2-15 Mocktails

One of my good friends emailed me her first ultrasound a few weeks ago and I decided it was time to carry out a plan I'd been devising for a few months. The ideas began whirling through my brain late last year when my husband and I were talking about how soon we'd like to try to get pregnant (which came along with little jokes from him like "I don't think I will get pregnant", but I digress). I started reading about all the things I should not be consuming in preparation for having those little ones growing inside me. Of course, pregnancy should be a wonderful time in our lives, not a time when we are focused on all the things we can't have, so in honor of our friend getting pregnant I decided to have a non-alcoholic cocktail party instead of my regular "wine night" with the girls to introduce them to some alternative drink choices. The mommy-to-be was ecstatic. She is a little over three months along and is already professing strong desires to order something other than soda water when out and about.

I thought fajitas would make a good mocktail pairing, so all of the girls brought a portion of the meal and I devised 3 cocktails to go along. I wanted the drinks to be more inventive than margarita mix on the rocks, or cranberry and soda, so I broke the flavors of some common liquors down to try and find a replacement for them in the drinks. There's something non-yummy about the taste of alcohol that I needed to discover to make pregnant women feel like they were still part of the party.

My first attempt was the Margarita, or in this case, Mockarita. Since tequila is often described as having carmel and earthy notes, I decided to look for a flavor of tea that would somehow represent that (caffeine free, of course). The closest I came was a vanilla/hazelnut brew. The next ingredient to mimic was triple sec. Its a sweet liquor with an essence of orange, so to replace it I made simple syrup, steeped with orange rind (Simmer equal parts of sugar and water on the stove with the rind of an orange until all of the sugar is dissolved. Then, remove from heat and put the lid on until it is cool, so that the orange rind can leave its zesty flavor.) The only ingredient left was lime juice. I used some limeade and some straight juice. I ended up squeezing half of the orange that I had removed the rind from in there too, a tip I got from a favorite Margarita specialist. Here's the resulting recipe for a pitcher, which tasted a little like a Margarita crossed with a Long Island, but was still delicious.

Mockarita (serves 6)
1 1/2 c. limeade
1 c. lime juice
1 1/2 c. orange rind simple syrup
1/4 c. tea
juice from 1/2 of an orange
To serve, wipe the rim of 6 glasses with lime juice and dip in 1/2 of the rim in salt. Fill glasses with ice and then with this yummy baby-friendly beverage!

Since the cosmopolitan is another popular choice of ladies (although by some recent sources declared "out"), it was my next project. Vodka is a lot like water, but a little off tasting, so remembering a time when my mom had me sample the aloe vera juice that had become her new health kick (a watery beverage with a slightly bitter flavor) I picked some up at the local natural food shop. The triple sec was again replaced with my orange rind simple syrup, and the remaining ingredients are already alcohol free. Here's the recipe...also superb!

The Suburbian (a mock-Cosmopolitan for 6)
1/2c. cranberry juice
2 c. aloe vera juice
1/2 c. lime juice
2 c. orange scented simple syrup

Line the rim of 6 martini glasses with lime juice and dip in sugar (I like to use pink sugar if I can find it). Serve the bevvie in the glasses straight up.

The final drink choice was intended to make it easy for mommy's to order in a bar or restaurant. My intention is eventually to distribute this entire drink list to every bar I come in contact with, first in the bay area, and then where ever else my influence can reach, but until I become that famous, I wanted something easy for the alcohol free-set to order now.

The ginger and tonic (single serving)
1 part ginger ale
1 part tonic
Fill high ball glass (short drink glass) with ice and halfway with ginger ale. Top off with tonic and a squeeze of lime. Drop the lime in the glass. Whaa-laa!

I also enjoy cranberry and soda, pineapple juice and soda, or a plain old 7up when I'm ready to take it easy for the night. You can always request your drink in a fancy glass, which will also make it look and feel more like a "real drink". Ginger ale in a champagne glass is so much more delicious than ginger ale in a regular ol' cup...Really!