we ate tonight

The perfect holiday conversation starter...


Apple Pie Shots
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1 gallon     apple cider
1/2 gallon   apple juice
5 cups       sugar
10-15        cinnamon sticks
1/2 liter    Everclear
1 can        Redi-whip

Combine the apple cider, apple juice, and the sugar. Heat and stir until all the sugar is dissolved. Add cinnamon sticks and cook the mixture. Once cool, add the alcohol. Top shots with redi-whip when ready.

Ingredients
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• 1 1/2 cups of ice
  
• 2 oz Coco Reál cream of coconut (ps: do not accidentally use coconut milk - not the same)
  
• 2 oz DonQ white rum
  
• 2 oz of pineapple juice (not from a can)
  

  
  Take 1/4 of a fresh, whole pineapple; core it, skin it, chunk it...now throw it in a blender. Liquify it. Now run it thru a medium mesh strainer. This will render about 3 oz of liquid gold.
  

  
  
• A couple extra pineapple chunks and a maraschino cherry.

Instructions
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Toss everything into a blender. Liquify. (You want to go until the ice is down to shaved quality, easily chewable.) Pour into 12oz highball. Garnish with pineapple chunk on lip and cherry in glass. Makes one LARGE drink.


PS: A whole pineapple will make about 6 serving of this recipe.

I would argue this should probably be called a "Cuba Libretto" or something...but...."Cokello" works too.

Ingredients
------------
1 lowball glass
1 cup of ice

1oz light rum
1/2oz limoncello
1 lemon wedge
Coca-Cola

Instructions
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Fill glass with ice. Add rum and limoncello. Top with Coke. Garnish with lemon wedge.

Don't bother. (In fact anything by the Blue Plate Group is just going to let you down. The menu will look great - then your night out will fall flaccid when you take the first bite.)

Must Have
------------

Very Good
------------

Good
-------
? Crispy Chicken Wings

Take It Or Leave It
----------------
? Pierogi
? Onion Straws

(stole this one from Johnny Michaels at La Belle Vie)

Ingredients
----------

• lowball glass
  
• 1 cup of ice
  
  
• 2 oz bourbon
  
• 1 oz fresh apple cider
  
• large splash of Apfelkorn (or any lesser apple schnapps)
  
• 2 thin, seeded, (red, preferably for contrast) apple slices

Fill glass with ice. Add bourbon, Apfelkorn, cider. Stir. Garnish with slices in drink.

Ingredients
----------

• 2 tsp granulated sugar (preferably large-crystal, or even better: turbinado sugar)
  
• 8 lime wedges
  
• 1 cup of ice
  
• 2 1/2 oz cachaça

Pour sugar in bottom of a glass, toss entire lime wedges in and muddle vigorously - even trying to extract some oils from peel. After fully macerating the limes into the sugar....cover with ice and cachaça. Stir.

Ingredients

---

• 1 1/2 oz fresh-squeezed lime juice
  
• 1 oz simple syrup
  
• 2 oz vodka
  
• rimming sugar

Shake the lime juice, syrup and vodka over ice. Wet the rim of the martini glass with the squeezed limes and rim with sugar. Fill.

Aviation

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• 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) fresh lemon juice
  
• 1/4 cup (2 ounces) gin
  
• 1 tablespoon (1/2 ounce) Maraska maraschino liqueur
  
• 1/4 teaspoon simple syrup
  
• 1 cup ice cubes

Garnish with maraschino cherry or pitted fresh cherry

Fabulous....5 star...perfect for summer. (Need to keep around more ginger beer.

Ingredients

---

• About 1 cup ice cubes
  
• 1/4 cup (2 ounces) reposado tequila
  
• 6 tablespoons (3 ounces) ginger beer or ginger ale
  
• 1 teaspoon crème de cassis
  
• 1 lime wedge

Preparation

---

In 11-ounce highball glass, combine ice and tequila. Top with ginger beer, then slowly pour in crème de cassis (it will settle to bottom). Squeeze lime wedge over, then drop wedge into drink and serve.

We have been on a buying spree of these things...so thought I would do the standard ratings on them:

Must Have
--------------
+ Cherry Pie = tastes just like tart cherry pie from grandma...well, maybe not quite...but still durn tasty.
+ Tropical Fruit Tart = mmmm...piña colada-y...with nuts.


Very Good
--------------
+ Lemon Pie = tastes like Hostess Lemon Pie...me likey.
+ Apple Pie = tastes like Hostess Apple Pie with more cinnamon in it.
+ Key Lime Pie = accurate to reality...with a bit of a distraction from the nuts.



Good
--------------
+ Pecan Pie = tastes like eating uncooked crisp (for apple crisp)...which I like, ymmv...but I would rather have pecan pie.
+ Coconut Chew = coconutty...not really sure what is going on here.
+ Chocolate Coconut Chew = does taste like haystack cookies....but with nuts mixed in. Good but the nuts diminished it for me.


Take It Or Leave It
--------------
? Peanut Butter = meh
? Ginger Snap = tastes accurate, if not more potent ginger....but it just isn't my thing.

Pisco Sour
---------------
2 oz              pisco
1/4 oz           simple syrup^@
1 oz             *fresh-squeezed* lime juice
1/2               egg white
1 dash          Angostura bitters

Combine and shake everything - except the bitters - over ice in the shaker. Shake very vigorously for about a minute - you need the egg white to froth up nicely.

Fill a lowball over ice. Finish with a single dash of the bitters on top of the froth.

Bueno!!!!

My coworker brought this stuff to a company potluck. It sat unloved in the middle of the table while all the things covered in cheese and chocolate got eaten because, frankly, it looks like regular ol' boring popcorn. It that sat there until the first person took a bite and yelled "DAMN! What is on this stuff?" as he dove headlong into the bowl. Soon an all out fistfight broke out as every person tried to get their hands into the bowl at once.

Mona's White Chocolate Popcorn 4 oz white chocolate chips 1/3 tbsp Crisco/shortening 1 bag (which is usually around 4 cups) of microwave popcorn (less buttery is preferable - but don't get no-butter either) Melt chocolate and shortening in a double boiler until completely melted (to the consistency of approximately ranch dressing)...while simultaneously popping the popcorn. Best case scenario is that they both hit the giant mixing bowl piping hot. Mix until coated. Lay out on wax paper-ed cookie sheet(s) and into the fridge to cool to reduce the chocolate getting a change to make the popcorn soggy while drying. Commence the eating orgy.

Last year She stumbled upon the list of which fruits and vegetables should always be purchased organically because they are so loaded with pesticide. Well, they updated it for this year...

   Shopper's Guide to Pesticides 2009 [from http://www.foodnews.org]

You cannot believe how sublime and refreshing this is...man, I can't wait to have this when it is 88° out. ...and I don't even like gin.

Gin Sling
--------------
2 oz                  gin
1/2 oz               fresh lime juice
1 1/2 oz            simple syrup
splash               water

Pour them all into a highball glass with twice as much ice as you have ever put in a glass. Stir. Garnish with a lime wedge. Drink in the sun.