real recipes. made up people, places, and things
Is it still a Manhattan when there is no bourbon? no cherry? Still the essence is there, the oak aged brandy, the carpano antica sweet vermouth, a dash of bitters. A brandy cocktail worth repeating. I keep one fancy vermouth and one inexpensive vermouth (sweet and dry) on hand because it makes a difference sometimes. […]
Eggnog Fizz Cocktail If you’re still with me after the title than you must be ready for a holiday cocktail with just a hint of nog. Cranberry simple syrup adds a bit more holiday cheer to this bubbly frothy combination that tastes better than it looks and better than it sounds because gin and egg […]
A little nutty, a little tart, smooth and somewhat sweet. This is a frozen drink for cold days, it’ll give you chills in the best sort of of way. Because you love it, and because you want more. The only problem with this Pear Pomegranate Amaretto Cocktail is that is that if you’re not careful […]
The subtle spice of cardamon and clove play nice with a kick of brandy, and a not too sweet chocolate chaser. Best of all, on a hot summer evening- frozen. Chai Brandy Alexander cocktails are the dessert drink I can’t wait to share with a crowd. The brandy alexander is a lesson in moderation. When […]
Feel like spring in a glass? plus gin. Because. Well. Gin. Whip up a batch of Garden Gimlets: gin gimlet w/fresh cucumber, lime, & basil. When spring arrives each week at the farmers market (or in your garden, if you are so lucky) brings new revelations. Berries, basil, cucumbers of all varieties. The first week of […]
This is the grownup slushy that I’m willing to wash the blender for. Refreshing, red, laced with a hint of orange blossom, and just a little bit boozy so, as long as you can manage to sip slowly, it’s the perfect hot afternoon yard beverage. Campari Orange Slushy with triple sec and orange blossom water […]
Bring on the sunny days and brightly colored drinks. Refresh yourself with this easy/fancy sipper made with homemade hibiscus infused vodka. Mostly a sidecar but perhaps more like the sort of sidecar you might find in the tropics- bright pink, strong enough for the bumpy roads. Maybe like this vintage vespa 150 from Bali ? […]
Mango Colada with banana and grapefruit It’s not even that warm today but just seeing temperatures above sixty in the forecast has me in a mad scramble for drinks laden with rum and blended with tropical fruit. Bring on the mango, the banana. I’m ready for sun naps and warm toes. Even without the […]
not your momma’s meyer lemon amaretto sour Amaretto sours are one of those drinks with “origin unknown” stamped across their back side. I’ve never been able to decide whether this is because it’s a basic variation of a classic or if the inventor is ashamed and unwilling to take credit. Given that the amaretto sour […]
Have you seen the headlines that the world will be without chocolate by 2050? This is worrisome but I won’t panic until they make the same dire prediction about vanilla. Vanilla gives me comfort, its my hug after a hard day, my kitten video, my memory palace. It takes an ordinary grapefruit and soda and […]
A refreshing and subtly herbal winter gin gimlet with fresh lime and rosemary. “We sat in the corner bar at Victor’s and drank gimlets. ‘They don’t know how to make them here,’ he said. What they call a gimlet is just some lime or lemon juice and gin with a dash of sugar and bitters. […]
Journey to the underworld with me where we will sip the juice of fruit from warmer climes and wait for spring. Worry not, it is hell, so there is Facebook and CrossFit and Persephone’s Smash: pomegranate mint mocktail. I was going to make this a booze-or-not-tail but when all the muddling was done I was enjoying […]
Do you know how many weird and not terrible but not particularly inspiring Campari drinks I had to consume just to get one worth posting? At last I found it. Something warming but not warm, something holiday but not heavy, a drink to have before the meal. Turns out it’s best to stick with the […]
Snow on Sand: Hot Coffee Cocktail w/rum, orange liqueur, and amaretto cream Naming drinks is almost as hard as coming up with them. I began with all that follows the colon: Hot Coffee Cocktail w/rum, orange liqueur, and amaretto cream. But the bartender in me rebelled, the story writer- who can’t come up with a […]
Rich, thick, and strong- balanced between booze, sweet and spicy. This little morsel is the perfect stormy day companion. This not, however, the sort of ‘recipe’ you should try if you want to get things done. Heat+Chocolate+Booze=snuggle up on the couch and listen to the rain smack against the window panes, light a fire, put […]
Scars and Stains Blackberry brambles, thorned arches. Dark clusters of berries, smaller and seedier than their domesticated cousins. But so much better, worth dodging webs and thorns. Free, if you count stains and scratches as rewards. Yesterday we went blackberry picking in a friends backyard. Forty five minutes in the dimming August light to bring […]
Citrus Cardamom Coffee Spritzers and Monday Mocktail Regrets It has been months since I infused simple syrup with several botanicals (cardamom, rosemary, ginger, black pepper) and vowed to dedicate my Mondays to a new post, a theme even. Monday! Mocktail! I even added words to a picture. And then the Mondays slipped away one after […]
The Piquant: a Rhubarb Gin Cocktail with black pepper and grapefruit I spent weeks at the tail end of last summer trying to come up with a homemade ‘tonic’ but was never satisfied with the results. After reading of inadvertent quinine overdoses I attempted a formula using other bitter roots ultimately deciding to leave it […]
The longest night is behind us now, a foggy morning giving way to sun. Holiday lights glimmer in the afternoon’s glow, my fingers stained red from squeezing pomegranate seeds between my eager fingers. I have made no preparations for christmas, made no preparations for the new year. I am without hope and brimming with the […]
Consider the apple. Pale flesh, vibrant skin, a star of cyanide at the core. Varied yet universal. An apt metaphor for both desire and innocence— hard, wholesome, tart, sweet. Consider the apple and consider yourself. Look in the mirror and see the wicked queen, see snow white, see your fall from grace and your salvation. […]
Turn that water into wine. Add sweet summer berries, and you have a warm weather dessert that’s just a little sweet and just a little boozy. A palette cleanser if you will, something to wash away the memory of potluck desserts or that hangover in a Dixie cup disguised as a childhood snack. For the […]
When the first cherries arrive they seem so grand, so dark and decadent, a reminder that all winter long if you saw a cherry it was just an anemic shadow compared to the firm yet sweet cherries now before you. These are the cherries that songs are written about, these are the cherries that invite […]
Mango Mule Cocktail The classic Moscow Mule goes tropical with fresh mango infused vodka (copper cup optional). If you are like me you buy a mango at the store and then realize a week later that you still haven’t eaten it. Sometimes this results in a perfectly ripe, deliciously juicy snack. Sometimes I wait too […]
Spicy Siracha Bloody Mary Mix with fresh herbs I know, Siracha is so last year, so Mumford and Sons, so Uggs. I cast no judgment on Mumford and Sons or Uggs, both have their place and time, it’s not their fault they’ve been overused, abused. So too Siracha, just because it became chip flavor du […]
I’m ahead of schedule. Typically I don’t crawl out of hibernation and start jonesing for sunshine and heat until February. Or, I might be behind schedule. January is almost over and I’m just now getting started on those resolutions. Or it could be just the right time for this refreshing, bright, better than water, better […]
Deliciously boozy and buttery homemade orange caramel sauce takes hot chocolate to the dizzyingly sumptuous sip and sigh territory, the treat I’m willing to wade through winter for. And while I’m busy pushing the resolutions aside why not add whipped cream (spiked, of course, with even more caramel sauce)? So this is Christmas Eve and […]
When I was a little girl being sick meant Mom would bring me ginger ale and hot lemon and honey to sooth my throat. It meant staying home from school and watching Perry Mason and the Price is Right on daytime television, Mom’s cool hand on my hot forehead. Comfort. Love. Like christmas being sick […]
coffee vanilla infused vodka spritzer With the weekend approaching I am feeling half motivated and half lazy, a combination that seems to cry out for a slightly caffeinated booze infused beverage. Something more grown up and less confused than Red Bull and Vodka (something I never tried but I’m going to be judgey about anyway). […]
raspberry sorbet and Rosé sipper Do you remember a world before Rosé? When drinking pink wine here in the United States automatically put you in a category closely associated with acid wash denim and skittles? When pink meant sugary sweet? And then suddenly Rosé was everywhere. Pretty people of all genders sipping proudly, taking […]
Peach Granita and Vodka Ice Tea Fizz: Real peaches, real tea, real vodka, real good. This not too sweet ice-cold cocktail is both fancy and backyard casual. Call it a fizz or call it a float. Have more than two, call a cab. If I had company coming over I would make this in a punch […]
This is the sort of drink that I wonder why I didn’t think of sooner. But then this is the sort of relentlessly hot day where sipping cold beverages next to a fan seems the only fitting activity and I’ve had iced tea on the brain. Last weekend we met a friend for her birthday- […]
Strawberry Smash Cocktail with Gin and Basil At the beginning of strawberry season I composed a list of recipe ideas. With this cocktail the list is complete and I am free to move on to other things. Ah, but what a way to go out. The blush of strawberries on my lips and the flush […]
The herbaceous notes of gin, the spicy earthy kick of ginger, and the bright fizz of Brut Champagne make this a surprisingly smooth, well-balanced, and sublimely dangerous cocktail. See this pretty picture, everything is calm and happy, the pretty flowers, the muted hues, the dancing bubbles. Have one of these delicious cocktails and the work […]
Jalapeño Lime Simple Syrup to spice up your life or, at the very least, your drink. Subtly sweet citrus simple syrup with just a bit of heat, this won’t punch you in the face with hot but may give a playful slap. No red mark. Use it to make an easy tequila cocktail or in […]
Sometimes simple is best. No need to stuff every fruit into your sangria, in fact, why not skip the fruit and get cool as a cucumber? Best of all?! this cucumber white wine spritzer is a batch recipe- so whether you sip it while doing chores or serve it to friends when all the work […]
