Oscar Night: Mocktails and Other Non-Alcoholic Drinks

I don't actually know many people who watch the Oscars all the way through to the end. But many people love to watch the pre-show and have parties centered around that. Since many of us have to work tomorrow, we will most likely only have one drink or will just will abstain from drinking anything alcoholic. That doesn't mean you can't toast the winners without a fun, delicious cocktail. Here are a couple recipes for "Mocktails" I got from got from "Eat, Drink and Be Gorgeous":

Pomegranate Mimosa:
1 glass of sparkling cider
1/2 ounce of pomegranate juice
Lemon peel for garnish

Pour sparkling cider into champagne flute, then add the pomegranate juice. Serve with lemon peel garnish that be be dropped into the cocktail.

Baby Bellini
2 ounces of peach nectar
1 ounce of fresh lemon juice
Chilled sparling cider

Pour the peach nectar and lemon juice into a chilled champagne flute and stir well. Add the cider to fill the remainder of the glass and stir again gently.

If you are looking for something that's a bit simpler, i.e. twist off and pour, there are several great alternatives to plain water or Coke.

Dry Soda: With flavors of Lavender (my favorite!), Lemongrass, Rhubarb and Kumquat, Dry Sodas are all natural, lightly sweetened soda flavored with fruit or herb extracts . They are crisp, clean and a great alternative to regular high sugared sodas. Dry sodas also make good substitutes for club soda or sparkling wine in mixed drinks.

Vignette: Naturally sweetened with the juice of California varietal wine grapes, this fizzy wine country soda is delicious. In Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Rose, there is a flavor to suit everyone's taste.

FruitWater and Hint: For those of you who aren't fans of carbonated sodas, there are an array of flavored water on the market. Two of my favorites are FruitWater by Glaceau and Hint Water. With flavors such as Lime, Peach, Raspberry and Grape, FruitWater has all the flavor and none of the calories. For something a little more exotic, Hint makes water infused with flavors such a pear, apple, cucumber (my favorite), mango-grapefruit, pomegranate-tangerine and strawberry-kiwi. There are no preservatives, sugar or calories in Hint Water either. I'll drink to that!