Sangria! Sangria!

Okay... so even though I am getting this post in for Cinco de Mayo, when is it not an acceptable time for sangria? Sangria is like that perfect poolside drink, cocktails with friends, thirst quenching, crowd pleasing goodness. You don't need a holiday for sangria. But just in case you do, guess what... Cinco de Mayo, birthday parties, 4th of July and Tuesday are all acceptable days to celebrate with sangria. Seriously, it is just delicious and I don't even need to talk you into drinking it. But you for good measure... Do it, now. Go to the store. It is not far. You probably have a drivers license. If not, there is always public transportation. :)

(I just have to give you a quick back story of my sangria making history. I used to make it in huge batches for large parties. Like giant bottles of wine poured into a camping cooler and used for distribution to the masses. This is more a party of 5-10 kind of recipe. I actually doubled this recipe for my kind of company, but that choice is entirely yours.)

Ingredients/Instructions:

1 bottle of dry red wine

1/2 cup brandy

1/2 cup triple sec

1 1/2 cups orange juice

6 oz pineapple juice

2 tbsp agave nectar

orange slices (4-5)

lime slices (4-5)

strawberries (4-5)

pineapple slices (4-5)

mint (totally optional, but my garden is bursting with it)

1. Thinly slice your fruit (roughly 1/4" thick or less) and add it to the pitcher. Add the triple sec and gently muddle.

2. Add your wine, brandy. orange juice, pineapple juice, agave.

3. Chill and serve over ice.

Enjoy!

Yeah, its that simple.