Ruby Yacht Cocktail

Pomegranate juice and champagne are sweetened with some simple syrup to create this beautiful and festive holiday cocktail. Look at how supremely pink it is -- it might just make the perfect bridal shower drink too.

I found this drink in one of my many new cookbooks specializing in using seasonal ingredients. (This is the benefit of having a very bookish husband -- he'll use any excuse to spend more time in the bookstore or library, and now he's getting familiar with the cooking section. Score.)

This is one of the few drinks from Eating Local by Janet Fletcher. It caught my eye because I received three pomegranates in my organic delivery box, and aside from placing a few seeds on a salad, I was a bit at a loss as to what to do with them. Well, you can't go wrong with this beautiful cocktail which is as easy on the palate as it is on the eyes.

Ruby Yacht

• 1/2 oz (1 tb) fresh pomegranate juice*

• 1/2 oz (1 tb) simple syrup (see below)

• 4 oz (1/2 cup) chilled Champagne

• 1 orange twist

Put the pomegranate juice and the syrup in the flute, then top with Champagne. Add orange twist and serve at once. (Serves 1.)

*And just how the heck do you juice a pomegranate, anyway? See our little tutorial here. 

Simple Syrup

• 1/2 cup boiling water

• 1/2 cup superfine sugar

In a small bowl, pour boiling water over superfine sugar. Stir until sugar dissolves and the syrup becomes clear. Chill thoroughly. Keep leftover syrup in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. (Makes about 3/4 cup.)