June 30, 2011

Strawberry Vodka Lime Coolers & Fourth of July Drinks {Naptime Entertaining}

Strawberry Vodka Lime Coolers

Before the holiday weekend gets underway I am stopping in with a few naptime chef ideas for your Fourth of July drink spread, along with a fun new cocktail recipe. It is essential that you have a few great frosty drink recipes on hand if you are entertaining this coming weekend!

I made my first attempt at homemade strawberry vodka last week after our strawberry picking expedition. Rarely, if ever, do I buy flavored vodkas because I think they taste artificial and overly sweet. With the hope of finding a way to make an enjoyable, natural fruity liquor, I wanted to try making my own at home. I’d read that people have had great success with it and the whole process seemed completely simple and naptime chef-friendly. I’ll get into a post about the details of making fruit vodkas later in July (hint, hint, I made more flavors than just strawberry…), but suffice it to say, it worked out well. The vodka was infused with the delicious berry flavor and had just the right amount of sweetness from the sugar. If you don’t have the time or interest to make homemade strawberry vodka the store-bought version will work for with  this recipe!

For the cocktail test run we decided serve them up in mason jars. I liked the rustic feel and they were so easy to handle when juggling grill tongs with the other hand! (For a more formal effect consider a tall frosty glass or even a wine goblet.) To make the mass serving easier on myself I made a large mixture of the strawberry-lime mixture during naptime. When dinner hour came all I had to do was pour it into glasses, stir well and serve!

Before the recipe I want to give you all a few more ideas for icy beverages this weekend. If you have any other recipes we should know about please let me know! Happy Fourth of July!

More Fabulous & Fun Naptime Chef Fourth of July Drinks:

Watermelon Margaritas

Mint Lemonade

6 Delicious Belgian Beers for Summer

11 Icy Beverages on Food52.com

Strawberry Vodka-Lime Coolers (recipe below)

Recipe

Strawberry Vodka Lime Coolers

makes 2 drinks

Ingredients

lime, juiced
3 ounces strawberry vodka (store-bought or homemade)
1 ¼ cups plain sparkling water

Ice

Lime wedges for garnish

Instructions

Mix the strawberry vodka and lime juice together in a cocktail shaker with ice. Divide it equally amongst two cups. Divide the sparkling water equally amongst the two glasses and add ice cubes to each one. Stir gently with a cocktail stirrer. Garnish with lime and serve.

Naptime Notes

Naptime Recipe Serving ideas

A lime wedge garnish is a must. We serve this with all kinds of Fourth of July fare like hot dogs, salads and chocolate bundt cake!

Naptime Stopwatch

2 minutes!

 

Naptime Reviews

A hit (with the adults, only!)

 

11 Responses to “Strawberry Vodka Lime Coolers & Fourth of July Drinks {Naptime Entertaining}”

  1. […] rest is here: Strawberry Vodka Lime Coolers | The Naptime Chef This post is under “Uncategorized” and has no respond so far. If you enjoy this article, […]

  2. Looking forward to the post about how to make strawberry vodka – even though it’s winter here we still have huge bags of frozen strawberries to get through and I’m over making muffins 😉

  3. Very nice!  Looking forward to the tips about making the flavored vodka – I have bags and bags of frozen strawberries and I’m over making muffins 😉

  4. Liz the Chef says:

    What is it about summer that makes me want to play with a fruit-y cocktail?! These look scrumptious and I’m going to check out your watermelon margarita recipe too…

    • Kelsey/TheNaptimeChef says:

      I know, I feel the same way regarding fruit cocktails and summer!

  5. Summer cocktails make everything a little sunnier!

  6. Sarah says:

    Kelsey, these look so refreshing! We always have some sort of homemade fruity booze concoction in our fridge. Friends and family love it! haha I will have to add this one to the rotation! It seems so simple. have you ever tried the Bacardi dragonberry/strawberry rum?? If you like strawberry booze this one is serioulsy awesome. It isn’t too sweet either and smells/tatses totally natural.

  7. […] deal. In fact, we loved it so much we immediately celebrated with a beverage, these sweet and tart Strawberry-Vodka Lime Coolers! The peach vodkas and citrus vodkas worked just as well, I am pleased to say. We plan to try our […]

  8. […]  The Naptime Chef Share this:TwitterFacebookPrintLike this:LikeBe the first to like […]

  9. […] cart // Grey Goose Red Cocktail // Starry Straws  Red, White and Brew Labels // Strawberry Vodka Lime Coolers // Red, White, Blue Sangria // Spectacular Sangria Visit my other blog, Sunny Soirees, to join the […]