Tag

cocktail

Pineapple Rum Piña Colada

written by Ali

I know it’s October and I know that there are parts of the US where snow is just around the corner. But as far as I’m concerned, it’s always the right season for a Pineapple Rum Piña Colada. Mostly because I just discovered a new favorite spirit – pineapple rum from Stillwagon Distillery. Stillwagon Distillery is, for us, local. They have a great tasting room in Bandon, Oregon and another in Charleston, Oregon – so basically in our little coastal backyard for both.

Stillwagon crafts very unique rums, including cranberry, feijoa, mocha, and pineapple rum. They also distill spiced rum and other types of rum. I’ll confess that when I went rum tasting last weekend in Bandon, I only managed tasting five flavors. I’m a little bit of a light weight when it comes to hard liquor. I loved everything that I tasted though, and finally landed on pineapple rum as the one I wanted to start with to create drinks for the blog. First off is Pineapple Rum Piña Colada. I can pretty much guarantee there will be other drinks showing up here in a few weeks.

I especially like the local aspect of this rum. I’m encouraged by how many craft distilleries and breweries are popping up everywhere in Oregon. There’s an artisan quality to what’s produced that makes for extraordinary drinking. I can definitely see sitting down with a glass of rum on ice just as easily as making use of this rum in a cocktail. I’m definitely seeing a Mai Tai in my future. I opted to start simple and go with a classic: Pineapple Rum Piña Colada.

Conveniently, I had frozen coconut milk from a recipe a few weeks ago. I combined some coconut milk, some pineapple juice, and pineapple rum, then shook it up with some ice and called it good. This was a perfect cocktail for snuggling up with the dog and watching Project Runway. I’m all about the guilty pleasures.

Yum

Pineapple Rum Piña Colada

Ingredients

4 ounces pineapple rum
4 ounces pineapple juice
2 ounces coconut milk

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake. Pour into martini glasses and enjoy!
Serves 2

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October 7, 2017 0 comment

Beverages

Last of the Season Sangria

written by Ali

We are already in the middle of September, and to celebrate, I’m sharing this last of the season sangria. We’ve had sunny lovely days the last few weeks. But the nights have just a touch of autumn in the air and rain is in the forecast again. I’m a seasonal wine drinker: when it’s above 60 degrees, I’m much more inclined to drink white wine. When the temperatures dip consistently below that, I hibernate and start drinking red.

The last of the season sangria is the last hurrah for white wine. I used my favorite nostalgia wine for this sangria: Bridgeview’s Blue Moon Riesling. I’ll admit that the first time I bought Blue Moon Riesling, I was totally attracted to the bottle design. I knew it was a white wine, but had no idea the difference between a Riesling or a Chardonnay or any other wine in between. I just thought the bottle was pretty. I also call this my nostalgia wine because it always reminds me of my very first trip to Oregon, nearly twenty years ago. I had no idea at the time that I would eventually end up living in this beautiful place, much less living on the Oregon coast. I didn’t have any idea I’d also develop a deep appreciation for Oregon wines, but here we are.

This last of the season sangria has the velvety flavor of caramel. I combined brandy, orange juice, and Riesling for the base of the sangria, and then tossed in the fruit I had on hand. In this case, it was the stragglers from the last blueberries from the farmer’s market, a lemon, slices of orange, and slices of apple. You could also make this with plums, pears, etc. I highly encourage you to make this last of the season sangria, sit back on the patio on a warm autumn afternoon, and enjoy!

Yum

Last of the Season Sangria

Ingredients

1 bottle slightly sweet white wine (Riesling or similar)
Juice from one orange
1 cup brandy
Assorted fruits (apples, oranges, lemons, blueberries, pears, etc.)

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a large jar or carafe. Refrigerate for a few hours. Serve over ice.
Enjoy!

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September 15, 2017 0 comment

Beverages Farmer's Market

Fennel Gin and Tonic

written by Ali

Fennel gin and tonic is a light, anise flavored cocktail. All it takes is a few ingredients: gin, tonic, fennel, and lime. Gin and tonics are my absolute favorite cocktail – I have many a happy memory of gin and tonics during the two years I lived overseas. Since then, I’ve come to enjoy a variety of different gins, including several made here in Oregon.

I’ve also experimented quite a bit with various herbs and spices in my gin and tonic. In this case, slices of fennel are muddled with lime and then ice, gin and tonic are added. The fennel adds an herbaceous touch to the drink.

Yum

Fennel Gin and Tonic

Ingredients

Two or three slices of fennel bulb
2 ounces gin
½ lime
Tonic water
Ice

Instructions

Muddle the fennel slices and lime in a cocktail glass. Add ice, gin, and tonic. Serves 1. Enjoy!

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August 25, 2017 0 comment

Beverages

Coastal Sunset Martini

written by Ali

This coastal sunset martini combines several of my favorite cocktail ingredients: gin, grapefruit bitters, and Aperol. I realize that I really enjoy bitter as a flavor profile for my cocktails. This makes Aperol the perfect addition to many a drink.

The inspiration for this week’s cocktail is two-fold. Last week, I had to go to Eugene for a meeting. I knew the weather was going to be much warmer inland than it has been here on the coast. What I didn’t realize was that we were going to be driving into the record-breaking heatwave that plagued much of the I-5 corridor all along the PNW last week. It’s quite a shock to the system to go from a temperate 65 degrees to 100 degrees. The worst part was that I just felt lethargic – it was all I could do to drag myself out of the hotel to find dinner. (Ok, ok – I was enthusiastic enough to go shopping at DSW. After all, shoes).

We ended up at the new Pastini in Eugene. Pastini is a fun Oregon chain that we used to go to sometimes in Portland. They serve mostly pasta dishes. They also make some fun cocktails – I couldn’t resist checking out the Vespa, a combination of gin, Aperol, and grapefruit soda. It was a great anecdote to the miserable heat.

I was so happy to be heading west after my meeting was over. The temperature dropped thirty degrees between Eugene and the coast, and I was finally back in my comfort zone. One of the really awful parts about the heat this past week is that it didn’t help the many wildfires that are currently burning in the PNW. I later found out that Eugene’s air quality was really bad – the heat, the air stagnation and all the wildfire smoke contributed to a nasty mess. I always feel a little guilty enjoying the spectacular sunrises and sunsets that occur this time of year, because I know we are getting them because of all the smoke in the air. I was, frankly, surprised to see one of those sunsets this far west this past weekend.

So, between the Vespa cocktail in Eugene and the glowing orange sunset the other night, I couldn’t resist making my own Aperol and grapefruit martini. And because I really like my cocktails with a bitter kick, I used grapefruit bitters to rinse my glass and cut way back on the grapefruit soda so that it wouldn’t be overly sweet. Feel free to adjust the amount of soda to meet your taste.

Yum

Coastal Sunset Martini

Ingredients

3 drops grapefruit bitters
3 ounces gin
1 ounce Aperol
Grapefruit soda to top

Instructions

Swirl the grapefruit bitters in a chilled martini glass. Add the gin and Aperol and stir. Top with grapefruit soda. Makes 1. Enjoy!

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August 11, 2017 0 comment

Beverages

Pink Grapefruit Martini

written by Ali

A pink grapefruit martini is my contribution to July’s Food ‘n Flix. First off, I’ve been absent from Food ‘n Flix for several months now. The whole move and new job thing really slowed down my ability to keep up within anything that didn’t involve packing, moving, and getting oriented to work. I’ve missed being inspired by food in movies, though, so decided no matter the movie, I needed to jump back into it in July.

Except…sigh…the movie was Dirty Dancing. I vaguely remembered watching Dirty Dancing with my mom when I was in my early teens. I don’t think I got any of what was actually going on. I do recall being mildly annoyed by the plot, even as a pre-teen. I wasn’t impressed by Patrick Swayze and didn’t think much at all of Baby.

Very little in my reaction has changed since 1987. Still don’t think Swayze was all that. Really hate the character of Baby. Not impressed with all the dancing. Granted, I now at least have a clue about what was going on with the blonde, and spent half the movie wondering if Baby had considered birth control. The only thing that plucked a little bit at the nostalgia strings was the music. I did love listening to Hungry Eyes and I’ve Had the Time of My Life, though I have to confess, I did keep waiting for Unchained Melody to play and then realized I’d conflated two lame Patrick Swayze movies into one. Let’s just leave that there.

This is also the kind of movie I would have watched on my own when I was still in a job that required a lot of travel. However, I’m not in that job anymore, so my husband had to watch this one with me. At least I wasn’t suffering alone. I did dutifully take food notes throughout – my list looked like this: pot roast, maybe with Asian inspired flavors; watermelon; salami; pudding; pickles; toasted bagels; grapefruit; manly breakfast; danishes. The more I thought about the juxtaposition between the father eating a real breakfast (eggs? sausage? I couldn’t entirely tell) while the women ate grapefruit, the more I realized that what I really needed while watching this movie was a stiff drink. And frankly, if I’m going to have a grapefruit, it’s probably going to be a component of that stiff drink, and thus, the pink grapefruit martini was born.

I don’t love the movie, but I do love that I was inspired enough to make this drink. I decided that this must be why the mother in the movie was so checked out with what was going on with her daughters: she was busy drinking pink grapefruit martinis all day long.

The thing that makes this pink grapefruit martini special is adding a step at the start and broiling the grapefruit with a thin coat of demerara sugar over the top (you could definitely substitute brown sugar). Once the grapefruit was broiled and all caramelized on top, I let it cool for a bit and then juiced it. The sugar nicely complements the tartness of the grapefruit. A little gin and a little St. Germain and you have a perfect cocktail for getting through any movie from the 80s.

Yum

Pink Grapefruit Martini

Ingredients

1 grapefruit, sprinkled with demerara sugar or brown sugar and broiled for 10 minutes or until caramelized on top.
2 ounces gin
1 ounce St. Germain liqueur

Instructions

Squeeze the broiled grapefruit once it's cool. Combine the juice from the grapefruit with the gin and St. Germain in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake. Strain and serve.
Enjoy!

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July 26, 2017 5 comments

Beverages

Cilantro Cucumber Mojito

written by Ali

This past week’s CSA included a lovely bunch of cilantro, half of which formed the base for this cilantro cucumber mojito. I know that cilantro is a love it or hate it kind of herb. I just happen to absolutely love it. I got to thinking about how it might do in a cocktail. As it turns out, I love the combination. I would imagine this would be absolutely lovely with a lemon cucumber or an Armenian cucumber. Hopefully, we’ll be able to find some of these at the farmer’s market later in the season. I didn’t plant cucumbers this year, after last year’s Daisy disaster. Our then one year-old pup decided she loved cucumbers, so pulled up the entire plant and proceeded to run around with the plant and toss around the cucumbers like they were tennis balls.

This cilantro cucumber mojito uses a generous bunch of cilantro, gets muddled with a few cucumber slices and a wedge of lime and then gets drenched in white rum. I also used a bit of agave to sweeten up the lime. It was a great cocktail for lounging around on the patio and enjoying the sunshine.

Yum

Cilantro Cucumber Mojito

Ingredients

1 small bunch of cilantro
4 1/4 slices of lime
6 slices of cucumber
4 ounces of white rum
1 ounce agave
Club soda

Instructions

Divide the cilantro, lime, and cucumbers between two glasses. Muddle. Add 2 ounces of white rum to each, along with 1/2 ounce agave. Add ice and top with club soda.
Serves 2. Enjoy!

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July 7, 2017 0 comment

Beverages Farmer's Market

Thyme Cucumber Martini

written by Ali

I have plenty of thyme to wrap up #CookoutWeek2017, so I’m celebrating with a thyme cucumber martini and trying so hard to resist all the possible thyme puns that have been running through my head all week. Yep, I have too much thyme on my hands.

Ok – now that I’ve gotten that out of my system. As I mentioned earlier this week, we’ve been getting herbs each week in our CSA basket. This week, we got a very full bunch of thyme. I decided that, rather than aiming for savory dishes with thyme, I was going for sweet. I’d done a little catch-up on one of my favorite podcasts last week (Martinis and Murder) and one of the martinis from the show included gin and St. Germain liqueur. St. Germain is one of my favorites – it’s a sweet liqueur made from elderflowers. It pairs so well with gin. I decided to mix it up with some cucumber and thyme simple syrup and just a touch of lemon juice.

This thyme cucumber martini is a perfect light cocktail that would go well with grilled salmon or chicken. It’s a great cocktail for sitting out on the patio and reading a book, too. Trust me, I’d know. I love the slight hint of cucumber – it pairs beautifully with both the gin and the St. Germain. The thyme isn’t an overwhelming flavor here – rather, it complements all the other flavors.

Yum

Thyme Cucumber Martini

Ingredients

Thyme Simple Syrup

10 or so thyme stems
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water

Thyme Cucumber Martini

juice from 1/2 lemon
three slices of cucumber
2 ounces gin
1 ounce St. Germain
1/2 ounce thyme simple syrup

Instructions

Thyme simple syrup

Combine the thyme, sugar, and water in a small saucepan. Heat to a low simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Set aside to cool for two to three hours. Strain and refrigerate the simple syrup.

Thyme Cucumber Martini

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker over ice. Shake and strain. Enjoy!
Serves 1

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An InLinkz Link-up

June 30, 2017 3 comments

Beverages Farmer's Market

Mint Mojito Martini

written by Ali

A mint mojito martini might become your go to cocktail for the summer. I’m lucky that my CSA (community supported agriculture) basket has included a steady supply of herbs so far this season. There was a hefty bunch of mint in the second week’s basket. At first, I puzzled over what to do with it. I considered making mint chutney, but the immersion blender is still MIA from the move. I contemplated chocolate and mint, but didn’t really have the time to get creative. I landed on dumping the mint leaves into a jar of light rum and walking away from it for a week. (I refrigerated the infused rum, just to stay on the side of food safety).

Once the mint had infused for a week, I pulled it out and took a taste. It was definitely minty. I strained the rum through a coffee filter into another jar so that it would be ready to go for future use. While a mojito is traditionally muddled mint with muddled lime, I opted to use my infused mint in this mint mojito martini, along with fresh squeezed lime juice and a touch of agave nectar. With a mint infused sugar rim, this mint mojito martini was perfect for sipping in the afternoon out on the patio.

Yum

Mint Mojito Martini

Ingredients

Infused Mint Rum

1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
1 cup white rum

Mint Mojito Martini

2 ounces mint infused white rum
1 ounce agave syrup
juice from one lime
Ice

Instructions

Mint Infused Rum

Muddle the mint leaves and combine with the white rum in a small jar. Cover and refrigerate for a week. Strain through a coffee filter to remove the mint leaves and store in the refrigerator.

Mint Mojito Martini

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Shake and serve in a martini glass.
Serves 1. Enjoy!

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June 23, 2017 0 comment

Beverages

One Glass Gin Sangria

written by Ali

So I have to admit that I made this cocktail weeks ago and am just now getting around to blogging about it. This is important to know, because one component that I used is highly seasonally dependent. Fortunately, that one component is not absolutely necessary to enjoy this one glass gin sangria.

Let me back up for a minute. As you may know, if you follow me either here or on Instagram, we moved to coastal Southern Oregon about six weeks ago. One of the things I noticed during my first few weeks was that the evergreen trees were sprouting new growth. Many years of following various foraging oriented blogs has made me savvy enough to know that spruce, pine, and fir tree tips (the brand new growth in the spring) are edible. Trees + tips + desire to forage = a lunch break wandering around where I work, quietly slipping fir tree tips into my jacket. Mind you, this was my professional suit jacket, but who’s counting. Fortunately, I was able to get them transferred into a bag when I went back to my desk. From there, it was a logical step to toss the fir tips into some gin and let it steep for a few days.

From there, I stumbled onto this cocktail. I started out making a Spanish G&T with the fir tip infused gin. But then I still had the various bits from the Spanish G&T in my glass and tossed in a little fruity rose, plus some strawberries, and a mandarin orange. And then I tossed in a shot of the fir-tip gin. One glass gin sangria was born in that moment.

I’m pretty sure you could infuse the gin with other aromatics and get a similar result. I’ll definitely be trying this again with some lime basil a bit later in the season. I might even try out some of my ginger mint and infuse it with gin. In the meantime, I’ll just leave you with these pretty photos of infusing fir tips, plus my one glass gin sangria.

This was after the fir tips had infused for a few days -wish I’d gotten a photo when they were freshly harvested – they are so pretty!

Yum

One Glass Gin Sangria

Ingredients

1 ounce gin (infused with herbs of your choice, or fir tips, or just plain)
2 sliced strawberries
1 sectioned mandarin orange
3 - 4 juniper berries (optional)
Fruit forward rose or white wine to top

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a glass and enjoy!

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June 16, 2017 0 comment

Beverages

Lilac Infused Spanish Gin and Tonic

written by Ali

This lilac infused Spanish gin and tonic is the first cocktail I’ve created in our new home. One of my favorite things about living in a place that’s a little bit more remote and has lots of gorgeous natural resources is the ability to do some backyard or neighborhood foraging. Ok – I confess, I have a pair of clippers in my car and just might have wandered around the place where I work to trim off a few fir sprouts to infuse recently. I waited until everyone was mostly gone for the day. It’s usually much easier when what I’m looking to forage is in my own backyard, like the lilacs I used for this lilac infused Spanish gin and tonic. We are really, really lucky that we have a beautifully landscaped yard at the house we are renting. The rhododendrons are absolutely going crazy and they are so colorful. We also have lilacs blooming.

Lilacs are an edible flower. I’ve seen them all decked out in sugar for cakes, but have also read they can be used to infuse spirits, like gin or vodka. I’ve got lilacs, so I didn’t want to waste this brief window of opportunity to try it out, so cut a couple of sprigs and infused away. I was pleasantly surprised by the end result. The gin becomes very floral, but not overwhelmingly so. In fact, I thought it gained a hint of vanilla flavor, which was lovely.

I kept this drink very simple: infused gin, a few strips of Meyer lemon peel, and about six juniper berries, all topped off with ice and tonic water. It was a perfect quick cocktail for a hectic week. This is also super easy to make, as the lilacs only need to infuse overnight (anything longer and I think they’d become too strong).

Yum

Lilac Infused Spanish Gin and Tonic

Ingredients

1/3 cup lilac flowers, gently washed and separated
6 ounces gin
6 juniper berries
several strips of peel from a Meyer lemon
Tonic water

Instructions

Combine the gin and lilac blossoms in a jar and cover. Refrigerate over night. Strain the gin before using.
Combine 2 ounces of the lilac infused gin, the juniper berries, and the Meyer lemon peel in a cocktail glass. Add ice and top with tonic water. Enjoy!

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https://fixmealittlelunch.com/lilac-infused-spanish-gin-tonic/

Sometimes, I get help. Daisy kept trying to drag off my lilac spray.

May 26, 2017 0 comment

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