Happy Hour Time.

A delicious cocktail followed by some boozy pasta. Sounds like a good way to kick off the weekend, eh?

I’ve tried a bunch of penne alla vodka recipes and this is one of the best. I love the addition of sun dried tomatoes. The balance of cream and vodka is just right here.

Penne Alla Vodka

Ingredients:

1 Tbs olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, chopped
1/2 cup vodka
3/4 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper
1 pound penne
1/3 cup minced basil

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to the boil and cook pasta as directed. Reserve 1/4 cup of cooking water.

2. Meanwhile, heat oil in large skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add garlic and pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add crushed tomatoes and sun-dried tomatoes and cook until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Off heat stir in vodka (this helps to avoid any flare-ups). Bring sauce to boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer until thickened, 12 to 15 minutes.

3. Off heat add cream. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Toss sauce with drained pasta and basil. Add the reserved pasta water if needed.

Serves 4.

Recipe from Cook’s Country Magazine

Cocktail time.

French 75

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons brandy
1 tablespoon orange liqueur
Crushed ice cubes
1 lemon wedge
1 small lemon rind twist
1/2 cup Champagne or sparkling wine

Directions:

1. Combine first 3 ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Cover with lid, and shake 30 seconds or until thoroughly chilled. Remove lid, and strain into a martini glass.

2. Squeeze juice from lemon wedge into glass; rub lemon rind twist around rim, and drop into glass. Add Champagne to brandy mixture, and serve immediately.

Recipe from Southern Living Magazine

Aaaah. Friday. I’m going to tip back that cocktail and blast some Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros.

If you have not done so already, you NEED to get on the ES&TMZ bandwagon. Seriously good music.

There’s like a hundred musicians in the band. The songs are fun, catchy, lyrically wonderful.

Here we go…..The CD is on.

There will be singing and dancing.

And clapping.

Choosing Edward Sharpe songs to share is almost impossible. I love EVERY SINGLE SONG.

The other tune I decided to go with is Black Water. As songs go, it is pretty epic and I like that sort of thing.
Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros-Black Water

You can check out Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros on Myspace, their Website and Facebook. Do your self a favor and buy ‘Up From Below’. It’s fantastic. Try not to smile every time you listen to ‘Home’.

Cheers!