How to Make a Virgin Sangria and Amuse Your Cat by author @CleoCoyle

 

Got overripe fruit? Waste not! 
This virgin sangria is a 
great way to make use of it. 

Cleo Coyle writes two

bestselling mystery

series with her husband.

To learn more, click here.

🍉 A Recipe Note From Cleo Coyle

If you're feeling hot under the collar these days, you are not alone. We have at least one solution for you: a wonderfully refreshing and hydrating recipe, especially for sweltering summer days. 

Why virgin? A white wine sangria is delicious, but on a workday, I prefer that my fingers hit my laptop keyboard rather than my forehead, which means no firewater until the day is done.

A virgin sangria is also a good idea for households with kids because it can be converted into an adult beverage at the time it's poured, which means one pitcher can conveniently serve drinkers and non-drinkers.

To download this recipe in a free 

PDF that you can print, save, 

or share, click here.

Click here for free recipe PDF.

🍉 Cleo Coyle's 

Virgin Sangria

Makes 2 quarts

Ingredients:

1 (11.5 fluid ounce) can of frozen white grape juice concentrate (We like to use Welch's 100% white grape juice, with no added sugar)

1 quart bottled or sparkling water

2 cups sliced strawberries 🍓

4 to 5 peaches 🍑 or nectarines, chopped 

2 cups chopped watermelon 🍉

MIX IT: Empty concentrate into your pitcher or container and stir in the water. When the concentrate is melted into a smooth liquid, add in the fruit. Stir well, cover, and chill for several hours or overnight. The fruit will fortify the white grape juice, making it refreshingly delicious. It will also blush the color from an unappetizing dark yellow to a pretty shade of deep pink.

SERVE IT: Serve chilled in a frosty cold glass and garnish by a triangle of watermelon or small strawberry (see my photos for ideas).

🍹 SPIKE IT, IF YOU LIKE

This is a versatile drink for a household with children or one with drinkers and non-drinkers. To serve this drink as an adult beverage, simply mix half a glass of the virgin sangria with a generous splash of port, sherry, or your favorite fortified wine. Brandy, grappa, cognac, vodka, rum, and fruit liqueurs are other possible ways to spike this refreshing summer cooler. (A concentrated wine or hard alcohol will give you better results than standard wines or sparkling wines, which may taste overly diluted by the virgin sangria.) 

As for Amusing Your Cat... 

Photo by Cleo Coyle

Photo by Cleo Coyle

Photo by Cleo Coyle

Yes, when I took the original photos for this recipe post, one of our adopted New York Strays, Durango (aka Dooch!) decided that a peach also makes a very good beach ball. And, of course, after playtime, he decided to take a taste of the delicious water droplets shimmering on the edge of my watermelon garnish. So drink with joy, and...

Photo by Cleo Coyle

Stay cool, everyone!

~ Cleo Coyle

New York Times bestselling author

of The Coffeehouse Mysteries and

Haunted Bookshop Mysteries

Cleo (Alice) with her husband Marc

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Rosemary Watermelon Lemonade from @MysteryMacRae

 

This lemonade is gorgeous and absolutely delicious! And, thanks to Mia's recipe for lavender simple syrup, I know that I've been making rosemary simple syrup without realizing it. Cool! 

I came across the recipe when I was writing the opening scenes of Last Wool and Testament, book 1 in the Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries. At the wake for Ivy McClellan, late owner of the yarn shop, everyone is wearing something Ivy knitted or wove, or something made from the wool she spun or dyed. And all the food contains rosemary for remembrance, including an olive oil and rosemary cake with dark chocolate. So good! I'll post a recipe for that on MLK sometime this fall when it isn't too hot and muggy to bake. You can also find the cake and the lemonade recipes in the book.

 I’ve tried two methods for making the lemonade and have come to prefer the second. I’ll include both, though. The first uses a regular blender. The second uses an immersion blender and a soup kettle.

 

Rosemary Watermelon Lemonade

(adapted from Allrecipes.com)

  

Ingredients:

2 cups water

3/4 cup white sugar (sometimes I use brown sugar)

1 sprig rosemary leaves, chopped (I’m never quite sure what’s meant by “a sprig.” I try to use at least two tablespoons of chopped leaves.)

2 cups lemon juice

12 cups seedless watermelon either cubed or scooped

 

 Method 1

 

Bring the water and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan over high heat. Stir in the rosemary and set aside to steep for 1 hour.

 Strain the rosemary syrup into a blender. Add a third of the lemon juice and a third of the watermelon. Cover, and puree until smooth. Pour into a pitcher.

Puree another third of the lemon juice and watermelon. Add to the pitcher and repeat with the last of the lemon juice and watermelon.

 Stir the lemonade before serving. Hold your glass to the light and marvel at the beautiful color.

 

Method 2

 Bring the water and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan over high heat. Stir in the rosemary and set aside to steep for 1 hour.

 

Put scooped or cubed watermelon into large soup kettle.

Strain the rosemary syrup into kettle with watermelon. 

Add the lemon juice. Blend with the immersion blender until smooth. Pour into a pitcher.

 

Stir the lemonade before serving. Hold your glass to the light and marvel at the beautiful color.

 

 About Last Wool and Testament – book 1 in the Haunted Yarn Shop mysteries 

 

Kath Rutledge is about to learn the true meaning of TGIF—Thank Goodness It’s Fiber . . . 

That’s the name of the group of fiber and needlework artists founded by Ivy McClellan, Kath’s beloved grandmother. Though Ivy has recently passed on, the members still meet regularly at her fiber and fabric shop, The Weaver’s Cat, which Kath has now inherited. But that’s only the first in a series of surprises when Kath returns to the small town of Blue Plum, Tennessee, to settle her grandmother’s affairs.

There’s been a murder, and it turns out her grandmother was the prime suspect. Before she can begin to clear Ivy’s name, Kath encounters a looming presence in the form of a gloomy ghost. It turns out the specter has just as much interest in solving the murder as Kath. So, with a little help from the members of TGIF—and a stubborn spirit from beyond—she sets out to unravel the clues and hook the real killer . . .

Available in paperback, e-book, and audio from your locally owned independent bookstores, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon. Or ask for it at your public library. 

The Boston Globe says Molly MacRae writes “murder with a dose of drollery.” She’s the author of the award-winning, national bestselling Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries and the Highland Bookshop Mysteries. As Margaret Welch, she writes books for Annie’s Fiction. Her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine since 1990 and she’s a winner of the Sherwood Anderson Award for Short Fiction. Visit Molly on Facebook and Pinterest and connect with her on Twitter  or Instagram.