Sidecar

23. January 2007 · Comments Off on Sidecar · Categories: Cocktails · Tags: , , , , , , ,

This entry is unusual in that I tend to avoid posts about drinks I don’t really enjoy. It’s often a sign that I haven’t figured the drink out, yet. That may be the case here, but perhaps it’s just my lack of interest in brandy and general wariness of lemons. Sidecars do come up somewhat often, and since they’re a good way to use up some of that brandy that’s hanging around after making mulled wine, I wanted to revisit it. After some experimentation this is the version I’ve enjoyed the most:

Sidecar

1.5 oz brandy
1 oz cointreau
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice

Shake over ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass (I’ve also seen it served in an old-fashioned glass). Garnish with a lemon twist, preferably flamed if you’re really classy.

This is less brandy and less lemon juice than is usually called for, although I do tend to pour the brandy somewhat generously. I also like more cointreau than is usual, something reflected in this recipe.

Sidecar

This cocktail came about since I had accepted a dubious mission. Namely, making dinner. Now, I don’t mind cooking dinner, it’s just that I have a few things I know how to do well, and when I move beyond that arena there is a high potential of Bad Things Happening. I just don’t have the familiarity with the terms and process so end up with everything needed to happen at one point, and finding myself chopping the garlic as the onions are burning. I decided to get myself in the mood, I’d revisit the Sidecar. I happened to have fresh lemons on hand, which provided enough juice for me to experiment a couple of times to find the version I liked the best (above).

Having succeeded in something that seemed close to cooking (a recipe, multiple ingredients, what can be the difference?), I opened the cookbook and started working.

Chris Cooking with Sidecar

Alas, the Sidecar was of little help. I eventually managed to get my way through a really quite simple recipe involving a forest of some theoretically enchanted broccoli without mucking it up too badly (ok, perhaps there was too much dill). Still, I had my usual moments of panic as all the timers went off, things boiled over and ingredients that needed adding were yet to be chopped. In the end, I have another recipe I now know enough to probably prepare more cheerfully next time, and the feeling that I’ve finally got at least a handle on a cocktail that’s been on my mind for some time.

So, professor: would you say it’s time for everyone to panic?

12. January 2007 · 1 comment · Categories: General

Yes I would, Kent.

Don’t worry folks, while it might get down to the 30’s (wait, stop panicking!), the governator has, “ordered officials to place 16 additional “warming centers” on standby.”

I love this place. Although it occurs to me our heater doesn’t work. WHAT WILL WE DO???

Youtubes, away!

07. January 2007 · Comments Off on Youtubes, away! · Categories: Pictures

We were fortunate enough to see a bunch of friends over the holidays. During The Dayton Gathering, Robin mentioned the video of the hermit crabs we’d taken at Cabrillo National Monument (a few months ago). I figured that was as good excuse as any to play around with YouTube, so here it is:

Some hermit crabs in the tide pools of Cabrillo National Monument. Unfortunately, the conversion to YouTube lost a lot of detail, so you can’t see the crabs’ legs, etc. Looks more like a bunch of wiggly snails.

Christy and I went back there yesterday, and stopped by the tide pools about midway between the two tides, and they were all quite covered.

The Manhattan Special

06. January 2007 · 2 comments · Categories: Cocktails · Tags: , , , , , , , ,

The problem with browsing through cocktail blogs is that I invariably find someone else who is posting delightful, well informed information and my list of places to read increases. The Handy Snake is one of those, and I earlier wrote about Kurt’s Manhattan Special. Being a big fan of the tasty manhattan, I tried it out and was intrigued enough to recreate it with some slight modifications. Mainly, I don’t like drinking mine on the rocks, so I just reduced the amounts and ended up changing the proportions a hair. If you’re interested, I really recommend you check out the original.

The Manhattan Special

1.5 oz rye whiskey
.4 oz sweet vermouth
.3 oz Benedictine
2 dashes of Angostura bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry.

Note that Kurt makes a good point about wanting a strong rye to take on the Benedictine. I always like Wild Turkey in my Manhattans, and it serves well in this case.

What’s up with the .3 and .4oz measurements? I tend to make a Manhattan at 3:1 rye to sweet vermouth, but that’s too weak if you then add Benedictine. You could certainly just do 1/4 oz each of vermouth and Benedictine, but I liked it better with a hair more than that, and adding more vermouth than Benedictine. The end result is a very soft and sweeter Manhattan. It’s handy for those times when you want a Manhattan, but aren’t really looking forward to it standing up and socking you in the mouth for the first few sips. Of course, I think that’s part of a good Manhattan’s charm, but this is nice to have in the recipe book. Thanks, Kurt!

Manhattan Special

Yes, there’s a cherry there but I shook it instead of stirred the drink. This also dilutes it a hair more, in addition to making it colder quicker, which I think works well in this case.

Negotiating a quick break

04. January 2007 · 2 comments · Categories: To Do

Somehow I’m back in class already, and spent most of today reading about negotiations. It’s actually interesting reading, which is a nice change for my MBA books, but after five hours my eyes were fogging over and my concentration was shot. I went to check the mail, only to see the mailman delivering it. This happens to me pretty much anytime I check for the mail before 5pm. I’m not sure if they’re watching my door or have decided it’s a nice place to camp out. Shockingly enough, this post isn’t about mail but about alcohol. I decided to quickly browse through a cocktail blog or two. This sort of browsing always ends up taking longer than the mail delivery.

I’ve also created a new category, “To Do.” I hate to fill the cocktails area with untested cocktails, but I also need to be sober for my class tonight.

From Art of Drink:

Feliz Natal Cocktail

1 part Port
1 part Amaretto
2 parts Creme de Cacao
1 part Cherry brandy
½ part Brandy

Instructions: Stir all ingredients together in a rocks or old fashion glass with a couple of ice cubes and enjoy!

I miss my holiday cocktail party. Maybe next year!

From CocktailDB:

The Blinker

1 1/2 oz rye (4.5 cl, 3/8 gills)
1 oz grapefruit juice (3 cl, 1/4 gills)
1/4 oz grenadine (6 dashes, 1/16 gills)

Shake in iced cocktail shaker & strain
Serve in a cocktail glass (4.5 oz)

From The Handy Snake we have:

The Manhattan Special

2 – 2.5 oz rye whiskey
.5 oz sweet vermouth
.5 oz Benedictine
2 dashes of Angostura bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a small rocks glass over fresh ice. Garnish with a cherry.

Of course, this then leads me to want to:

  1. Make my own maraschino cherries. See the Manhattan Special article, plus eGullet forums and The Splendid Table.
  2. Make my own grenadine. I’ve had the foul stuff from the store for years, and disdained any drink that called for it. At some point I should make my own, and The Cocktail Chronicles has (have?) some suggestions.

That’s all for now, back to the book. Right after I check for the mail…

The injustice of our list of sex offenders

02. January 2007 · Comments Off on The injustice of our list of sex offenders · Categories: General, Linky

Consider yourself spared from one of my long rants on the fear-mongering that has helped our society decide that permanently branding sex offenders and banishing them to remote rural areas is a good idea. When I was most of the way through it, I accidentally closed the tab. Anyhow, the Atlanta Magazine online has a post, “Why Is Genarlow Wilson in Prison?” that is horrifying, recommended reading. A teenager in Georgia had consensual oral sex with a 15 year old (he was 17 at the time) and as a result is in prison for 10 years and will be a registered sex offender for the rest of his life. The jurors convicted him of “aggravated child molestation” since that’s technically what happened, although they had no idea about the repercussions of it, including a mandatory 10 year sentence. The kid who was convicted did well in school, was voted homecoming king and had no criminal record. The girl he had oral sex did not want to press any charges (it was consensual). His life is now drastically altered, and no matter what he does he is publicly branded and a social pariah forever. The laws need to change, there is no justice here.

On turning one thousand

02. January 2007 · 1 comment · Categories: Me, Me, Me, Me

We’re back in sunny San Diego, and happy to be so. It was delightful to see our friends and family, but Ohio really is a gloomy place this time of year. We had a great time over the holidays, and much thanks to the many kind folks who hosted and entertained us through a whirlwind ten days.

I ended up sneaking a few hours of walking around Columbus a couple of days before our scheduled arrival (during a trip from one set of parents to the other). Wandering about in the chilly, grey, familiar streets made me smile and the gloomy, urban isolation was much needed. Columbus is a remarkably easy city to live in, and certainly as we cast our minds forward to what happens after grad-school (now less than a year to go!), it is by far the strongest midwestern option. There are a surprising number of really good restaurants, bars, art galleries and fun things to do and consume in a small, walkable area. We have friends there, and family two hours or less in either direction. The housing prices are also reasonable, which translates to ridiculously low in comparison with here. These are all attractive.

On the other side, Columbus is just so small. It seems a little limiting, and dear lord do they get a lot of grey days. Even when the sun shone, it was weaker than it is here. Obviously, San Diego is going to win the weather comparison with most places, but the larger city is non-trivial. Our apartment right now requires driving to anything interesting, and that’s a big negative. There are some neighborhoods here, and moving into one of the few seems a necessity. Southern California is really addicted to its cars and urban sprawl, things that really get on my nerves. I spent today (my only day here and between classes) limited to what I could walk or bike to since I don’t have a car and didn’t get up early to take Christy to and from work. I had plenty to do here, so the main problem with this was getting a hair cut at the only local option, one which speaks mostly Vietnamese (the diversity in this place is great) and when that is put together with me being fairly clueless as to how I want my hair to look, the result is the shortest haircut I can remember. I snapped a photo, which is the one thousandth shot I’ve taken with this camera (the first was taken 2006/06/30, so that’s about about a thousand in six months):

Short hair!

It’s good to be home. Happy 2007, everyone!

Newer articles »