Adult Beverage of the Month: the St. Paddy-tini

In honor of St. Paddy's day I created a little Celtic Cocktail to enjoy before, during, or after your St. Patrick's day festivities.  It could also be the hair-of-the-dog for the morning after....

It's a twist on an Irish Coffee:

Jameson's (or any Irish Whiskey), Baileys, and some coffee (I made mine from my beloved Nespresso maker).  You can also top it with some lightly whipped cream.

3 oz. Coffee

1 1/2 oz. Jameson's

1 oz. Baileys

Fill shaker with ice.  Add ingredients.  Shake well and pour into martini glass.  I frothed some vanilla flavored almond milk to top it with, but you can add ready-made whipped cream, whip some up yourself, or leave it out completely.

Not too sweet, bitter, or strong.

Happy St. Pat's Day!!

Adult Beverage of the Month: Eggnog Martini

Here's a little Christmas cocktail to enhance the Christmas Spirit. 

The Eggnog Martini

Ingredients:

 1 oz. Vodka

1 oz. Amaretto

1 oz. Eggnog

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice.  Shake well and pour into a Martini glass.  Dust with freshly grated nutmeg.  Serves 1

Cheers!

Merry Christmas!!

Adult Beverage of the Month: The Brown Derby

It's about time I get back to posting my A.B.O.M. (Adult Beverage of the Month) series.  Since it's Derby Season, I thought this a perfect opportunity for the Brown Derby--and I love me a good bourbon.  It's an old-school classic, but I'm going to take partial credit if you start seeing this emerge as a trend.  When we go out in L.A. to restaurants we order this drink.  We usually have to tell the waitress or "mixologist" how to make it, but they seem to enjoy coming up with their interpretations.  Let's see if it takes off.

 

Ingredients

Bourbon (my favorite is Basil Hayden)

Grapefruit

Honey

Honey--to make it easier to blend with in the drink, mix about a tablespoon of honey with a tablespoon of water.

Grapefruit--squeeze into bowl

Fill a shaker with ice.

Add:

1 part bourbon

1/2 part grapefruit juice

1/4 part honey water (more or less to desirable sweetness)

Shake vigorously and pour into a Martini glass.


Enjoy!

Election Results Special Cocktail: The Drowning Sorrow

It's simple.  Have a seat in a comfortable leather chaise lounge.  Pour yourself a healthy shot of tequila. Sip and repeat.  Listen to Led Zeppelin (even though prop 19 was defeated as well).  Reflect on how good it felt 2 years ago tonight.  Realize there's always next year.  And the next.

At least I voted.

Adult Beverage of the Month (A.B.O.M.): The Classic Bloody Mary

There's nothing like a Bloody for a Sunday afternoon brunch.  Since this is both my birthday month and my anniversary--with plenty of celebrating--I thought this the perfect time to start off with my Bloody series.  There are so many variations of this drink, between the types of liquor to use and the many different combinations of ingredients.  However, I'm starting off here with the Classic.  The measurements are all to your personal taste.

The 2 main ingredients: vodka and tomato juice.  I like to use Stoli's regular, but the lemon or pepper flavored vodkas work as well.

Pour a shot of vodka into a highball glass filled with ice.

Fill glass with tomato juice.

Now come the fun ingredients.

Add a dash each of celery salt, ground black pepper and Tabasco sauce.

Add 2-4 dashes of Worcestershire sauce.

Add 1/8 tsp. pure prepared horseradish.

Squeeze of lime.

Shake it up or stir it lazily.

You can be classic (celery) or creative (shrimp) with your garnishes.  These are some additional ideas. I like to use Tomolives--small green pickled tomatoes.

Cool cocktail napkins always add to your drinking pleasure.

Ahhhh.  Sit back, relax, read a book, or chat with friends.  Enjoy!

 

Adult Beverage of the Month (A.B.O.M.): The Rose Martini

The end of the summer calls for a special dose of libations both to mourn the loss of summer (here in LA it will be known as The Summer That Stood Up LA), and to celebrate the upcoming TV season.  My husband created this unique and beautiful cocktail we call the Rose Martini.  It uses the unexpected ingredients of Rose Water and edible flowers.

Flowers:

Sugar

Water

Edible Flowers (these were from Whole Foods)

 

Mix just enough water with sugar in a saucepan to dissolve the sugar.  Boil hard for about 5 minutes.  Let cool a few minutes--it will start to harden.  Brush onto the edible flowers.

Martini:

Vodka

Rose Water (You can get this at Whole foods or Persian markets)

Ice

Fill shaker with ice.  Pour in enough vodka for 1 cocktail (depends on the size of your glass!).  Add 1/2 teaspoon of Rose Water.  Shake vigorously (I like ice crystals in my Martini).  Pour into chilled glass.  Garnish with 2 flowers.

Lovely!

Enjoy!

Adult Beverage of the Month (A.B.O.M.): The Aspen

I missed posting an A.B.O.M. for July.  I guess I had too many parties and couldn't focus on one particular drink!  So this is my A.B.O.M. for August: the Aspen.  It is named after my friend Lois who earned the nickname "Aspen" by a Southern friend of ours (you know how they are about nicknames) because she's a "pain in the ass"--but in the most endearing way!  Lois had the idea to add Limoncello to a basic cranberry juice and vodka cocktail--which is actually quite brilliant as the flavor of the Limoncello balances out the bitterness of the cranberry.

The recipe is easy: pour a shot of vodka over ice, add a splash of Limoncello, and fill the rest of the glass with cranberry juice.

Caveat alert!  Aspen and I, along with another friend of ours found out the hard way that the Limoncello gives it an added kick of alcohol (ok, so we may have added more than a splash of Limoncello and there may have been more than a shot of vodka!!)--and the sugar in it makes for a vicious hangover!!

Enjoy.

Adult Beverage of the Month (A.B.O.M.): Rose Wine

My friend Sherri found this great Rose wine that is a perfect accompaniment to relaxed evenings sitting outside, enjoying the warmth of summer and the beautiful purple flowers blooming all over our yard.  This particular Rose is perfect--not too sweet or heavy, perfectly light and crisp.

 

 The Domaine Begude Pinot Rose is only available at K & L Wines.  As far as I know, they only have a store in LA, but you can visit their online store.
 

This is our first summer at our house, so we are learning the different plants that are blooming at different times of the year.  These are all over our front yard--and I have no idea what they are called.
 

We still have lots of yard work to do and having lived in NYC apartments for so many years it's a steep learning curve.  But for now we enjoy sitting outside enjoying a nice Rose, looking at our purple flowers.

Adult Beverage of the Month (A.B.O.M.): the Manhattan

Each month I'll feature an Adult Beverage (of course, only for the over 21 crowd!).  This month's cocktail is a true classic: the Manhattan.

I love a cocktail napkin that sets the tone for the drink.

These are my preferred labels, especially the Basil Hayden.  Cheers!