Happy Hour Friday

... returns!

Well, sorta. Just saw this cute little Salon article that has new and interesting cocktails recipes I hope to try out at some point.

Cheers!

Updates

Life has been hectic... but fun!

I went to Portland this last weekend to visit some peeps. X-Files disappointed me, but The Dark Knight was amazing and emotionally taxing. I loved it!

I had a great time in P-town... got to drink several lovely drinks here, here, and here, plus a visit to the Farmer's Market and the Saturday Market.

Work has been going well. I've been trying to figure out how to summarize the experience without revealing where I work (it's best to keep some modicum of anonymity at this point). Working in a large law firm is great: the pay is good, the perks are awesome and the work is amazing. But even as a summer associate they work you. And with the social events they organize, you always have to be "on." It's more tiring than I expected but I'm not complaining, because that seems ridiculous. It's just that I think I need a vacation from my summer vacation, if you know what I mean?

I'm looking forward to being home this weekend and sleeping in... only one more week of work, then a trip to the VTA before school starts again! God, I'm not ready to be a student again. UGH

I might break down and buy an iPhone

My birthday's this weekend (woo hoo!) and the 'Rents gave me a gift certificate to the Apple Store after hearing me go on and on, ad nauseum, about the beautious wonder that is the iPhone.

On my flight to Vegas a couple weeks ago I quizzed the guy next to me about his. How's the reception? Can you hear OK when speaking to someone? Do you pay a lot each month? What about the battery? All the answers were positive and he had no complaints.

Early reviews of the new iPhone are mixed, and I have to figure out if it's worth breaking my Verizon contract (god only knows what that entails), but goddam do I want one!

Btw, the birthday celebrations started yesterday... another gal I work with has a birthday this weekend so we went out for drinks and dinner after work.

Sadly, I got a migraine right in the middle of it so I had to leave early. I did take my meal to go and will be enjoying it later today (seared beef and blue cheese on butter lettuce with carmelized onions and pancetta - holy crap, so good).

Tonight I'm heading to Caffe Boa with some friends with an after-party of wine and movies at one of their houses. Yay! It will be great.

Sunday (my actual birthday) may entail more movie watching, either in the theater or at another friend's house. She just got new couches and has a huge, kick-ass television I've been dying to watch Death Proof on.

Then more celebrating with co-workers on Monday! We are going out to lunch and then drinks after work. The life of riley, truly.

PS: I think the migraine was brought on by:
hormones (that time of the month! Lovely.)
stress (I don't know if I'm on law journal yet, and I'm trying to do a extra-special good job at work this week and next)
too much caffeine (coffee and diet cokes all day, and no water: is that bad?)
fatigue (5-6 hours of sleep per night is not legit)

A movie that makes you want to drink - in a good way

As I write this, I'm sipping a cocktail* in a real martini glass savoring it and pondering how much I loved the Sex and the City movie. If you liked the TV show, you will like the film (and, obviously, if you loved the TV show you should love the film). It's great, hilarious, emotional, perfect.

I wish I could have seen it with my closest gal friends (remember our SATC nights?) but I was thinking about y'all nonetheless.



*In true Macgyver fashion, I pieced together the closest version of a Cosmo my fridge and pantry could produce. Here's my recipe which you should like:

Fill a shaker 3/4 full of ice.
Add 1 part Ketel One vodka.
Add the juice of one lime.
Add 1/2 part of Izze Sparkling Pomegranate Juice
Add 1/2 part of Triple Sec

Shake vigorously, then pour into a martini glass. Gulp.

Happy Hour Friday (13)

Yes! I finally have a cocktail worth sharing with you! After many months of near sobriety it's nice to take a step back, relax, and enjoy alcohol again. 'Tis the season for celebrating, after all!

At the party I went to last night, the host made Charles Dickens Hot Punch. The recipe is from a letter Charles Dickens wrote in 1847. I love the Victorians.

This punch was delicious! And given that it's served warm we surmised that a lot of the rum's potency wore off. Nonetheless, this tasted like apple cider and was DIVINE. Enjoy, and happy holidays!!

(Recipe from the site linked above)

Zest of lemons, cut into several pieces each
1 packed cup brown sugar
2 cups dark rum
1/2 cup brandy
Juice of 3 lemons
4 cups very hot water
More sugar to taste

In a 4-quart saucepan combine the lemon zest, sugar, rum, and the brandy. Warm over low heat. Be sure there's no exhaust fan running. Stand well back as you light the liquid with a long match. When the flames have gone out, stir in the lemon juice and the water. Taste for sugar. Bring the punch to a very gentle bubble, cover completely and cook 10 minutes. Remove the lemon zest. Set aside up to 3 hours, or refrigerate overnight. Serve warm, ladled into handled cups.

Happy Hour Friday (12) - update!

As I mentioned, Happy Hour Friday 12 was sort of a work in progress...

So yesterday afternoon, I mixed up another batch of Gin & Poms for me and PR (my dad). After realizing I didn't have superfine sugar to work with, I decided to make some pomegranate syrup. I combined equal parts regular sugar and unsweetened pomegranate juice over a sauce pan, brought it to a boil, then turned down the heat and let it simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring all the while. The syrup came out yummy!

After it cooled, I used one part syrup to two parts gin, added juice from 1/2 lime (it was an especially juicy lime), shook it and poured it into a sugar-rimmed glass, and it was really yummy and strong.

I have to say, pomegranate juice has a unique flavor. It's very earthy, and pairing it with the floral Sapphire makes for an interesting flavor. I'm not sure it would always be my first choice, but I'm glad I gave it a whirl!

By the way, last night I headed down to Malibu (the 'Bu) to Duke's for dinner. Now themed restaurants are not my thing but the restaurant is right on the water. My dinner was really yummy (parmesean and herb crusted Mahi Mahi) and the really strong mai-tai helped with any family-related drama that reared its ugly head. We even saw dolphins swim past!

A seagull hoping for some food.


The view from our table.

Happy Hour Friday (12): Ahem, it's a bit late

Sorry for the delay!

This installment is a bit of a work in progress, as I'm still learning how best to undermine the benefits of pomegranate juice by combining it with booze.

One thing I learned: you need sugar in your pomegranate-based cocktails!

I don't think I've tried pomegranate juice before yesterday, even though I've often fancied those Pom bottles at the grocery store. I didn't use Pom in my drink yesterday, instead I used Knudsen's Just Pomegranate.

You can sweeten up unsweetened pomegranate juice in one of three ways:
1) add triple sec - which increases the alcohol content of the drink;
2) add simple syrup - which adds sweetness without more booze; or
3) add superfine sugar to your pomegranate juice before mixing your cocktail. (The amount of sugar you add depends on your preference for sweetness. It's important to use superfine instead of regular sugar because superfine sugar will dissolve easily in cold/room-temperature liquids.)

Here's what I'm going to try later today:

Gin & Pom
Combine 1.5 cups of unsweetened pomegranate juice with 0.5 cups of superfine sugar (adjust for your desired sweetness) and set aside.
Fill a shaker 3/4 full with ice.
Add two shots of Bombay Sapphire Gin over the ice.
Squeeze one lemon over the gin.
Add your pomegranate/sugar mixture.
Shake enthusiastically.
Split mixture into two sugar-rimmed martini glasses. Garnish with lemon peel (if feeling fancy) or a small lemon wedge.

Enjoy!

Happy Hour Friday (11): Non Sequitur Edition

After an unfortunate and unplanned hiatus, Happy Hour Friday is back!

First, a thanks: Amber, thank you for reminding me of this delicious concoction! Next, is there a better latin phrase than "non sequitur" to address the fact that I'm posting this on a Wednesday? Mark? I know you are lurking around there somewhere! Post a comment, mister!

Shandy
Take a pint glass.
Fill it half-way with a light beer (I recommend Corona, but Hefeweizen or somesuch would also do).
Fill the rest of the glass with bubbly lemonade.
Sit outside in the sun and enjoy.

Happy Hour Friday (10)

Well, dolls it's Friday again. Which means it's cocktail time!

A while back I bought some dark rum for a marinade recipe. Not sure what to do with the remaining amount, and having some fruit juices around, I decided to mix a few things up and I came up with the following yumminess:

Dark Rum and Juice
Fill a Collins glass or pint glass with ice.
Fill it a third of the way up with dark rum.
Squeeze half a lime over the rum.
Top it off with orange juice.
Stir and enjoy!

PS: Passion Fruit juice would also be yummy in this.

Happy Hour Friday (9)

My friends Ren and Karen will be visiting me in a couple of weeks, which makes me think of celebrating. And when I think of celebrating, I think of GTs (a.k.a., Gin and Tonics).

There's a reason everyone from Big Bad Voodoo Daddy to the Reverend Horton Heat sings the praises of the GT. They are strong (not a girly drink!) and refreshing. Perfect for summer!

After many test runs that have depleted a significant number of brain cells, I believe I've figured out how to mix up a GT that's perfect for me. I hope you like it too!

The Perfect GT
Fill a pint glass with ice. That's right, a pint glass.
Add Bombay Sapphire Gin so that the glass is 1/3 full.
(An acceptable substitute is Tanqueray Ten. If you use any other type of gin, you risk being very disappointed.)
Add the juice from 1/2 lime. It's even better with a whole lime!
Fill the glass with Canada Dry Tonic Water. (Schweppes is OK too, but Canada Dry is the bizzomb.)
Stir.
Add a straw.
Sit outside and sip away!

Happy Hour Friday (8)

Last Friday, My friend Suzie-Q hosted a fun girls' night at her house for Ren and me. While we poured a bit of our 40oz out on the street for Karen (who had to go out of town at the last minute), she was there too, if only in spirit.

We decided to mix up some cosmopolitans, since Suzie had a mega-bottle of Ketel One vodka and triple sec available for the pouring. But they were cosmos with a twist, so I decided to call them Q-smos!

Q-smo
(This recipe makes two martinis!)

Use juice from a lemon or lime to coat the rim of two martini glasses.
Dip said glass in sugar. Set aside.
Fill a martini shaker with ice.
Add 2 parts vodka
Add 1 part triple sec
Add 1 part cranberry juice
Add the juice of 1/2 lemon
Add the juice of 1 lime
Shake vigorously.
Pour your lovely concoction into those two sugar-rimmed martini glasses.

The lemon and lime juice makes this drink very tart, so the sugar on the glasses is needed to balance the drink.

These were delish! We downed a few whilst watching Weeds, then promptly passed out.

It was a lovely evening! Thanks Q!

Happy Hour Friday (7)

In honor of my trip to the races today, I thought I would offer up a Mint Julep recipe!

The key to this drink is the right amount of sugar and the right amount of mint. You can muddle the mint as you would with a mojito, but I think making mint-infused simple syrup ahead of time is easier, especially if you want to make a pitcher of these suckers.

At least a couple hours ahead, you should make some mint-infused simple syrup. Start by heating up equal amounts of sugar and water on your stovetop until the sugar is fully dissolved. Then, take the mixture off the heat and add one bunch of mint to the mixture. Let the mint steep for fifteen minutes, then strain the liquid into a container you can put in the fridge.

Once cold, your drink is ready to assemble!

Mint Julep
Fill a glass with ice (crushed if you have it)
Add 2 parts bourbon
Add 1 part mint-infused simple syrup
Add more ice (unless the glass already full)
Stir the drink well.
Garnish with a sprig of mint.

This is surprisingly good. For a twist you could add some fresh lime (lime and whiskey is better together than you might think!

Happy Hour Friday (6)

I have a 2 for 1 deal for you today!

If you ever thought Brandy was an old man's drink, well you are right. It is. However, if you ever come into possession of a bottle of Brandy, here are some ideas of how to get rid of it:

Hot Toddy (perfect for a chilly evening, especially if you have a cold)
1 shot of Brandy
1 tbsp of honey
Juice from 1/4th of a lemon
Pour hot water over this concoction, stir, and drink. It will soothe your sore throat and hopefully let you skip the Nyquil.

Sidecar (this is so yummy!)
Fill a shaker with ice. Add the following:
1 part Brandy
1 part Triple Sec (or more traditionally, simple syrup if it's handy)
Juice from 1/2 lemon

Shake with vigor. Strain into a sugar-rimmed martini glass. Enjoy.

Happy Hour Friday (5)

So, usually I'm thinking the whole week about what cocktail I can come up with to share with y'all. I have to say, nothing came to mind this week (maybe I'm still reeling from all that Jungle Juice talk?). Nevertheless, I'm committed to this series of posts and I won't let you down!

Speaking of down... I was listening to downtempo music today, which is like modern-day lounge music. A better description would be "light jazz meets electronica"? That sounds awful, but trust me, this music is awesome. Perfect for a dinner party or small soiree, where you want some groovy, instrumental beats in the background (check out Zero 7, Thievery Corporation, The Gotan Project, some of Amon Tobin's stuff).

So, I was wondering: what kind of drink would go well in your downtempo-inspired setting? Something easy, something mellow for sure. Wine is always a legit selection, especially red wine, with its comfort appeal.

But what if you want to kick things off with something different? I highly recommend serving an apéritif before dinner. I especially like Lillet Blanc, which you can find at BevMo or the like. This is not sweet, dessert-like wine. It's more floral than anything else and has a very smooth taste. Serve it chilled, and a little bit goes a long way (if you don't have port glasses, you could always use champagne flutes. And if you don't have champagne flutes, frankly you can use anything. I would drink this stuff out of a coffee mug if I had to!)

I used it when I made this cocktail for Mullin's bachelorette soiree a couple years ago! Very delish, and perfect for a warm evening. Cheers!

Happy Hour Friday (4): Sunday Edition

I'm back from Arizona, and while I have pics and stories to share from my very fun and productive trip, first things first!

In honor of said trip, I want to either introduce you, or remind you, of the dangerous party drink Jungle Juice. It came up in a conversation I had with some students at ASU (who, not surprisingly, were about 10 years younger than me). One of these young'ns was telling us how at one party, the hosts lined a trash can with a plastic trash bag and filled it up with said Jungle Juice... ahh, college.

The real recipe is a puke-fest waiting to happen. But I think with some modifications, this could actually work at a party!

Jungle Juice Lite

This is like sangria, but using vodka instead of wine. Start with a large bowl, pitcher, or pot that can hold the equivalent of 6 bottles of wine. You could also use an ice chest, but that's a little low-brow. (ha!) You want to be able to fit it into the fridge or keep it cold somehow for a long time.

1 bottle of vodka
1/3rd bottle triple sec
2 containers orange juice concentrate
1 bottle of cranberry juice
1 bottle of pineapple juice
sliced, fresh fruit (oranges, apples, pears, lemons, limes, raspberries, blackberries - whatever you want)

Combine all ingredients and let sit overnight, or at least 4-6 hours before the party. Serve over ice and enjoy!

Happy Hour Friday (4) will be delayed!

But not to fear: I should have something up before the weekend comes to a close. I'm on my way to Arizona tonight to visit the school!! I'll bring back pictures!

Happy Hour Friday (3): Lucky 13 Edition

Happy Friday the 13th! Historically, these are lucky days for me. I don't want to jinx it, so I won't say too much about that. But to celebrate, today's edition focuses on what to order from your favorite dive bar.

If you're like me, you have a favorite top-shelf liquor. It might be Bombay Sapphire or Belvedere. But do you ever notice that when you order this divine potable at your favorite waterhole, the bartender overdoes it (I assume so you know you are getting the good stuff)? I appreciate the effort, but if a drink is too strong it ends up sucking.

But, then, how can your sensitive palate suffer through a well drink? Easy, order a cocktail made with vodka and grapefruit juice.

I discovered this drink after realizing that the GTs at The Ruby Room were knocking me on my ass. Pink grapefruit juice is both sweet and tart, so it cuts right through the bite of those vodkas they serve from the well. Admittedly, the best place to get this drink is Cafe Van Kleef, where a juicer is a regular fixture at the bar, and grapefruits and oranges are squeezed-to-order for inclusion in your favorite fruity drink.

Here's how I would recreate this at home:

Fill a glass with ice.
Fill the glass (1/4th to 1/3rd high, depending on the strength you want) with vodka (any kind will do!)
Squeeze 1/2 lime over the vodka
Top the drink with pink grapefruit juice (orange or cranberry juice works, too).

I highly recommend adding fresh lime or lemon juice before the mixer, rather than after. I think the lime/lemon juice incorporates into the drink a lot better and makes a difference in the overall taste of your cocktail!

XO

Happy Hour Friday (2)

We'll see if I can make this a regular feature... You know I loves me some cocktails!

I came up with this drink idea after my parents were cleaning out their liquor cabinet and gave me a bunch of stuff I usually didn't drink: Kahlua, Old Turkey Bourbon, Bailey's, and Disaronno Amaretto. I was a gin-and-tonic girl but I couldn't pass up the free booze!

The best of the bunch, I discovered, was Disaronno Amaretto. I think they've since dropped the "Amaretto" in the name but I still call it that. It's an Italian liqueur with a sweet, nutty flavor, caramel in color.

One day I had some sparkling lemonade around, so I tried mixing the two. De-lish!

Lemoretto
Fill an "old-fashioned" shape glass with ice.
Add 1 part Disaronno liqueur
Add 2 parts Lorina Sparkling Lemonade (the clear or 'white' kind)
Top it off with 1/4th of a lemon, squeezed and dropped into the glass (mind the seeds)

I would stir this before drinking it. Enjoy!

Happy Hour Friday

In honor of my recent trip to Hawaii, I figured I'd share a recipe for a 'poor man's mai tai'. While the real deal is delish, it can be a lot of work to put it together.

Here's a quick and yummy drink to refresh you on a hot day!

Poor Man's Mai Tai:

Fill a tall glass with ice.
Fill the glass 1/4 to 1/3 of the way with dark rum (depending on how strong you want it!).
Squeeze half a lime over the rum.
Fill the glass to the top with guava juice (orange juice is good, too).
Stir your elixir, garnish with a fresh pineapple slice if you have it.

Of course, if you are in the vicinity of Forbidden Lounge in Alameda, you can always stop by and have someone make one for you!

XO