NEW YEAR'S MOCKTAILS

Hope everyone had a good Christmas! All set and ready for big NYE celebrations tonight?

I'm part of the emergency response team at my work, which means that every fifth week I go on duty. While I'm on duty, I have to have my phone with me and be no further than one hour from the airport at all times. I also can't drink alcohol. For the most part, it just means that I don't make many plans for that week, and most often I just end up chilling at home, spending the weekend making stuff and catching up on Netflix. It's not so bad. I've been pretty lucky with the rota so far as well, and it hasn't really crashed with my plans too much or made me feel like I'm missing out on things. There's been a couple of times where I've not been able to drink at parties, but it hasn't really been that bad (other than everyone automatically assuming I'm pregnant. Sorry guys, just on duty!). However, this time my duty week has landed on New Year's, so I'm looking at a pretty quiet New Year's Eve celebration tonight.

I'm pretty excited about it though still. My house has a fantastic view of the valley, so I'm looking forward to watching the fireworks. I'm also having a friend over for dinner (who is also on duty!), and I'm cooking a reindeer roast with these cheesecakes for dessert. I also plan on serving up some mocktails, so I've been perusing the internet for some mocktail inspiration. At first I was a little disappointed, as I seemed to find a lot of "recipes" that were essentially just fruit juice and didn't feel very mocktail-y at all. But further research led me to the following recipes, which I'm looking forward to trying out. If anyone else is having a non-alcoholic NYE, how good do these mocktails sound?


Cranberry Tangerine Rosemary Cream Soda from Spoon Fork Bacon
Cranberry Sparkler and Apple-Ginger Sparklers from Marath Stewart
Pomegranate Mojito Mocktail from BBC Good Food
A couple of delicious sounding mocktails plus some general advice on turning regular cocktails into mocktails from A Beautiful Mess 

Know any other good mocktail recipes?

HAPPY HOUR: BASIL & LIME KYOTO

I'm in Spain! We left early in the morning yesterday and flew to Alicante, where we're staying in a sailboat for a night before we're meeting some friends at the train station and going up to Benicassim for the Benicssim Festival! After the festival, we plan on hiring a car and spending a week at my parents summer house near Murcia. So I am well and truly in holiday mode today! I still have a few blog posts that I'll be posting while I'm away though, and I figured I'd start with this lovely cocktail I've been enjoying this summer.

I've pretty much decided that this is my summer cocktail of 2014 (with rhubarb and strawberry gin smash being a close second!). I've never been much of a gin drinker before, perhaps because I once as a teenager sneaked a bit of my parents' Beefeater and mixed it with orange juice and was pretty horrified at the result. But recently I was in a bar in Oslo and got served a Kyoto and my perspective on gin changed completely. I'd never had one of these before, but I loved it immediately. It's fruity and fresh, but not overly sweet like some fruity cocktails can be. It's light and summery, and the taste of gin isn't too overpowering. So when a friend of mine came over from London to visit for the weekend, I put in an order of a bottle of Hendricks from the duty free.

Basil & Lime Kyoto (is this the easier recipe to remember or what?):
10 ml simple syrup
20 ml passion fruit syrup
30 ml freshly squeezed lime juice
40 ml gin
Soda water
Basil leaves
Ice

Directions: Fill your cocktail shaker with ice and all ingredients bar the soda water. Shake for a good 10 seconds, then pour into a long glass. Top with soda water, and throw in a lime wedge. Enjoy!