The prettiest cocktail Food Recipes

My girlfriends, Libby, Kristin and I have "dinner club" every so often. That basically just means we get together at each other's houses and make a fabulous meal and drink wine. Dinner club used to be weekly but us gals get busy! So lately it has been monthly.

Well I am very excited for our dinner club this evening and we're testing the "Lavanda", a pretty, pretty cocktail recipe I found in a recent issue of Everyday with Rachel Ray magazine. The recipe calls for dried lavender which I found at Penzey's spices in Uptown Minneapolis. I don't know if there is anything as lovely as lavender, it smells delicous and I am sure will taste even better infused into this drink.

Here is the drink and the recipe as seen in the magazine (photo credit Everyday with Rachel Ray).

Lavanda (aka the prettiest drink ever)

2 cups sugar
1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon fresh lavender leaves (or 2 teaspoons dried lavender leaves), plus 1 sprig for garnish
3 tablespoons gin (I am NOT a big fan of gin, so I will be substituting vodka instead)
Ice cubes
Prosecco, chilled

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, 1/4 cup fresh lavender leaves (or 1 teaspoon dried lavender) and 1 1/2 cups water. Bring to a low boil over medium-high heat. Lower the heat and simmer, stirring, for 5 minutes. Let cool. In a shaker, combine the remaining 1 teaspoon fresh or dried lavender leaves, the gin and 1 1/2 tablespoons lavender syrup (reserve the remaining syrup for another use); muddle, using a wooden spoon. Add ice cubes and shake. Strain the mixture into a champagne flute and top with prosecco. Garnish with the lavender sprig.