Ain’t gonna lie, I got my jolly on a little too effectively on Thanksgiving and was feeling a bit bleary the next day.  I’d like to blame it on the long cook time on the brisket (dinner for two, brisket for twelve).  Or, maybe all the holiday decorating made me thirstier than usual.  Sure.

Despite the bleariness, I set out on an ambitious black Friday expedition.

No I didn’t.

Do you do black Friday?  It’s crazy town out there.  I try to avoid it at all costs.  I am a dedicated online shopper.  I find that it is much easier to maintain my holiday jolly if I forgo shopping centers.  But, I did want to add a glass snowman to my growing collection, so I headed north to the Tacoma Glassblowing Studio.  Every year they offer a dizzying number of glass snowmen of all sizes and colors.  This year they upped the ante by introducing glass trees.  I mean, really, was I supposed to choose?  (I didn’t…I bought one of both).

By Friday evening I was feeling 100% better, but was still not sure about cocktails for the evening.  But, I had to get back on the horse for all of you…my devoted fans.  I flipped through my Pinterest Christmas cocktail file and landed on Limoncello Vodka Collins, complements of our friend Ina Garten.  Now, Ina has this tagged as a summer cocktail, and I think it would be a most excellent beverage to sip on a warm July afternoon. However, I used it more as a palate cleanser.

Trader Joes carries a lovely limoncello at a reasonable price.  I recommend that you acquire a bottle and park it in your freezer.  Great place to store it.  Great place to forget about it.  Note to self:  don’t forget the limoncello in the freezer. Oh, look, I bought a new bottle and there was still part of a bottle tucked way in the back. Funny how the freezer swallows things whole.

I recognize that this cocktail is not the least bit Christmas-y feeling.  I would argue that because of this it may fit perfectly somewhere into your holiday entertaining calendar.  Be bold. Be unpredictable. Actually, you could dress it up with a sprig of rosemary and a few whole cranberries and, voila, instant holiday cheer!

PS You may notice this year’s cocktails are served in non-traditional glasses.  For instance, this cocktail should probably (officially) be served in a highball glass.  I don’t have any highball glasses, but I have pretty holiday wine glasses.  Bartender’s choice!  🙂

Limoncello Vodka Collins

3/4 c vodka
1/2 c freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/8 c limoncello (or a snidge more.  I’m pretty sure I snidged more)
3/4 c cold club soda (per Ina’s recommendation I used Pellegrino)
ice cubes

Stir all of the above together.  Serves two generously.  The husband found this a bit tart, but if you appreciate all things citrus as I do you will agree that it is quite tasty.  Next time I would probably add an extra blurp of limoncello to his glass as it’s pretty sweet and might cut the tart a bit.