birthday countdown 2012 : a mojito and the martini

So, these were a challenge to make! Putting together my idea through a cocktail shaker was the easy part, but trying to find lavender in the city of Orlando was almost impossible. Not even Whole Foods carried it! I some how on the drive back from a random market found a small bakery, went in to get some coffee, and they had lavender cookies. Lavender cookies. They bake everything in home, and so I asked if they had any lavender. Luckily they had it dried, and I told them about my situation [in very full detail]. Luckily for me, they gifted me about a cup of the stuff as an early birthday present! So, as a thank you, I plan on doing a post on this very special bakery.

Lavender has a sweet, subtle flavor with versatility. I tried a number of drinks paired with cucumber, vanilla, lime, mint and more and found it to be easy to manipulate. Since we're celebrating, I came up with two signature cocktails for our  party series : a weekend getaway to Cannes!

I believe every party should have a signature cocktail. I think I get this from my parents and Martha Stewart. The cocktail brings the theme together and sets the mood for what kinds of flavors to expect for dinner. I've attended a wedding where there was a signature ice cream too! I would not mind a signature ice cream. Remember when putting together a cocktails. One, make sure your flavor ingredients go together {lavender-vanilla, lavender-mint-lime}. Two, try to keep the alcohol combination simple. Three, if you're working with a single ingredients {lavender} then don't try to over power it with a second ingredient.

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Print on a 3 x 5 index card setting and store with the rest of your recipes! 

For more recipes visit my interactive recipe index!

By the way, have you had a chance to enter my giveaway?