When the sun won’t shine for your birthday party, make a Sunny Sangria instead. :)
I’ve been gearing up the past couple days for my birthday party tonight. We’re having about 25-30 people over so it should be a great time! This makes the first of two birthday potlucks this weekend. We have another with family tomorrow at our place too. Hopefully, the house is still standing by then, but I’m not making any promises. ;) My actual birthday is Monday and Eric is taking me out for dinner.
I better loosen my belt!
For today’s party I’m making Sunny White Sangria, Raw Triple Berry Fruit Crisp, Homemade Edename Hummus & veggies, chips & Nacho cheeze sauce, salsa, and Eric is going to fire up the BBQ. Friends are bringing along a savoury or sweet dish, so I have a feeling there is going to be a ton of food!
Back to this Sunny White Sangria. You know, the one I was taste-testing at 8am this morning? Sometimes a birthday girl just needs a little wine for breakfast to kick off her day.
I’ve actually never made a White Sangria before, only red, so this was a new experience for me. I thought a White Sangria would be nice and Spring-like. Being the fruit lover that I am, I loaded this with orange, lemon, lime, mango, and pineapple slices, kissed with orange juice and natural cane sugar. It turned out pretty darn fantastic and I’m sure it will taste even better after chilling for the next 8 hours.
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Sunny White Sangria
Adapted from Oprah.
Ingredients:
- 2 bottles dry to semidry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio or Chardonnay
- 2-3 cups orange juice (freshly squeezed preferred), to taste
- 1 lemon, sliced
- 2 limes, sliced
- 1 orange, sliced
- 1 can pineapple chunks with juice
- 1 large handful frozen mango chunks
- 3/4 cup natural cane sugar, or to taste
- Club soda (optional) (I will add 1 can before serving)
- Ice, optional
Directions: Add everything except the sugar into a large pitcher and stir well. Add sugar to taste and adjust until your desired sweetness is achieved. Chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours prior to serving. Before serving, you may add some club soda & ice if desired. Taste again and add more sweetener if necessary.
Note: I made a double batch, so you can always cut this in half using 1 bottle of white wine.
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Sangria, I’ll see you tonight! muhauha.
In the meantime, I have some deck updates for you…
Eric took a few days off work this week and Shayne and Dan helped him each day. They got so much done! It was such a great week weather-wise for deck building too.
I’m so excited to be able to walk straight out onto the deck from the back door! I can’t believe I can finally walk on the deck now.
There will be stairs going down in the middle (and stairs on each end).
I think they are doing such a wonderful job. You’d never know that a professional didn’t do this.
When Eric made the deck plan, he wanted to include a couple sections with diagonal boards and they turned out really nice. It was a bit more work with math & measuring, but the result was worth it.
This is all that remains for the base. After this comes the railing and stairs. The weather is calling for rain for a week straight, so it probably won’t be touched until end of next week, unless that changes!
I’m off for a little hot yoga to kick off my day and then back to work getting this place ready for tonight.
Coming up, I have a delicious Raw Triple Berry Crisp to share. Have a great Saturday!
Both the sangria and the deck look great! Have a great birthday weekend!! :-)
Happy early birthday! Mine was Thursday, May birthdays are the best!
that sounds DELICIOUS! can’t wait to try!
I wish you the best birthday weekend Angela! Sounds like there is going to be a lot of foods and a lot of fun! Enjoy :D
Oh wow! That sangria looks delicious – and the deck is coming along great! I love sangria in the summertime. It is the perfect drink!
Loving the diagonal boards! Go Eric!
Happy early birthday my sweet. xo
i love sangria, especially white.. i have made white sangria before but with peaches…. this looks delicious.. have a happy birthday..
Your deck looks awesome!
The sangria looks delicious! Happy Birthday!
wow! whoa! wow! whoa!
I love Sangria and have quite few that I love to make. But I just really can’t get over yours and how FRESH it looks. You have to be careful with them though. :)
Now to the deck! It looks so amazing and I can’t believe you did not go out and hire anyone. :)
Happy Weekend and HappyYoga! And…Happy early bday!
The deck looks fantastic! They got a ton done in a short time. Props to Eric and his friends!
Three days of birthday! That’s the way to do it. Enjoy your family, friends and festivities.
Sangria and deck both look awesome and can’t wait for the raw Crisp recipe!
Question for you (and any readers) do you store your chia seeds in the freezer, fridge or cupboard? I’m about to invest in my first bag, and want to make sure I store them properly (i.e. I’m not sure if they could go rancid, like flax seeds.)
Thanks!
This looks heavenly. I bet if you simply put it in water, it would taste really great as well!
I can’t wait to hear about the party details! as long as there is sangria in my opinion, it’ll be a good party. did you know it means “to bleed” in spanish? interesting, eh?
Have a great birthday weekend Angela! Enjoy your night & that sangria ~ I’ve never had white before, but it looks so light and refreshing!
Happy Birthday Angela!!! I know you said it isn’t until Monday but this is your Birthday weekend so you gotta milk it for what it is worth!
Your deck looks fantastic, too! I love wood decks. We have one back home but it’s almost at the end of its run.
Love Sangrias – white and red :) Have a great birthday party!
Enjoy your hot yoga!
But I want to enjoy that sangria. I just landed in Aruba. It’s the day of my 10 year wedding anniversary. And I just got published in a magazine.
It’s totally sangria time for me. It looks GLORIOUS! and so refreshing!
Never had a sangria– but I love white wine, and this looks so springlike! Have a great birthday weekend!