Sandee’s toasting tomorrow’s inauguration with a special “fresh start cocktail.”  I’m not usually one for overwrought imagery, but the delicate fruit flavor is quite refreshing change from the dark and stormy winter we’ve been suffering. And no, I really don’t know if I’m talking about the 18 feet of snow that’s fallen these past couple months of those eight years we’ve suffered.

The holidays are past, but we still have a sweet tooth here.

• chocolate shavings for rimming
• 1 part crème de cacao
• 2 parts vodka
• dark chocolate garnish

Warm a martini glass over a small flame, then roll the rim in chocolate shavings. Put a square of dark chocolate in the glass, then prepare the liquor. Shake vodka and crème de cacao with ice and strain into glass. For additional flavor, sprinkle the top with cocoa powder or chocolate shavings.

Please tipple responsibly.

We’re huge fans of The New Joy of Cooking by Marion Rombauer Becker, Irma S. Rombauer, and Ethan Becker. Hardly a meal goes through our kitchen that isn’t shaped in some part by the recipes and general information in its pages. A recent discovery was Joy’s description and defense of cocktail parties.

So, when a book as serious and valuable as The New Joy of Cooking raises alarms about the declining future of cocktail parties, we listen. Cocktail parties are important, they’re an American invention that should be honored. So, host or attend a cocktail party today and raise your glass in hopes that everyone may someday have the freedom to toast in peace.

alcohol, american invention, cocktail, cocktail parties, cocktail party, drink, entertaining, joy of cooking, party, toast, Cocktails

Hot weather demands cool drinks. Lemonade is fine for the kids, but adults need a pitcher of something more entertaining.

• 2 parts Vodka
• 1 part Orange Juice
• 2 parts Lemonade
• dash Lime Juice

Prepare in a pitcher with ice and share. Adjust quantities to taste.

Enjoy safely.

alcohol, drink, entertaining, hot weather, lime juice, orange juice, summer, vicar, vodka

Ok, the truth is that at MaisonBisson we celebrate all holidays with a drink. Since we take cocktails quite seriously, I wanted something very pretty for the little Fourth of July soiree we were having. I have found that the secret to a perfect strawberry daiquiri is using frozen strawberries. I also use lots of crushed ice and a ripe banana — it adds a nice creaminess. I garnished with whipped cream, blueberries, and star fruit.

It’s an easy and delicious recipe.

• 2 cups crushed ice
• 1 cup rum (light or dark depending on your preference)
• 2 cups (a 16 oz tub) of frozen strawberries (thawed)
• ripe banana

Combine all ingredients in a large blender that can crush ice. Blend, pour, and garnish.

Warning – this is a delicious drink and goes down really easy. If you are not careful you could find yourself standing by the bonfire and singing Yankee Doodle Dandy in your birthday suit.

alcohol, blue, blueberry, cocktail, cocktails, crushed ice, daiquiri, delicious drink, drink, fourth of july, frozen strawberries, ice, independence day, july 4, july 4th, red, red white and blue, ripe banana, rum, star fruit, starfruit, strawberry, strawberry daiquiri, whipped cream, white, yankee doodle dandy, Cocktails, Sweets, Homemade, Holidays, Summer

Who wouldn’t enjoy a frozen mud slide on a hot summer day? Typical recipes call for crushed ice and cream or ice cream. For some reason, we decided to try making them from ice cream, from scratch.

The MaisonBisson Frozen Mud Slide

This recipe requires an ice cream maker, we used the Deni Scoop Factory.

• 1.5 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup sugar
• .5 cups Bailey’s
• dash vanilla

Mix ingredients in bowl, then pour into ice cream maker’s freezer container. Follow your ice cream maker’s directions about time to freeze. Our Deni Scoop Factory was done in about 30 minutes. Spoon frozen ingredients into glass, add appropriate amounts of vodka and Kahlua and stir. Top with whipped cream and a cherry. Enjoy.

alcohol, cocktail, crushed ice, drink, freezer, frozen mud slide, heavy cream, hot summer, ice cream, ice cream maker, kahlua, milk, mud slide, sugar, summer, vodka, whipped cream, Cocktails, Sweets, Homemade, Summer, Cocktails, Sweets, Homemade, Summer

The holidays are long since past, here’s a drink to carry you through ’till Spring.

Rusty Nail

• 3 parts Scotch
• 1 part Drambuie

Serve over ice in an old fashioned glass.

Please enjoy it responsibly.

I read enough of this to get a good laugh, but not enough to understand if it was serious or not. Some of it reads like satire, but other parts as are dry as, well, they’re dry (who really needs a simile anyway, they’re just dry, okay?).

alcohol, book, books, drink, drinking, libraries, library, notes from a library supervisor, punch, supervision, the vodka in the punch, vodka

Ian Chadwick’s In Search of the Blue Agave begins:

“Tequila is Mexico,” said Carmelita Roman, widow of the late tequila producer Jesus Lopez Roman in an interview after her husband’s murder. “It’s the only product that identifies us as a culture.”

No other drink is surrounded by as many stories, myths, legends and lore as tequila and its companion, mezcal. They transcend simple definition by reaching into the heart of Mexico, past and present. The turbulent history of Mexico is paralleled in the stories of tequila and mezcal. One cannot fully appreciate Mexico without some understanding of tequila’s place in its history and culture.

So as we celebrate Cinco de Mayo, that victory of Mexican forces over French invaders, raise a glass of tequila in General Ignacio Zaragoza’s honor.

(More of Michael Calderwood’s delicious photos are online.)

Modern Drunkard Magazine suggests we chase the snakes out of our minds, for as Yeats reminds us:

The problem with some people is that when they’re not drunk, they’re sober.

(Ryan points out that you can have that quote, along with three others from quipsters Dylan Thomas, W.C. Fields, and Oscar Wilde on shot glasses.)

But Modern Drunkard and Yeats (despite his fine heritage) have it wrong. Saint Patty’s Day isn’t about getting drunk or being drunk, it’s about getting silly enough to think you can dance a jig or sing a song. And while you’re doing it, take pictures.

Extra (hey, it is Friday): Irish References On The Simpsons and Irish Roots.

chasing snakes, drink, drinking, drinking songs, drunk, ireland, irish, irish dance, irish dancing, irish heritage, irish whiskey, jig, saint patrick, saint patrick’s day, st. patty’s day, W.B. Yeats, yeats, saint patrick’s day, st. patty’s day

Roderick sent me a link to this Reason article on Absinthe that claims:

the U.S. Food and Drug Administration considers true absinthe “adulterated” because of the wormwood. Production, sale, and importation are banned, but mere possession is not, and customs agents typically ignore a bottle or two in your suitcase. It’s a legal situation that seems designed to keep absinthe cool.“

The Wikipedia article on absinthe pretty much confirms that point, so who’s going to test it?

(notes:)

1. image from the Virtual Absinthe Museum
2. Yes, I asked Roderick ”please tell me you don’t read Reason (the PR arm of the Libertarians, which is the PR arm of the Republicans to pull in “younger, hipper” voters) regularly.“ He had an entirely plausible answer for the negative.

absinth, absinthe, advertising poster, alcohol, drink, food and drug administration, green fairy, legal situation, libertarians, liquor, little green fairy, spirit, wormwood