Today, I’m bringing something very special out of the vault. It’s a devilish punch that reminds me of younger, gloriously uninhibited days. Hold onto your dresses, dearies, it’s my favorite summer cocktail: The Sip and Go Naked. I had to share this recipe verbatim because my lovely college roommate (and new mommy), sweet sugar lips Sarah, emailed it to me a few months back in just this fashion.
If I could remember them clearly, oh the stories I would tell; all beginning with a cup of this lemony libation laced with a wicked whisper of Southern Comfort. I recall dancing, perhaps on tables. I remember the kitchen floor, always sticky. We would slip on our black nylon pants and fanciest shirt (possibly one shoulder strap, definitely borderline slutty and Midwest sweetheart), plug in a string of party lights and deal out a game of Kings.
I can almost feel that indestructible, false sense of adulthood we had from our first year truly living on our own. We could have a party. We could smoke cigarettes out of the living room window. We could harass the elephant parade of freshman streaming in from the dorms looking for house parties. With a Sip and Go Naked in hand, we were living the dream and 100 percent invincible. (Granted, the house we rented was crawling with black mold and we only cleaned the toilets once every 3 months when someone’s folks were coming to visit, but that’s neither here nor there.)
But mostly, the smell of a frothy serving makes me think of Sarah, and the lively, lovely ball of joy she is. Isn’t that funny … how a smell can unlock a vault of moments you’d tucked away in a cobwebbed place in your mind? I can hear her, “Mmmmm, bitch! We’re gonna Sip and Go Naked!” with some Outkast blaring from our computers in the background. She’d dump in the prescription for the potent cocktail with abandon and intention, shakin’ her ass and grinning my ear to ear. It isn’t the tastiest drink I’ve ever had, but it is the most nostalgic.
Break out the blender, grab some cheap ingredients and Sip and Go Naked yourself. Quick … before summer’s gone!