The Art of the Mimosa Bar

Trying to find something classy, fun, and interactive? Look no further. Have a mimosa bar!

It started on Thanksgiving for my family. My younger sister wasn't going to be in town in time for full Thanksgiving dinner, so I decided to make brunch instead. Not only is brunch the best meal every created, it's also low pressure and fast compared to traditional turkey. Don't worry though, I made full Thanksgiving dinner complete with stuffing and homemade gravy on Friday so no one suffered.

For a new twist on brunch entertainment, I figured we could mix up some mimosas and watch the parade. Naturally, there was the standard orange juice and champagne. But to expand a few horizons, we tried pomegranate juice and ginger syrup for additional mixing fun. Individually all were tasty, but a champagne-pomegranate-ginger mix was my personal favorite.

When Christmas rolled around, it was time to experiment again. Out comes the juicer for some Yuletide fun.

We juiced over 10 pounds of fruit and vegetables including: prickly pears, grapefruit, pears, cucumbers, and carrots. I also made some tasty ginger and lavender simply syrup for mixers.

Here are some winning combinations:

Ginger Grapefruit

Cucumber apple

Cinnamon Pear

Prickly Pear with Lavender

As a side note, make sure that you have plenty of pitchers to hold the varieties of juice. We were definitely testing the limits of my mother's kitchen and had to get creative when we wanted to put the juice in the fridge.

We also established that the following combination does NOT work: carrot juice and champagne. Carrot juice is fine on its own but for some reason, it does not play well with bubbles.

In case you want to make your own simple syrup in the future, below are the recipes.

Ginger Simple Syrup

Adapted from David Lebovitz's Fresh Ginger Syrup recipe

Makes about 2 cups

Ingredients:

•  One large fresh ginger root, unpeeled and roughly chopped
• 4 cups water
• 2 cups sugar
• Dash of salt

Preparation:

Thinly slice the ginger then roughly chop into smaller pieces. Add ginger to a small pot containing water, sugar, and salt. Heat to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes.

After the syrup has cooled, strain through a fine-mesh strainer.

Store the strained syrup in the refrigerator, covered, until ready to mix into your drink of choice.

Lavender Syrup

Copy the recipe above and simply replace the ginger with 2 tablespoons of dried lavender. After you strain the syrup you may want to add a few drops of food coloring to enhance the subtle color.

Enjoy!