Hallelujah you guys, I’m emerging from hibernation after a crazy long cold snap here in Edmonton. The past two weeks have been so cold. I’m talking windchills of -50C cold. I basically stocked up on food and wine and hung out at home for a week, which means I’m now stir crazy and my kids are driving me nuts 😂.

One reprieve in my hibernation was a visit from Holly (@chandeliers.and.champagne) for a little cocktail creation date. We decided to bring a little taste of summer to our lives with a fresh, citrus drink that would be perfect on the patio (or in our case hiding behind frosty, snow-covered windows).

I’ve had a bottle of Lillet sitting in my liquor cabinet since the summer. I saw the aperitif popping up in a lot of different cocktail recipes and knew I wanted to play around with it and see what we could come up with. If you’re wondering what it tastes like alone, it was similar to a really sweet white wine. Definitely not something I’d want to drink on it’s own, but it was delicious in this cocktail, especially combined with fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice!

This drink is a pretty stiff one, with three different types of liquor in it, but it was delicious and a perfect treat to get Holly and I through day 100 of being trapped inside with four kids three and under 🥶🥶🥶.

Redheaded French Blonde

Yields 2 cocktails

You’ll need:

1 oz elderflower liqueur – we used St. Germain

4 oz Lillet Blanc

2 oz dry gin – we used Bombay

4 oz fresh-squeezed Ruby Red grapefruit juice

2 dashes of orange bitters

1 sprig of rosemary and 1 lemon rind, to garnish

Ice, to shake

Directions:

Vigorously shake all ingredients (except for garnishes) in an ice-filled cocktail shaker for about 30 seconds, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Garnish with a small piece of lemon rind pierced with a sprig of rosemary. Enjoy, and call yourself an Uber if you’re drinking more than one 😉.

Xoxo Alex &Holly