World's Best Sangria

This weekend, my sistah-from-anotha-mistah Jenna came to visit. We shopped at the Old Strathcona farmer's market, walked down Whyte, did lunch at two of my favourite restaurants (Mayfield Joey's and the Cactus Club), went to the mall and shopped till we dropped, AND made an epic meal from recipes we found on Pinterest. Basically the girliest weekend ever.

And here's one more superlative: this is the best sangria I've ever had, like ever. In my whole life. We made two big pitchers of it and guzzled it like juice. It was a gorgeous weekend for it - I don't want to jinx anything, but I feel like summer is officially here to stay. And now that we have a signature drink, I hope there are many more girly weekends in the coming months.

World's Best Sangria

Adapted from Martha Stewart's recipe

4-5 cups fruit (we used mango, pineapple, strawberries, blueberries, and oranges), sliced or cut into chunks
1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
small handful fresh mint leaves (more or less to taste)

1 tablespoon granulated sugar
50 mL Grand Marnier or Cointreau
1 bottle white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio (we used a combination of Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, and Torrontés)
Juice from half a lemon
1 litre 7-UP, Sprite, or sparkling water

Put the cut up fruit, ginger and Grand Marnier into a pitcher and mash a little bit just to get the juice out of the fruit. Muddle together the mint and sugar with a pestle and mortar (or shaker, or muddler, or whatever gadget you have) until it's a relatively fine paste, and add it to the pitcher. Add the wine and lemon juice, and stir everything together. Let it chill in the fridge for at least an hour, then add the 7-UP and stir. 

You might want to serve it with a spoon or fork for digging out all that deliciously boozy fruit (which I'm sure counts as one of your 'five a day'... right?)