No Stress Sangrias
Posted: June 18, 2012 Filed under: Cocktails, Fruit Dishes, Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian | Tags: easy sangria, instant sangria, refreshing cocktail, sangria, wine cocktails, wine spritzer 6 Comments
Instant sangria! Two ingredients plus citrus slices
(Becky, the Butter Lovin’ Mama)
For the past two weeks I’ve been keeping my 5 year old grandson. This has been humbling for a person with ADD who spends a crazy amount of time finding and losing her own purse/keys/phone/sunglasses. Add to this routine, keeping up with a five year old’s needs: shoes, sunscreen, snacks, water bottles, favorite toys and books. At one point, sleep deprived and on my 7th trip from car to house to retrieve a lost item, I tearfully told my husband, “A person who cannot keep up with her keys should not be trusted to care for a small child!” But I somehow got my Temporary Mom Groove on, with a few routines and the help of my husband and family.
Last week my son Gabe invited me and my grandson over for lunch. It was so nice not to have to cook or eat out of a box or bucket. In addition to a yummy salad, roast potatoes and steak, Gabe served the most refreshing Sangrias to the adults. They were perfectly balanced, not too sweet.
“How did you make this?” I asked. He told me that at the restaurant where he and his girlfriend wait tables, there is a man who always orders the same drink: Merlot and Sprite over ice, with a lime. An “instant sangria,” of sorts. The wait staff finally tried it themselves, and loved it.
Gabe gave me the recipe along with some steak and roast potatoes to take home and share with Greg. Greg found the steak and potatoes under my car seat today, six days old and beyond redemption. Thankfully I had the ingredients on hand to make him a sangria to help soothe the loss.
No Stress Sangria
No Stress Sangria
Ingredients
1 part chilled lemon-lime or grapefruit soda
1 part chilled Merlot or Cabernet
Slices of citrus
Ice
Directions
In a glass or pitcher, mix equal parts soda and red wine. Mix with ice and any slices of citrus you like. That’s it! Now find a nice place to sit and sip it, preferably to celebrate the kids having gone to bed! (Or off to college.)
This was printed from: We Laugh, We Cry, We Cook
The site URL: http://welaughwecrywecook.com
The Title: No Stress Sangrias
The URL: http://wp.me/p1UwM9-qr
Becky Johnson
Rachel Randolph
We Laugh, We Cry, We Cook 
When I studied abroad in Spain, we had “Tinto de Verano” every night with dinner all summer long– and it’s just a heavy red wine like Merlot and sprite with a twist. It’s been one of my favorites for years… and I guess it’s catching on in the states. (BTW, toss a few peaches, orange slices, nectarines or strawberries in the wine an hour before serving and then mix with the sprite and lime right before serving and then you have fancy no stress sangrias!) Anyway, thanks for reminding me about this. Oh, and I can’t keep track of my keys either (you don’t even want to know about the doctor’s office incident when I lost my keys and ended up being charged for missing 3 back-to-back appointments). I totally hear you on the five-year-old thing. I’m hoping one of these days my kids get older…or something.
Erin, I really love saying “Tinto de Verano” and this story…
…. and how you can fancy it up with extra fruit you have the time and no children around:) Oh man, I feel your pain on the lost keys thing. As Greg often says as he watches me search in panic, daily, for some essential lost item, “It must be really hard being a Becky.” And this is just me without children!
I saw this post in my inbox, and left it so I could savor it when I wasn’t busy. ME HEART SANGRIA! And, I second what Erin said! I did a study abroad program in Barcelona and only remember three things: architecture, paella, and sangria. I had the table wine/7 up variety, but I really do love my fancy pants Sangria! For those nights where NO ONE is driving home, I do a cabernet, rum, and grand marnier mix–apples, peaches, mangos, lemon, etc. Recently, I found a white sangria recipe that I adore! Sauvignon Blanc, Cointreau, peach liqueur; with peaches and strawberries. Your sangria recipe made me think back to my law school days, though! I called it a spritzer, with some flavored merlot and Sprite. So good! Funny enough, I got the recipe while I was working in a bar . . . the same guy came in all the time and ordered it. Wonder if it was the same guy for your son!
Ha! Look what I just found as the cover story for Epicurious.com: http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/holidays/july4/sangria-red-white-blue?intcid=epi_hptile1
Oh. My. ……gorgeous!
Oh, oh oh YUM. Want to try that fancy pants white sangria with peaches and strawberries. Let me know if/when you post it on your blog! I also really really really need to go to Spain… I can only imagine how much fun that would be. I bought 3 adorable vintage paella pans recently. Now all I need is a good recipe for paella!