Jazz and Cocktails: Valentine’s Day Grown-Up Drinks to Enjoy

Hello from Kathleen Raskin, and welcome to my Las Vegas kitchen! If you’re looking for ideas to dress up your Valentine’s Day dinner, then try one of these delicious drinks featured today on Kathey Jo’s Kitchen. The red colors are obviously complementary to the holidays, but they also highlight the universality of the drinks themselves. Scarlet gives you a mellow peach and tart cranberry flavor, with a touch of citrus that makes it resemble a long hot summer afternoon. On the flip side, the sweet and tart notes in the Felicia are great for fall get-togethers. What are your favorite red or pink colored cocktails? Share your favorites with the rest of Kathey Jo’s Kitchen!

Scarlet O’Hara

Ingredients

  • 2 ounces Southern Comfort
  • Dash of lime juice
  • 6 ounces cranberry juice
  • Garnish with a lime wedge

Directions

  1. Pour the Southern Comfort, lime juice, and cranberry juice into a shaker with ice, and shake well.
  2. Strain into a sour or Collins glass.

Variations on the base recipe use grenadine instead of cranberry juice, and peach liqueur instead of Southern Comfort. The drink was created specifically to market the movie Gone with the Wind in 1939. Bottled lime juice will work in a pinch, but fresh limes have a much sharper taste which complements the overall flavor better. This drink pairs well with chicken or fish.

Hello Felicia

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Shake the two ingredients together in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into the glass of your choice.
  2. Optional: garnish with an apple slice.

It pairs well with fall dishes, so turkey, or pumpkin ravioli. It’s no sweeter than a vodka cranberry, but it is on the dry side. It’s got enough oomph to keep you going during a night of dancing, but I highly recommend that you don’t drive so soon after drinking three ounces of vodka. Let the apple garnish soak at the bottom of the glass. Then you can enjoy the extra kick when you’re done.