c/o Food and Wine

I was scanning over a daily recipe email from Food and Wine Magazine and saw an interesting section on DIY Soda.  I tend to stay away from soda unless its ginger ale when my stomach is upset or a couple guilty pleasure sips of coke when I’m eating a burger and fries.  Being able to control the ingredients of soda makes it much more appealing and opens up  a  new realm of the recipe world.  The soda in this slide show that really caught my attention was the Ginger-Lemongrass but almost all of them look appealing and would also make for a good base to a cocktail!  Check it out:

Soda Recipe Slide Show

“After examining your conscience and telling God of your sorrow, go into the confessional. You may kneel at the screen or sit to talk face-to-face with the priest.

Begin your confession with the sign of the cross, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. My last confession was _________ weeks (months, years) ago.”

Any ex-Catholics here? I’m feeling GUILTY!

Let’s just say a little something called  The Boston Marathon has gotten in the way of my cooking, writing, and general life. I’m so stoked to be running, and, of course, eating my way through the intense training. Unfortunately, many of the things I now eat look like this:

Gu...ewww

Luckily, I hosted a Super Bowl fundraiser for the organization I’m running for to give me a break from all of the “fuel”.

Aside from nearly 100 bottles of beer (many donated by Sam Adams, thanks!), on the menu:
*Shrimp Etouffee (which FLEW! I barely tasted it!) from the Fat Man (aka Paul Prudhomme)
*Meatball Sandwiches from the Pioneer Woman (except Steady Gentleman Caller baked the bread for ours from scratch, take that Pioneer Woman and your hot rancher husband!)
*Pulled Pork Sandwiches from my lovely friend Jonah
*A bunch of dips from my lovely friend Cait
*A bunch of stuff I can’t remember
-and-
DRUMROLL PLEASE…

CUPCAKES!

Now, I know cupcakes are totally not cool anymore, but I felt the need to bake, and I’ve had the linked recipe bookmarked for ages. I recently attended a Hot Cocktail Tasting (I think it had a much more sophisticated name) @ L’espalier, and this amazing hot & spicy boozy hot chocolate was served. Now, we all know how I feel about chocolate & booze already from my love of boozeshakes, and this was a boozeshake taken to winter and spiced up like a Mexican hot chocolate. Incredible. Niftily, these Aztec Chocolate Cupcakes have a similar flavor profile, and I only like to bake for a crowd–perfect timing!

I doubled the cinnamon and chili, and didn’t wait for anything to cool, as you’ll see they want you to do in the recipe. People were freaking out, eating these things with spoons, like they were crack. Amazing.

Vbar, give ‘em a try when you have the baking bug! I’ll come eat ‘em!

Crack Cupcakes (aka Aztec Chocolate Cupcakes from Pithy & Cleaver)

Since we had a bota box of pinot grigio (thank you vbar for introducing me to this) we used it as a base for the sangria.  To it we added three more bottles of wine that guests had brought as offerings, two nips of tequila and a liter of citrus flavored seltzer water.  While brainstorming what fruit to add we set our eyes on a package of cranberries and agreed it would be perfect for this winter booze concoction.  To release the flavor of the cranberries we heated them up in a saucepan with a quarter cup of crown royal for about 10 minutes, or until the berries start to open up.  We cooled them off in the freezer before adding them to the vat of wine.  In addition to the cranberries we added orange wedges and pomegranate seeds, the later I would exclude in the future since they were messy and clogged up the spicket!

Add a handful of ice, give a stir and this dangerously refreshing drink is ready for your glass.

One day, as I perused bookmarked recipes with a heavy soul, I came across something that I’d tagged impulsively, in the midst of my ennui. Something that would easy my mind, calm my heart, hearken back to the good ol’ days, and remind me that there’s still joy to be had in adult life. I know my moping is related to the end of summer, the realization that I spent a total of three (THREE!) days at the beach, and inexorably linked to the same tick of my brain that compelled me to wander over to my office window all summer and stare wistfully down at the people relaxing in the bright summer sun (and down at the Clover Food Truck, but that’s another post!). I needed a balm, something to soothe my distress, and something that would force me to perk up and appreciate the encroaching fall.

That something is the Boozeshake!

The New York Times published an article Who Put the Whiskey in My Milkshake? and the accompanying recipe for what I’m calling the Boozeshake, what they call the “Bourbon Street Milkshake” (keepin’ it classy as always, NYT), right when I was crawling under my post-Labor Day rock. I immediately sauntered down to J.P. Licks to purchase some vanilla ice cream (whispering conspiratorially to the server that I was taking it home to blend it with booze), but lost motivation as soon as I got home. Cleaning the blender just seemed like so much effort in my state.

Fast forward to this week: Gentleman purchases an immersion blender. My motivation is renewed. I make Boozeshake. I feel like a kid again, only drunk. I’m roaring to go, ready to tackle this beast called autumn and make the best of fall produce, the great recipes I’m seeing, and my new kitchen gadget.

Alas, the Boozeshake (simplified), for 2-4 servings (would be cute in a demitasse for a dessert amuse-bouche!), or 1 very large shake for someone who desperately needs it (who, me?):

Cup of Vanilla Ice Cream

2 TBS of Nutella (I’d like to switch to a more moral option, like this, but Nutella was on hand)

2 TBS whole milk

2 shots of bourbon (or more, but this was fairly strong)

I threw in a handful of raspberries that we were gifted from a garden. It was a fantastic addition, and I’m sure some frozen raspberries or strawberries would work as we transition out of berry season

BLEND!

Pour into chilled glasses/glass and slurp up with a straw… and love life again!

Check out this amazing article in the NYT style section today on preserving fruit in alcohol rather than canning.

The crows do an awful lot of booze-fruit eating in the summertime when we fancy-up our white wines and simple cocktails with a little fruit garnish to be munched on at the end of the drink.  I’ve never thought to preserve fruits this way and then have them for all year long!  I love the idea in the picture of doing pomegranate with a orange peel- can you imagine adding that to a glass of sparkling wine or a whiskey tonic?  I think I just found my weekend project!

My co-worker and I have had a rough week (haven’t we all?) and after a day of slangin’ shoes on the internet and to the fine tourists of SoHo, we decided a cocktail was in order. We walked a bit on W. Broadway-just off Canal St. in SoHo- and stumbled upon Sanctuary T, a little cafe/restaurant that had a cocktail list that was too good to be true. Check out this little number-

fresh brewed green tea, tequila, triple sec and muddled lemon and limes

We decided on a ordering a little snack to hold us off until dinner time. How about a plate of their fried marinated artichoke hearts with homemade tarter sauce? Definitely a good choice.  Yum!

What sort of happy hour treats did you indulge in this week?

Fresh Salsa
1 pint cherry/grape tomatoes, finely diced
1/2 red onion, finely diced
1 jalapeno, finely diced (use your discretion on seeds)
1 garlic clove, pressed (optional)
1 lime, zested and juiced
handful of cilantro, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Add all ingredients into a bowl, once mixed salsa should be ready to consume.  The lime zest is what really made this salsa pop for us crows, why do we not zest more often?

Last night my friends Alex and Traven joined me for some cocktail mixing and summertime sippin’.  Check out what this little crow whipped up…

Check out that Fiestaware!

We muddled a half container of blackberries in fresh-squeezed lemon juice with a touch of sugar.  Next, we added about 5-6 shots of gin and a bottle of Prosecco for a little fizz. Delicious, fresh and oh-so-easy. It was the perfect beverage to end a sweltering day in the big city!

The fruit can be substituted with nearly anything and the ratios can be tweaked to suit your taste.

Go ahead and try one- you can thank me later

The Boston Crows  got a girls night out last week in celebration of Riane’s visit, and boy did we do it up!  Mo, Holly and I have been simply dying to try out relatively-new hot spot Drink for what feels like ages, and this finally afforded us the opportunity.  Located in the rarely visited Fort Point neighborhood of Boston, Drink did not disappoint.  The drinks were exciting and original, the munchies were delicious and the bartenders were friendly and attentive.  We were in Crow Heaven.

Owned by Chef Barbara Lynch, the proprietor of several fabulous locations around these parts, Drink is a pretty unique concept- it is a cocktail bar without a cocktail menu.  All drinks are made custom to the taste of the drinker; you tell the bar tender what you like (example: fruity, clear liquors, with some fizz) and they whip something up.  If you don’t like it- no big deal- they’ll make you another.  There are a few “suggestion” drinks listed on a blackboard behind the bar, but they were inconspicuous enough that we didn’t even notice the list until round three.

The environment itself is warm and comforting- 3  long wooden bars with brick walls and perfectly low lighting.  Behind the bars it is mostly sterile stainless steel and stone- not a single booze bottle or mixer in sight.  Only several glasses filled with garnishes and basic bartending tools can be seen by the patrons.  The bartender’s dapper attire gives some indication of their skill- even the barbacks were in vests and ties!

We wanted to try as much as we could and between the four of us we came close to succeeding.  Mo and I started off with two vodka and champagne cocktails- hers topped off with house-made grenadine and mine with their homemade raspberry syrup.  Holly and Riane went the gin cocktail route (Holly’s was a gin and grapefruit concoction)  and after the first sips we knew we were off to a great start.

Of course, it being dinnertime and all, the crows needed to munch.  Drink has a small menu of  snacky items to compliment their cocktails.  Everything sounded delicious, and everything was reasonably priced at under $15.oo.  We wanted to try it all but finally settled on bacon wrapped dates ($9), french friens with a lemon aoli ($6?), the house cheese plate (which came with a hard and a soft cheese, citrus marmalade, a portion of salted nuts and baguette, $12) and a plate of cheesy puff pastry bites (only $2!!!!!!!!).  Everything was as satisfying as promised and we mowed down while we watched our lovely and attentive bartender prepare our second round.

Honestly, I get a little blurry on the particulars after this point, but I know that there were more drinks and that they were amazing.  After conducting a survey of the crows, here are some of the highlights:

• A Dark and Stormy, made with Drink’s housemade (and spicy!) ginger beer
• A Bee’s Knees; you could taste the fresh honey
• Cucumber and Hendrick’s gin with grenadine
• A Pink Lady- made with a raw egg white (good until it got warm)
• a play on a whiskey sour
• Dueling tequila drinks: one that was margarita-esque and one that tasted almost like tequila on the rocks but with a stronger smokey flavor.  (This is when it starts to get blurry)

All together, we had an amazing time at Drink, and although it was a bit to pricy to become a regular crow perch, we all agreed that the bill was very reasonable considering the damage done and the high level of service and skill that we got. (Side note:  I would highly recommend coming to drink on a weeknight as apparently it gets super crowded on the weekends, and the personal attention we got on a Tuesday was half the fun.)  Drink sets the bar so high it will be tough to find another cocktail establishment we like as much, but if you know of any, please leave suggestions in the comments!

For more information on Drink, check out the following article on boston .com: here

Sausage, Roasted Red Pepper and Spinach Torta Rustica

Just like a fritatta this egg dish is very versatile.  The main ingredients are baguette, eggs and cheese so its up to the cook what other tasty veggies and meats they want to throw in.  Sausage would have been ideal but instead we went the vegetarian route with spinach, onions, garlic, green pepper, and tons of fresh orgegano.  I was too famished to waste time getting a decent picture, but our potatoes also came out delicious with a few minutes under the broiler at the end and some freshly chopped parsley.

This breakfast provided the starch and carbs we all needed to throw back some mimosas and move on to some whiskey gingers!

Here is a shout out to the two well behaved pups that entertained us all weekend.

Emma Bear & Moose