Restaurants

Do you know what today is? Yes, it’s Monday and Presidents’ Day. It is also National Drink Wine Day! This is definitely my kind of day – I didn’t have to go to work AND I’m supposed to sit around drinking wine? Awesome!

I figured to honor this special day, I would share my experience with making a copycat version of Carrabba’s Blackberry Sangria. If you go to Carrabba’s and have not tried this yet it’s an absolute must; and if you don’t go to Carrabba’s you should. This is by far the best sangria I have ever had. So of course, I looked for the recipe online and I found it on food.com:

1 1/2 liters Bisanzio Italian wine or 1 1/2 liters any other sweet red italian wine
14 ounces cranberry juice
14 ounces Monin Blackberry Syrup
6 ounces Tuaca liqueur
blackberries

For Garnish

lemon slice
orange slice

Directions:

Mix all liquid ingredients together and add blackberries. Refrigerate and let sit for a few hours. Serve over ice. When ready to serve, add a slice of lemon and orange.

As much as I enjoy wine, I certainly would not consider myself a connoisseur. I like whites and fruity reds (especially wines from local NJ wineries) but I had no idea what would be considered a sweet red Italian wine. Luckily there are many helpful employees at my local liquor store and I was led right to what I needed (under $10 a bottle too!).

I had to order the blackberry syrup from Amazon because while the liquor store does carry Monin syrups, they seemed to have every flavor BUT blackberry. Once that arrived, I was ready to make some sangria!

I quickly realized that there was no way I was going to be able to mix two bottles of wine plus all those other liquids in my measly little pitcher so I grabbed my spaghetti pot. Even that was too small though, so I had to pull out the big guns.

Is it the sign of a problem when you are making sangria in a stockpot?

Once I had everything mixed together I transferred the sangria into two pitchers and let it sit overnight. The next evening, I had my first glass. It was delicious! It tasted ALMOST just like the Carrabba’s stuff and after letting it sit another night, and adding a little ice to my glass it tasted EXACTLY like it. Cheers to Google, for without it I would be spending way too much money at the bar at Carrabba’s to get my fix of their Blackberry Sangria!

Will you be celebrating this dual holiday with a glass of wine? What’s your favorite?

Peanut Rum Creme. Sounds a little strange, no? This is what I thought when I saw a drink called Banana Nut Bay on the menu at Rum Bar in Philadelphia last year. However, other ingredients were Creme de Banana and cream of coconut and I figured something with those flavors could never be bad so I ordered it.

Oh Happy Day! This drink was soooo good! It reminded me of boozy Gerber Baby Bananas. (Yes, sometimes I buy a jar of baby bananas for a snack, so what?) Now, it was last year that I had this drink. I don’t know what made me think of it today but I checked out Rum Bar’s website and it appears that – for some bizarro reason – this tasty concotion is no longer on the menu. For a brief second I was broken hearted, thinking I would never again taste such deliciousness, but then I remembered Google.

And so, here is the recipe!

1 oz Brugal Anejo Rum
1/2 oz Creme de Banana
1/2 oz Castries Peanut Rum Creme
1/2 oz cream of coconut
3 oz pineapple juice

Shake and serve with ice. Thank Angela for introducing you to a taste of heaven…

But wait – there’s more!! A few months after Banana Nut Bay, I was having brunch at Max Brenner’s and what do I see on the menu but another drink made with Peanut Rum Creme! This drink was called Satisfaction Guaranteed, and it did not disappoint! Castries Peanut Rum Creme, Caramel Liqueur and milk chocolate. It was a damn good drink on its own…extra bonus points for presentation!