A friendsgiving brunch

There is nothing as fun as brunching with friends to kick off the holiday season. We prepared a ‘Friendsgiving’ brunch last weekend, and had the most wonderful time with my friend Cindy, her husband Seth and their cutest little Olive.

Brunching is one of my favorite new ritual as a freshly arrived American resident ; good food, good company and good cocktail drinking. Doesn’t this sound like the most perfect Friendsgiving plan?

We prepared some easy munching food: some croissants, a red berry fruit salad with whip cream in glass cups, and a mix of veggies cut and placed in plastic cups with Tsatziki or ranch dipping sauce. It was perfect, because anyone could double dip and not get in trouble!

My better half also prepared his specialty Huevos Rancheros dish [similar recipe here].

And then Seth, Cindy’s husband, was our brunch expert mixologist. He prepared for us some delicious cocktails, made with Izze sparkling drinks. If you don’t know Izze, you are missing out big time. Founded in 2002 by two friends in Boulder, Colorado, Izze is made of 70% pure fruit juice and a splash of sparkling water and comes in 8 refreshing flavors. We got the clementine, the grapefruit and the pomegranate flavored ones, and Seth prepared us some yummy adult brunch drinks.

SPARKLING ORANGE IZZETINI:

• 5 ounces of Izze sparkling clementine
• 2 ounces of orange flavored vodka [or regular vodka if you don’t have the flavored kind]
• a splash of tonic
• lime to garnish

POMEGRANATE IZZETINI:

• 3 ounces of Izze sparkling pomegranate
• 2 ounces of vodka
• 1/2 ounces of limoncello [or fresh lemon juice]

IZZE PEARL MARTINI

• 5 ounces of Izze sparkling grapefruit
• 3 ounces of silver rum
• a splash of pineapple juice

And Miss Olive and my girls got to enjoy their own friendsgiving drinks. What a fun time we had! Happy friendsgiving folks! Xo, Si-

• This post is in partnership with Izze, but all opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make FrenchByDesign possible.

Photography: Cindy Loughridge for French By Design – Mixologist expert : Seth Restaino – Model: Olive Restaino