A Happy Hour for the Ages - rules of sisterhood

I know, The Real Housewives of New Jersey airs on Monday, and it’s now Wednesday. I was in San Jose visiting my parents the last two days so I haven’t had any time post. Sorry!

Alexis and I still did our Monday happy hour (we even included my mom and dad, since we were at their house. Aren’t we thoughtful?). This week we had a 1950s themed pairing: Orange-Mango Bellinis and good old-fashioned shrimp cocktails.

Y’all know I love bubbles, so I love a champagne cocktail. Bellinis are a classic champagne cocktail generally made from peach puree and (obviously) champagne. Unfortunately, TJ’s didn’t have any fresh or frozen peaches (since they’re not quite in season yet), so Alexis and I settled on a bag of frozen mango. I combined the frozen mango with a little orange juice, and blended it up in the blender.

I added a little puree to each glass, then topped it with champagne. Easy peasy.

Like the mimosas, these tend to want to fizz over when you pour them, so be careful with the champagne.

Isn’t it a nice color? It’s perfect for warm weather. Now if only California would get on it with the weather part…

Shrimp cocktails are just as easy as bellinis to make. You can buy fresh or frozen shrimp, then either boil, saute or roast them (only for a couple minutes though — shrimp cook very quickly and get rubbery if you over-cook them, so be sure to keep an eye on them the whole time they’re cooking). We actually bought frozen, fully-cooked shrimp at TJ’s that we just defrosted in some cool water.

We threw some cocktail sauce (you can make your own pretty easily, we were pressed for time and therefore just used store-bought) into little bowls, and served the shrimp over the sides.