For the Love of Food

The other day the nice people over at Buy Absinthe Alcohol contacted me and asked if I would write a few words for them. After some consideration, and a lot of haggling, I decided to take one the task.

I’d tasted absinthe way way back when (5 years ago??) and remember not really liking it – I’m just not crazy about anise flavored drinks. But, I do enjoy anise flavored baked goods – not daily, but at least once a year is ok.

Continue Reading »

Since I’m being all reminiscent about my time in France (I was in Lyon, BTW), I’d like to introduce you to the first “beer” I ever had.

I know, I know, French beer as my first it’s some sort of German sin – I was not disappointed. Continue Reading »

For the past 2 months we have been on a sparkling wine-making frenzy. At first we just made a small 3 liter batch to see if it would work…and it did…so the next batch was 5 liters….and the one after that was 12 liters…ok, so we didn’t drink it all by ourselves…was served it at my birthday party and brought some to friends’ places when we were invited over. We’re making another batch again. This time it’s 5 liters.

There are only 3 ingredients required: apple juice, champagne yeast, and sugar (or fructose). (see recipe bellow)

We have tried different varieties of apple juice: “conventional” 100% apple juice and direct press (unfiltered) organic apple juice. There is actually a significant difference between the 2. The conventional apple juice will give you a clear, dry, and light flavor, while the direct press juice will give you a hardy, “typical” American cider (with fizz added). It is hard to chose which one I liked more. We did a taste test to compare them side by side, but still, they are really both excellent.

We also made a quick low alcohol version (see recipe bellow) that took 2 days to make. The fizzy-ness was really great (the same as with other champagnes/sparkling wines), but there was a much sweeter apple juice flavor there. We tried it with the direct press juice, and tonight I’ll try it with a conventional apple juice. I didn’t enjoy the sweetness of it b/c I’m generally not a big apple juice fan. That’s why I enjoy sparkling apple wine so much b/c it has the great apple flavor without the overwhelming sweetness of apple juice. Continue Reading »

Now you can get drunk on water…seriously…

I have just been dying to start writing this blog entry! Yesterday I was reading through yumsugar and I came across their post “Pure Spring Water + Alcohol = Awesome?“. Oh man, when I read this the first thing that sprung to mind was – they’re adding water to alcohol..and calling it beer?? And, people want to pay for that? I envision workers in a factory dumping out 2/3 of a bottle of Smirnoff and then filling it back up with tap “spring” water. I am interested to know who goes for this stuff? The health-conscious alcoholic?? Don’t get me wrong, I love a glass of red wine or a margarita or a glass of cider or a glass of sparkling wine or a piña colada or…you get my drift. But, give me the real stuff – don’t add water to it and try to sell it to me! Give me a freaking break people (Smirnoff)!

Here is their gimick:

A combination of Pineapple and Grapefruit Juice with Tonic Water, Maraschino Cherries, and a swig of Maraschino Cherry Juice laced with Rum.

Ingredients:

3 parts Tequila

2 parts juice of fresh squeezed Limes

1 part Triple sec

1/2 teaspoon Olive juice

4 green Olives with pimentos

Ice

Margarita Salt

Directions:

Squeeze out the lime juice and rub the lime onto the edge of the glass(es) you will be serving in. Dip the glass edge into the margarita salt. Shake or stir together the first 4 ingredients. Add ice to the glass and pour the drink mixture over the ice. Garnish with 4 or more (or less) green olives on a toothpick.

Serves 2.

recipe coming soon