A few Sundays back the weather warmed up suddenly (randomly) and Julie and Sister Amy decided that the perfect weather called for a picnic. Amy & Julie have a talent for great get-together ideas – and for cobbling together all-star menus at the last minute. This one was certainly no exception.

Amy just happened to already have a baguette and all the ingredients for an Asparagus Fritatta. Julie was the dispatched to the store for Wine, Goat Cheese and Olives.

It should be noted here that Sister Amy’s Fritatta made a shockingly good (and shockingly resilient) finger food. As it baked it formed a bit of a crust that gave it some backbone. Sliced into wedges it kept it’s structure well, didn’t fall apart all over the place, and it was really fun to eat. It was very easy to imagine a backyard full of people wandering around, chatting and sipping Champagne and nibbling on Frittata. Just an FYI for your next picnic or whatever…

The star of the menu, however, had to be the White Sangria that they just “threw together”. While at the store Julie had picked up a selection of Citrus Fruit and two gigantic bottles of an inexpensive White Wine. After experimenting a little with the ratios of fruit, ice, wine, and sugar they eventually struck gold. Their Sangria was light and refreshing with just a touch of sweetness.

All in all we wound up with a pretty sophisticated spread of appetizers and finger foods that was also pretty inexpensive (and just plain pretty). To top it all off, the White Wine Sangria was amazing and was really refreshing. We should probably give yet another shout out to Lyndie for putting the Sangria bug in our brains… Thanks Lyndie!

This is definitely going to be the summer of Sangria. They’re just too delicious, affordable, and easy to not make them all the time. Here’s what went into ours:
1 Lime, sliced
1 Blood Orange, sliced
1 large Meyers Lemon (or two small ones), sliced
2 Grapefruits, 1 sliced and 1 juiced
1 1.5 liter bottle of inexpensive White Wine (we spent about $8 a bottle for ours)
Ice Cubes
Sugar to taste

Toss all the fruit slices and juice into your most gigantic pitcher, pour in the Wine, top it up with ice, stir/mash it all together and sweeten it to taste with a little sugar.

We got a little fancier with the varieties of fruit than is really necessary. Regular old oranges and lemons would be great in this and might save you a buck or two.

It’s going to be fun to make a Red Sangria now (Lyndie’s specialty). Maybe we’ll try throwing some berries in it once their in season, who knows? We’ll be sure to post the results of any experimenting we do.

Cheers!