Friday Nite Lite

Just because a girl isn't actually in Italy

doesn't mean she can't at least pretend!

On a hot summer evening

there is nothing quite so lovely as

a fresh Prosecco cocktail.

I found this one in the San Diego News Network blog.

The writer had just come back 

from the new Italian hotspot Puglia.

(I say new hotspot, because it is undergoing the overwhelming

nouveau popularity that Tuscany, then Umbria

endured more recently)

This was what she drank in Puglia:

Strawberry Smash

(they probably don't call it that in Italy...)

This variation on the mojito lets you mix strawberries with your favorite herb such as mint, basil, lemon verbena, cilantro, rosemary or thyme. Try the drink out before serving it friends to get the amount of herbs right for you.  


Makes 1 cocktail


3 ripe organic strawberries, hulled and sliced
6 leaves of one fresh herb such as mint, basil, verbena, cilantro OR 1-inch section of fresh rosemary or thyme
1 ounce good white rum like 10 Cane or clean white gin like Bombay Sapphire
1 ounce all-natural sour mix (see note)
2 ounces prosecco

Add the strawberries and your selected herb to a rocks glass. Smash the strawberries and herbs gently with a muddler until the berries are a pulp and the herbs smell strong. Add the rum or gin if using and sour mix to the glass and give it a stir. Fill 3/4 full with ice. Top off with the prosecco. Garnish with a sprig of the herb you used.


Note: To create my all natural sour mix, mix 1 cup lemon and or lime juice with 1 cup sugar in a medium non-reactive saucepan. Heat over a low-medium flame, stirring to dissolve the sugar. When cool, pour syrup into a sterile glass bottle and refrigerate. Keeps for up to 2 weeks.