Back in the pre-Macheesmo part of my life, I used to be a part-time bartender and it’s still one of my favorite past times to exchange awesome drink recipes with friends or occasionally come up with some of my own.

So pull out your stirrers and glasses and have a happy hour already! (Tuesday happy hours are the best by the way.)

The Cool Tease

Ok. So I changed the name of this drink to be G-rated. Macheesmo is family-friendly after all (as I write about ways to get you tanked.)

Anyway, the real name is “The Rhymes-with-Spock Tease.” I got this recipe from a bachelorette party so that name makes sense I guess. Whatever you call it, it’s very refreshing on a hot summer day.

The G-rated name.

Watch out with these. They are pretty dangerous. You can’t taste the alcohol at all. The fresh ginger and apple juice are a perfect match for each other and the club soda gives it some fix. This drink seriously rocks.

To make it, just rub a sliced lime around the edge of a glass and then dip it in some sugar to give the glass a nice sugar rim. Then grate fresh ginger in the bottom of the glass. Using the back of a spoon or a muddle if you have one, mash the ginger in with the vodka, just to get the flavors together.

Then add ice and enough apple juice to fill a tall glass 3/4 of the way to the top. Top with club soda and serve with a lime wedge!

Coolin' it down.

The Watermelon Julep

I happened to have some watermelon in the fridge and some mint and I figured that if I added a little bourbon I might just have myself something delicious!

This was a very solid drink. And colorful!

Bourbon. Gotta love it.

I don’t really like to give specific proportions on drinks, but I generally assume about a shot or 1 1/2 shots of liquor. For this julep I used a few small pieces of watermelon (take the seeds out obviously) and a few sprigs of mint. Add about a Teaspoon of sugar and mash all that up in the bottom of a glass. I don’t have a muddler so I just use the back of a spoon for this.

This is pre-muddle.

Do you know how to muddle?

After you get all that mixed up, add your bourbon and stir, then the ice, then top with club soda. Its really refreshing and the watermelon and bourbon work really well together.

The Night Cap

The person I learned this recipe from said that it’s best to drink it on the beach, but I kind of love it as dessert for a dinner or as a night cap.

Sleep tight!

So I made this drink a bit more complicated than it needed to be I think. The first time I made it I thought it’d be fun to make a really strong batch of cold-brewed coffee and use that for the drink. When I tried a round using the coffee with a few friends, the consensus was that it was good, but just missing something.

First we tried adding Scotch and that definitely changed the flavor! Not bad but not exactly right.

Then we tried a second batch with Kahlua and it was perfect.

The ratio I used for this drink was 1 part vodka, 1 part Kahlua, 1 part coconut milk, and ice. The liquid part should cover the ice in the blender.

Just blend it up, taste it and adjust to your liking and serve it up!

Coffee is okay. Kahlua is best.

If you aren’t a drinker, you could definitely make the first two drinks virgins. Just leave out the booze and add either more apple juice or watermelon/club soda to each drink. I think the night cap wouldn’t be great without the booze honestly.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for the second leg in the 3×3 Series!

And of course, feel free to share your favorite cocktail recipe in a comment!

A pie in the hand...

I was pumped when I randomly selected peaches last week. They are in prime season right now so I knew I’d be able to find some good ones and make something delicious.

I’ve been pretty busy lately and while I wanted to make a peach pie, I also wanted to have something I could eat on the go! I’m not sure if you’ve ever tried to eat peach pie (or any pie) when walking around, but trust me. It doesn’t end well.

These awesome little hand pies, almost like empanadas, gave me my peach fill and kept me moving!

Portable Peach Pies

Yield: Makes about 10 pies.

Prep Time: 45 minutes + freezing time

Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients:

Pie Dough: (I adapted a Smitten Kitchen recipe for Galette pastry. I subbed Greek yogurt for the sour cream.)
2 1/2 Cups all-purpose flour
1/2 Teaspoons salt
16 Tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold, cubed
1/2 Cup Greek yogurt
4 Teaspoons fresh lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon)
1/2 Cup iced water

Filling:
10 medium peaches, about 2 pounds
1/2 Teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon fresh mint, chopped (optional)
1 Tablespoon bourbon (optional)

Egg Wash:
1 Egg
1 Tablespoon water

Raw sugar for topping the pie(s)

Directions:

1) To make the dough, add the dry dough ingredients to a large bowl and mix them up. Cube your butter and cool it off in the freezer for a few minutes. Then add your butter to the bowl and cut it into the dry ingredients, using your fingers, a food processor, or a pastry cutter.

2) Once your butter is in pea-sized pieces, add your liquids and stir the dough together until it forms a loose ball. Then turn it out onto the counter and form two even balls with the dough. Wrap the dough balls in plastic wrap and store them for at least an hour in the fridge. You could make these a few days in advance without a problem.

3) For the filling, peel your peaches with either a veggie peeler or dip them in boiling water for a few seconds. The skins should just peel off. Then chop your peaches up into small cubes, add your other filling ingredients, and drain the filling in a colander or strainer for 10 minutes.

4) After your dough is chilled, pull out a ball and roll it out into a 12-14 inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Use a 6 inch bowl to trace perfect rounds in the dough and then cut them out. You should be able to get 6 or 7 smaller rounds for each dough ball. You'll have to re-roll it once.

5) Stick your rounds onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and put them in the freezer for about 15 minutes to re-chill the butter.

6) To Make the Pies: Take out each round and put about 2 Tablespoons of filling in the center. Brush around the edges of the round with egg wash and gently fold the dough over forming a semi-circle. Press out as much air as possible and use a fork to seal the edges around the pie.

7) Brush each pie with egg wash and sprinkle on raw sugar. The sugar is optional.

8) Using a sharp paring knife, cut a few slits in the top of each pie to let steam escape.

9) When all the pies are formed, put them back in the freezer for an hour at least to freeze.

10) Bake the pies on parchment paper (you can use the same pan you used to freeze them) in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes until they are golden brown.

11) Allow them to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Making the Dough

This was a really excellent dough. As with most pie doughs, the key is to keep everything as cold as possible through the process.

Yep. Yogurt.

Start by mixing your dry ingredients (flour and salt) in a large bowl. Add your cubed cold butter (put it in the freezer for a few minutes even). Using your fingers, a food processor, or a pastry cutter, cut the butter into pea-sized balls.

I actually like using my fingers for this normally. Work quickly! You don’t want your butter to get too warm.

The butter should be a bit smaller pieces than the butter in this photo.

A bit smaller than this...

Once your butter is cut in, add your liquid and stir it together with a fork until the dough just comes together. Don’t overwork it!

Turn the dough out onto a counter top and form two even balls of dough. Wrap these in plastic and stick them in your fridge for at least an hour. You could make these the day before though and that would be even better!

Ready for the chill box.

Making the Filling

I kept my version of the filling very standard. Just peaches. You could add a bit of mint or even, gasp!, bourbon to it to spice it up a bit.

Start with nice fresh peaches!

Millions (6) of peaches!

There are two generally accepted ways to peel peaches. Take your pick. First, you can just peel them with a normal peeler. I find that this is the fastest way if you’re peeling under a dozen or so.

If you’re doing a lot of peach peeling though, you can also dunk them in boiling water for a few seconds and then the skins just slide right off the peaches!

Whatever method you choose, peel them and then chop them up into cubes and add your other filling ingredients.

Important

Drain your peach filling in a colander or strainer for at least 10 minutes before using it.

You might think that it’s a travesty to lose those peach juices, but trust me, there’s plenty of residual juice in the peaches. All of that extra juice would just make your pies very runny and soggy.

Draining the filling is very important.

Making the Pies

Once you’re ready to make the pies, grab one of your dough balls out of the fridge and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface.

Roll it out gently and slowly until you have a large disc. You should be able to work out a 12 or 14 inch wide disc of dough.

Using a bowl or other round shape, trace out 6 inch rounds on the dough. You should be able to get 6 or 7 rounds out of one dough ball. I got six by pressing out four on my first roll, then re-rolling the scraps and pressing out two more.

Use a bowl for perfect circles.

Chilling the Rounds

This might sound crazy, but after rolling the dough and cutting the dough and everything, your dough will be room temperature. You want to keep it cold. So put all your small circular rounds on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and stick it in the freezer for about 15 minutes. This will chill it down again.

Making the Pies

Finally! Time to make some pies. Take your rounds out of the ice box and add about 2 Tablespoons filling in the center of one. You want to make sure to leave yourself plenty of room to close the pie up. This is just about perfect.

Don't over-stuff these guys!

To finish off each pie

Brush the edges around the circle with a bit of egg wash and fold it over into a half-circle. Try to squeeze out as much air as you can. Next, use a fork to seal around the edges of the pie.

Then brush the top of the hand pie with more egg wash and sprinkle on some raw sugar if you have some. Also, cut a few slits in the top with a sharp knife.

Kind of a lot of work, but look at this beauty!

Ready for the oven!

Back to the chiller!

I know. Lots of chilling involved here. But the problem now is that your filling is room temperature. If you put this in the oven now, your filling will be boiling by the time your crust is cooked. In other words, your pie will explode.

Exploding pies are fun if you’re Gallagher, but not after you just spent all that time rolling and cutting and filling and pressing…

So put your pies in the freezer on the same baking sheet lined with parchment paper for about an hour. This should basically freeze them solid.

Baking the Pies

Finally! Bake them in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes. You can bake them on the same sheet you froze them on.

They should be a nice golden brown color.

Flaky and delicious!

Want to eat it now?

Can’t. Sorry. Let it cool for at least 15 minutes on a rack. Trust me. That filling is really hot and it’ll burn your mouth.

Plus you want to give a chance for some of the sugars in the filling to set-up which means when you bite into the pie, everything will stay in place.

Like this:

Damn near perfect.

These were awesome. I remember buying the little apple, cherry, or peach pies at the gas station as a kid and these are kind of like those, but about 100 times better.

Do they take some time and patience? Yes. I won’t lie to ya. But the results are pretty delicious.

And if you’re really worried about it, you can of course just bake an entire pie. It’ll cut out some of the steps and the final result will still be pretty delicious.

But if you’re feeling ambitious, make some hand pies! You can eat them on your way to work and impress your fellow commuters.

Smoothies can be so varied I really struggled for awhile on how to present a wide spectrum of recipes in one post. That was, of course, until I saw a guy riding a bike last weekend with a rainbow sticker on his backpack. When I saw the rainbow I thought, now those would be some awesome smoothies!

Anytime I think of a rainbow, I can’t help but think of the mnemonic device for remembering the order of the colors: ROY G. BIV!

After some tinkering, I present to you, the ROY G. BIV Smoothie Team!

Pretty.

Each of the recipes I used are below, but before that, there are a few quick notes on smoothies that I think are important.

First, smoothies are all about balance. You want to combine some sweet with some bitter. You want to make sure that your acids are balanced. Really if you do that and taste as you mix, you can’t go wrong. These recipes should all be seen as jumping off points. Mix and match and find your own, well, rainbow. (I should be a motivational speaker with lines like that!)

Second, whenever possible try to use frozen fruit instead of fresh. I usually use mostly frozen fruit just because it’s easier but some fresh fruit is fine. The thing to remember is that if you use fresh you have to throw in some ice which waters down the smoothie a bit.

Third, keep some juice (orange, apple, cranberry, pomegranate, etc) on hand as well as some milk or yogurt. Those can smooth out your smoothie…

So let’s take a trip through Roy G. Biv!

All of the smoothie recipes in this post are adjusted for 2 Cups of smoothie which is about enough for one big serving. The cups in this post hold about 1 cup of liquid so I halved the recipes for this post because I didn’t need 7 cups of smoothies floating around.

The Red Smoothie. This is pretty straightforward. After I tasted it, I added a pinch of sugar because it was just a bit too bitter for my tastes. I also used frozen raspberries, but if you use fresh you’ll need to add some ice.

Other options: beets?

The Orange Smoothie. This one is just like a shot of vitamin C. It’s refreshing and delicious and if you’re afraid of flavor mixing, this is the one for you! If you can’t find clementines, you can use any orange-like fruit. Tangerines for example would be awesome.

For those that need a shot of Vit. C.

The Yellow Smoothie. This one seriously tasted like a milkshake. The banana and milk made it really creamy and the mango was nice and sweet. If you served me this blind, I’d guess there was ice cream in it.

Very sweet actually.

The Green Smoothie. Ok. I was a little worried about this one. Basically I just picked out a bunch of green stuff and threw it together! At first, it tasted kind of funky (some would say it tasted healthy), but then I added a pinch of sugar and a tiny pinch of salt and that totally mellowed out the flavors. The sugar and salt are not optional in this one if you want it to taste decent.

Shockingly, green was pretty good!

The Boozy Blue Smoothie. Ok. It turns out that there are no really blue foods. Sure there are some flowers and stuff, but there’s just nothing that pops with blue color. Blueberries are totally mislabeled. They are purple, people.

So I figured if I couldn’t find a food that was blue, I might as well making something with booze in it! This was actually really tasty and I could imagine sipping a few of these on a beach somewhere.

Maybe not for breakfast.

The Indigo Smoothie. This one is a really basic one, but the Pomegranate juice has huge flavor. Sometimes Pomegranate juice can be a bit bitter though and so the yogurt smooths it out nicely.

Delicious.

The Violet Smoothie. Ok. So this one was maybe my least favorite of the seven. It was pretty strongly flavored. I thought about maybe adding some plum to the mix which I think would keep it pretty violet but might mellow it out a bit.

In other news, I’m not entirely sure what the difference is between violet and indigo. It’s possible I’m slightly colorblind.

Violet = Indigo - Yogurt...

The Equipment. Of course, to make smoothies you’ll need a good blender. Now you could spend hundreds of dollars on a blender, but I’m not sure that’s really necessary if you’re just getting into the smoothie thing. I’ve had this really excellent professional Oster model blender for almost a year now and I use it almost daily. It’s nothing fancy but it has all metal parts and only two speeds: pulse and GO. What else do you need?!

Mine performs just like it did on day one!

Roy G. Biv!

Day to day though Betsy and I, surprisingly, don’t make our smoothie choice based on color. Like I said at the beginning of the post, we normally do a mix between the indigo, red, and yellow varieties.

Just one more...

It’s very possible that I had more fun making and writing this post than any post in Macheesmo history. There were moments when I had to just stop, look at my counter full of crazy colors and ingredients, and laugh out loud. It was so much fun.

I hope you all try some of them out and pass along this post to your friends. Also, leave a comment obviously and let me know which one you want to try or if you happen to know a blue food that I missed!

I wanted something warming but I wasn’t really in the mood for something hot. Does that make sense?

I came up with this port punch that very easy to throw together and is very tasty.

Im-PORT-ant

This could also be called Cheater’s Sangria. It tastes a lot like sangria which makes sense since Port is red wine that’s been fortified with Brandy. Most sangrias (including the white variety) are beefed up with brandy or rum or some other kind of hard liquor, but if you use port than that extra booze is already included!

Port Punch

Yield: 8 drinks

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes + Marinating time

Ingredients:

1 bottle (750ml) Port
1 apple, diced
1 orange, segmented and chopped
1 lime, juice only
Grapes (optional)
Orange juice
Ginger ale

One Drink:
2 parts port mixture
1 part OJ
1 part ginger ale

Directions:

1) Cut segments out of oranges. Peel and core the apples and dice into chunks.

2) Add fruit to a bowl with lime joice and port.

3) Let marinate for 1-2 hours or overnight.

4) Mix 2 parts of the port mixture with 1 part OJ and ginger ale in a tall glass with ice.

I kept the fruit kind of minimal for this version because, frankly, it’s all I had! You could go crazy though with pears, berries, grapes, etc.

Basics...

When prepping your fruit, try to just get out the segments from the orange. You don’t want the white casing part which will be kind of bitter in the final drink and also hard to chew.

If you take a sharp paring knife and slice down each side of the segment, you should be able to just pop each segment out.

You just want the pulpy stuff.

Also, peel and core your apple and then dice it up into tiny chunks. Add all that fruit to a bowl along with your lime juice.

Fruit in a bowl.

Then add your port!

Action shot!

Now you could just let this marinate for an hour or two, but the longer the better. I let mine sit overnight in the fridge and it was great!

Finishing the Punch

When you’re ready to serve, you just need some ice, OJ and ginger ale.

After a night soaking...

I decided to mix mine up a cup at a time, but if you’re serving a crowd you could definitely mix up a big punch bowl and then just ladle the punch into glasses with ice.

The ratio is:

- 2 parts port mixture
- 1 part OJ
- 1 part ginger ale

Tasty!

The orange juice and lime juice do a great job of cutting the sweetness of the Port and the ginger ale gives it some good bubbles.

This'll lift your spirits!

I was kind of worried when I started making this mainly because Port is one of my most favorite drinks. The idea of wasting a bottle of it on a bad drink was scary to me! Luckily, this stuff turned out great. It tastes basically like sangria without the need for all the individual liquors!

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to the largest snow storm in DC history…

Call me crazy, but I’ve never really been a fan of the New Year’s bar scene – especially in a big city. You just pay a lot for some usually sub-par food and a few glasses of champagne in a packed restaurant. Not really my idea of a good way to ring in the new year. Instead I find it much more fun to hang out with a few friends at a house with food, drink, and games.

If you do happen to be throwing a party (or attending one and willing to lug some ingredients around), it’s always a good idea to have a solid punch. Most punch recipes make a lot of tasty drink for a fairly economical price tag – especially if your alternative is going out on the town.

Over the last week I’ve been browsing through some punch recipes and here are eight favorites that caught my eye!

AB EggNog – I made this great eggnog recipe last year and it’s definitely worth revisiting. Homemade eggnog is so superior to the stuff you buy in the store; it’s not even close. Traditional eggnog is made with raw egg but this version is made with eggs that I pasteurized over a double boiler. Makes it safer and doesn’t really affect the taste.

Pomegranate Champagne Punch – Pomegranates are in season and Champagne is about as New Year’s as it gets! If people bring a lot of cheap champagne to your party this year, feel free to put them to use! Also, this post has a bonus eggnog recipe! (@ Yum Sugar)

Pacman Punch – Ok. So this punch recipe was actually for a recent boxing match, but I think it would be awesome for a party. Looks tasty and I think it probably packs a punch (PUNNY). (@ Burnt Lumpia)

Cotillion Club Punch – This is a crazy recipe that is some sort of Southern concoction involving lots of whiskey. The most impressive thing though is the 300 servings the base recipe makes. You might need to work on your division for this punch unless you are throwing an EPIC bash. (@ Serious Eats)

Jasper’s Rum Punch – Sometimes punches are too packed with sweeteners and have generally too many ingredients. This one, I imagine, tastes like what it’s supposed to taste like: rum. The recipe is the exact opposite of the Cotillion punch recipe. It’s written for one serving. You’ll need to times it by a few dozen to get a good punch recipe ready. (@ Kaiser Penguin)

Wassail – The phrase means “Be Healthy” which is always a good New Year’s resolution. The recipe has some steps, but the result is an awesome spiced wine punch. It’d be great for a cold December 31st night. (@ use real butter)

Mulled Apple Cider – A pretty straightforward recipe involving cinnamon, apple juice and mulled spices. Of course the rum is optional or, if you wanted, just stick a bottle of rum near the punch and people can add it to taste. (@ Phoo-D) If you wanted to pass on the mulled spices, you could make your own from scratch using this recipe (@ Elena’s Pantry)

Cranberry Apple Cider – One more apple cider variation using cranberries. Maybe you have some leftover from the holidays? This recipe is actually without the booze, but you could add it if you wanted. I’d go with a dark rum or whiskey. (@ Pham Fatale)

Those are a few of the punch recipes I’m thinking about trying out this year, but how about you? Leave a comment with your favorite punch!

Photo by AlleyesonJenny.

If I only knew then what I know now. Turns out you can pretty easily make homemade coffee liqueur that tastes surprising like the brand name stuff!

Recycle!

Thanks to my good friend Donna who gave me this recipe which has apparently been in her family for a good long while. Nice of her to share it.

Homemade Coffee Liqueur

Yield: Makes 10 cups.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes + 3 week wait

Ingredients:

4 Cups water
4 Cups sugar
2-3 Cups vodka (depending on how potent you want the stuff. Oh... and no need to use Grey Goose for this stuff.)
1/2 Cup dark roast ground coffee (freshly ground is best)
1 whole vanilla bean

Helpful Equipment:
Coffee Grinder

Directions:

1) Measure out vodka and add it to a clean gallon jug.

2) Slice the vanilla bean it open lengthwise and then slide your knife down the inside of the bean. You could also use a spoon to do this. There will be a bunch of tiny crystals that you can scrape out of the bean. Scrape them all into the gallon jug with the vodka! You can also chop up the bean itself into 3 pieces and throw into the jug. No reason wasting a $5 bean.

3) Grind up some coffee. If you don’t have a coffee grinder, it would be worth it to get some fresh ground coffee from the store for this recipe. Since it’s steeping for so long, it’s important to have flavorful and quality coffee.

4) Add the coffee to the jug. Give it a good shake and you’ll have a very dark brew.

5) In a large pot, add water and sugar together and heat it up. Stir it every once in awhile. Once all the sugar is dissolved, let it cool for a few minutes and then add syrupy mixture to the jug!

6) Seal up the jug and let it sit in a cool dark spot for about 3 weeks. It’s a good idea to give it a shake every day or two just to make sure that all the flavors are getting infused.

7) Three weeks later………slowly pour mixture through a colander with a coffee filter inside. Work slowly, it will take some time for the liquid to all filter through and you may need to change your filter a few times as all the grounds accumulate. You can use the same jug or use clean wine bottles.

8) Add a bit of the liqueur to a glass with some ice and a touch of half and half or cream.

To kick off this recipe you need some vodka and a clean gallon jug. I used a plastic water jug that I cleaned out well. It’s very important that it has a lid also because this stuff needs to steep for 3 weeks.

Measure out your vodka and add it to your jug. I went with 3 cups of vodka because it seemed like the right thing to do.

Biggest shot ever.

The flavors

The flavors for this are very simple. There are only two: coffee and vanilla. So it’s really important that you use high quality stuff. This unfortunately means that you need to splurge on real vanilla beans which cost almost more than the vodka. These two beans cost me $10. Don’t worry though, there is a ton of flavor in these guys.

One expensive bean.

To extract all the flavor out of the bean, slice it open lengthwise and then slide your knife down the inside of the bean. You could also use a spoon to do this. There will be a bunch of tiny crystals that you can scrape out of the bean. These are packed with flavor. Scrape them all into the gallon jug with the vodka!

Cool stuff.

Just for good measure, I also chopped up the bean itself into 3 pieces and threw it into the jug. No reason wasting a $5 bean.

Next, grind up some coffee. If you don’t have a coffee grinder, it would be worth it to get some fresh ground coffee from the store for this recipe. Since it’s steeping for so long, it’s important to have flavorful and quality coffee.

Fresh ground coffee.

Add the coffee to your jug. Give it a good shake and you’ll have a very dark brew.

Vodka and flavor.

Making the Simple Syrup

Meanwhile, in a large pot, add your water and sugar together and heat it up. Stir it every once in awhile. Once all the sugar is dissolved, let it cool for a few minutes and then add your syrupy mixture to the jug!

Note that this recipe makes for a fairly sweet final product. I actually think that if I made it again, I might reduce the sugar to 3 1/2 cups.

Add the simple syrup.

The hard part – Waiting

Seal up your jug and let it sit in a cool dark spot for about 3 weeks. It’s a good idea to give it a shake every day or two just to make sure that all the flavors are getting infused.

Filtering the stuff

When you’re ready to finish off your Kah- I mean coffee liqueur, get out a colander with a coffee filter and slowly pour your liqueur through the filter. Work slowly, it will take some time for the liquid to all filter through and you may need to change your filter a few times as all the grounds accumulate.

Three weeks later...

I did my filtering in a few batches, each one taking a few minutes, and resulting in this beautiful richly colored liquid.

Liquid gold!

You could of course store your coffee liqueur in the same plastic jug you used to steep it, but I washed out a few wine bottles and stored it in those. Keeps like a charm for a very long time.

When you’re ready for a nightcap or feel the need for a Big Lebowski session, just add a bit of the liqueur to a glass with some ice and a touch of half and half or cream.

The Dude abides.

So good.

I actually found that mine was best after the ice melted a bit, which I think means that my mix was a bit sweet for my tastes. It’s all relative though and the drink gets less sweet as the ice melts so I would rather have it be too sweet than not sweet enough.

This was a really fun project and took no time at all to actually make, but I will say that the waiting was rather painful. It was like waiting for Christmas.

To kick things off, I made this sweet and very orange cordial: The Candy Corn Martini!

Kind of sweet for my tastes...

Ok. So I’m really not big on sweet cocktails and so I didn’t love this specific drink because as you can imagine, it is really sweet. But it’s pretty and very orange and I think I maybe didn’t put in enough lemon juice to balance the sweetness.

Candy Corn Martini

Yield: 4 martinis

Prep Time: 15 minutes + Time for Candy Corn Vodka

Total Time: 15 minutes + Time for Candy Corn Vodka

Ingredients:

Candy Corn Syrup:
3/4 Cup vodka (you can use the cheap stuff for this)
1/4 Cup candy corn

Final drink:
3 parts candy corn vodka
1 part orange liquor (triple sec)
1 part lemon juice
1/2 egg white (I used one egg white per two cocktails. This is optional, but the egg white does make for a very frothy and delicious final drink.)

Helpful Equipment:
Cocktail Shaker

Directions:

1) Add vodka and candy corn into a vessel of some sort, cover it, and let it sit for about 2 or 3 hours.

2) Strain vodka before making the drink just because there may be a few bits of undissolved candy corns.

3) Add some ice cubes to cocktail shaker, then add a few ounces of the candy corn vodka. If you aren’t comfortable with guessing at mixology, I would start with 1/4 cup of vodka.

4) Assuming you added 1/4 cup of the vodka, go with 1.5 Tablespoons lemon juice (fresh is best), 1.5 Tablespoons orange liquor, and 1/2 of an egg white. Add all that stuff to your cocktail shaker!

5) Because of the egg thing, it’s easier to make two cocktails at once in a larger shaker so you don’t have to divide an egg white.

6) Once all of that is in the shaker, just shake if up for 30 seconds or so until it is super-chilled and frothy! Pour it into a martini glass and garnish with a few candy corns!

From a Food Network recipe.

Making the Candy Corn Vodka

So it turns out that candy corn dissolves in vodka. That makes it pretty easy to get that very signature, sugary flavor infused with the vodka. All you have to do is add your vodka and candy corn into a vessel of some sort and let it sit for about 2 or 3 hours. It’s probably a good idea to cover it just so stuff doesn’t get in it.

Kind of odd.

After the few hours of sitting, all that awesome orange color will be dissolved in the vodka!

Whoa!

I’d recommend straining your vodka before making the drink just because there may be a few bits of undissolved candy corns.

Mixing up the drink

Add some ice cubes to your cocktail shaker, then add a few ounces of the candy corn vodka. If you aren’t comfortable with guessing at mixology, I would start with 1/4 cup of vodka.

You’ll need these ingredients also!

You could not use the egg white if that is worrisome for you.

Cocktails are usually given in proportions (as I listed it above) that way you can make as much as you want! Assuming you added 1/4 cup of the vodka, go with 1.5 Tablespoons lemon juice (fresh is best), 1.5 Tablespoons orange liquor, and 1/2 of an egg white. Add all that stuff to your cocktail shaker!

Because of the egg thing, it’s easier to make two cocktails at once in a larger shaker so you don’t have to divide an egg white.

Anyway, once all of that is in the shaker, just shake if up for 20 seconds or so until it is super-chilled and frothy! Pour it into a martini glass and garnish with a few candy corns!

Like I said, I’m not one for sweet drinks really so this wasn’t my favorite. Also, I didn’t use enough lemon juice when I made it so it was really really sweet. Be sure to taste it as you go though and adjust to your tastes.

Honestly, I think that this mixture might be better as shots instead of martinis! A full drink of it is almost too much, but it would be cool to have it as a shooter!

10 Other Drinks! Ok. So if candy corn isn’t your thing, I didn’t want to leave you high and dry for Halloween! Here’s 10 links to a variety of drinks that I think would be great for a Halloween Happy Hour.

Witch’s Brew – A pretty good looking lime punch. You can probably fore-go some of the kitschy Sandra Lee decorations. You could also leave out the vodka and add more water (or Sprite) to make a non-alcoholic version. (@ Food Network)

Slime Rickey – The grapes look creepy! I love it. Also, I’m not the only one who digs the candy corn cordial idea. (@ Yum Sugar)

Blood and Bones – I love a good meringue and the hot chocolate recipe looks great! (@ Joy the Baker)

Maggotini – Now this is my kind of drink! Not because of the maggot factor, but because I enjoy gin. (@ Talk of Tomatoes)

Satan’s Whiskers – One more gin based drink, but this one has some interesting flavors going on. Not sure what makes it Halloween-ready besides the name, but it does look tasty! (@ Serious Eats)

Eyeball Highball – Ok. Maybe the most realistic cocktail I’ve seen. It looks pretty real if you ask me. (@ Martha)

Bloody Apple Cranberry Cocktails – An easy recipe that can be made in bulk for a party! (@ The Cooking Photographer)

The Warlock – This drink has some interesting ingredients that you may not know. No better time than Halloween to try out some new beverages! (@ Al Dente)

Pumpkin Cocktail – Get on this one today if you want to have it ready by Saturday! You need to let the vodka infuse with pumpkin for at least a few days. (@ Slashfood)

Blood Orange Cocktail – So this is exactly a Halloween specific recipe, but it has blood in the title! And it’s an awesome color! (@ The Hungry Mouse)

That’s a start, but my hunt for good Halloween cocktails is far from over. Have a favorite? Leave a comment!

I confirmed a few things last Saturday night:

1) Never, ever start a land war in Asia. You will LOSE THE GAME.

2) Sangria is really good. Especially white sangria in the summer.

3) The sangria recipe below is not intended for two people unless you don’t mind being bedridden the next day.

Here's to a good night!

The thing I don’t like about some white sangrias is that they end up being really sweet. If you look up other recipes, a fair number of them have simple syrup in them which I don’t really like to add to mine. I think it makes it too sweet and less boozy and who wants that?

So let’s make some the real way.

White Sangria

Yield: Serves 6.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

1 bottle white wine. I used a pinot grigio.
1/2 Cup Citron vodka
1/2 Cup Peach brandy
1 peach, peeled, diced
1 apple, peeled, diced
2 plums, diced (skin is cool)
Handful of grapes, halved
1/4 Cup orange juice
Sparkling water (club soda)

Directions:

1) Peel the peach and apple.

2) Chop fruit into about 1/4 inch cubes.

3) Mix peach brandy and citron vodka together. If you want your fruit to be really tasty though, mix your vodka and peach brandy with your fruit and let that sit for about 30 minutes. You could let it sit for an hour or two though without a problem.

4) Mix fruit mixture, white wine, and orange juice in a large pitcher.

5) In each glass add a few ice cubes, pour in some of sangria mixture and then top with a splash of club soda or sparkling water.

Prepping the fruit

There’s a lot of fruit in this recipe. I like to pretend that I’m being healthy while getting drunk. I think you should do the same.

Healthy!

I peeled the peach and apple just because the skin on those can be kind of cumbersome. I got a bit lucky with my apple peelings. I couldn’t replicate this if you paid me:

First try.

For this recipe, chop your fruit into about 1/4 inch cubes. For the record, you don’t need to use all the fruit I used. I just really like to eat the fruit when it is all booze filled. Call me crazy but I find it delicious.

If you do you all the fruit that I did, you’ll end up with a bowl like this.

Fruit.

So some sangria recipes call for simple syrup which is basically sugar and water. For this recipe I substituted that for peach brandy which is sweet enough but has peach flavor and alcohol. Basically it’s an all around win.

Instead of adding lemon or lime juice, I added some citron vodka which gives the sangria a necessary bite.

Fruit next to booze.

Now it would be fine to mix all these things together and let them mingle for an hour or two. If you want your fruit to be really tasty though, mix your vodka and peach brandy with your fruit and let that sit for about 30 minutes. You could let it sit for an hour or two though without a problem.

Fruit in the booze.

After that, basically just mix your fruit mixture, your white wine, and orange juice in a large picture.

In each glass add a few ice cubes, pour in some of your sangria mixture and then top with a splash of club soda or sparkling water.

Whatever you do, don’t drink this (and eat all the fruit) between two people. It’s seriously a bad idea.

Hangover in a pitcher.

In all reality though, this is an amazing sangria recipe. I highly recommend it.

Feel free to substitute liberally for fruit additions and white wine varieties.

If you have some good suggestions, leave a comment!

Just a spoon full of... snow.

These are really great and can be made with all kinds of different flavors. I made just plain ones with vanilla. This is the base recipe:

Snow Shakes

- 2 Cups milk (I like 2%)
- 1/2 Cup sugar
- 1 Teaspoon vanilla
- Lots of snow

First you want to make your base so add your sugar to milk and stir it well until it is all dissolved. You could, of course, add more sugar if you want but it can get pretty sweet pretty fast so I would recommend starting with this.

Sugar in milk.

Then add your vanilla. I thought about adding lemon extract or chocolate, and I think those would work just fine, but at the end of the day vanilla was my preferred flavor.

A little goes a long way.

Then slowly add your milk base to your snow until it turns to a slush with the consistency of a milk shake. For me this was about 4 cups of snow to 2/3 cup of milk base.

Kind of like ice cream except easier. Much easier.

Stir it together with a fork or whisk, pour it in a glass and go to town. I also sprinkled some cinnamon on mine for some garnish.

Ok. I lied to you. I didn’t just make them with vanilla. I also made one with this:

The adult variety.

One shot of this stuff along with 1/2 Cup of milk base and you are all set. It’s a night cap and a dessert all wrapped together in one.

A shot. Or two.

No garnish needed for this one. The garnish is on the inside.

Looks innocent enough.

These are really great even if it is cold outside (the whiskey helps warm the soul). The hardest part about this was finding some fresh snow that looked edible in DC at 6PM. I eventually found a good little patch next to our house that looked pristine and beautiful.

These are a great little snack, especially if you have kids. Although obviously don’t serve them the Knob Creek version.

Let me start by saying thanks for the party this weekend. DC has been a lot of fun and it is largely because you have had such an open and fun inauguration. So thanks again.

The concert on Sunday was especially cool. In case you were curious where I was standing (I’m sure you were wondering), this is a photo I took looking toward the stage:

And looking behind me… please ignore the disgruntled faces. I promise we were all having fun.

Once you get all settled in you obviously have a lot of work to do, but I think you should take a few minutes to enjoy your new crib and relax with one of these:

Cheers!

You seem like a bourbon kind of guy although I’ve never met you in person. Nothing like an Old-Fashioned to really get relaxed. It is one of my favorite cocktails and I’ve had a few of them this weekend in your honor so I thought I would share how to make one in case you have an itch.

All you need is some good bourbon, sugar, maraschino cherries, an orange, and some bitters if that is your thing. Add a few cherries, and a slice of orange with the sugar and muddle them together with the back of your presidential spoon or something. Fill the glass with ice, add a few drops of bitters, and 2 ounces of your preferred bourbon.

Maybe make one for Michelle too.

If you are more of a visual guy, this might help:

Not that I’m saying you should drink a lot or anything, but a good stiff drink might help you every once in awhile.

Good luck the next four years (and maybe eight!)
Nick