A Phillies Martini

This Halloween was one of the most surreal days of my life, thanks to a long and perilous journey to celebrate the Phillies Championship Parade.

Like everyone else, I mistakenly followed the advice of city officials and took the Septa/Patco in; inevitably it was clogged with the masses of fans and ended up being backed up for hours. So off we went on foot, shuffling and pushing our way down Broad Street with the 2 million other fans.

Three miles, a dozen Greenman sightings and twenty awful renditions of “We Are The Champions” later, we finished our march down to Citizens Bank Park and joined the drunk revelry and mayhem of the sports complex.

While the drink of choice for the day appeared to be Miller Lite (ew) or whatever could easily be concealed in a paper bag, I prefer something a bit more sophisticated for my celebrations. While I don’t pretend to be a very good bartender, there’s something very special about anything served in a martini glass.

Pomegranate Martini

This is a very sweet and fruity drink, inspired (but adapted) by a recipe from the restaurant and bar where I used to work. Sugar is optional, but gives it an extra fancy-pants look. Serves 2.

(Just a reminder: 2 tablespoons = 1 fluid ounce and 4 tablespoons = 1/4 cup)

Ingredients

4oz pomegranate juice or Rose’s Pomegranate Twist Cocktail mix

4oz vodka (you can use a flavored one also, such as Absolut Citron)

Splash of sweet & sour mix

Flavored sugar to line the rim (optional)

2 martini Glasses and a shaker

Directions:

To sugar the rim of a glass, moisten the edge with a wedge of lemon or a wet paper towel. Pour a thin layer of the sugar onto a small plate and place the upended glass onto it, twisting a bit so the sugar sticks. If that sounds confusing, check this blog post out for more instructions.

Combine the liquid ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake very hard, making sure to keep the shaker together so it doesn’t explode (a problem I’ve had before). Strain into a chilled glass and serve. Garnish with a lemon twist or a few fresh pomegranate seeds. Yum!