All posts filed under: cocktails

The Apollo Cocktail with St. George Terroir Gin

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It’s really, really great when you have thoughtful friends who know you well enough to buy you gifts of gin. Those are the kinds of friends that you hold onto for dear life because a friend who knows your favorite spirit is a special friend, indeed. My dear friend Lori Rice of Fake Food Free is just that kind of thoughtful friend! A few weeks ago, I was surprised and thrilled to receive a package in the mail from her containing an entire set of St. George Spirits Gin as a wedding gift! The set came with their 3 signature gin varieties: Terroir, Botanivore and Dry Rye. St. George Craft Distillers hails from Alameda, California, which just happens to be Lori’s stomping grounds. It’s no secret that Gin is my favorite spirit. I love it because the flavors in gin so easily combine with fresh herbs and I love cocktails that taste like they’re fresh from the garden. Since I was unfamiliar with this particular brand of gin, I was very excited to hold a little tasting for myself in order to get to know …

“W & P” Mint Julep from “Shake”

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It’s been a really long time since I shared a cocktail recipe with you and it seems like Tax Day is a good time to have a nice libation to either celebrate your refund or soothe your nerves if you had to pay! This Mint Julep is another favorite from the book “Shake: A New Perspective on Cocktails” by Eric Prumm and Josh Williams and they call it the W&P Mint Julep. It took me a few minutes to figure out that W and P were the author’s initials…I’m a little slow. It’s a simple, straight-forward mint julep–nothing fancy, just good Bourbon, fresh mint, a bit of lemon juice and sugar cubes for sweetness and lots and lots of crushed ice. Absolutely refreshing. The inspiration for this cocktail came from the abundance of mint and lemon balm we have growing in our garden. It was so healthy and gorgeous and every time I passed by it I thought “I need to make something with this mint as soon as possible”. Well, I’m glad I did because last …

Weird Shoes

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Before I left on my last trip to Oregon, I stopped into REI for some last minute purchases. We both needed raincoats because living in the desert for 25 years means we don’t own such things. I tried on about a dozen or so raincoats before settling on a bright turquoise number with a detachable hood and a cool little pocket in the lapel specifically made for my mobile phone and earbuds. As I gathered my things to check out, a glimpse of red in the shoe section caught my eye: the holy grail of weird shoes. Blood-red leather Keen Mary Janes, with rainbow-striped cross-straps and toe caps the color of pink limestone. If the fact that they were weird didn’t thrill me enough, the fact they were on clearance pretty much meant those shoes were going home with me that day. I justified the purchase saying I needed a new pair of traveling shoes. Shoes I could easily slip in and out of in the airport security line “like a boss” and signaling to other passengers that I was a Very …

How to Succeed at Thanksgiving – Fish House Punch

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The Thanksgiving dinner of my fantasies always begins with me wearing a string of pearls and freshly pressed apron, holding aloft a beautifully bronzed roasted turkey, glistening and golden from the oven in all its glory for all to see. My adoring family members’ faces are lit by flickering candlelight and they are hungry and beaming and admiring the gorgeous bird. I cut into the bird and it is succulent and juicy and perfect. All of the side dishes have come out of the oven at just the right time. The vegetables are colorful. Everything looks like a spread in Bon Appétit.  Can you just see it? Isn’t it beautiful? Insert needle-scratch on a record…this is what Thanksgiving really looks like: I have bags under my eyes because I’ve been cooking non-stop for two days. The turkey, does come out of the oven beautiful and bronzed, however upon carving, I realize the breast meat is perfect and the dark meat hasn’t cooked thoroughly–thank you, weirdly calibrated convection setting. I’ve forgotten about the rolls in the oven …

At Home with Adam Throgmorton: Talking Tiki and The Making of a Great Mai Tai

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I have a real treat for you because today I’m going to tell you about my good friend and brother-from-another-mother, Adam Throgmorton.  I met Adam this past winter at a pub crawl and I knew from the start that we were going to become fast friends. Architectural model builder, Disney Fanatic, Tiki Enthusiast and all-around mad genius, Adam is a force to be reckoned with and yet, he seems to genuinely believe that he’s a mere mortal like the rest of us! I chuckle at this, because once you spend any amount of time in his home, you realize that this guy is an Artist, with a capital A.  Adam has managed to create an atmosphere in his Southern Nevada home that will make you think you left the desert and stepped straight into paradise! So when the invitation came to spend an evening drinking Mai Tais poolside in his Tiki Terrace, I was over there quick as a flash with a platter of ceviche and doing my best impersonation of a person who could handle …

Gnarly Tomato Water Bloody Mary with Hot Pepper Infused Vodka

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I will be the first to admit that Bloody Marys have always been a bit of a mystery to me. Is it soup? Is it breakfast? Is it a non-pharmaceutical hangover cure? Aside from the Bloody Mary that one of my favorite restaurants in town makes (they serve them up spicy with a big piece of peppered bacon as a garnish), I’ve never really enjoyed them. If I’m really honest, that big piece of bacon is a major reason why I like that one! Until now, I was prepared to accept the fact that like the Negroni, the Bloody Mary would forever be a mystery to me. So, when I saw a recipe for a Tomato Water Bloody Mary in the pages of Food and Wine Magazine this month, first, I was intrigued and then a lightbulb went off in my head!   Since I’m already a chronic over-purchaser of certain items (in-season tomatoes, limes, and lemons, for example) and after last weekend’s baby shower, I ended up with an insane amount of leftover cocktail tomatoes! Added to that, we harvested what was left of …

Happy Father’s Day! Cherry Drop Martini

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Oh, fresh cherries…I am not done with you yet!  I am going to make the most of you while you’re in season, eating these glittering jewels by the bagful; baking them into a pie, smashing them into a cocktail.  Cherry season is too short, so I shall make hay while the sun shines. This drink is so smooth.  A perfect balance of sweetness and strength.  Just like Dad.  I made this cocktail with both white vermouth and red vermouth and they both resulted in a really fine drink.  The red vermouth brings out the deeper, darker cherry notes and the white vermouth is bright and sweet.  You can’t go wrong with either one. So, make your Dad (or whoever represents a father in your life) a drink and let him relax today–he deserves it!