Edible stories told here
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 […]
Almost sidecar, almost amaretto sour, this cocktail beautifully balances the cherries’ sweetness with the subtle nutty notes of amaretto and the citrus tang of fresh lemon. This drink isn’t boozy, it is- as it should be- mostly about the cherries. When the first cherries arrive they seem so grand, so dark and decadent, a reminder […]
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 […]
update addendum: fresh herbs and bloody mary mix are a tricky thing- this siracha bloody mary mix is perfect for the first few hours but with time the thyme grows stronger. so either add the thyme just before serving or drink it all just after mixing. Spicy Siracha Bloody Mary Mix with fresh herbs I […]
This refreshing hibiscus and fresh grapefruit spritzer (or cooler, or mocktail) is delightful all year long. Enjoy it in the dead of winter to brighten your day (and celebrate winter cirtus) or have one on a hot day to cool it all down.
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 of […]
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 […]
Ice cream floats for grown ups. Smoked Maple Bourbon Caramel sauce drizzled over your choice of Milk Chocolate Extra Stout or Double Vanilla Ice Cream and Extra Stout Beer. Yesterday we had an ice cream social, the house full of family, friends, and stout (root beer for the kids). I guess you could also call […]
Bright mango daiquiris perfumed with just a hint of rose. The tropics, and a healthy pour of rum, blended. Winter is over here. I’m sorry but it’s true. The trees are blossoming, the daffodils are in full bloom, and temperatures in the high sixties by Saturday. But all this means nothing when it comes to produce. […]
My Sherry Amore: Pink Grapefruit and Vodka Sour This cocktail is dangerous, so smooth you hardly notice the booze. Inspired by a Pisco Sour with Vodka for kick, Sherry for a hint of herbaceous wine, Pink Grapefruit to impart a romantic pleasing color and citrus zest, egg white to make it smooth and frothy, and […]
Meyer lemon and maple melded with just a whisper of rosemary in a hot toddy that makes the cold a little less so.
Start with the flavor of nutrient rich blueberry and zesty ginger, then add a bit of banana, one more power punch of antioxidant rich pomegranate and you’ll never know you’re getting your greens on. Unless of course remembering that you’ve got your greens in makes you happy. Then remember, rejoice, do a yoga move or […]
A Classic Manhattan Cocktail Rye Whiskey, less sweet than its cousin Bourbon, and aromatic bitters are made sippably soft with the addition of Italian red vermouth. Stirred not shaken so the color stays true and the surface unclouded and smooth on the tongue. Nothing fancy just good drink. Everything I learned about Manhattans I learned […]
Why you should infuse your own liquor When I want a twist on a traditional cocktail I look in the spice cabinet. Ginger, Pepper, Cardamom, Coffee. To add these flavors to your cocktails you have two choices, an infused simple syrup or an infused liquor. I’m fickle. Half the time when I make a […]
Sipping on gin and juice takes on new meaning with this surprisingly delicious and simple winter warmer made with spiced apple cider and Pimms No 1. Leftovers of a different sort, wherein I root through the liquor cabinet looking for something new and discover the Pimms (inherited Pimms actually, bought because of it’s visual similarity […]
When seasons collide what’s left to do but mix it up with a coffee infused raspberry daiquiri. Coffee and a hint of spicy chocolate tempered by the sweet tang of fresh raspberries and rum. This combo could be the start of several different drinks. Blended and topped with whipped cream it’s a dessert in […]
I know. Longest title ever. Long title short story. Grapefruit on sale. Three open bottles of gin in the cabinet (gifts, every last one of ’em). Three distinctly different bottles of gin in the cabinet. Is it weird (or too Portlandia-ish)that I sniffed all three before opting for the New Deal Gin 33? This was […]
This cocktail isn’t pretty. As much as I love Pomegranate Molasses it turns out it does not, as I imagined, impart a ruby hue. But don’t let the murky water scare you, jump in!
