AAA’s Zero-Proof “Mocktails” Can Be the Life of the Part

NEWS from AAA Oklahoma, Dec. 8 – Serving non-alcoholic “mocktails” and following AAA’s “ABCs of Partygiving” at your holiday get-togethers can help make sure your guests get home safely when the party is over.

• Alcohol awareness. Serve a wide variety of beverages, including the new, original mocktails, below. Close your bar well before guests leave.
• Buffet.  Have plenty of protein-rich and starchy foods available to help retard the absorption of alcohol into the bloodstream.  Minimize salt.
• Carpool.  Encourage use of designated drivers and don’t be reluctant to call a cab for a guest who has had too much to drink.  Give a small gift to all designated drivers at your party. Or, if you or one of your guests has partied a bit too much and feels unsafe behind the wheel, call AAA’s Tipsy Tow anytime between 6 p.m. Dec. 17 and midnight Jan. 1 in Tulsa, OKC, Muskogee, Shawnee, Enid, Ardmore and Lawton. Dial (800) 222-4357 and ask for Tipsy Tow. AAA will give you and your vehicle a free ride home, no questions asked – members and nonmembers alike.

The following recipes took the top prizes in the 2010 Great Pretenders Mocktail Mix-Off, held Nov. 11 at the Renaissance Oklahoma City Convention Center Hotel. For a free copy of the full mocktail guide, click here  or visit any AAA Oklahoma office, or write to: Mocktails, AAA Oklahoma, 2121 E. 15th St., Tulsa, OK 74104.

FIRST PLACE

Red Dirt Mocktail

Elias Ramos ● Renaissance OKC Hotel, OKC

1 oz Simple Syrup

1 oz Grenadine

1 1/2 Strawberries

3 small pieces of Watermelon

6 oz of Sprite

Muddle the strawberries and watermelon with the simple syrup, add the Sprite and ice and then enjoy this decadent “Oklahoma Original.”

SECOND PLACE

Salty Puppy Mocktail

Jason Ewald • Red PrimeSteak, OKC

2 1/2 oz Fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice

3/4 oz Fresh-squeezed lemon juice

3/4 oz Basil simple syrup

3/4 oz Pasteurized egg white

1 sprig Fresh Basil

1 dollop Lemon salt air

Topping -Lemon Salt Air

8 oz Fresh-squeezed lemon juice

1 cup Water

1 T. Kosher salt

1/2 t. Soy lecithin

For topping– Combine ingredients in mixing bowl and blend with hand blender until foam sits atop the solution. Wait for foam to thicken.

For drink– Combine liquid ingredients in shaker with ice. Shake vigorously for fifteen seconds and pour into martini glass. Add dollop of salt foam and garnish with sprig of basil. This drink will delight your taste buds with a bark of flavor.

THIRD PLACE

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Republic Gastropub (team effort), OKC

2 oz Cream soda

2 oz Ginger ale

2 oz Root beer

4 oz Frozen pumpkin ice cream

2 oz Brulee’d pumpkin ice cream

2 oz Frozen vanilla ice cream

2 oz Brulee’d vanilla ice cream

Dip the glass rim in honey and then in mixture of brown sugar, sugar in the raw and cinnamon. Add brulee’d ice creams and then float with sodas. Top off with frozen ice creams. Add cinnamon, cinnamon stick and straw. This is one nightmare you will want to enjoy at any party.