Whiskey Sour

We are less than two weeks away from our “Fist Full of Cocktails” (FFOC) fundraising party. This will be the third year we have gotten together with Sandy, Brian, Paula and David to donate a cocktail party for our kids’ school. For the last two years the party has been at our house, and it was a tiki themed party. Planning the parties was almost as fun as having the parties themselves. This year the party is at Sandy and Brian's and we decided on a western theme (hence the play on Fist Full of Dollars).

We came up with some fun drinks for the tiki parties. We set the bar high, so we knew we needed some good drinks for FFOC. The real drink menu is hush-hush, but I can give you one of the drinks we aren’t going to make. It is not a bad drink (I won’t share those with you). It’s a little hands-on for a large party. If you’re only going to make a couple of drinks, this recipe for whiskey sours is great.

I saw Ina Garden make this drink on her show The Barefoot Contessa, and I have been wanting to try it ever since. Ina’s original recipe was really, well, sour, but once my eyes uncrossed and the stinging behind my ears stopped, I really enjoyed the drink. The flavor the fresh squeezed juice gave the drink was really fresh and delicious, but I wanted to tame the sour a little. I increased the sugar syrup and the whiskey, and that did the trick.

Whiskey Sour
Adapted from Ina Garden

1 cup whiskey
2/3 cup sugar syrup
¼ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
½ cup fresh squeezed lime juice
Ice cubes
Maraschino cherries

Mix the whiskey, sugar syrup, lemon and lime juices together. Pour into glasses filled with ice and garnish with maraschino cherries. Makes 4 drinks.