Muddling Through - and a Spring Cocktail

Embarrassing confession time: Last December, Arctic Chill sent me a cocktail muddler...and I left it in the box until last Friday. It sat on my kitchen counter, a daily reminder of what a slacker I am. ("Muddling" is not the only thing on my to-do list that's lingering.)

Last Friday, on the first day of Spring, the weather sucked but it seemed like as good a time as any to get muddling.

Last week, in honor of Spring, I packed up a bunch of booze from our house, along with some fruit and mint, and carted it over to Kyle and Mary's house - with the muddler, of course. I didn't have a recipe -  just some thoughts. As soon as we arrived, I spread everything out and got creative. It looked something like this:

And that turned into this:

And it was delicious. So delicious that I made three or four more rounds, until I ran out of prosecco and had to use sparkling water instead. Oh, and the muddler? It's solid. Stainless steel, easy to clean, great weight. I like it!

If you're in the mood for celebrating this week, you could do worse. Here's the recipe:

Welcome to Spring Cocktail
Makes 4 drinks

Ingredients:
4 ounces Vodka
2 ounces Limoncello
2 ounces Blackberry cassis
1/4 bottle Prosecco
2 sprigs mint, plus more to garnish
4 raspberries
1/8 cup blueberries
4 blackberries
2 key limes, halved
2 ounces simple syrup
2 ounces lime juice

Place all ingredients in a cocktail shaker and muddle until the fruit has liquified. Strain the fruit and booze mixture into a new shaker and shake to combine. Taste - if it's too tart, add a little more simple syrup.

Fill four rocks glasses with ice. Divide the fruit mixture between the four glasses, filling each about 3/4 of the way. Top with prosecco and stir to mix. Garnish with mint and enjoy!