Archive for ‘Food and Drink’
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For my birthday, my parents took me on a tour of the Tuthilltown Distillery in Gardiner, New York.
The story of whiskey in New York is a funny one. You know what a Manhattan cocktail is, right? The Manhattan was called a Manhattan for a reason– because New York state was known for their abundant rye whiskey.
But then Prohibition came along, and the distilleries closed. When Prohibition ended, in many other parts of the country, the stills went back to work, but in New York, they stayed shuttered. Tuthilltown Distillery didn’t open until…I think 2005? I might be wrong on the year, but around then, and that was the first distillery in New York to produce whiskey since Prohibition ended. It is a tiny microdistillery inside an old mill granary on an 8-acre farm (which appropriately grows hops), but they make some of the best whiskey I’ve ever tasted. So when we found out they gave tours, I was really excited.
Click the link for massive awesome pictures of the distillery!
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So, man, it’s been almost a week and I haven’t told you all about the new addition to my family!
The bees are so friendly and happy! I love having them in the garden! They buzz around all day working hard and then they sleep at night and when you open the hive, the honey smells like cinnamon!
We will have honey in September! In the meantime, we still have honey from the people who gave us the bees!
I used the honey to make three cocktails this weekend! Here they are!
1) Ginger Bee
Ingredients for Two Cocktails
6 oz Pyrat XO Reserve Rum
1/2 oz honey
1 oz Cointreau
Ten leaves Cinnamon Basil plus two sprigs of flowers for garnish
1-2 oz candied ginger chunks plus two chunks for garnish
Instructions
Add honey, ginger and basil to shaker with ice and muddle well
Add rum and cointreau, shake
Pour into two chilled cocktail glasses, add basil sprigs and ginger
2) Bee Leg Fizz
(This is a variation on a Bootleg Fizz, but with bees! And de-highballed!)
Ingredients for Two Cocktails
6 oz Greylock Gin
Juice from one Meyer Lemon
1/4 cup chopped lavender plus two sprigs lavender for garnish
1/2 oz honey
1/2 oz lavender syrup
1/4 cup stiffly whipped egg whites
Instructions
Add honey, syrup, lemon juice, and lavender to shaker with ice, muddle
Add gin and egg white, shake like crazy
Pour into two chilled cocktail glasses, garnish with lavender sprigs.
3) Spicy Bee
Ingredients for 2 drinks
6 oz Dogfish Head Jin
1/4 cup fresh chopped mint, plus two sprigs for garnish
1/2 oz honey
1/2 oz dry vermouth
6 rings oil-packed deep fried hot peppers, plus 2 for garnish
Instructions
Add mint, honey, and peppers to shaker with ice and muddle
Add gin and vermouth, shake
Pour into chilled cocktail glasses, add mint and pepper garnish
I made two more flavors of ice cream this week!
Honey Ginger with Honey
Ingredients
1 2/3 cups Half & Half
5 Tbs honey
2 Tbs finely chopped fresh ginger
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
2 egg whites
Instructions
Put honey, sugar, and water in a small saucepan. Cook, stirring, until honey and sugar are dissolved.
Add ginger and bring to boiling.
Boil until the mixture is reduced to syrup
Lower heat to low, add half & half slowly, stirring
Remove from heat, cool to room temperature
Whip egg whites to form stiff peaks
Gently fold egg whites into milk mixture
Freeze according to your ice cream mixer’s instructions
Mexican Hot Chocolate
Ingredients
2 cups Half & Half
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup sugar
6 egg yolks
2 tbs cinnamon
1/2 tsp orange extract
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp chili powder
Instructions
Heat 1 cup of half & half in a medium saucepan with cocoa, orange, cardamom, and chili, stirring until cocoa is dissolved
Add the rest of the half & half and the cream, and cook just till it begins to bubble around the edges.
In a bowl, stir the egg yolks until slightly frothy and pale
Add the sugar to the eggs and mix well
Add the dairy mixture in 1/4 cup increments, mixing quickly and thoroughly to temper the egg mixture
Once half of the mixture is mixed into the eggs, add the rest and stir until the consistency is even
Return to saucepan and cook on low until the mixture reaches a temperature of 170 degrees F or 77 C
Remove from heat and refrigerate overnight
Freeze according to your ice cream mixer’s instructions
So, first, and I’d like to thank ![[info]](http://stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
ldragoon for this one: If the RDJ Sherlock Holmes is House, MD, THIS Sherlock Holmes is LOST. It even has the horns. No time traveling. Yet. And this is definitely the Daniel Faraday version of Holmes–and oh, look! Smokey just made an appearance. If you have Netflix, it’s on Play Instantly, and you should all watch it for the lulz.
BUT WAIT NOW HE IS FENCING WITH PROTO DARTH VADER WHAT IS THIS I DON’T EVEN. Seriously, yes, I realize I’m spoiling but you need to see it for yourself.
Second, and more importantly, I’ve been experimenting with my ice cream maker. Sadly, tonight’s batch didn’t turn out– I tried to make vegan ice cream, and it didn’t even freeze– but yesterday’s did!
Earl Grey Ice Cream
Ingredients
1 cup boiling water
4 Earl Grey Tea Bags
1/2 cup sugar
1 2/3 cups half & half
2 egg whites
Instructions
Steep 1 cup of tea with 2 tea bags
Take the hot tea and mix it with the sugar. Put it in a small saucepan and boil until the tea has been reduced to syrup.
Add the half & half, bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the syrup.
Steep two more tea bags in the hot milk and syrup mixture for 3-5 minutes.
Remove tea bags and chill mixture in fridge or freezer.
Whip two egg whites until they form stiff peaks.
Once mixture is cool, fold in egg whites.
Put in ice cream mixer and freeze according to ice cream mixer instructions.
I brought this to work today and it went over very well!
Man, it’s been a busy week with a dearth of updates. Not because there’s nothing to say, but because I’ve been doing so much stuff!
A few months ago, my old high school friends Jo and Amy (Yeah, I should have been named Meg or Beth) emailed me to ask if I wanted to judge a bolognese cookoff between the two of them and Jo’s dad, Ian.
I said sure, as long as my mom could judge, too (my parents are friends with Jo’s parents, even though they didn’t actually become friends until after we graduated from high school). My mom, in turn, invited everyone up to the house in Connecticut.
The bolognese cookoff quickly became a mini-event. Jo’s husband Erik and I are both amateur bartenders and decided to each make an Italian-themed cocktail for the event. I also made dessert, and my mother made homemade pasta dough, which Jo’s dad, Ian, turned into delicious homemade noodles.
Sadly, Amy was sick and couldn’t make it, even though she was the only one encouraging smack talk via email. But she did send her sauce along to try.
Ian won the cookoff, but of course his sauce is the only one I didn’t take pictures of actually on the noodles.
First come cocktails, then come pics.
1) Erik’s Artichoke-Cherry Punch
This is totally my first ever guest cocktail! Erik uses slightly different measurements than I do so I am keeping his drink according to his own recipe:
Ingredients for 1 cocktail:
1 wedge blood orange or regular orange for garnish
2/3 jigger Cynar
1/2 jigger Maraschino
1/4 jigger Grappa
5-6 oz unsweetened fresh lemonade
ice
Instructions:
Mix Cynar, Maraschino, & Grappa in highball glass over ice
Add lemonade
Add orange wedge
Erik is also looking for suggestions for a better name than “Artichoke-Cherry Punch” if you have one you would like to recommend.
2) Hibiscus Negroni
Ingredients for 2 cocktails:
4 oz gin (I used Bombay Sapphire)
2 oz red vermouth (I used Punt E Mes)
2 oz Campari
2 oz hibiscus syrup*
2 canned hibiscus blossoms
2 slices of orange
Instructions
Mix all ingredients but hibiscus blossoms in a pitcher over ice
Place hibiscus blossoms in the bottom of two chilled old fashioned glasses
Add liquor
Garnish with orange
Next, massive massive photos of delicious food! Click on the cut to see!
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