a little roundup of things that inspired me this week

An entire post devoted to summer cocktails? Let’s.

1. Vickie’s Gemini (or as I like to call it Vickie’s JimAndI)
The official 2012 Summer Drink of the Wise Women, my friend Vickie brought a carload of fresh grapefruit—that she then proceeded to squeeze all by herself—to our gathering at Primland in the mountains of Virginia. The cocktail is fresh, happy, delightful—and not just because it was the starting toast on a magical old friends mountain weekend. I especially love seeing the recipe in her handwriting. Feel free to transcribe it, but I love it just like this.

Vickie’s Gemini recipe

2. The Vacation
Courtesy of the oh-so-fabulous Maggie Mason on her Mighty Girl blog. (My love goes deep. She was the inspiration for 30 Days of Fun series last summer.) Kraken Rum and Coconut Water, so easy, so summery, so different!

3. Watermelon Daiquiri
I’m a little embarrassed to admit this because it seems so un-American. I’ve never been the biggest fan of watermelon. And then this summer, I bought a seedless watermelon to make Sarah Carey’s Watermelon and Tomato Salad and I fell in love. Now that I think of it, this is the third time this summer watermelon has appeared on my fridayloves. Hum.

Anyway, this Watermelon Daiquiri from The Maverick Southern Kitchens (of Charleston Restaurant Slightly North of Broad) looks fab! Don’t you agree?

4. Watermelon Crawl
While we have that big watermelon taking up an entire shelf in our refrigerator, how about another recipe or two? Watermelon Crawl features a healthy dose of moonshine, which is both (1) culturally, and (2) personally relevant. And while I admittedly haven’t tried either of these two, I am intrigued that Old Tom’s Patch Punch from PS 7 includes “a pinch of citric acid.” Wow. Both recipes via one of my new loves, The Local Palate.
(1) Isn’t moonshine everywhere these days?
(2) I am from Southwest Virginia.

5. Basil French 75
This gin, lemon, champagne (what’s not to love there?) cocktail comes from Martha Stewart. Just looking at the photo makes me feel like I’m reading on my big screen porch, cool drink in hand, lost with Cheryl Strayed on the Pacific Crest Trail, in Wild*.

Happy summer weekend to you!

*(Whew. Relieved I was able to work in one link to something other than cocktails.)