Mod Meals on Mendenhall

Although it scares the majority of my friends, I love any excuse to get my martini glasses out. They have the ability to make any ordinary night special. Hayley and I wanted to find a festive cocktail to share by the fire before we sat down for dinner. A Whiskey Sour seemed like the perfect drink for a cold night. And, making the mix from fresh lemons and limes really make a difference. If you choose to make these – take the extra time to make them right. A juicer comes in handy for this….

Makers Mark Whiskey Sours based on Ina Garten’s Fresh Whiskey Sours

• 3/4 cup Makers Mark
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
• 2/3 cup simple syrup
• maraschino cherries
• ice

Combine the first four ingredients in advance and chill. When ready to serve, shake with ice and garnish with a cherry!

The traditional Zombie Cocktail became popular during the 1939 New York World’s Fair after being invented my Don the Beachcomber (founding father of  the tiki restaurant) in the late 1930s. The traditional cocktail is made up of fruit juices, liquors and various rums and it is known for it’s “perceived effects upon the drinker.” Thank goodness for Wikipedia.

We looked into a number of variations of this traditional cocktail including some with passion fruit (which I am allergic to – Halloween is no fun with hives) and some with papaya juice. Considering we were making this in punch form, Andrew skipped the individual juices and purchased both orange pineapple juice and lemon limeade.

Whether you make this recipe or the traditional cocktail, beware – Wikipedia does not lie. It has a serious effect upon the drinker! After two cups I could not stop giggling. Which made for a seriously silly Halloween. The Zombie punch will now be a Halloween tradition.

Andy’s Zombie Punch

• half gallon orange pineapple juice
• 1/4 gallon lime and lemonade
• 3 cups dark rum
• 3 cups light rum
• 2 cups apricot brandy
• 1/4 cup grenadine
• 10 splashes bitters
• maraschino cherries as garnish

To me, nothing says sticky mess like making frozen beverages in a blender. I’ve seen it – lived it – and cleaned it. I like to act like I don’t even own a blender for this very reason.

Morgan and Beth both know what kind of mess I can make with a blender, so when margaritas were suggested for our Cowgirls in the Kitchen menu, we all knew they would be on the rocks.

We chose Ina’s Pineapple Margaritas for several reasons — it was sweet enough for Beth, light enough for a school night and easy enough to mix together. We picked up limes, fresh pineapple and some artificially flavored Mexican pineapple soda to top them off. The soda lightened the drink but also made them a toxic neon yellow from all the yellow #7. I’ve left this off the recipe – but feel free to adjust to your artificial flavor liking.

Ina’s Pineapple Margaritas

Ingredients

• 2 cups lime juice, about 20 limes
• 2 cups white tequila
• 2 cups Triple Sec
• 2 1/2 cups fresh pineapple juice
• Fresh pineapple slices, for garnish

Directions

I remember growing cucumbers a couple of summers in Florida. We ate cucumbers in just about every fashion you can imagine. Pickles and lots and lots of cucumber, onion and tomato salads. Sadly, I didn’t drink a lot of gin (or any) as a child — and my mother has some weird anxiety about juniper berries — or we could have made some serious cocktails.

This weekend we experimented with Crumpets and Cakes Cucumber Gimlets. We  couldn’t exactly figure out C & C’s proportions, so we pureed about 5 cucumbers, made 2 cups of simple syrup, juiced 6 limes and brought out the gin. I advise you to taste test yourself and adjust to your liking. Also, don’t be afraid to add a little club soda on top – they sure are potent. But, a great summer drink!

The North Carolina ABC likes to stay about a year behind the trends. For the past couple of years I’ve had to run all over town looking for the latest trend in liquors. Last year it was St.Germain, this year it is Pimm’s. When I mentioned this to the ABC store on Friday afternoon while they were searching the county for one bottle of Pimm’s (that happened to be on special order and never picked up), they said “but, we have St. Germain!” and I said “and I’m sure you’ll have Pimm’s in stock this time next year.”

I had a Pimm’s Cup for the first time last spring while visiting my friends in Chicago (maybe we are two years behind?). Since then, it has been featured in several magazines. We made these on Friday night to go along side our Pub Burgers and Tater Tots. I’d say they are more fitting for a Saturday afternoon drink – as they have a very low alcohol content – rather than when you are trying to take the edge off a long week. But, either way, a tasty and refreshing beverage. Hopefully next year you’ll be able to find it easily in the great state of NC.

Pimm’s Cup

• 2 ounces Pimm’s
• 1 slice lemon
• 1 slice orange
• 1 segment cucumber
• 1 sprig mint
• lemon lime soda or ginger ale

My friends say that they worry about any cocktail I make in a beaker (I typically mix cocktails in Bodium frenchpress coffee maker replacement glasses I picked up at Tobacco USA when it went under.) A couple years ago, before I lived on Mendenhall, I made a cocktail called the “Brazilian Honeybee” that stung everyone who drank it. Half of the party (and I must say these are grown men) woke up with their heads practically in the toilet – while another friend, who will remain nameless, passed out in the middle of the party on my fatboy (a big girl beanbag I own). So, I won’t argue with their point.

In this weekends spring cleaning, I noticed I still had a number of limequats left over from my trip from Florida and they were going south quickly. I juiced them to save what was left and wanted to think of something to use about 2 cups worth of lemon juice. Why make lemonade when you can make lemon cocktails?  

Ingredients:

• 1 cup lemon juice, fresh squeezed
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 cups vodka
• sliced lemon for garnish

Assembly: Mix the lemon juice and sugar until dissolved. Add the vodka and chill for a couple hours. If you want to reduce the alcohol content you can add less lemon juice or shake with ice before serving.

I’m so bummed that I don’t have a picture of this cocktail. After too many of them, you will forget that you have a blog much less taking a picture for it! The Midori in the drink makes it bright green – perfect for Halloween night. And the melon flavor cools your mouth so it is a perfect accompaniment to stuffed jalapenos and spicy chili. Andrew came up with this recipe and put them together.On our way to Winston-Salem to pick up the punch bowl (yes, we drove to Winston-Salem for a punch bowl) I asked him what purpose the water served in the recipe and he said “If you don’t add the water, you will probably die.” With that, I say – Drink with Caution.

Ingredients:

• 20 parts ginger ale
• 8 parts vodka
• 5 parts Midori
• 2 parts water

Assembly: Mix and serve over a full glass of ice!

Today I purchased the October edition of Bon Appetit and I wondered where summer had gone. It feels like it was just February when several of my good friends crammed into my small TV room to watch the Oscars and eat homemade pizzas. While bundled in my Snuggie (yes, I own one) we looked forward to summer. That night we all competed for a bottle of St. German we would save for summer cocktails. Of course, I was destined to loose the competition as it was over who could pick the Oscar winners (my friends are the biggest movie fans and one writes movie scores). As predicted, I came in last and my friend Larry brought home the bottle. St. Germain liqueur is made from the Elderflower, a blossom of the Elder Tree and apparently they are picked directly from the Alps (they say that on their website). Ironically, the October edition of Bon Appetit also names St. Germain one of “the hot 10″ for their 2009 Bon Appetit Awards.

This Labor Day weekend, in honor of the end of summer we gathered for a (several) final Summer Saints before summer officially ended. I brought a couple snacks which I’ll post this week.

Summer Saints

• 2 parts gin
• 1 part St. Germain
• 1 part tonic
• fresh lime

This recipe is adapted from my friend Heather’s Brandy Slush recipe. She made Brady Slush for me this past January while I was visiting Wisconsin. I nearly became Brandy Slush after way too much cold weather and alcohol consumption. I thought it would be nice to adapt this recipe for the Tex Mex dinner I made while they were here. I used the same proportions but added tequila and triple sec. These drinks are basically adult snow cones – and who can complain about that? We enjoyed the Margarita Slush on my porch Southern style before dinner Saturday night.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups tequila
• 1/2 cup triple sec
• 1 can orange juice frozen concentrate
• 1 can margarita mix frozen concentrate
• 8 cups water
• sugar to taste

Assembly: Start 24 or 48 hours in advance. Mix everything together in a large plastic bowl or tub that can be liquid sealed. Freeze for 24 hours. If you are making 48 hours in advance – take the mixture out after 24 hours -  mix - and then add back to the freezer to help crystallize.