Today I learned how to make my first Shirley Temple.

Well, since I came up with the idea of this blog just this afternoon, it was a little taxing to think of something to kick off my learning streak. Something small and easy - to dip my toes in the water...dip my toes in the water. Oh, how I miss the beach. My favorite beach in the world (or at least the parts of the world I've visited) is the beach in front of the Hotel Del Coronado. It's found across from San Diego Bay. It opened in 1888, and I love how there are spots in the polished wood floors that creak with its history. It was the largest hotel of its time, and the first to have electricity.

Have you ever thought about what it would be like to stay at a hotel without electricity?


This hotel was just down the shoreline from the Navy beach. My husband's Navy buddy Dave invited us for drinks at The Del after some special occasion, and we tagged along. Tagging along, of course, since we don't drink the sort of drinks that most people drink when they're going out for drinks. We could have ordered a soda. But half the fun of ordering something is that it is fun to order. With Fuzzy Navels and Nutty Irishmen, come on - let's face it, ordering a Cherry Pepsi makes you feel a little left out. Which is why people order a Roy Rogers...which is glorified cherry cola with a maraschino cherry. And essentially Shirley Temple is pretty much a glorified homemade Cherry 7Up.

So, at The Del, my husband and I ordered the best Shirley Temples we've had to date. They had a hint of lime that kicked it up a sophistication notch from my previous introduction to the drink. (Granted THAT place had sawdust on the floor. The whole time I was there I kept recalling my school years and thinking that sawdust on the floor is NOT appetizing.)

Anyway, in honor of my favorite beach and pleasant (warm) memories, I decided it was time to learn how to make Shirley Temples. There are two basic recipes for Shirley Temples. The more traditional old-school version includes orange juice, but I wanted to make the version that was closer to what we had at The Del. Here are the ingredients:


Ginger Ale (You can use lemon-lime soda if you prefer)

Grenadine (A non-alcoholic cherry syrup)

Sweetened Lime Juice

Maraschino Cherries (for garnish)

Stone jade turtle (mascot for my photos)



I would have preferred to make it in my more goblet-style glasses, but since they were in the washer our fancy flutes stood in for the job. And we used a mini brandy snifter-style cup for Waybums' drink.

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Step#1 - Place cherry/cherries in the bottom of the glass

(One thing I learned today is that Jess is a one-cherry guy, but Waybums would be a 12 cherry girl if I'd let her.)
Step#2 - Fill Cup with ginger ale.

Step#3 - Add grenadine to taste - this is the fun part because you get to decide just how cherry-infused your drink will be. You can sprinkle or you can glub. It's all up to you! You da boss!

Step #4 - Put a few drops of Sweetened Lime Juice into the mix. I would not recommend glubbing on this one. :/ Although I will confess that I scrapped my first batch because I glubbed. Don't glub the lime. Shirleys are supposed to be sweet, not turn your face inside out. There are probably other drinks for that.

Step #5 - Stir together gently. Add some crushed ice to make it fizzle and if you happen to have any little umbrellas - go for it! I would have if I 'd had any...





The finished product with my Blog Mascot Turtle. Any ideas on a name, anybody?

A toast to learning new things!

Tomorrow I am going to bake a pineapple upside-down cake from scratch.

I'll keep you posted!

:)