Ina Garten shared a cocktail recipe for those of us who need a drink during the quarantine — which makes most of us — and it is everything we'd hoped for and more.
With many people stuck at home and participating in virtual happy hours to connect with friends, an easy-to-make and tasty beverage is a must-have. Breaking from her usual measured demeanor, on Wednesday, Garten infused her Instagram video on how to make a classic cosmopolitan with a big dose of much-needed humor. In the video, Garten freely pours "good" vodka into a giant pitcher as she talks to the camera, explaining why "during these stressful times it's really important to keep traditions alive" and sharing that her favorite tradition is the cocktail hour.
Garten titled her post "Cocktail hour," writing, "It’s always cocktail hour in a crisis!" with the hashtag #staysafe. The Barefoot Contessa let fans know that the full recipe is available in her bio, though watching her demonstrate how to make the cocktail is probably all the instruction you need!
"You probably have all the ingredients right in your house," Garten assures us as she begins her demo, grabbing a big pitcher to mix the drink in.
"I like to make a lot of cosmos. You never know who's going to stop by — wait a minute, nobody's stopping by!" she exclaims, remembering that due to social distancing, this is likely going to be a party for one (or possibly two if she invites Jeffrey to join in!).
"Two cups of vodka," she tells us, dumping Grey Goose into her pitcher with what looks like total disregard for exact measurement. "Good vodka," she specifies. "Just pour it right in."
"Next is one cup of Cointreau," she instructs, "or triple sec, any kind of orange liqueur."
"One cup of cranberry juice cocktail," she continues as she pours. "How easy is this?" (A classic Ina-ism.)
"And a half cup of freshly squeezed lime juice. It's gotta be freshly squeezed," she notes.
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After pouring all the ingredients into the pitcher, Garten then pulls out a giant cocktail shaker that's half-filled with ice and "ready to go." She then pours the cocktail into the shaker, saying, "It smells so good ... just what everybody needs, right?"
She then instructs viewers to shake it up for 30 seconds.
"You have lots of time, it's not a problem," she assures us, laughing to herself as she shakes. "During a crisis, you know, cocktail hour can be almost any hour."
With the drink ready, Garten has one last tip for us on proper barware: "The last detail is really important, you need a good martini glass. I'm going to show you the one I like."
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Garten then proceeds to pull out a giant glass that's literally the size of her head and pours the whole batch into it.
"In these times, this is really important, she says as she pours the pink concoction into the glass. "So just pour it right in."
As Garten gets ready to (finally) take a sip, she gives us a sign-off that we can all cheers to: "Stay safe, have a very good time, and don't forget the cocktails."
Verdict? "Mmm ... delicious!" of course.
