The Lucky Penny

Midnight Champagne Strawberry Kisses

In just a few short days, everyone will gather together to say goodbye to 2011 and welcome 2012 with celebrations all over the globe.  Growing up, our family tradition was to watch the ball drop in Times Square on TV.  My sister and I would usually make a sign welcoming the New Year and we would all count down together, 10, 9, 8….and my mother would take a picture of us at midnight.  Living in New York City for the past 14 years, I have had the opportunity to attended an assortment of different New Years Eve celebrations sometimes dressing up and going out all night with friends, gathering together for dinner at one of our respective apartments, or at restaurant downtown. One year I even managed to see the ball drop in Times Square, squeezed in between a million people, eventually to be covered in confetti-definitely a fun time.

All of these celebrations were wonderful but my most favorite way to ring in the New Year is at home, with my boyfriend and my dogs.  Sometimes people will come over and celebrate with us, but the last few years it’s just been the two of us (four counting the paws), drinking fine champagne, feasting on pounds of fresh seafood and watching the ball drop from the comfort of our tiny living room on the Upper East Side.  My most favorite part of New Years without a doubt is the midnight kiss, the last kiss of the year and the first kiss of the new year all in one,  it makes me smile just thinking about it.

As I was searching for a good New Years Eve cocktail recipe this year, I wanted to find something that embodied that sweet innocence of the New Years Eve kiss. After looking through countless recipes and conducting several taste tests this past week, I was not able to find what I thought would capture the essence of said kiss.  So,  I decided to create a little recipe of my own, its very simple, a bit sweet and quite lovely to look at-just as a midnight kiss should be.  Hope you like it, Happy New Year!!

Ingredients:

Champagne or Prosecco

Vodka

Triple Sec

Organic Strawberry Sorbet

Fresh Strawberries

Sparkling Sugar

Directions:

(for 2 cocktails)

1-Fill Shaker up with ice and pour 3 ounces Triple Sec, 3 ounces Vodka, gently shake to chill liquor.

2-Slice Fresh strawberries into half inch slices and cover both sides of strawberry with sparkling sugar

3-Scoop one tablespoon Organic Strawberry Sorbet into each champagne flute

4-Pour chilled vodka/triple sec into champagne flute over sorbet until the flute is about half full.

5-Fill the rest of the flute up with Champagne or Prosecco

6-Garnish Champagne flute with sugared strawberry

7- Cheers to the New Year and kiss your sweetheart:)

Happy New Years Everyone!!  Here is to a great 2011 and an even better 2012!