Sangria Anyone?

Recipe for Sangria

4 cups red wine
1.5 cups sweet & sour mix
1 cup orange juice
1 cup canned pineapple chunks w/ juice
2 cup triple sec
8 oz. 7-up soda

* ¼ cup or less of sugar to taste (not necessary to add sugar)
* slices of orange/lime/lemon or any fruit that you enjoy (be creative)

Back in November my friend, Cynthia had a dinner party at the house. She cooked a very traditional Mexican meal and I arranged all of our delicious appetizers. While we were at the grocers, we could not figure out what type of beverage to serve. It was to casual for a martini. Nevertheless, the party was not casual enough for a beer. We searched and thought. Thought and searched. Finally, the name Sangria popped into her mind. The best Sangria I ever had, was at my sister-in-law mother’s house. Her name is Sandy Ucci. Oh, my goodness and her sangria is excellent. I immediately phoned her at the grocers and asked for her recipe. She quickly gave it to me over the phone and I ran out to purchase those items while Cynthia finished getting the food items for the party. Operation Sangria was well on it's way.

When I got home, I cleared the kitchen counter to accommodate all the food we had purchased. I arranged a spot near the sink to make the sangria. I suddenly realized that there wasn’t a pitcher large enough in our house to house all the liquid I was about to mix. I searched all of our cupboards and searched in our garage. We always have parties but our punch bowls were not large enough.

I walked into my room and staring back at me was my sunset colored murano glass vase. It measures almost three feet in height and thought it would be perfect to fit all of our sangria. I took it to the kitchen and thoroughly washed it out. And set it in the sink surrounded by ice to keep the vase (now pitcher) chilled.

First, I added the wine. Second, the sweet & sour mix so on and so on. It turned out to be the best cocktail I have ever made. Everyone loved it. I think it is even better than the Sangria at Cha Cha Cha’s.

The original recipe, partially tweaked, is typed out above. I added one more secret ingredient that I am not going to share with you. But take this recipe. Tweak it. Make it your own, and let me know what you added/changed/removed, etc. Maybe in the summer we can all have a sangria contest. What do you think?