I'm about to hop on a plane to Jacksonville for this year's Equal Justice Conference. Given the frantic pace of this week and last week, I'm looking forward to what will hopefully be my first decent night's sleep in over a week. That said, the crazy has been worth it so far — I got to spend time with some of my favorite cocktail friends from near and far, watched my father graduate and hung with the family a bit, and had some wonderful food and drink. This carbonated negroni, pictured above, was a highlight. I now have two cases of them in my apartment, so there may be an impromptu get-together at my apartment when I return . . .
Category: Food and Drink
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Booze you Can Use: Have a Spritz
Last night at Speed Rack we were serving two types of punch, one made with Aperol, which I like quite a bit. It's an italian aperitif with similar flavor notes to Campari, but much sweeter. I like to say that it's like Campari's baby sister. My first introduction to Aperol was in the iconic Italian Aperol Spritz (for some reason, I pronounce it more like shpritz, which may be wrong, but who cares?). This is a wonderful spring and summer drink — light, refreshing, bubbly, and much lower in alcohol than many traditional cocktails. That said, they go down quickly, so be careful! Perfect for a summer afternoon or brunch. Or anytime, really.Aperol Spritz
3 parts prosecco
2 parts Aperol
1 part club soda
Pour over ice in a glass of your choosing (I prefer a large wine glass), give it a quick stir, and garnish with a slice of orange. -
No Sleep Till . . . *
After a fun weekend (with not nearly enough down time, but fun nonetheless), I've continued right into a week full of work, writing, and training, then Speed Rack, Maine, MCC, Jacksonville for the Equal Justice Conference, then GoogaMooga. When that's all done, I can breathe. And, of course, ramp up the triathlon training even more. I'll sleep after July 8th, apparently.
* RIP MCA. And Maurice Sendak. Rough week.
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Booze You Can Use: Speed Rack Finals!!
Sorry kids, no cocktail recipe today, because I want to make sure you get your tickets to the upcoming Speed Rack Finals! What is Speed Rack, you may ask? Well, it's a national competition created by and for female bartenders to promote female bartenders and to raise money for breast cancer research. The first round was held in New York (here's my recap), and subsequent rounds were held in nine other cities. The ten regional winners will compete along with six wildcard competitors on May 10th at 5 pm at the Prince George Ballroom. Tickets are $40 and include cocktails, punch, beer, and snacks, and best of all, proceeds benefit breast cancer research. I guarantee it'll be a raucous and fun evening, as bartenders from across the country will be in town for the Manhattan Cocktail Classic and they'll be cheering for their local favorites. Plus, @daisy17 and I are bartending again. -
TV or Not TV?
Last night I connected two friends, one who creates documentaries about food and the people who make it, and another who is interested in pitching a video or TV series in the culinary realm (I don't want to give away any secrets!). We discussed his idea, tips to focus a pitch, and more, and I think it was a productive and fun evening all around (and, of course, it was all over delicious food and wine at Corkbuzz, so that didn't hurt). It got me thinking of how many times friends have told me that I should have my own show — they seem to think it should be a reality show of some sort — showcasing my life with all of its food and beverage adventures. I suppose some of it could be very interesting, but that's where the heavy editing would have to come in. There would be quite a bit of not-so-exciting footage, for sure. My working title is Eat, Drink, Dog. :) I don't think I'd really be interested, but it's amusing to think about at the very least.
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Booze You Can Use: Have a Collins to Action
The Tom Collins is a traditional, lively spring refresher made with gin, lemon juice, simple syrup and topped with club soda. This week I had the privilege of attending a cocktail class with Eben Freeman, who not only showed us his secrets to efficient and precise jiggering, but taught us about basic cocktail formulas and how, putting them to use with a bit of creativity, one can produce a staggering number of cocktails. The Collins family of cocktails is merely a basic sour (spirit, citrus, sweetener) topped with club soda. His Collins to Action is a Tom Collins variation peaturing PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur, which adds a perfect sweet/tart element to the drink. These would be perfect for brunch and/or a lazy afternoon in the sun. Sadly, I forgot to take a picture. Pictured above is A Bird in the Hand, which we also made during the class. You can find the recipe here.Collins to Action
1 oz. PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur
1 oz. gin
1/2 oz. fresh lime juice
1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. simple syrup
Club soda
Combine all ingredients except club soda in a shaker. Add ice and shake vigorously. Strain over fresh ice in a Collins glass and top with club soda. -
Weekend Wrapup
What a great weekend. On Friday night I went over to Sarah and Arlan's to catch up over a delicious dinner of mushroom papardelle, salad, and decadent cookies and ice cream for dessert. Saturday morning I took Moxie to obedience class where we worked on "heel" and walking on a loose leash, then headed out to Ba'sik to be an extra for an ice cream commercial — free drinks and ice cream — not a bad way to spend an afternoon! For the evening, I joined Kim and John for a trip out to Red Hook to visit our friend Jim at Cacao Prieto, where we tasted their wares before heading to dinner (and karaoke!) at Hope and Anchor. We finished of the evening at Sunny's, where we listened to live music from the dozen or so bluegrass musicians who gather there every Saturday night. I had a relaxing Sunday morning with Moxie, then met up with Matt for brunch before seeing Jesus Christ Superstar on Broadway — having been in a production of JCS is college, it was a welcome trip down nostalgia lane. Afterwards, we had drinks at the Rum House. After a quick stop at home, I caught up with another Matt (this one is a high school friend in town from Texas) before heading to a feast at Maharlika with Lindsey, Caitlin & Jenn. Full and happy, I went home to sleep before starting out another busy week.
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Booze You Can Use: Have a Moonlight Cocktail
My Mom emailed this one to me the other day with the subject line "use up that Creme Violette." Now, I don't have Creme de Violette, but I do have Creme Yvette, so I made myself one. Or two. I should have snapped a picture as it was a lovely color as well as tasty. Thanks, Mom!
The Moonlight Cocktail
1 1/2 ounces gin (I used Plymouth for the first and NY Distilling Company's Dorothy Parker for the second — much more floral and complex)
1/2 ounce Cointreau
1/2 ounce creme de violette (I used Creme Yvette)
1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
Pour ingredients into a mixing glass, add ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a cocktail glass and enjoy. -
Don’t Pass Over Passover
I learned this weekend that, despite having been at most of the same Seder tables I've been at for the past 30 or so years, not everyone in my family has the same understanding of Passover as I do. As I've mentioned in the past, I'm the Jewiest Jew in the family, which isn't saying much, but I do recall the story of Passover from year to year, and have hosted my own Seders. After a heated discussion based on this recent NYT article in which a new father questioned his own knowledge of Judaism and decided to proactively learn more to teach his son (and decided to write a new Hagaddah in the process), we abandoned The Concise Family Seder, used another, almost too-basic, Hagaddah as an outline for our Seder the following night.The result was a hodge-podge, somewhat crowd-sourced Seder where we bounced back and forth from our remedial Hagaddah to my friend Peter and I telling the story of Exodus with fill-ins from the group. It was somewhat unruly — not ideal for a ritual that literally translates as "order" — but fun nonetheless. I was told by some that they got more out of it than our usual Seder — but we'll see how much they remember next year. Maybe I'll draft a brief quiz.
The following came up over the course of the evening as good sources for basic and/or additional information about the Seder, the story of the Exodus, and Judaism in general:
The Brick Testament, particularly the story of Exodus.
The Prince of Egypt – Passover simplified.
Seder in a nutshell – there is a structure to a Seder. It includes the telling of the Exodus, but there are a few other things we're supposed to do as part of the evening.
And, my favorite, Google Exodus.
If you're interested in deeper knowledge of the history of the Jews from 1500 BC to shortly after the destruction of the 2nd temple, you can watch this PBS Documentary:
http://video.pbs.org/video/1354541084
http://video.pbs.org/video/1354542849
http://video.pbs.org/video/1354548543
http://video.pbs.org/video/1354559410Next year, in Jerusalem!!
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Booze You Can Use: Drink, It’s Pesach!
Gotta love a holiday which involves a requirement to drink four glasses of wine. If Manischewitz isn't your style, I'd suggest cocktails from The Sipping Seder, which mirrors the elements of the Seder plate, but in liquid form, or some of these thoughtful cocktail creations and Kosher spirits from @winenshine. Either way, L'Chaim, and a happy Passover (and/or Easter) to you and yours.