Kid-friendly Sparkling Grape Spritz Recipe - Sticky Fingers Cooking
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Recipe: Sparkling Grape Spritz

Recipe: Sparkling Grape Spritz

Sparkling Grape Spritz

by Erin Fletter
Photo by New Africa/Shutterstock.com
prep time
5 minutes
cook time
makes
4-6 servings

Fun-Da-Mentals Kitchen Skills

  • blend :

    to stir together two or more ingredients until just combined; blending is a gentler process than mixing.

  • chop :

    to cut something into small, rough pieces using a blade.

  • pour :

    to cause liquid, granules, or powder to stream from one container into another.

  • stir :

    to mix together two or more ingredients with a spoon or spatula, usually in a circle pattern, or figure eight, or in whatever direction you like!

Equipment Checklist

  • Blender (or pitcher + immersion blender)
  • Cutting board
  • Kid-safe knife
  • Liquid measuring cup
  • Pitcher
  • Wooden spoon
scale
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Ingredients

Sparkling Grape Spritz

  • 1 small bunch green, red, or purple grapes
  • 3 C white grape juice
  • 3 C ginger ale or sparkling water
  • ice

Instructions

Sparkling Grape Spritz

1.
chop + add + blend

Kids can chop 1 bunch of grapes (reserve 4 to 6 grapes for garnish) and add them to a blender (or pitcher for use with an immersion blender). Add 3 cups of white grape juice. Adults help kid chefs blend until smooth. Then pour into a pitcher.

2.
add + stir + pour

Add 3 cups of ginger ale or sparkling water to the pitcher and gently stir. Add ice to each drinking glass and pour the drink over the ice. Garnish each glass with a fresh grape or two. Cheers!

Surprise Ingredient: Grapes!

back to recipe
Photo by Arina Krasnikova

Hi! I’m Grapes!

"Did you know that some grapevine rootstocks have been found in China that date back to before the great ice age? That's how long we've been cultivated by mankind and wherever we've grown, we've been harvested to be eaten fresh, dried to sustain people through the long winter months or turned into wine for both social and religious occasions. Yes, we have a very special relationship with humans, so let me tell you more about us."

History & Etymology

  • Grapes grew and were eventually domesticated about 6,000 to 8,000 years ago in the Middle East. Archaeologist evidence points to grapes used in wine-making around the same time. 
  • Spanish explorers introduced European grapes to the Americas about 300 years ago, but a native, wild genus of grapes grew in North America before then, which Native Americans ate.
  • People in the United States eat about eight pounds of grapes per person per year.
  • California produces 98 percent of the fresh grapes grown in the US.
  • The English word "grape" comes from Middle English from the Old French "grape" (grape or bunch of grapes), possibly from a Germanic word "graper" (to pick grapes, from a word meaning 'hook').

Anatomy

  • Grapes grow in bunches, like an upside-down pyramid, roundish or long and thin. Each grape is attached to the main stem of the bunch by its own short stem. Its thin skin encloses a sweet, juicy, jelly-like, almost translucent flesh.
  • If left alone, a grapevine will spread 50 feet or more.
  • There are two different types of grapes: table and wine. Most are from the same species, but through selective breeding, table grapes are larger, seedless, and have thin skin, and wine grapes are small, seeded, and have thick skin. 
  • Grape colors vary. White grapes are actually light green. Other colors include yellow, pink, red, purple, and black. 

How to Pick, Buy, & Eat

  • When selecting grapes, choose a bunch with firm, plump, healthy-colored fruit tightly attached to green, flexible stems.
  • You can eat table grapes for a snack or put them whole or sliced in salads and main dishes. 
  • Raisins, currants, and sultanas are types of dried grapes. 
  • Grape juice and wine are made by crushing and blending grapes. Purple grape juice is made from Concord grapes and white grape juice from Niagara grapes, or sometimes Thompson Seedless (sultana) grapes. For wine, the resulting liquid is fermented.

Nutrition

  • The belief that grapes have healing properties dates back to ancient times, long before scientific research gave grapes disease-fighting credibility. In ancient China, wine was mixed with snakes, frogs, and other creatures to cure sickness. 
  • Grapes are a moderate source of carbohydrate food energy and vitamin K! Vitamin K helps the blood clot, and when we get a cut, blood will clot to stop the cut from bleeding.

 

What is a Spritz?

Photo by PippiLongstocking/Shutterstock.com
  • While the Sticky Fingers Cooking version is non-alcoholic, a Spritz is typically a wine cocktail first served in Northeast Italy. 
  • Spritz Veneziano (Venetian) was created in Venice in 1920. It is made with prosecco (a sparkling white wine), bitters, and soda water. Since 2018 it has become popular outside of Italy, and the name was shortened to Spritz in 2011. 
  • Our Sparkling Grape Spritz is made with grapes, white grape juice, and ginger ale or sparkling water.

Let's Learn About Italy!

Photo by Marina Andrejchenko/Shutterstock.com
  • Italy became a unified country in 1861, only 150 years ago. It is sometimes called "bel paese" or "beautiful country."  
  • Italians invented the piano and the thermometer! 
  • In ancient Roman mythology, two twin brothers named Romulus and Remus founded Rome, Italy's capital city. The myth says the twins were abandoned and then discovered by a she-wolf before being found and raised by a shepherd and his wife. Eventually (and after many exciting adventures), they found themselves at the location of Palatine Hill, where Romulus built "Roma." The Italian wolf became Italy's unofficial national animal. 
  • In the 1930s and 40s, Mussolini, Italy's prime minister, and dictator tried to eliminate all foreign words from the Italian language. How did he do that? He just changed them! For example, in soccer, "goal" became "meta." Disney character names changed, too: Donald Duck became "Paperino;" Mickey Mouse became "Topolino;" and Goofy became "Pippo." Although they're not banned anymore, these words and names have stuck. So now if you go to the Italian Disneyland, called Gardaland Park, you will see Topolino and Pippo! 
  • About 60 million people call Italy home, and it is 116,350 square miles, slightly larger than the US state of Arizona. If you compare that to the United Kingdom, 67 million people live there, and it is about 94,350 square miles. So, the UK is smaller than Italy but has a bigger population! 
  • The Italian flag is green, white, and red. These colors represent hope, faith, and charity.
  • The average Italian eats close to 55 pounds of pasta annually. If you think about how light pasta is, that is a considerable amount! There are more than 500 different types of pasta eaten in Italy today. 

What's It Like to Be a Kid in Italy?

  • Kids begin school at 6 years old. They grow up speaking Italian, but they learn English in school, so many become bilingual in Italian and English.
  • The most popular sport for kids is football (soccer). The Italian word for soccer is "calcio," the same word they use for "kick." A favorite of younger kids is "Rody, the bouncing horse," a plastic horse that a small child can hop onto and bounce around the room. Rody was invented in Italy in 1984.  
  • The family ("la famiglia") is a central characteristic of Italian life. Children have great respect for their older relatives. It is traditional to name the first male child after the grandfather and the first female child after the grandmother.
  • If kids live close to school, they can go home and have lunch with their families! Lunch at school might be pasta, meat with vegetables, a sandwich, or a salad with lots of ingredients. Families typically eat dinner later (7 to 8 pm), so kids end up staying up later, too!
  • Between lunch and dinner, kids often enjoy "merenda," which is an afternoon snack that translates to "something that is deserved." It is really a mini-meal that can include both savory and sweet foods. Examples of savory foods are a salami or mortadella sandwich, a slice of rustic bread rubbed with a cut, raw tomato, or "pizza bianca" (white pizza without tomato sauce). Types of sweet foods eaten during merenda are "gelato" (a lower-fat type of ice cream), any kind of cake, or biscotti dipped in warm milk.

The Yolk's On You

What did one grape say to the other grape? 

"If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be in this jam!"

That's Berry Funny

Why aren't grapes ever lonely? 

Because they come in bunches!

That's Berry Funny

What did the green grape say to the purple grape? 

Breathe! Breathe!

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