Lemon Rosemary Drop

This past weekend our house was party rockin! We hosted a combo housewarming/birthday party and had close to 50 friends (and 3 dogs) over to our new humble abode. Luke and I love to entertain, and now that we have a much more spacious home, we've been having people over as often as possible. This one takes the cake though (literally! a lemon rosemary cake) and we had a blast planning for it. Luke's side was the beer. In addition to a keg of local beer (Austin Beerworks Pearl Snap Pilsner!) he also brewed up a gluten free beer in honor of a beer-loving friend of his who recently cut out gluten from his diet. My part? I planned plenty of snacks, decorations, cake and wine! The hit of the party was a delicious white wine cocktail recipe that I pulled from Better Homes and Gardens a month or two ago. Unfortunately it's not on their website, so I've typed it below with my small modifications:

Lemon Rosemary Drop


2 cups sugar
8 lemons, zested and juiced (plus additional lemons for garnish)
8 sprigs fresh rosemary (plus additional sprigs for garnish)
4 bottles white wine (they call for Pinot Grigio, I used Sauvignon Blanc)

Place 2 cups water, sugar, lemon zest and rosemary in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil and then let simmer until sugar dissolves. Cool 15-20 minutes, then strain out solids.

Fill a 4-6 quart drink dispenser with 4 bottles wine, juice from 8 lemons and half of the syrup to start (I ended up using 3/4 of it). Stir well then add in lemon slices and rosemary sprigs. Have an ice dispenser on hand to enjoy chilled (I didn't add it to the dispenser since I didn't want to water down the wine!)

We were all pooped after a successful party - especially Benji!