The Strawberry Muddle

To say that my first experience mixing drinks was a disaster would be a huge understatement; it was traumatic both for me and for the poor party-goers that were polite enough to walk across the room to dump their drinks in the plants rather than in the ones right beside me.

I was in college and I was supposed to be bartending with my mom, who thought it was about time I learned how to mix drinks and was going to give me some "on-the-job" training. Needless to say, my mom was unexpectedly hit with a semi-serious health issue the day of the event. I was still committed to bartending, now alone, so my mom tried to explain over the phone in five minutes how to mix certain drinks. I took notes on a small piece of paper. She wished me luck. I knew I was doomed.

To sum up how the evening transpired, you can pretty much tell that you're not going to get a good drink when you order, say, a gin and tonic and the bartender (that would be me) asks "What exactly is in that?" or "Can you point to the bottles that I should use to make this drink?".

Needless to say, my mixology skills have improved greatly over the years, and while I'm more of a wine and beer drinker, I still like an occasional something fancy. So, when I was browsing through the recent issue of Bon Appetit, I saw this and figured it would make a nice summer drink. I do believe someone posted a request for more no-bake dinner ideas...does this qualify?

The Strawberry Muddle

Adapted from Bon Appetit

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

1-1/2 cups chopped, hulled strawberries

6 thin lemon slices

Ice cubes

1 bottle chilled Prosecco

Stir sugar and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and bring to boil. Cool syrup.

Divide strawberries among six 6- to 8-ounce glasses.

Add 1 tbsp of the syrup to each glass and mash with a muddler or the handle of a wooden spoon. 

Add a lemon slice to each and mash to release flavor. 

Add several ice cubes to each glass, then fill with Prosecco.

*The recipe says that you shouldn't stir before drinking, but I found I preferred it when the sweet strawberry/sugar mix on the bottom was blended with the Prosecco.