Ina Garten Shares Her Favorite Holiday Cocktail

Every Monday, the entire Kitchn staff has a meeting where we catch up on our big priorities and major happenings for the week ahead. The best part of every meeting is at the tail end though, when our Managing Editor, Lauren Kodiak, asks everyone a bonus round question. This week’s was a true stumper: What’s your signature holiday cocktail? If I’m being honest, I totally blanked…. “Something with citrus? And lots of alcohol?” was my (very professional) answer….

Anyway, as usual, Ina Garten just came to my rescue by revealing to all of Instagram her signature holiday cocktail which just so happens to be something with citrus and a lot of alcohol! My hypothetical dream cocktail! (I always knew Ina was my soul sister.)

Ina’s Sidecars with Dried Cherries recipe is a take on “a classic old-fashioned cocktail with a twist.” To make them, she uses the juice of one lemon and a bowl of sugar to get a frosty, sugared rim on highball glasses. While the sugar rims dry, she microwaves dried cherries in Cognac to infuse them.

From there, Ina combines freshly squeezed lemon juice with Cognac, Grand Marnier, and cherry juice, and shakes it all up in a cocktail shaker with ice (for a minimum of 30 seconds, which she notes is “longer than you think!”). Ina then tops each glass with a festive skewer of dried cherries.

If you want to host a holiday like Ina, make sure to have a tray of these waiting for guests to start your party off right. Just a note, this recipe makes 2, so you’re going to want to double, triple, or quadruple the recipe if you’re expecting a crowd.

The best part about Ina’s holiday cocktail recipe, though, is definitely the Julia Child quote that accompanies it: “A party without cocktails is just a meeting.” That’s why I propose that there should be cocktails at The Kitchn’s weekly Monday meeting henceforth.

Get the recipe: Sidecars with Dried Cherries from Barefoot Contessa.