Beverages

Thai Basil Gimlet

written by Ali

The last recipe this week for #Recipe Makeover is a Thai Basil Gimlet.We all know that I love to have a little cocktail on the weekend. I’m well aware that I’ve posted some really tasty, really beautiful, but really calorie intensive cocktails here on Fix Me a Little Lunch. This week, however, I’m offering up a cocktail that is cool and refreshing, but doesn’t break the calorie bank. The gimlet is very much a classic cocktail – my favorite literary reference for this cocktail is from Raymond Chandler’s The Long Goodbye: “a real gimlet is half gin and half Rose’s lime juice and nothing else.”

The Thai Basil Gimlet is the perfect drink for a warm summer’s night. I combined a bit of Thai basil infused gin with lime juice and a Thai basil simple syrup. If this causes a bit too much pucker for your taste buds, feel free to adjust for sweetness. Personally, I like a sour drink to be sour.

The only bit of pre-planning this drink takes is a day or two to infuse the gin with the Thai basil. I recommend that the Thai basil infuse no longer than this or the gin will be thoroughly overpowered. Thai basil can come out swinging with flavor. The gin will turn a lovely pale gold color with the infusion, making this a positively sunny looking drink.

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Thai Basil Gimlet

Ingredients

To infuse your gin

8 ounces gin
4 Thai Basil leaves, washed and gently crushed

4 ounces Thai Basil infused gin

Juice from two limes
¼ cup water
1 tablespoon sugar

Instructions

To infuse the gin, combine gin and Thai Basil leaves. Refrigerate for a day or two.
To make the cocktail, make a simple syrup with the water and sugar. Set aside to cool. Combine the gin, lime juice, and simple syrup in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and distribute between two cocktail glasses. Serve with a few Thai basil leaves and a couple of slices of lime. Enjoy!

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April 28, 2017 0 comment

Beverages

Sweet Vermouth Martini

written by Ali

The last few weeks have been all about cleaning out the cupboards, which led me to make this sweet vermouth martini. You might ask – how does cleaning out a cupboard lead to a drink? Or maybe you don’t ask, because you already know. In addition to the sheer stress of moving, I’ve doing my best to use up what I have so I don’t have to move it. In this case, I had a nearly empty bottle of gin and a mostly empty bottle of sweet vermouth. Thus, a sweet vermouth martini.

I did a bit of research and this drink is actually a classic – not just a cocktail born out of desperation to clear out a couple of bottles and reduce my overall moving load. The addition of just a hint of bitters rounds out the flavors on this one. I experimented with both orange bitters and grapefruit bitters. And then I experimented with my own homemade blood orange bitters. Before I say which is the tastiest in this sweet vermouth martini, I have to digress and say that yes, I will be carefully bubble wrapping both the blood orange bitters and the blood-orange cello and the limoncello that I made back during the snowpocalypse in December. I consider these precious cargo. I’ll also be doing the same with the remaining blood orange marmalade and the several jars of pickles from two years ago that I need to eat before cucumber season starts up again. I would ditch most of our furniture before I would give up my pickles. My favorite bitters in this, by the way, are the grapefruit bitters. I’m not sure how I ever lived without grapefruit bitters – they are awesome!

My husband, who has been listening to me running around like the Muppets’ Beaker for the last three weeks, probably deserves one or two of these sweet vermouth martinis. I’ll share, but only once we are moved and I have a new bottle of gin in the cupboard. We are definitely going into the time period of moving where, if it runs out, forget it – we are not replacing it (with a few exceptions, like dog food or cat food – the important stuff).

Cheers to you my lovely readers. I hope you are all enjoying a peaceful day of not moving.

Yum

Sweet Vermouth Martini

Ingredients

2 ounces gin
1 ounce sweet vermouth
2 or 3 drops grapefruit or orange bitters

Instructions

Chill your martini glass for 15 -20 minutes in the freezer. Swirl the bitters in the chilled glass. Combine the gin and sweet vermouth with ice in a shaker; shake and then strain into the prepared martini glass and enjoy!

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April 21, 2017 0 comment

Beverages

Sun is Shining Lemony Lemon Drop

written by Ali

To celebrate the fact that it’s April, I’m ringing in the month with a Sun is Shining Lemony Lemon Drop. Yes – I’m that excited that it’s finally spring. I got inspired to make a super sunny lemony lemon drop from one of my favorite things about Oregon. From mid to late March and into early April, daffodils are literally everywhere along the I-5 corridor. They pop up along the road side and in the grass in the divider between the interstate roads. If you look carefully, there’s even a group of daffodils that are arranged in a peace sign along I-5 going North near Eugene. You’ll also find them along Highway 101 along the coast, and of course, there are daffodils in everyone’s yards, too. The funny thing is, one day it’s as gloomy as it can possible get and then the next – explosion of yellow color everywhere. I love Oregon.

So, to honor all this pretty sunniness, I whipped up a Sun is Shining Lemony Lemon Drop. I was also looking for an excuse to use up some orangecello. If you’ll recall, back in December, a dear friend of mine sent me a gigantic box of blood oranges from her tree in Arizona. It’s now April, and I’m still working through all of the blood orange products I created. I have a half-quart jar left of blood orangecello, and I’m using it an ounce at a time, savoring it. The funny thing is, it didn’t turn out very orange – it actually looks nearly indistinguishable from the limoncello I made around the same time (good thing I labeled the jars). However, it has an absolutely distinct sweet orange flavor, which makes it a perfect complement to the gin and lemon juice. I threw in just a bit of super fine sugar to make it a super sweet lemon drop.

Whether it’s sunny or rainy where you are, I hope you enjoy this Sun is Shining Lemony Lemon Drop.

Me – enjoying my lemony lemon drop.

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Ingredients

2 ounces gin
1 ounce orangecello or triple sec
Juice from 1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon super fine sugar

Instructions

Combine all the ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and then strain into a chilled martini glass. Enjoy!

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April 14, 2017 1 comment

Beverages Lunch Recipes

Healthy Pineapple Mango Smoothie

written by Ali

This Healthy Pineapple Mango Smoothie is my go-to treat for a week that has been nothing but chaotic. I’ve mentioned in previous posts that we might be moving and as it turns out, we are most definitely moving and very soon. We finally have most details worked out – you know, like if we’ll have a house to live in and that kind of thing. I’m transitioning out of one job and into a new one while also trying to avoid packing anything that’s essential until the last minute. Through all of this, I’ve still wanted to have a healthy lunch. Which made the timing of a sponsored post kind of perfect, especially since I had a chance to work with Halo Top Ice Cream to create this healthy pineapple mango smoothie.

If you aren’t familiar with Halo Top, all I can say is get familiar quickly – it’s so worth it. Halo Top is an all-natural ice cream that’s low-calorie, low-sugar, and high in protein that actually tastes like ice cream. At first I was a bit skeptical, but I promise you, it’s true. We started out with the chocolate mocha chip, and while I’d planned to use it in a recipe, one night, after we’d spent all day packing boxes and moving them to our garage, I needed chocolate too desperately to wait. We devoured it in one sitting, which is ok, because the chocolate mocha chip is only 280 calories.

I went back to Whole Foods and got a second pint of the vanilla bean, which I used to make these healthy mango pineapple smoothies. I never use ice cream in smoothies because of the calories – but Halo Top ice cream makes me feel perfectly ok with it. The Vanilla Bean ice cream is 240 calories so divided out over four smoothies, the calorie impact is minimal. Plus, it’s so creamy and good. I was a kiddo of the eighties, so vividly remember getting Orange Julius at the mall. This smoothie takes me back to those very happy memories. It is tropical tasting and smooth and perfect for what’s shaping up to be an intensely busy few weeks.

On a total side note: since I bought a whole pineapple for this recipe, I couldn’t resist looking to see if I could actually grow another pineapple plant from the top of the one I chopped up for this healthy pineapple mango smoothie. Because, in the midst of a move, what I need is a project that takes some degree of attention and care. Still, I can’t resist sharing what a pineapple top looks like before it gets put in water to grow some roots. I’ll post updates on Instagram about whether or not this actually works.

Yum

Healthy Pineapple Mango Smoothie

Ingredients

1 pint Halo Top Vanilla Bean ice cream
½ fresh pineapple (about 2 cups)
4 mangoes, peeled and chopped

Instructions

Blend all ingredients using an immersion blender or in a blender. Makes 4 eight-ounce servings. Enjoy!

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Disclosure: This post contains sponsored content brought to you by Halo Top Ice Cream. As always, all opinions expressed in this post are 100% my own.

April 12, 2017 15 comments

Beverages Holiday Recipes

Le Peep Easter Cocktail

written by Ali

I had so much fun creating and making my Le Peep Easter Cocktail. Honestly, every time I think of Peeps (the super garish and super sweet marshmallow Easter treats), I think of Le Peep – a breakfast chain in Denver. I loved Le Peep as they had the best strawberry pancakes. But beyond my mental association, Le Peep has nothing to do with this Le Peep Easter Cocktail. The Le Peep Easter Cocktail combines several liquors to make a Peep flavored cocktail, perfect for an Easter afternoon.

I realize there’s a lot of Peep bashing that goes on throughout the Internet. Peeps – apparently you either love them or hate them. I love them, in small doses. I can manage eating a couple of Peeps throughout the Easter season and that about does it for me for the year. I’m finding that I particularly love Peeps that have been dipped in chocolate. Maybe some year I’ll get ambitious and make some Peep like marshmallows of my own. Until then, I’m content to eat an occasional Peep and use a few for garnish on my Le Peep Easter Cocktail.

I have to say that I was pretty amused by the photos for this post. My peeps look a bit alarmed about the blue curacao bath that they are about to slide into. Since we don’t have kids and are pretty secular, our only real Easter engagement is the annual purchase of a couple of bags of mini-eggs, a box of Peeps, and an occasional effort on my part to die some hardboiled eggs, just because they are pretty. When I was looking for my Peeps for this post, I wanted to get some Easter basket grass. I was surprised not to find any at our local Target. It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten an Easter basket (30 years maybe?), so I wonder if the stringy plastic grass is a thing of the past. Or maybe I waited too long to buy it? Either way, I decided to go with edible Easter grass instead. Edible Easter grass is definitely new to me. I think the edible descriptor might be pushing it a bit – it’s definitely made of things you could eat if you were so inclined, but why would you want to? I did nibble a bit – it was flavorless and starchy. I tossed what I had left over in my blogging drawer and am pretty sure it will still be there this time next year.

In the meantime, when Easter comes, you’ll probably be able to find me sitting outside, sipping on a Le Peep Cocktail and biting the head off a chocolate dipped Peep.

Yum

Le Peep Easter Cocktail

Ingredients

1 1/2 ounces white creme de cacao
1 ounce blue curacao
1/2 ounce vanilla vodka
Peeps for garnish (if desired)

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into a martini glass and garnish with Peeps. Enjoy!
Serves One

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April 7, 2017 0 comment

Beverages Farmer's Market Lunch Recipes Quick and Easy Vegetarian

Sunrise Spring Smoothie

written by Ali

This Sunrise Spring Smoothie is a great, healthy way to start the day. Of course, they might be even better if I actually drank them at sunrise. Let me rephrase – they’d be great if I could actually see the sunrise. Here of late, it’s just been rain…and more rain. I’m starting to feel like the sun is never going to come out. Even the three daffodils that I planted in our front bed are looking depressed (ok – two daffodils – I cut one of them for the photo shoot for these smoothies).

Regardless of when you decide to drink your smoothie, the sunrise spring smoothie is a beautiful blend of all sorts of in season fruits and veggies. Yes – you read that right. I used a handful of beet greens for the top layer of these smoothies. I love all things beet, and any time I find a bunch of beets that have a great looking set of leaves, I buy them so I can get maximum benefit out of them. Beet greens aren’t very beet-y; instead, they taste like a very green version of, well, greens. Beet greens are full of protein, magnesium, zinc, potassium, and B6. One of my favorite ways of making use of them is blending them into smoothies.

I’m also getting desperate for strawberries. However, we live in the PNW, which means the best berries are the ones we get locally here. They won’t be available until around June. In the meantime, I’m willing to buy strawberries that have been shipped here, but will use them primarily in smoothies, because they just don’t quite taste right yet. I also threw in some more mangoes – I discovered champagne mangoes the other day at Whole Foods. Champagne mangoes are a smaller mango and are definitely sweeter than their larger counterparts. They are perfect for the yellow layer for my sunrise spring smoothie.

As I mentioned in my tropical turmeric smoothie recipe a few weeks ago, one of the best parts of smoothies is that they can be stored in 8 ounce jars and frozen. I pull a smoothie out of the freezer in the morning, throw it in my bag with the rest of my lunch and have both a great lunch treat, but also an automatic ice pack for whatever else I’m taking with me for the day. By lunch, my smoothie is thawed out and all I need to do is give it a good shake and drink it.

Yum

Sunrise Spring Smoothie

Ingredients

2 mangoes, peeled and diced
1 pint strawberries, chopped
1 bunch beet greens, roughly chopped
1 1/2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 cup pineapple juice

Instructions

If you are going to layer the smoothie, start by blending the mangoes and pineapple juice. Pour this layer into your glasses. Blend the strawberries and 1 1/4 cups almond milk next. Carefully pour onto the first layer in the glasses. Blend the remaining almond milk and beet greens last. Pour onto the second layer.
If you are not layering, combine all ingredients and blend.
Makes 4 eight ounce smoothies. These can be frozen and enjoyed as needed. Enjoy!

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April 5, 2017 1 comment

Beverages

Cherry Vanilla Vodka Cola Cocktail

written by Ali

I’m going for my favorite very simple cocktail, a Vanilla Stoli and Coke, and giving it a twist to make it a cherry vanilla vodka cola cocktail. Before we get into why this is one of my favorite drinks, let’s start with why I’m twisting it up. First off, there’s a high probability we may be moving soon, though I’m not ready to share with the world where or why. Tune in next week to find out more. So, that said, I’ve been trying to work on using up what we have in our fridge and pantry. I have some gorgeous naturally preserved cherries that I bought back when I was working on the recipe for the Almond Brownie Martini. In the interest of using up at least some of these before it’s time to do a final fridge clean up, I thought it might be fun to do a riff on a Vanilla Stoli and Coke with a cherry flare to make a cherry vanilla vodka cola cocktail. However, rather than using Coke, I thought I’d go with my favorite natural brand of soda – Blue Sky and integrate their Cola into my drink. It’s a little hazardous for me to be drinking this after 5 p.m. in the first place, as any caffeine after about 3 p.m. can really wreck my ability to go to sleep at a reasonable time. As such, this is a weekend only drink.

So – why Vanilla Stoli and Coke or Cola? Cocktails, wine and coffee were three things that I just didn’t have much exposure to until I was a young adult. I suppose that’s pretty reasonable, but I was also the only student in my senior class who hadn’t ever been drunk in high school – or at least, I was the only one who was willing to admit I was that kind of a home body in front of my peers. High school and I did not mix well. But I digress. When I was finally old enough to pursue any and all of those vices on my own, I had no idea what I liked. As a result, I kind of followed along or took a best guess about what might sound good. It’s how I ended up drinking mochas forever, when in reality, I actually prefer Americanos. I ended up in a rut of cheap white zinfandel and really sweet Rieslings before I realized that I really prefer deep dark red wines, like Shiraz and Tempranillo. The first time I had a cocktail, it was a whiskey sour, because that’s what my ex drank. As it turns out, I really like whiskey sours, as long as the sour mix is all natural (in other words, from a lemon and some sugar – not from a scary looking bottle that probably doesn’t include anything natural or real). At some point or another, I got tired of whiskey sours and went out on a limb for a Vanilla Stoli and Coke (I’m sure someone recommended it to me). I really enjoyed it and stayed with it forever. And by forever, I mean through most of my twenties until I went to the Marshall Islands and met a friend who introduced me to gin and tonics. At that point, I switched my allegiance and drank G&Ts for two years. I just might be a creature of habit.

Fortunately, for me (and for my blog readers, too), I’ve branched out a bit since. There’s only so much you can do with a G&T for a happy hour post, and I’m pretty sure I’ve exhausted most of the possibilities already.

A cherry vanilla vodka cola cocktail would be a great addition to a summer barbecue. It’s a fizzy and slightly sweet drink and perfect for lounging on the deck as well. I know that’s what I’ll be doing this weekend (provided the sun decides to peek out behind all the clouds). Cheers!

Yum

Cherry Vanilla Vodka Cola Cocktail

Ingredients

2 ounces Vanilla Stoli Vodka
½ ounce cherry syrup from maraschino cherries or similar
Cola or Coke to top
Cherries to garnish

Instructions

Combine the vodka and cherry syrup in a glass. Add ice. Top off with cola or coke. Garnish with cherries and enjoy! Serves 1

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March 31, 2017 0 comment

Beverages Farmer's Market Lunch Recipes Quick and Easy

Chocolate Berry Smoothie

written by Ali

This chocolate berry smoothie is all about the berries, which are just starting to pop up at markets around the United States. I’ve been on a smoothie binge here of late, largely because I figured out how to make smoothies with just my immersion blender. I used to make smoothies in our large blender, but when the carafe broke, I didn’t bother replacing it and the base has been languishing away in our garage. Since we are likely moving soon, I’m doing my best not to buy more things for the kitchen. My quandary, of course, was how to make smoothies. Especially in the spring, I really love the combination of fruit and almond milk or fruit and juice. I also use a super easy technique of putting my smoothies into ½ pint jars and freezing them, which means they are ready to drink right around lunch time (I put them in the fridge the night before to start thawing). Enter the immersion blender. I really think this is the handiest tool I have. It doesn’t take up much space and it quickly blends fruit and liquids into perfect smoothie creaminess. I had very berry smoothies made up in no time at all this weekend.

Speaking of food prep and freezing, I’ve been doing a lot of writing here of late for Fix Me a Little Lunch about preserving. My main focus has been on canning, which, at least for me, most often comes to mind when I think about food storage. But freezing is also another great way to store fruits and veggies when they are in season. One of my favorite things to freeze is berries. We are lucky to live in a region where blueberries, in particular, are abundant. Blueberries freeze so well and are perfect to have on hand in fall and winter to make smoothies (like this very berry smoothie!) but also muffins, bread, pancakes, and so on. My kitchen hack for freezing berries is this: layout parchment paper on a baking sheet and, after washing the berries and inspecting for any bad berries, lay the berries out in a single layer and freeze them. Once they are frozen, they can be stored in freezer bags or containers. This way, they berries don’t freeze in one impossible to separate clump.

For this chocolate berry smoothie recipe, you can, of course, use fresh berries (or frozen berries from the store). I threw in just a scant teaspoon of cocoa powder in my chocolate berry smoothie this week to give it a bit of chocolate flavor.

Yum

Chocolate Berry Smoothie

Ingredients

1 bag of frozen mixed berries (or 3 cups of fresh berries)
2 cups vanilla flavored almond milk or soy milk
1 teaspoon cocoa powder

Instructions

Blend all ingredients until smooth using a blender or immersion blender. If freezing, distribute between four ½ pint jars and freeze. Enjoy! Makes 4 eight ounce servings.

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March 29, 2017 0 comment

Beverages Travel

Five Great Wineries in the Umpqua Valley

written by Ali

This week’s Friday happy hour post is a bit different from my normal cocktail post. This week, I’d like to introduce you to my favorite wine region in all of Oregon – the Umpqua Valley. When people think about Oregon’s wine scene, they most often think of the vineyards and wine makers in the Willamette Valley and those in Hood River. The Willamette Valley is known for its amazing Pinot Noir grapes, which are, without a doubt amazing.

However, if you are looking for a different wine tasting experience in Oregon, I encourage you to check out the Umpqua Valley. This region is in Southern Oregon and is easily accessible along the I-5 corridor. It’s about three hours south of Portland and easy to get to via either the Portland International Airport (which is swoon worthy in and of itself in terms of all the great shopping and food that’s in the airport, including the local wines that you can buy to take home with you) or the Eugene International Airport, which is about an hour and a half north of the Umpqua Valley region. The Eugene International Airport is absolutely adorable – very small, but very easy to get to and from. The nearest town to the Umpqua Valley is Roseburg. It’s a cute town with some great restaurants and a really nice Holiday Inn Express. Trust me, relaxing in the hot tub there with the view of the Umpqua River after a long day of wine tasting is a great way to end the day.

The Umpqua Valley has over twenty-five wineries. While I’ve not been to all of them, I’ve definitely toured my share. In no particular order, here are my five favorites.

Brandborg Winery

Brandborg is an easy to find winery off of Highway 138 in Elkton, Oregon. Elkton is a lovely tiny town – it’s got just a few shop on its main street, with spectacular views of the Umpqua River. Brandborg itself has lovely wines – great pinot noirs, in particular. The Love Puppets Pinot Noir is one of my favorites, though I also have room in my wine loving heart for the Ferris Wheel Estate Pinot Noir. Brandborg has a gorgeous tasting room and the folks there are so generous with their time and knowledge when you are tasting.

MarshAnne Landing

MarshAnne Landing is in Oakland, Oregon, easily accessible off of I-5. There distinctive logo includes a flying saucer because they want anyone, even space visitors, to have a great wine experience with their wines. My all time favorite here is the Red Planet red blend, though I adore the Cote du Umpqua, too. But really, all their wines are awesome. The tasting experience at MarshAnne is also lovely – great tasting room, friendly people. If you are lucky enough to be in the Umpqua Valley region in the spring and summer, MarshAnne also holds concerts both in the tasting room and on their patio.

MarshAnne Landing’s Pinot Noir. Bought this one from DC Farmer’s Co-Op in Roseburg (seriously). The Farmer’s Co-Op has a great selection of regional wines.

Pyrenees

One of the best parts about Pyrenees is a tasting room that opens up onto the Umpqua River. This vineyard is in a quiet spot in Myrtle Creek, a town about twenty minutes outside of Roseburg. If you are looking for a place to take a picnic and taste wines, Pyrenees is the place to go. They are open only by appointment in the winter, so this is definitely a place to call ahead and make sure they are open when you plan to go.

Abacela

The last two on my list are two of the larger wineries in this region. Both produce spectacular wine. I’ll start with Abacela. Abacela has a spectacular tasting room – it’s spacious and light and such a great place to cozy up, especially in the winter, and taste a full flight of wines. Abacela is also pretty easy to find in many larger liquor stores and wine shops, so if you can’t travel to the Umpqua Valley but want to try out a bottle from this region, look for Abacela. Again, as with other wineries on this list, all of the wines are worth tasting. My hands down favorite from Abacela is their Viognier. It’s a light, crisp white wine that’s perfect for summer months paired with grilled foods. Their Albarino (another white wine) is pretty awesome, too. I particularly love really intense bold red wines and Abacela delivers on these with their Tempranillo, Dolcetto, and Garnacha wines.

Abacela’s Albarino, purchased at PDX while I was on the way to New Orleans for a conference.

Abacela’s Vintner’s Blend #14 – bought as a special Thanksgiving treat.

Henry Estate Winery

Henry Estate Winery has a long history in the Umpqua Valley. They started producing wine in this region in the 1970s and are one of the most respected wineries in the Umpqua Valley. They have a lovely tasting room, and if you have a chance to go to an open house on a Thanksgiving or Memorial Day weekend, Henry’s is a must stop destination. Henry’s red wines are great, but my absolute favorite from this winery is the Veraison, which is a perfectly dry rose wine that pairs well with fish and chicken dishes, as well a variety of cheeses. If you are looking for a pinot noir, Henry’s has some great options here as well. Oh – and the chocolate wine truffles they sell in their gift shop are so good.

Henry’s Pinot Gris – this was was purchased at the grocery store in Bandon, Oregon. I love my Umpqua Valley wines!

Henry’s Estate all decked out for the holidays.

Eight years ago, hubby and my first wine tour in the Umpqua Valley. This is a photo of us in Henry Estate’s vineyard right around Thanksgiving.

So there you have it – five outstanding wineries in the Umpqua Valley region. The Umpqua Valley region has over twenty-five wineries to explore – if you want to check out some of the others or want to learn more about events in the region, check out http://www.umpquavalleywineries.org/wineries/

This post is linked to Saucy Saturdays #89. For more great recipes, check out the hosts’ sites:

Take Two Tapas, La Petit Chef, Mid-Life Croissant and The Flavor Bender

March 24, 2017 1 comment

Beverages

The Storm Cocktail

written by Ali

The Storm Cocktail is my homage to X-Men, which is the focus of this month’s Fandom Foodies. So here’s the long story of how I came to be inspired this month to make The Storm Cocktail. First off, this cocktail is inspired by the X-Men character, Storm. So you might wonder, why Storm? (Ok, you might not wonder, but I’m going to tell you anyway, which is where the long story comes into it).

Many years ago, I lived in Colorado. I actually grew up in Lakewood, Colorado, but spent a lot of time as a young adult in Denver (going to college, working, hanging out). One of my favorite places to go was Café Euphrates. I’m pretty sure that Café Euphrates was on Pearl Street, so it wasn’t too far away from my alma mater, the University of Denver. I’d go there to hang out with my ex and one of his friends. The place served the best hummus I’ve ever had and absolutely lovely coffee. I was still in my mocha phase, so I know that I drank probably several hundred mint mochas at Café Euphrates. But my absolute favorite part of going here was the X-Men Arcade game that was in the back corner.

Prior to Café Euphrates, I’d never played much in the way of arcade video games. I played some Pac Man and loved some really rudimentary computer games. However, growing up, there was no Nintendo, no Atari – none of that. I don’t think I was actually all that interested, which was probably a big part of why this never entered into my life. But for some reason, I loved X-Men. And I always, always, played Storm. If you’ve ever listened to the song “This Tornado Loves You” by Neko Case, you’ll get it. I’ve always taken some pride in a stormy personality. Storm was, by my estimation, powerful and perfect. If I had a super mutant power, I’d want hers.

I can’t remember the last time I went to Café Euphrates. I grew up, moved far away, moved closer and then moved further away again. I didn’t think much about this place and time at all, except as I started to think about what I would do for X-Men for Fandom Foodies and it all came back in a beautiful rush. I’m ok being my older self, but I have a lot of fondness for that young woman, who was optimistic but moody, reserved but with lots of big dreams. I think that time period might have been the first time in my life when I started to really appreciate my nerdy side and stopped trying so hard to fit in with everyone else.

So the storm cocktail is my homage to my favorite arcade hero. I haven’t gotten much into the X-Men movies (though I do think Hale Berry rocks in the role). I do think every time I drink this cocktail this summer, I’ll think about that younger self and smile.

Yum

The Storm Cocktail

Ingredients

2 ounces white rum
2 ounces coconut milk
2 ounces pineapple juice
1 ounce blue curacao

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake. Strain into cocktail glass with more ice. Enjoy!

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This post is linked up to March’s Fandom Foodies hosted by Heather at Food ‘n Flix. Check out the Fandom Foodies page for a schedule of all the great inspiration for this year!

March 17, 2017 2 comments

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