This weekend calls for...Sangria!

{image courtesy of ibiza hotels}

Well actually probably not this weekend as I already have festivities planned that include champagne and margaritas for Julie's going away party. She's leaving us to head waaaaay across the state and start law school in a few weeks. Hopefully she'll be working here in the summers! But maybe your weekend plans call for sangria???

I made this sangria recipe a few weeks ago when my friend Lauren came to town for a girly weekend and to see The Fray in concert. I feel like I always see tons of sangria recipes, everyone seems to have one that they swear by, or one that is just SO easy. I've made a few and they always just seemed to be missing something. I ran across this recipe in a free neighborhood magazine that I ususally just toss in the recylcing bin but the promise of "cool summer cocktails" on the cover caught my eye this time.

As I read the recipe I saw one ingredient - that proves to be key - that I'd never seen in a sangria recipe before: frozen lemonade concentrate. My curiosity was peaked! (Plus I've been on the lookout for fun punch recipes ever since I finally gave in and bought one of those cool glass beverage jars...so this was just another excuse to use it.)

Luckily the meal I'd planned for that night would complement the sangria well so it seemed like the thing to do.

Sangria!

1/2 cup brandy
1/2 cup triple sec
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup frozen lemonade concentrate
1 (750 milliliter) bottle dry red wine
1 lemon, sliced into rounds
1 orange, sliced into rounds
1 lime, sliced into rounds
1/4 cup white sugar
8 maraschino cherries (optional)

There really aren't any 'directions' for this - you just mix it all up and enjoy! They did suggest you mix it the night before for best results but I did ours right before we drank it and Molly, Lauren and I thought it was pretty tasty!

I made a double batch of this and we used Yellow Tail Shiraz as the red wine - it was fantastic! I was a little leery of the brandy taste but it really worked out and the frozen lemonade concentrate gave it this little extra zing that I feel like is usually missing from my other recipes. It was refreshing and light instead of sickly sweet, which is how I feel about some others.

For dinner that night we had Cumin Dusted Chicken Breasts with Guacamole Sauce from Cooking Light. YUM! This was so easy and I highly recommend it with sweet potato fries. (the frozen ones are actually really good!)

Hope everyone has a fast Friday and a great weekend!