After a day in the Arizona sun Allie and I got back to our 5-star hotel (her parents’ house), hit the patio before dinner, and made some sangria. From the patio we could see cacti by the dozen. We could see wavy rock mountains a few miles away. Inspired by our surroundings, we went for a desert-style sangria.
This meant I was on the hunt for prickly pear: cactus fruit. I wanted to spike our sangria with this stuff. We drove to the grocery store. “Prickly pear,” a man restocking oranges replied in response to my question. “Man, what’re you talking about!?”
Ah, but I wasn’t finished! I realized in a rush that thousands of cactus paddles around Casa De Marco were hanging low with purple fruit. “Allie!” I said after telling her this. “What do you think? A neighborhood harvest?” Nope, she said. Too weird!
I settled for honey infused with prickly pair juice. We used this instead of sugar. Other desert elements included the oranges (from Arizona) and lemons (huge fruit also from the Grand Canyon State). And then there was our Sangria’s best desert hook of all–the blue sky, the needled plants and green-bark Palo Verde trees, the earth tone houses, the red dust, and the rest of the sun-drenched land around us. -Chris
What you need:
1 Apple
2 Oranges
1/2 Cup blueberries
750 ML Wine (any red < $15)
1/5-2 Shots amaretto
2 Ounces flavored honey
Shake of cinnamon
2 Cups club soda
What to do: Cut apple; put in a pitcher. Cut oranges. Squeeze half and put in, and then put in the other half in unsqueezed. Add everything else but club soda. Stir. Stow in the fridge for a while. Add cold club soda right before you pour the sangria into glasses (over ice) and drink.
SweetJ
Lovely photos! Sangria recipes are excellent for an evening with friends.
LikeLiked by 1 person
leggypeggy
I’ll be saving this recipe. Thanks.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Maia T.
You might have better luck with the grocery store if you ask for tunas.
LikeLike
Made in Rome
Oh yeah? Is that prickly pear in Spanish?
LikeLike
Maia T.
It is for the fruits; the paddles are nopales.
LikeLike
Made in Rome
Ah, thanks for the intel. Going to try this tomorrow!
LikeLike
Maia T.
Good luck! They’re worth the effort. *yum*
LikeLiked by 1 person
Frances 🌺
I love Sangria and all the variations it has; fruit, port wine 😋
LikeLike
Made in Rome
Port in sangria? Never thought about that line of possibilities! What’s your strategy for this?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Frances 🌺
I always add some Port and Cointreau, lots of strawberries & citrus…😋
LikeLike
Made in Rome
Ah, I thought you meant the whole sangria was port-based instead of red wine. Really like the idea of adding pot and Cointreau. We’ll give this a roll next time. Thanks!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That's What She Read
That looks wonderful! I nominated this blog for the Liebster Award. All the details are in a post on my blog. You don’t have to partake in it if you don’t want to, but I still wanted you to know that I’m enjoying this blog. Thanks for your fun posts!
LikeLike
Made in Rome
Thanks Allie and Danya. Just dropped by your page. You guys have a pretty good taste in green books. Thanks for checking out our site!
LikeLike