Bewitched Cherry-Blue Basil Bourbon Smash for #FoodNFlix

This month Kimberly from Coffee and Casseroles is hosting Food'N'Flix. Here's her invitation. She invited us to watch The Witches of Eastwick.*

On the Screen...
It's been years since I've seen The Witches of Eastwick.* Years. Maybe twenty-five years. I'm pretty sure I watched it on pay-per-view when I was a senior in high school...on those Friday evenings when my best friend and I would make apple pies and watch movies. Yes, we were very exciting teenagers!!

If you haven't seen the movie - and plan to - remember not to take it too seriously. It does touch on some serious subjects, but at the the end of the day it's a comedy with some silly, raunchy fun along the way. Cher, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Susan Sarandon play witches who are looking for the perfect man. Enter Jack Nicholson who plays the devil, landing in their bucolic village in New England called Eastwick.

Despite all that talent, this really is Nicholson's show. In the hands of another actor, the antics border on ridiculous, but Nicholson seems perfectly suited to the bizarre role.

The scene that might be most memorable is the (second) cherry scene; there's the original scene where he shows the women how to do the cherry trick! Nicholson's character is literally blown inside a church. Disheveled and covered with feathers, he begins an unforgettable tirade...all the while belching and vomiting cherry pits as the three witches are controlling him.

Do you think God knew what He was doing when He created woman? Huh? No shit. I really wanna know. Or do you think it was another one of His minor mistakes like tidal waves, earthquakes, FLOODS? You think women are like that? S'matter? You don't think God makes mistakes? Of course He does. We ALL make mistakes. Of course, when WE make mistakes they call it evil. When GOD makes mistakes, they call it... nature. So whaddya think? Women... a mistake... or DID HE DO IT TO US ON PURPOSE? ...Find a cure. Invent a vaccine. Build up our immune systems. Get a little exercise. You know, twenty push-ups and you never have to be afflicted with women ever again.

Naturally, I wanted to make something with cherries. And, as luck would have it, I found some organic cherries at the market on the day I watched the movie. I decided to create my own cherry bourbon smash with some blue basil simple syrup I had just made for another event. This was a fantastic sip of Springtime and the perfect drink for #FoodNFlix.

If you're inclined to join the fun, please do! You still have almost an entire month to watch the movie and head to the kitchen. There are a lot more food-scenes than this one. I promise.

Ingredients 

makes 1 cocktail

• 8 to 9 fresh mint leaves + more for garnish
• 5 to 6 fresh cherries, pitted and destemmed + 1 for garnish
• ½ ounce basil-infused simple syrup (click for my recipe)
• juice from ½ organic lemon (I used a Meyer lemon from our tree)
• 2 ounces bourbon (I love Knob Creek)
• ice
• basil blossom for garnish

Procedure

In your cocktail shaker muddle the mint leaves, pitted cherries, simple syrup, and lemon juice together. Pour in the bourbon and shake. Fill a glass with ice and pour cocktail over the ice without straining.

Garnish with mint leaves, blue basil blossom, and one cherry.

*This blog currently has a partnership with Amazon.com in their affiliate program, which gives me a small percentage of sales if you buy a product through a link on my blog. It doesn't cost you anything more. If you are uncomfortable with this, feel free to go directly to Amazon.com and search for the item of your choice.