Oct22

50 Shots of America–West Virginia

October 22nd, 2010 | by Scraps
Posted In: 50 Shots of America
Gold and Delicious Cocktail

Gold and Delicious

I thought we were done with the east coast last time! Looks like I was mistaken. Again.

Turns out the powers that be in the state of Virginia were having some issues within themselves while the country as a whole was in a bit of an uproar. The idea that Virginia was going to secede from the Union didn’t sit too well with some folks in the western counties so they decided they’d just take themselves out of it and create their own rival state government (which was happily acknowledged by the Federal powers that be). On June 20, 1863, (after a 60-day waiting period), West Virginia became our 35th state and the only one to be formed by seceding from a Confederate state.

Coal is the name of the game in the Mountain State, so named because, well, it’s all mountains–Appalachian Mountains to be specific. A few other facts stood out for me as I was doing my research:

  • July 1, 1921: The first state sales tax in the US went into effect in West Virginia.
  • 1926: The first US federal prison for women opened in West Virginia.

Now, does anyone think those two facts might be related? I mean, you ask a woman to pay even MORE for her purchases and, well, sure… laws might get broken.

That’s probably not true, but it was the first thing to pop into my mind. (Admit it, yours too!)

Anyway, with all those mountains, agriculture isn’t any sort of main share of the state’s output. Do you know one thing that does grow in West ‘By God’ Virginia? Golden Delicious apples. Those yellow-skinned, buttery-tasting glorious apples were first discovered in 1775 near Wellsburg, in Clay County. They are my favorite type of apple, and sometimes hard to find, so that’s what this week’s cocktail is dedicated to.

Gold and Delicious

1 oz Apple Juice
1/2 oz Vanilla Vodka
1/4 oz Butterscotch Schnapps

Combine over ice and shake like a freight train full of coal. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

It may not be quite the same as biting into a crisp Golden Delicious apple, but it’s the next best thing in my book.

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Oct08

50 Shots of America–Kansas

October 8th, 2010 | by Scraps
Posted In: 50 Shots of America
Over the Rainbow

Over the Rainbow

Toto, I think we ARE in Kansas this week, the 34th state in this glorious nation!

Look, Toto, at those dear, dear fields of wheat, sorghum and sunflowers.

And over there, why those are some of the wagon ruts still engraved on our prairie from the Sante Fe Trail (1820 to 1881), can you imagine?

Oh, in that direction we could go to Dodge City, where men such as Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp kept the peace in those lawless Wild West days.

You know, Toto, my ruby slippers are just a little uncomfortable after all this traveling, what do you say about following the I-70 over to Topeka and the headquarters of Payless for a quick shopping trip?

Whew! It’s sure good to be home, Toto. I hope Auntie Em has some lemonade ready, I could use a tall drink after visiting the Hutchinson Salt Mines. Or maybe something a wee bit stronger?

Over the Rainbow

1 oz Limoncello
1/2 oz Beer
1/2 oz Tonic Water

Combine Limoncello and Beer over ice and shake like a twister in a trailer park. Pour in Tonic Water and swirl to chill before straining into the waiting cordial glass.

This is my twist on a hard lemonade and can definitely give those packaged drink a run for their money–even Todd liked it (and he generally doesn’t like my beer cocktails), said it was “surprisingly refreshing.” Don’t have any Limoncello on hand? In as few as 4 days you can, according to my recent experiments infusing this particular flavor. We used the 12-week (and it blended beautifully) version but I’m sure the 4-day as well as the imported stuff will work just fine.

Drinking at home is so much better, Toto, none of that 10% drink tax to worry about! (And thank heavens we don’t live in one of the 29 dry counties!)

with apologies to L Frank Baum (but only a few, as his Kansas descriptions were based on his time in South Dakota)

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Oct05

Drink Diary: Limoncello Wrap-Up

October 5th, 2010 | by Scraps
Posted In: Drink Diary

Limoncello Trio

12-week, Imported, and 4-day Limoncellos

Going into this experiment I was a little wary of ending up with several bottles of undrinkable drek. After all, 12 weeks is a long time to spend on something that you might not even like!

The plan (to refresh all of our memories) was to make 2 batches of Limoncello–one that used the 12-week method suggested over at Limoncello Quest and the other than used the quickie method that every other recipe on the Internet seemed to use. I chronicled each week in pictures, something–anything!–to keep me from forgetting about this project and tossing it out when discovered, ages later.

Based on I don’t know what, exactly, that things that take longer have to be better?, I figured the 12-week Limoncello would far surpass that made in a weekend. That it would be smoother, more mellow, and overall better than the quickie version.

Y’all? You’re not going to believe this.

The 12-week Limoncello had some serious bite. It has the right texture/mouth-feel–silky and smooth. The color is darker than the “real” Limoncello we’d purchased at the liquor store, so that gave me pause. But I wasn’t prepared for the burn at the end of each sip, a sharpness at the back of the throat.

Going into tasting the 4-day Limoncello, then, I was scared.

Keep in mind, folks, this stuff is made with 151-proof Everclear. Not something one would drink straight under normal circumstances. If the 12-week Limoncello had teeth, I was afraid the 4-day Limoncello wasn’t even going to be worth cooking with!

It’s strong, no question, but the bite? Barely even a bark.

What. The. Hell?

Now, don’t misunderstand, it’s not as mellow and smooth as the store-bought Limoncello but it’s pretty darn close.

Grace? Gotta week? You can have all the Limoncello your heart desires!

Seriously, folks, you could have knocked me over with a feather.

After some reflection, and a day to get over the shock, I started to think about the mechanics. The idea is to remove the oils from the zest and fuse them with the alcohol base. One of the quickie recipes did mention that it was important to use a high-proof alcohol because it would strip those oils faster.

If that’s true, could the 12-week version work better if I’d used an 80-proof vodka instead of the Everclear? I’m not sure. The one thing I do know is that there’s not really much of a reason to wait 12 weeks when a single one will produce 2 bottles of very drinkable Limoncello.

Looks like the 12-week will be the one relegated to cooking!

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Oct01

50 Shots of America–Oregon

October 1st, 2010 | by Scraps
Posted In: 50 Shots of America, alcohol holidays
The Oregon Trail

The Oregon Trail

For the longest time I thought Oregon was more inland… somewhere more in the Idaho area, for some reason. I just couldn’t imagine it on the coast. At least I didn’t think it was an island, right?

What I *was* fairly sure of was that lots of people traveled to Oregon in the wagoneering days of the mid-1800s (back when you could die from a broken arm–way to scare kids, folks!). This knowledge came from the old computer game The Oregon Trail where you had to safely get your family from point A to point B in 200 or so days with very little money (even by the standards of the time) and a whole passel of children who liked to wander off as well as being accident-prone.

I got a refresher on this game when I found it on my cell phone. It’s been updated somewhat–more activities requiring coordination rather than just guess-work problem solving skills, but it’s still the same game I remember playing during “College for Kids” (gifted program in elementary school: one day a week we’d go to a college campus and get to take special, fun classes, like programming the triangular “turtle” of an Apple IIc to make pretty pictures on the screen).

But I digress.

Despite my earlier misconceptions, Oregon is actually on the West Coast of the US and became our 33rd state on February 14, 1859. Man, can you imagine the other states’ reactions?

“You gave Oregon statehood for Valentine’s Day, what did you get me? A lousy tax break? Harumph!”

But I digress. Again.

Let’s just get to the drink, shall we?

The Oregon Trail

1/2 oz Hazelnut Liqueur
1/2 oz Apple Brandy
1 oz Cola

Combine alcohols over ice and shake briskly. Pour in the cola and swirl to chill before straining the finished drink into a chilled cocktail glass.

Turns out, in addition to having lots of breweries and wineries and growing tons of hops, potatoes, apples and pears, Oregon is big in the hazelnut world–90+% of the countries hazelnuts right in the Pacific NW! Go Oregon! So, of course, I’m thinking ‘hello, Frangelico,’ and Applejack hasn’t been used in a while. The soda ensures that tasty caramel color, which I would imagine was what that trail looked like much of the time (though probably not as tasty as this drink!). Your first sip might remind you a bit of a rich root beer float, with just a kick from the apple brandy.

~~~oOo~~~

Did you know that today, October 1, is  National Sake Day?

I’ve got some pear sake on the bar and decided to give it a go in the Oregon Trail, in place of the Applejack. It’s not bad! Compared the the original, it’s a bit smoother (according to my helper-taster, Todd) with an almost unctuous mouth-feel. There’s the little tang of sake at the end, making it a somewhat complex taste but definitely satisfying.

If you’re feeling a little cross-cultural, why not give it a try and tell me what you think?

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Sep28

Limoncello, Week 12

September 28th, 2010 | by Scraps
Posted In: Drink Diary

Oh, well, another week of nothing doing on the Drink Diary and–

Wait. What was that? It’s week 12? We’re finished?!

Well, almost, there’s a little finishing up that’s needed:

Limoncello, Week 12

Limoncello, Week 12

First we had to strain and filter the Limoncello to remove the zest and anything else that might be hanging around in there other than deliciously-flavored alcohol.

Starting with a fine-mesh strainer over a large measuring pitcher or bowl, pour the Limoncello through the strainer. I did this twice (mostly because I bounced the strainer and a few pieces of zest got back into the mix, but whatever). Return the de-zested liquid back to the container.

Then, line the strainer with a coffee filter (this one for a 4-cup machine fit perfectly inside my strainer) and slowly pour the Limoncello through it again, this time getting out any sediment that may have settled.

Two things I noticed:

  1. One coffee filter was good for about half a batch (or one 750mL bottle’s worth) of straining.
  2. After the initial 300-400 mL have strained, the filter needs a little help. Swirling the mixture around, gently, seems to help–the sediment moves around and doesn’t stop the clean liquid from passing.

Fingertips really are best for this–much easier to tell if you’re about to snag your filter and have to start all over again–just wash your hands well before starting. Granted, even diluted we’re still dealing with some decent-proof alcohol, here, so not much is going to stand a chance.

You can strain this multiple times if you’ve got the patience. I’ve never been so strong on that, myself, so I just gave it one good filtering and bottled it.

Now it’s going to hang out in the chest freezer for a week before we sample it. After 84 days, I suppose we can last 7 more!

Also, this week, we started our quickie batch. I’m giving it 2 nights of just the Everclear and zest and will add the sugar syrup on night 3, give it a full day then strain, filter, bottle and chill.

With 4 bottles of Limoncello soon to be in my possession (plus the bottle we purchased from the liquor store)… whatever will we do? ;-)

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