Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Bloody Shirley



Today's Halloween Prize is this adorable wall ornament. I think it would be perfect with fall flowers, or ivy tucked inside. Or with candy for guests to share. I saw it in the store and knew I wanted to offer this as my prize this week. Just leave a comment (be sure to include an email address so I can contact you if you win) and you're entered in today's contest.

(Even though this is Halloween, my youngest daughter's arm is not included *grin*)

Good luck!




Here's a recipe that's been part of our family since the kids were really little. Back when my parents were still alive the girls would love to go to Nana and Papa's house. Not only did my mom and dad sit on the floor and play with them, they made sure to always have the kids' favorite treats available.

So, in honor of Halloween Week here, what's better than to share my girls' all-time favorite? Here goes:



Bloody Shirley

You know this by its common name, Shirley Temple, also sometimes called a Kiddie Cocktail. In honor of Halloween, I'm hereby changing its name to Bloody Shirley. Always a hit with youngsters, it's a perfect beverage to serve at your little ones' Halloween Haunt.

Per serving:

2 ounces grenadine
1 can ginger ale
2 maraschino cherries
cherry juice as desired

Using a shot glass or any other method of measurement, pour two ounces of heavy grenadine into a glass. We're using a clear one here for picture purposes.

Pour some of the ginger ale into the shot glass to get the last drips of grenadine out and pour that, and the rest of the can into the glass. You don't want to miss using any of that wonderful grenadine!

Here's the secret that makes these Shirleys so addictive: Pour a little (about an ounce) of the maraschino cherry juice into glass. Notice the whopper size of our jar of cherries. We go through them pretty quickly here.

Pour into a pretty glass. Spear two or more cherries (our girls always wanted more) and garnish glass. Serve.




My husband took on the Kiddie Cocktail responsibilities from my folks, and over the years our house became known for them. My husband still makes them for our girls when they're home. Yep, even my 24 year old still asks for them. It's a family tradition and a fun treat.

Serve them at your next bash. You can garnish the glasses with gummy worms, or plastic spider rings around the stems. Just remember this drink's Halloween name: Bloody Shirley!




Have fun!
Julie

25 comments:

  1. Ohhh, I love the prize, Julie. Adorable.
    And the drink looks refreshing and fun! Pour me another!

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  2. Cherries. ::shudder::

    But the kiddies in my family are much more open-minded when it comes to food... and several of the adults in my family don't drink, so they might be interested too.

    I'll have to pass the recipe on...

    jump_up_thrice@hotmail.com

    P.S. I had to look up what grenadine is. ::sheepish::

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  3. Looks like fun... and sounds like a great spin on a drink.

    Love your books... love all of your books ladies...

    mionebristow@hotmail.com

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  4. Love the Bloody Shirley - virgin drinks are always a good idea when there's work to do (or kids in need of feeling a part of the fun). Great idea and really fun giveaway. Good luck to all the commenters!

    Cheers,
    ~ Cleo
    Coffeehouse Mystery.com
    Cleo Coyle on Twitter

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  5. My kids always want to feel part of the party, so they'll love the idea of having their own special drink. And they *love* cherries! We go through them quickly here, too. :) Thanks!

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  7. My kids would love this as they always want to "fit" in with the others and be a part of the party. I love the wall decoration as well. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
    The World of Book Reviews

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  8. wow, this is a drink I can definitely drink. But what exactly is grenadine?

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  9. What a fun idea! Forgot the kids, I would be pretty happy with this. Thank you for sharing!

    afarage@earthlink.net

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  10. I remember my parents making me kiddie cocktails - we loved it! As a parent, I bought some really fun glasses to put them in as well as umbrella and light up straws

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  11. These are so much fun, to prepare and to drink. The glass in the final picture is one of six we have here - all different colors. Our girls received the collection of glasses as a gift from relatives because everyone knows how much my girls love the drink.

    Dru - Great question! This is from Wikipedia:

    Grenadine is traditionally a red syrup. It is used as an ingredient in cocktails, both for its flavor and to give a reddish/pink tinge to mixed drinks. "Grenadines" are also made by mixing the syrup with cold water in a glass or pitcher, sometimes with ice.

    The name "grenadine" comes from the French word grenade which means pomegranate. Grenadine was originally prepared from pomegranate juice or cherry juice, and sugar. However, "grenadine" is also a common name applied to syrups and beverages consisting of other fruit juices (e.g. raspberry, redcurrant, blackberry) and sugar syrup. The characteristic flavor can be obtained from a mixture of blackcurrant juice and other fruit juices with the blackcurrant flavour dominating.[1]

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  12. My kids would love this too. Much fancier than the cherry 7-Up they've been asking for lately. :)

    jgbeads(at)gmail(dot)com

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  13. Love the Bloody Shirley. I'll make it for my mother-in-law. her name is Shirley and she'll get a kick out of it.

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  14. Bloody Shirley - how cute! Also, definitely my kind of drink - I won't get a buzz from just mixing this one, as I would from the alcoholic kind.

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  15. Sometimes I prefer this to a glass of wine. And my kids know that when they have them, Mom always needs to take a sip, or two, or twenty. That's when I break down and have my husband make one for me. Too fun.

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  16. I'm somewhat relieved to know that I'm not the only one who needs to shop for maraschino cherries in bulk! :)

    Happy Halloween Julie!

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  17. I LOVE maraschino cherries, always have! One of my first bonding experiences with my oldest granddaughter, Nattie, when she was 5 months old. She, and my daughter, were living in Missouri and I hadn't seen her since she had been 1 month old. They came to Indiana to visit and Nattie was that oh, so standoffish, that babies and toddlers can assume when the grownup wants to scoop them up and hug them. Nattie had been keeping me at arm's length so I resorted to the oldest trick in the book, bribery! I sat on the couch with a jar of maraschino cherries and ate one, then put a tiny piece in her mouth. She pulled back with a VERY distrusting look, chewed the cherry, looked at me with total astonishment and lunged across the couch towards me and the jar of cherries! Yes, we had discovered a common ground! Today, Nattie and her little sister, Lexi, live 4 miles from me and we have lots of bonding moments but definitely one of my "sweetest" memories is our first shared jar of those incredible cherries! Nurse JudyMac

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  18. Love the gummy worms! Think I'll serve these at Thanksgiving.
    ~Avery

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  19. Ahhh, kiddie cocktails. This takes me back to my youth. I used to love ordering those and getting pretty glasses of sparkling red liquid with a little paper umbrella. I guess it's not PC to offer these nowadays and it's too bad really. I felt like a princess when I'd get one of these.

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  20. Nurse JudyMac, that's such a cute story!

    Julie, I love your prize. How cute is that?

    Your Bloody Shirley is darling. I bet your house was where all the neighborhood kids gathered!

    Krista

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  21. I love your story, NurseJudy! Very sweet.

    Pattie - I sometimes think about Kiddie Cocktails not being PC, and I understand it. But... my kids at least don't seem to be suffering any ill effects. If any parents of kids would have objected, we would have stopped serving them to their child, but nobody seemed to have a problem. They were just fun and even the parents loved 'em. Maybe that was the secret... the parents wanted them and the kids had them, versus the other way around!

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  22. I can't wait to try this drink! It sounds so good and looks even better. Happy Halloween and remember be scary.

    Happy Halloween,
    Spencer Dunne

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  23. My daughter would love this drink. Thanks for the great idea!

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