Side Trip #2 - In Over My Head, or Thanksgiving Dessert

What in the world have I done?  Ten people for Thanksgiving dinner and I've agreed to be in charge of desserts and cocktails.  Normally, this wouldn't be an issue, but this year?  With all of my national campaigning and Ohio being such an undecided state?  How could I say yes to desserts and cocktails for Thanksgiving?  Oh wait.  That wasn't me...

...just know that I've had a lot of personal stuff going on - after one pivotal episode, my family kept telling me that I needn't worry about desserts or cocktails, but I foolishly said everything was fine, and I would have everything there as expected.

Around noon on Thanksgiving day, I realized that I had taken on too much (stubborn much?)  - I mean I kind of thought that the dessert bit was too much, but I could have pulled it off...I was wrong.  Soooo...my wife called her parents, and delivered the news that Thanksgiving would probably be ruined because her husband couldn't deliver dessert.  They said as long as the booze would be there, all would be forgiven.  Good to see a family that has its priorities in order.

In all seriousness...how cool is my family?  They knew that  we've been going through  life-sometimes-throws-you-curve-ball-rough-patches-all-at-once-to-see-how-much-you-can-take-before-you-break for the past few months, so our cousins from L.A. bought desserts as backups...how cool is that?

Just a quick observation...so I titled this entry on November 13th, with every intention of making the dessert for Thanksgiving.  Maybe it was a self-fulfilling prophecy?  Maybe it was me making an announcement to the Universe, and the Universe providing what I announced?  If that's the case...hey Universe...let me pick a number...twenty seven million, seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars....lay it on me, please!

Back to Thanksgiving - I had already bought the alcohol, so I told them that I'd bring everything up to the in-laws for the day.  One of the drinks was a Pumpkin Alexander.  I tried to get the recipe worked out at home - one that I found online said to have equal parts brandy, creme de cacao, and pumpkin puree.  After one swallow, I threw it out and went back to the drawing board.

Ingredients for the first drink

Another version was equal parts brandy, half and half, and pumpkin liqueur.  That was okay, but really didn't taste too much like pumpkin.  I then added pureed pumpkin...too much liqueur, so I backed it off a bit, and voilà!

Pumpkin Alexander

1 oz. Cognac

1 oz. Half and Half

1 oz. Pureed Pumpkin

1/2 oz. Pumpkin Liqueur

Dash Nutmeg

Combine all ingredients except nutmeg in a shaker with ice and shake until combined.  Pour into a chilled cocktail glass.  Dash nutmeg on top.

Overall, a good pumpkiny drink.  Will I make it again?  Ummmmmm....no.  I think I was hoping for pumpkin pie in a glass, and that's not anything like what I got  - oh well - there's always next year.

Pumpkin Alexander

The next drink turned in to be something unexpected. I was looking for something that was a fall cocktail, so I found the Apple Jack Rabbit.  The only thing I didn't like about it was the Maple Syrup that was in it.  I like Maple Syrup as much as the next Canadian born boy, but I'm not so sure that I want it in a cocktail.  Someone change my mind for that.   So I substituted Brown Sugar Simple Syrup for Maple Syrup, and it worked great!

So the recipe I had was:

Apple Jack Rabbit

2 oz. Apple Brandy

3/4 oz. Lemon Juice

3/4 oz. Orange Juice

1/2 oz. Maple Syrup

....and with the Brown Sugar Simple Syrup, the recipe looks like:

2 oz. Apple Brandy

3/4 oz. Lemon Juice

3/4 oz. Orange Juice

1/2 oz. Brown Sugar Simple Syrup

The men in the family really liked this drink - the women thought it was too sour, so I altered it to be:

2 oz. Apple Brandy

2 oz. Orange Juice

1 oz. Brown Sugar Simple Syrup

To me, this was overly sweet - I think that was true by the women in the family too because B. and C. suggested that we mix the modified Apple Jack Rabbit and the non-lemon drink together, and see what we got.  AH-HA!!!!  This was a good drink!  Personally, I think it needs a little more lemon, but I think that's just a personal preference thing.  I named it after the first initial of each family's last name.

The official family cocktail as decided by me

BDM Holiday Blast

2 oz. Apple Brandy

1 1/2 oz. Orange Juice

3/4 oz. Brown Sugar Simple Syrup

1/2 oz. Lemon Juice 

So there ya have it - my 2012 Thanksgiving.  No rabbits were harmed in the creation of this post, but two turkeys were cooked and we also almost ran over a squirrel on the way to the in-laws'.

The Ingredients

For the Pumpkin Alexander:

Cognac - Landy VS

Pumpkin Liqueur - Hiram Walker Pumpkin Liqueur

For the BDM Holiday Blast:

Apple Brandy - Laird's Apple Jack

Up Next - War Planes for Dracula, or B52 vs. Vampiro

Side Trip #1 - All Hands Man Battle Stations, or Torpedo IPA

Well, well, well - our very first trip away from the IBA list to focus on an IPA.  <Nigel Tufnel accent on>Just a clever little trip upwards on the middle letter <Nigel Tufnel off>

I would have considered myself a beer guy before I moved to California.  Now I know I knew nothing.  I grew up in Canada and, like most Canadian boys, grew up thinking that our beer was better than any other in the world - especially better than that watered-down 3% grog they call beer in the land to our south.  Every time my friends and I traveled to Detroit for a concert we never thought that the beer there would affect us as much as our home brew.  Funny thing is that it always did.

The beer I'm writing about is made in the Sierra Nevada foothills by a brewing company coincidentally called Sierra Nevada.  This is an India Pale Ale called Torpedo, and quite a departure from the suds I grew up with.  It's my "go to" beer if I'm unsure what to buy.  I'm not sure how I stumbled across it, except that I was trying different beer, and ran across IPAs, and really liked them.  Most of them are citrusy, and very bitter.

The bottle

I say most because I was in Canada about three months ago after being away for five years, and had to try one of their India Pale Ales.  I won't say which one, but its initials were Alexander Keith's - it was NOTHING like an IPA here.  Ya know what it tasted like?  Yup - a lager.  What's up A.K.?

Then I was in a club with a couple of my best friends - these are brothers who know their beer.  They live an hour away from Michigan and occasionally drive there to buy beer because they can't get the good stuff in Ontario.  One of them also started to brew his own beer - with his brother helping in the capacity as the quality control engineer (read drinks the beer).  We were sitting around, chatting about beer and drinking what I thought was a lager, and they pointed out to me that it was actually an ale.

Hmmm...an ale that tastes like a lager...hey Labatt's!  There's a new marketing angle for you..."Labatt 50 - an ale that tastes like a lager!"  Leave your email address so I can tell you where to send the checks...you're welcome...

Anyway, what's my point?  Oh yeah...this is a great beer at 7.2% ABV...try it if you have a chance.  Happy Thanksgiving!

The beer

The Ingredients
Beer - Sierra Nevada Brewing Company Torpedo Extra IPA

Up Next - Side Trip #2 - In Over My Head, or Thanksgiving Dessert

TSA Pats Down 007, or Aviation vs. Vesper

Catchy title, no?  I liked it - took me a while to think of, but we weren't busy at work, and I was all caught up on Facebook, so there ya go.

The Aviation was created in 1916 and the original recipe has crème de violette in it.  The IBA version doesn't include this perhaps because crème de violette wasn't available in the USA during prohibition.  Wait.  That doesn't make sense - the IBA is an international association, so crème de violette would have been available in other areas of the world during prohibition, plus the IBA wasn't even around during prohibition.  Why isn't this included in the IBA version?!?  I mean...it gives the drink such a nice blue color!  That's probably how it got its name!  This is an outrage!  I demand an audience with the IBA immediately!  [insert sounds of chirping crickets]

Okay, the best I can figure is that crème de violette, to some people, tastes and smells like soap and is too flowery in this drink.  That alone could be why it's not in the IBA recipe, but I'm not sure - if any one knows for sure, leave a comment.  I will say that I really wanted to try a version with the crème de violette in it, but didn't want to buy a full bottle for a dash or two, so I'll have to order one at a club sometime.

Aviation

1.5 oz. Gin

0.5 oz. Maraschino

0.5 oz. Fresh lemon juice

Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Aviation Ingredients

The Vesper was invented by James Bond in the Ian Fleming novel Casino Royale:

"A dry martini," [Bond] said. "One. In a deep champagne goblet."

"Oui, monsieur."

"Just a moment. Three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel. Got it?"

"Certainly, monsieur." The barman seemed pleased with the idea.

"Gosh, that's certainly a drink," said Leiter.

Bond laughed. "When I'm...er...concentrating," he explained, "I never have more than one drink before dinner. But I do like that one to be large and very strong and very cold and very well-made. I hate small portions of anything, particularly when they taste bad. This drink's my own invention. I'm going to patent it when I can think of a good name."

—Ian Fleming, Casino Royale

Hmmm...I wonder if Mr. Fleming taste tested this before he wrote about it?  For the gin and the Lillet I didn't use the same brands as Casino Royale wanted - Kina Lillet isn't manufactured any more, and personally, I don't like Gordon's gin, so Citadelle it was.  Here's the IBA's recipe:

Vesper

2 oz. Gin

0.5 oz. Vodka

0.25 oz. Lillet Blanc

Lemon twist (garnish)

Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Add the garnish.

The three bottles of Vesper

The Tasting
There wasn't anything special about either of these, I didn't think...honestly, neither were my "cup of tea" so to speak.  They weren't horrible, but weren't fantastic either - you know that feeling you have when you first have a drink and know immediately that you want another?  I'm not talking about when Uncle Simon comes over unannounced to say that he'll be crashing on your couch for the next "little while" because Aunt Gladys is trying to find her self by reuniting her Janis Joplin tribute band, I'm talking about the first time you try a drink, and know that it's so good that you'll have another.  Neither of these drinks had that for me.

The two side by side

I still had to choose a winner for this entry.  I'm thinkin' that James Bond is pretty cool, so Vesper is it!  Sorry - that's the only way I could pick between the two...you try them and let me know which one you like better...

The winner!

The Ingredients
For the Aviation:
Gin - Citadelle
Maracshino - Luxardo
Fresh Lemon Juice

For the Vesper:
Gin - Citadelle
Vodka - Prairie Organic
Lillet Blanc

Up Next - Side Trip #1 - All Hands Man Battle Stations, or Torpedo IPA