Cocktail Hour

If you had asked me, at the age of 10, what my dream job was, I wouldn’t hesitate to say “a bartender”. Perhaps a strange aspiration at such a young age but I thought bartenders were the absolute coolest people. I was so impressed by their ability to know how to make any drink without a recipe or measuring cup (not to say I spent a lot of my youth in bars, observing bartenders…). 

Images by Kirsten Valentini

One summer when I was a child, my dad taught me how to make him a gin and tonic so I could pursue my professional dreams. He instructed me that “ice makes the drink”, ⅓ gin, ⅔ tonic, a wedge of lime squeezed into the cocktail, then swipe the lime around the rim, drop in and stir. Making him gin and tonics throughout the summers felt like such a privilege - I was honing my craft! Though I did really want him to request something else so I could learn a new recipe. 

While I moved on from my dream of being a bartender, my love of making cocktails hasn’t dissipated and to honor this passion of mine, I will host a cocktail hour. A cocktail hour is a great way to wind down after a hard day of work, to catch up with a friend for a little bit without the commitment of a full meal or to enjoy the nice weather before the sun sets. 

The perfect mocktail: a Shirley Temple

Despite its name, a cocktail hour doesn’t need to include cocktails or be limited to an hour. Wine or beer will suffice; even a mocktail will do. Speaking of, I recently had a Shirley Temple and honestly, they’re just as delicious as an adult. A Tom Collins is one of my favorite drinks and for lack of a better description, it’s an adult lemonade. 

In my book, snacks are required but any snack will do. These cheese crackers are great because you can freeze the dough and just bake them off, if someone stops by for a last minute drink! And I personally love cocktail nuts. I think a salted peanut is a great compliment to just about any cocktail. I’ve upgraded my cocktail nuts by making them spicy candied cocktail nuts and they, like cheese crackers, taste great with a drink.