Ingredients:

1 part Frozen Peach Slices for Ice cubes
1 to 2 parts Red Wine
1 part Peach Schnapps
1/2 part Lemonade
1/2 part Mountain Dew
1/4 part Brandy

Follow the simple instructions in the video tutorial to make this Peach Sangria and I’ll show you just how easy it is to make.

How to cut a Pineapple

I know… It’s just a Pineapple!

The Pina Colada Recipe I did the other day made me realize that it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to whip a quick “How to” slice and dice a Pineapple. Well that and the fact that even my own mother doesn’t know how to do it either. Also I was noticing the price difference between a whole fresh Pineapple vs. already sliced Pineapple. The fresh whole Pineapple I could purchase for $2.98 ea., but the pre-cut Pineapple was twice that price for about 2/3 of a entire Pineapple. So what would you do? That’s what I thought… let’s learn how easy it is to rip one of these fruits to shreds, shall we?

First, how do we pickem’?

Pineapple have 4 easy signs to look for:

Look for a bright green fern growing out of the top of that fruit. If it’s dead or drying out, it probably isn’t the healthiest or the most nutrient.
A bright green and yellow fruit means it needs more ripening. So unless you’re purposefully buying your pineapple days in advance you are going to have a sour and bitter fruit. Look for less green and feel that the outside is susceptible to pressure when you squeeze it.
Smell the Pineapple. If it smells sweet and fresh before you cut into it, the way a pineapple should, then it’s probably ripe.
Something most people won’t tell you or condone, but if you look at the very center of the bottom of the pineapple and see a tiny amount of white peach fuzz like mold, it is ripe and ready to cut now!

Tip: If you flip the Pineapple upside down 12 to 24 hours in advance and let gravity work in your favor, you will have a sweeter Pineapple all the way through the fruit. Trust me.

Zing Zang Bloody Mary Mix Review

The last time I was in Las Vegas, I ended up leaving my $400 a night hotel, The Mirage, for what I was told was an all you can eat Sushi Bar. Many times over, have I learned not to trust freinds of “friends”, and WOW, was this one of those times. All we had was an address and a cab driver that knew how to get there, and little did we know that we weren’t going to a Sushi Bar like we were told.

We pulled up to an old apartment building in an old neighborhood that was straight across from a 7-eleven. A statue of an Indian Chief sat out front but no sign of a Sushi Bar in any direction; no restaurant in site. A phone call was in order. We told the cab driver to wait until we got this figured out. Then we got the “Friends of Friends” on the phone. “Yup, you’ve got the right place” they said, and out they came from the door behind the wooden Indian. We walked into the worst cluttered living room style bar I have ever seen. Not that I’ve been in any bar’s that looked like a living room, but this one sure did. All the trinkets and little ornaments you could’ve ordered from the home shopping network covered the shelves, walls and end tables of this dumpster dive of a business, and they were calling it a bar. And, as it turns out, owned by the number one Elvis impersonator in Las Vegas, Nevada! Boy were we in for a treat I thought but little did I know that I was about to be introduced to the best Bloody Mary I have ever had, made by, yep you guessed it, the number one Elvis impersonator himself.

Now I don’t know how tall Elvis was but this guy had to be at least 6′ 4″, because this guy was in loafers and he still towered over me, and I’m 6 foot. How do I know? Because when he made his entrance in his Mustard yellow double breasted suit, you couldn’t help but notice every detail; loafers with no socks, suit with no shirt but a carpet chest that made up for it. He had the hair, the side burns, gold necklace and the seventies style square rimmed sunglasses that Elvis bloomed in full season, and he was smoking a six inch cigar the size of quarter. With that kind of image burned in my mind, how would I ever forget?

Long story short, this guy, Mr. number one Elvis impersonator, with awards all over his wall to prove it, made me a Bloody Mary in a 10 inch Mug that literally was the Bomb! I don’t know what he was using, I didn’t see how he made it, but this Bloody Mary was hands down the best Vodka induced drink I have ever had the pleasure to wrap my hands around. Nothing since has ever compared. That is until I found “Zing Zang”!