Kate E. Richards is a chicken-keeper, gardener and a self-proclaimed “professional drinker.” She combined her favorite hobbies into a new book, Drinking with Chickens: Free-Range Cocktails for the Happiest Hour, filled with wonderful pictures of chickens and fun cocktails to toast a hard day’s work. 
Now, don’t be confused. She doesn’t mean you should drink with your chickens. That is really just her metaphor for life. She also adds a disclaimer on her website, drinkingwithchickens.com:
“Do not let chickens on, near, or in your drinks or food. They are filthy animals, and they will get you sick. Use common sense and sanitize surfaces and hands after coming into contact with poultry, other animals, and frankly, a lot of people.
“Furthermore, we definitely do not condone feeding chickens or any animal alcohol. It is bad for them. Drink it all yourself. Do it for the chickens. This site is intended for entertainment purposes only. Don’t take it so damned literally.”
So after a stressful day, make yourself a nice, refreshing cocktail, grab a lawn chair and sit outside sipping while watching your chickens do their thing. Kate says so!
Read more: Make it a party with this recipe for fermented kimchi cucumbers!
Orange Blossom Slush
Servings: 4
Glass Suggestion: Chilled Coupe
Have you ever stood beneath a blossoming citrus tree, breathed in that heady fragrance and wished you could bottle it up? We’re going to do that and mix it with some frozy (yes, I said frozy) white wine. Do you have to have actual orange blossoms to make this cocktail? Nope. Not in the slightest. Is it extra cool if you have them and use them to make a glorious simple syrup? Why, yes; yes, it is. But you will get by just fine without.
Ingredients
- 11⁄2 (750-milliliter) bottles dry white wine, such as sauvignon blanc, frozen in standard ice cube trays (fills about 3 trays)
- 1⁄2 (750-milliliter) bottle dry wine (the leftover from your two bottles), chilled
- 4 ounces Orange Blossom Syrup (See recipe below)
- 2 ounces elderflower liqueur, such as St. Germain
- organic citrus blossoms or other edible blooms (for garnish)
Preparation
Freeze wine into cubes ahead of time, allowing at least 4 hours to fully freeze.
Place wine ice cubes, chilled wine, Orange Blossom Syrup, and elderflower liqueur in blender and blend until smooth.
Divvy up mixture among four chilled coupe glasses. Garnish with orange blossoms or other edible blooms.
Orange Blossom Syrup
Servings: makes 3⁄4 cup
Ingredients
- 1⁄2 cup water
- 1⁄2 cup granulated sugar
- 1⁄3 cup organic orange (or other citrus) blossoms, petals only, or 1 tablespoon orange blossom water
Preparation
Combine water and sugar in a small saucepan over medium-high heat.
Bring just to a boil, lower heat, add either orange blossom petals or orange blossom water, and simmer for 5 minutes.
Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Strain away petals from mixture (if applicable), and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Excerpted from Drinking with Chickens: Free-Range Cocktails for the Happiest Hour by Kate E. Richards. Copyright ©2020. Available from Running Press, an imprint of Hachette Book Group Inc.
