The cocktails have been created by food consultant Michele Barlow to help promote the need for safe driving and to help reduce the number of deaths and injuries on Lancashire's roads. She advises that you spend as much on the ingredients as you would on alcohol to make sure the cocktail is a really delicious experience.
Linda Sanderson, from the Lancashire Partnership for Road Safety says, "There's nothing nicer on a summer's day than having friends round for a barbecue, but being hospitable is one thing and considerate another. It's great to lay on chilled wine, Pimms and cold beer for those that are not driving, but plain water, squash or fizzy pop for those that are do not always appeal to the adult palate and can sometimes encourage even the most sensible to take alcohol."
Get your lips round these!
(All recipes serve 4 people)
Licence to Chill
What you need:
- Two tablespoons caster sugar dissolved in the juice of two fresh limes.
- Ice cubes (tip - the amount that fills one glass is required for blending one drink.
- Two teaspoons of rose essence or rose syrup.
- 100ml chilled lychee juice or lychee puree.
- Pink sugar for garnishing the glass rims.
- One lime wedge.
- Crystallised rose petals or fresh rose petals (make sure these have not been sprayed).
How to make it:
- Rub the rims of four martini glasses with the lime wedge.
- Pour the pink sugar onto a small, flat plate and roll the lime-dipped rims in the sugar (rimming glasses adds, not only a finishing touch, but flavour and texture that can be an intrinsic part of the cocktail).
- Place all the ingredients including the ice into a blender.
- Blitz/blend until well blended (for perfect results you may need to stop and shake up the contents of the goblet and blend again).
- Pour into prepared glasses, garnish with floating rose petals and serve.
Red Light
What you need:
- 1kg fresh peeled and seeded watermelon (about half to one full melon depending on size).
- 250g hulled strawberries.
- 100ml chilled cranberry juice.
- One teaspoon rose essence.
- Crushed ice.
- Watermelon triangles or strawberries for garnish.
How to make it:
- Juice the watermelon and strawberries in a juice extractor.
- Add the cranberry juice and rose essence and stir well.
- Fill four long glasses with crushed ice and pour over the juice mixture.
- Serve garnished with watermelon triangles or strawberries wedged on the glass rim.
Amber Nectar
What you need:
- One whole fresh pineapple peeled and cut into chunks.
- Ice cubes (tip - the amount that fills one glass is required for blending one drink).
- Juice of three limes.
- Two tablespoons caster sugar.
- Handful fresh mint leaves.
- Sea salt flakes for rimming the glasses.
- Five lime wedges
How to make it:
- Rub the rims of four martini glasses with one lime wedge.
- Pour the salt flakes onto a flat plate and roll the lime-dipped rims in the salt.
- Juice one half of the pineapple in a juice extractor.
- Place the remaining pineapple in a blender with the lime juice, sugar and mint and blend well.
- Remove from the goblet and add this mixture to the pineapple juice.
- Place the ice into the goblet and add the pineapple mixture.
- Blitz/blend until well blended (for perfect results you may need to stop and shake up the contents of the goblet and blend again).
- Pour into the prepared glasses, garnish with a lime wedge and serve.
Traffic Jam
What you need:
- 100g fresh strawberries.
- 100g fresh raspberries.
- 100g fresh blueberries.
- One tablespoon caster sugar.
- 200ml chilled cranberry or pomegranate juice.
- Crushed ice.
- Mint leaves
How to make it:
- Place all the fruit in a jug and roughly crush with a wooden rolling pin.
- Place the fruit, sugar, cranberry or pomegranate juice and ice in a cocktail shaker and shake well.
- Pour into glasses and serve garnished with mint leaves.
