ButterBeer! Our Halloween Cocktail

Hopefully I'm not catching you off guard with this, but it's Halloween weekend! Whether you're passing out candy or partying like there's no tomorrow, you are going to love this drink. Familiar to Harry Potter fans, this one is a hit among young and old alike. For those of you who don't have a house-elf to whip up your cocktails, here's a simple version that turned out well for me:




YOU'LL NEED:
1 cup of cream soda (or club soda)
1 cup of butterscotch syrup (common ice cream topping)
1 tablespoon butter

In a microwavable mug, melt butterscotch syrup and butter on high for about a minute (in the microwave).
Slowly mix in soda (it bubbles a lot, be careful). Enjoy! It's that simple, and you can keep making them fresh all night long!

Next, you can kick it up a notch with a shot of bourbon, butterscotch schnapps, or dark rum,. Pick your poison, and get into the spirit! Just make sure you remember which one's the "adult" version...

*modified from www.mugglenet.com*

Spiced, and Spiked, Cider: because it's important to stay warm

With halloween approaching, and thanksgiving on the horizon, my thoughts are spinning towards leaf piles, pumpkin patches, and the inevitable first morning when I can see my breath. As much as I dread the bitter cold of winter months, there is a lot to look forward to, and there ARE ways to mitigate the chill. One of my favorite, is Spiked Cider.


YOU'LL NEED:
Apple cider
cloves
cinnamon
anise
dark rum


A tea-strainer really simplifies this recipe. Three cinnamon stick, broken into smaller pieces, a teaspoon of cloves, and 1-2 anise stars should be plenty. Slowly heat 4-6 cups of apple cider in a sauce pan, with the tea bag full of spices. Once boiling, turn off the heat and let it steep for a few minutes. Mix between half a cup, or a cup of dark rum into each glass and fill them the rest of the way up with the spiced cider. Make sure not to burn your tunge, but you've got to enjoy this one warm, that's the whole point!

*recipe modified from www.thekitchn.com

Cocktail of the Week: Fish N' Soda!

This simple cocktail is so much more than just a gimmick! Anyone who's had vodka infused gummy bears will understand this recipe right off the bat (and anyone who hasn't should try them!).

1/3 vodka
1/3 citric soda (such as 7-up)
1/3 orange juice
3-4 swedish fish

Fill your glass with ice cubes, a handfull of gummies, vodka, soda, and juice. Don't shake it, but do stir it, and let it sit for a minute, preferably in the refrigerator. The longer it sits, the more of the gummy deliciousness will seep into the cocktail.

I'm calling this one "Fish n' Soda", because not only do I love fish, I also love the ascetics of bright red swedish fish in a pale-orange vodka-juice concoction. That being said, any sort of gummy will work with this recipe, worms, bears, whatever you can find! So with that, I say cheers! And please drink responsibly.

*this concoction was modified from an original at www.1001cocktails.com

Cocktail of the Week: Summer Sangria

I came across this interesting article earlier today, on pairing fish and wine. (Sneak peak: it's not all white wines, and it's not all salmon!) While looking through the extensive list of pairings, I started to get thirsty. Really thirsty. But not for a glass of wine. My hankering was for something cold. And sweet. As the pieces came together in my minds eye: wine, cold, sweet, the cocktail of the week snapped in to focus: Summer Sangria! It's fruity, refreshing, and since it's mixed the night before, it'll be ready as soon as you get home from work!
Ingredients:
1 orange, sliced into wedges
1 lemon, sliced into wedges
2 limes, sliced into wedges
1 apple, sliced into wedges
1 cup fresh pineapple chunks
1 cup rum
1 bottle dry red wine
1 can lemon-lime soda (to taste)
1 cup orange juice (to taste)

Method:
Mix the orange, lemon, limes, apple, and pineapple together, with the cup of rum. Let it sit at least between 2 and 24 hours in the fridge.
Gently smash the fruits with a spoon, and stir in the red wine, lemon-lime soda, and orange juice. Stir gently and taste. Add more wine, rum, orange juice, or soda, depending on taste. Don't drink it too quickly, this one will sneak up on you!

Cocktail of the Week: Basil Mojito!

By now, you must know it's summer. I don't need to remind you of that. Your taste buds are surely telling you things like "don't drink stouts" and "it's not the time for hot beverages". It's the season for ice'd coffee, light beers, and fresh cocktails. It's also that time of the year when harvesting from the garden becomes a daily activity! Right now, basil is the order of the day. It's flourishing, and crowding out our tomatoes in some places. Seeing as it's friday afternoon, I've decided to turn our 

excess basil into a fresh and tangy cocktail to celebrate the end to another week. Here's a simple modification to a trusty old classic: the basil mojito. This summertime favorite is usually made with mint, but (like everything) can be personalized and modified to your tastes! Give this one a try and let us know what you think!

Ingredients:
5-10 basil leaves, depending on size
tablespoon suger

3 lime wedges

3 oz (2 shots) rum
sugar
soda water

Directions:
Mix sugar, basil leaves, and lime wedges together your class. Smash 'em up till the sugar is dissolved and it really smells like basil. Fill the glass with ice, add the shots of rum, and top it off with soda water. Stir it briefly and don't drink it too fast! Enjoy!

Whiskey Milkshakes! a.k.a. milk-punch.

It's Friday, it's HOT! and it's official, I'm not a fan of heat waves... That being said, it's also just about 5 o'clock, which marks the time when many get a well deserved break from a long week. Just about any ice cold beverage is gonna hit the spot today, but my mind's been circling around images of milkshakes, one of my favorite year-round drinks.

A few years ago, while baking in the summer heat at an art fair, a friend showed up and handed me something that simultaneously cooled my core and warmed my spirits. I was drinking a whiskey spiked vanilla milkshake, or as Ben Franklin would have called it, a version of milk-punch!

The simple version of this great cocktail is just that, buy a vanilla milkshake, pour an appropriate amount of whiskey (or bourbon) in to get that slightly browned color and slightly caramelized flavor, and enjoy! It can really be that simple.

If you're making this at home, it doesn't have to get too much more complicated. Sure, you could try to make ice-cream from scratch, or mix cream, milk, bourbon, etc. together for a more authentic treat, but there's no need. Just give this a try:

Ingredients:
4 scoops vanilla ice-cream
1/2 cup ice cubes
a dash of milk
2 oz whiskey or bourbon
sprinkle of nutmeg

Mix the first four ingredients together in a blender, pour into glasses, and sprinkle nutmeg on top. These proportions make about two glasses, but nothing's set in stone, or ice for that matter. Feel free to add more booze, more ice-cream, less ice, more ice, however you want to tweak it to get the consistency and potency you desire.

Now sit down and enjoy that treat! And let us know if you're favorite summer cocktail concoction!