Rudolph's Red Nose Spritzer

This time, the occasion was Deepavali. There isn't ever a time when there's no reason to celebrate, right? Not when you are surrounded by a bunch of happy souls who are ever ready to raise a glass n toast to good times!

S & I hosted a potluck at our place last night for Deepavali and sure enough - friends from in and around NJ made it a lovely evening by attending and staying over. It wasn't complete without a lunch at Saravana Bhavan and a movie at Edison. Too bad, it had to be a Vijay starrer.

In anycase - the best part of any get-together are those mini conversations that occur in groups of 3 and 4 throughout the night. The guys talk about cricket and the girls whine about the guys talking cricket and many such cliches. Amidst one such chatty session - me and my girl friends came up with some exciting new cocktail recipes. Some borrowed, and tweaked to suit the Indian tongue which still finds melagu rasam the most intoxicating drink amidst all!

Will release each of the cocktail recipes here one by one. First up, is Rudolph's Red Nose Spritzer (Inspired from Pinterest)

What you need:

A large glass pitcher
A standard measure of a cup
Mix together the following, decorate with some Rosemary springs n serve in a chilled glass...

5 cups Orange Juice (no pulp, store bought)
2 cups Lemon Soda (I used Archer Farm's Lemon Soda from Target)
2 cups Vodka
1/2 cup Maraschino Cherry Juice

Maraschino cherries are not a variety of cherry, but given the name due to the manufacturing process used to preserve them. There's more detail here, but I will say it is the same as the accompaniment with Sweet Pan that you consume in India at a wedding!

1/2 cup fresh Lemon Juice
Lemon Slices / Raspberries and Rosemary Sprigs to garnish

Stir all the ingredients together and serve chilled. It's that simple!