Mmmm, Sangria! A fruity party in a pitcher. May is a month of celebrations; Star Wars Day (May the fourth be with you), Cinco de Mayo, Mother’s Day, and Memorial Day. Cinco de Mayo is a favorite of the foodie in me. I asked my handsome husband what foods would he like to celebrate the day. Being half Mexican I expected him to respond with some really awesome meal ideas like Chilies Rellenos or something on those lines. He tipped his head in thought for a moment, then said, “I think corned beef and cabbage sounds good. Doesn’t that sound good to you?”

WHAT?!?!?!? Okay, maybe he enjoyed St. Patty’s Day so much that he wanted a re-do. Maybe the Irish part in him was speaking up very loudly. Or maybe he was holiday confused. I just don’t know.

There was a brief moment where I considered just going with it, but it was very very brief. I LOVE Mexican and Tex-Mex food and just couldn’t let the day go by without so much as a taco. At the same time, I find it extremely difficult to not give my wonderful hard-working husband whatever he wants (within reason).  So after considering several options, we decided to go with food from the greater Hispanic cuisine that would still give my sweetie some of his wish – Puerto Rican Corned Beef and Rice served with Sangria. Call it Spanish fusion and go with it.

I have seen and posted several Sangria recipes on Pinterest, but for this day I wanted to try the Pink Summertime Sangria by Jacki of Crafting Mom. It seemed very fruity, which I think is a huge plus in Sangria, and fairly simple, which I think is a huge plus in life.

I gathered the ingredients, chilled the wine, washed and cut the fruit, and added them to a pitcher.

There was not enough room in the pitcher to add the mango, so I went with half of each of the citrus fruits and a half-dozen strawberries and then chilled the lot for half an hour. I think it would have tasted even better with longer chilling time but once dinner was ready we weren’t waiting any longer. We were not disappointed. This Sangria was perfect.

Here is our celebratory meal. Not fancy or Mexican or Irish, but D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S! Ole!

Now I really need to put in a little warning or disclaimer or some words of caution. This Sangria goes down very smooth and yummy which makes it easy to drink more than you realize if you’re not paying attention. This recipe calls for a bottle of wine AND some pineapple rum. It has a delayed kick which will make you very sleepy if you have too much – at least that’s what I was told when hubby decided to take a nap following the third glass.

Now for the Pintesting results.

Overall Rating: 5 Pins

Accuracy:  This Sangria was fruity and sweet, but the lemon, lime and orange gave it a nice citrusy tang to keep it balanced. It went down smooth and easy. I used a 2-quart pitcher, but could have used a larger one in order to have enough room for all of the desired fruit and ice (which I omitted completely from the pitcher for the lack of room). Too much sangria? No such thing. 5 Pins

Difficulty:  Measure, pour, stir, chill. The hardest part of the recipe was slicing the strawberries. Actually, I used a tip that I learned so long ago that I don’t even know the source. To easily and evenly slice strawberries, use an egg slicer. So simple!  5 Pins

Time:  The chill time should be at least a couple of hours in order to let the flavors blend together – overnight would be even better. 4 Pins

Cost:  We used a really inexpensive bottle of White Zinfandel wine since it was basically a mixer base. The rum was a door prize, so we didn’t have to purchase it. However, the extra costs of the rum, mixers, and fruit bring up the total enough that this gets 4 Pins.

Practicality: As I said in my opening sentences, Sangria is a party in a pitcher, and this party was a great one. The mixers will make a LOT of pitchers of Sangria, and that means a lot of parties. With summer around the corner, that means 5 Pins.