Cocktail Time – Stir Crazy

Ugh, it’s been dreary and rainy for the past few days. I have no idea how people manage to live in places like Seattle, which may be great in every way, but the weather would drive me nuts. I need sunshine, a lot of it. Why else would I live in Southern California? It certainly isn’t for the air quality, taxes, or hipster population. The only thing keeping me here is the weather (well, that and my husband). One positive side to the rain is that the months of accumulated dust gets rinsed from my car.

At any rate, the rain is making me stir crazy, and isn’t conducive to work. All I want to do is put on a fuzzy robe and slippers, mix up holiday cocktails, and decorate our place for Christmas (long time Cowardly Feminist readers will remember I’m one of those annoying fools that gets all Christmas-happy). I am, however, forcing myself to wait until December 1st before covering everything with tinsel.

But that doesn’t mean I can’t have a cocktail while I wait. And since I can’t seem to shake this stupid cold, I’ve been on a warm whiskey kick. This cocktail takes a bit of prep time, but the simple syrup will make several drinks, so it’s worth it.

The Cold Buster

  • Rye Whiskey (I used Pritchard’s)
  • honey
  • fresh ginger
  • lemon

Syrup: Slice one inch of ginger, paper-thing. In a small sauce pan, add one cup water to one cup honey and stir to dissolve, then bring to a gentle boil and add ginger. Simmer for several minutes, then remove from heat and allow it to cool. Transfer to container.

Cocktail: Pour 1 ½ oz rye whiskey into a mug, add 1 oz honey-ginger syrup and a squeeze of lemon to taste. Top with hot water. Enjoy!

*Side note to my husband – December 1st is tomorrow, buddy. You best prepare yo’self for some tree decorating.

Cocktail Time – Patience Edition

Impatience is a big part of my marriage. That might sound like a bad thing, but it actually works out nicely. My husband and I both feel that, once a decision is made, it must happen as soon as possible. Then we slam our gears into overdrive to make whatever it is come to pass, all the while doing the impatient dance because it’s taking so damn long. We’re a good team.

My dad likes to say I can’t even wait for water to boil. That was absolutely true up until about five years ago, now I wait, but it annoys the ever loving hell out of me. And while I don’t mind the preparation part of cooking, the actual time it takes for food to cook bugs me. Slow cooker? No thank you. Once I’m done with the slicing and dicing and stirring, I want to eat, not wait 45 minutes while it all bakes. And yes, I am aware of how ridiculous that sounds.

My husband is just as bad. He can’t handle waiting. When we go to the grocery store, he will hop from one check out line to another if he thinks it will be quicker, and inevitably he will either move to a third line, or go back to the one he was in before. It never works out, and we wait the same amount of time or longer because of his line jumping. I personally resigned myself long ago to the fact that no matter which line I get in, it will be the wrong one. Him? Not so much.

But, like I said, it works out well, because we’re both that way. Therefore I consider it a testament to our love that my husband willingly participated in the Halloween/Dia de los Muertos cocktail, because he had to sit in a chair for an hour, without moving, while I painted his face. If you knew him, you would understand that is a miracle.

Happy Halloween boys and girls. Don’t drink and drive. Here’s a little something to get you through the evening.

Happy Halloween!

The Patient Man

  • 1 oz Tres Generations Reposado Tequila
  • 1 oz Meyers Dark Rum
  • 1 oz Tres Generations Almendrado Tequila (if you can’t find it, then substitute amaretto)
  • 1 oz crème de cacao (or any chocolate liqueur of your choosing)
  • 3 oz coffee
  • Cream to taste

In an ice-filled shaker, combine almendrado and reposado tequila, dark rum, crème de cacao, and coffee. Shake quickly, then pour into tall glass and add cream to taste. Enjoy!

It’s cocktail time!

A 14 hour workday is pretty typical for my husband, and seventeen+ days happen far more frequently than we’d like. I’ve posted previously about his unpredictable schedule. Sometimes he’ll have an entire week off, and out of nowhere a job will come up that takes up every waking moment, for weeks, and sometimes months at a stretch. So I’ve learned not to ask things like, when will you be home? Sure, he could give me an answer, but chances are it would be wrong.

You know what almost never, ever happens? An early day. So imagine my surprise to get a phone call saying he’d be home in the early afternoon. This is cause for celebration, boys and girls.

Ha!

The above was written hours ago, and then at 3:30 I received a text from my man saying not so much on the early arrival. No matter – he still made it in time for Happy Hour. May I present you with the…

False Hope

  • 2 oz Diplomatico Reserva Dark Rum
  • 1 oz Citronge
  • 1 oz Campari
  • 3 oz pineapple juice
  • 3 oz cranberry juice

In an ice filled shaker, pour rum, Citronge, and Campari, add pineapple and cranberry juices. Shake vigorously, pour contents into tall glass.

Happy Friday y’all!

Reduce, Recycle, Reuse

Has anyone seen my brain? My synapses haven’t fired correctly all week. I’m not generally a scatter-brained person (really, I swear), but this week I am a total train wreck, and for no apparent reason. I have no hangover, insomnia has thankfully found a new home, and I’m not particularly stressed about anything. And yet, my mind is…I dunno, muddled. So guess what? I am recycling an old cocktail recipe for today’s happy hour – the Indian Summer Martini. Not that we’ve had Indian summer in Pasadena, it’s basically still regular summer, but surely one of you is enjoying some unseasonably warm weather.

Indian Summer Martini

In an ice-filled martini shaker pour:

  • 2oz 209 Gin
  • 1oz Domaine De Canton Ginger Liqueur with VSOP Cognac (FYI – no one is going through an entire bottle of this stuff. Go to BevMo or your local liquor store and buy a shooter, it’s enough to make a couple)
  • 2 dashes peach bitters

Pour into chilled martini glass and enjoy!

PS – I haven’t really looked at my blog in any detail this week, and when I opened it today the top search term on my stats page was:

My wife is a sexy Quaker girl

Is this the new thing for Halloween? A new reality show? Somebody clue me in, I’m confused.

Happy Friday y’all, enjoy the weekend!