So while my husband has been away, I wanted to try some cocktails that I suspected he would not like.  The first up was Feeling Peachy.  This is really easy to make, and I was able to use our ripe peaches and thyme.  And it was quite tasty.

The next one I tried was Rose Drop.  I have been saving this recipe out of Sunset magazine for over 2 years waiting for enough roses to be in bloom at once to make this.  I had to start it the day before.  Here are the rose pedals soaking vodka.

And here is my drink.  Looks pretty, doesn’t it?

It paired well with a Rose bath bomb and a mystery novel.  The problem was it was awfully strong.  I should have known that since I made it, but you couldn’t taste how alcoholic it was.  I ended up getting sick.  I think I will try to make it again but dilute it next time.

Next I tried a series of punches from Bon Appetit magazine from 2 years ago.  This all looked so fun and summery I had to try them.  But given my rose drop experience, for each of them I used about 1/4 to 1/3 of the alcohol called for.  Plus I omitted the sugar from each recipe as well.  

The first one was Heat-to-Heat Punch.  I am not sure if I have ripe watermelon in my tangle of a garden so bought one.  But I did use our basil.  This is a fun summertime drink.

Next came the Barbados Gin Punch.  This one was so much fun.  It felt very tropical with the coconut.  I felt like I was putting a lime in the coconut and drinking it all up.  I did get to use some of our mint too.

This one fluoresced under candlelight.

And it paired well with a lime-mint bath bomb and my mystery novel.  By the way coconut water and gin are a good combination.

The last of the summer punches was the Varadero Cooler.  Again, very tropical feeling with the pineapple.  The grapefruit juice added a nice kick too.

So last night was the last of the Husband’s Away cocktails.  It was a Cucumber Gimlet recipe that Bevmo sent me.  I figured it was good use of our cucumber and mint.  Again I used about 1/3 the amount of gin and no sugar.

Here it is,  refreshing looking, right?  It is tasty.  Again the gin pairs well with the mint and cucumber.

So that is my exploration of cocktails while Tom was gone.  He’ll be back this evening, and I will return to my homemade plum wine.  Maybe next summer, I will make these again.