The Bitten Word

Thanksgiving 2013: The Pilgrimage Cocktail

Food Network Magazine (November 2013)

This cocktail doesn't make a lot of sense for a Thanksgiving crowd. But it might be good enough to serve anyway.

We had flagged this to make for our Fakesgiving dinner a couple weeks back. But on closer inspection, we realized you have to prepare each serving of this cocktail on its own, in a shaker. With 16 people coming over for dinner, we knew that was a nonstarter. We needed something we could make completely in advance and let guests serve themselves. (We wound up making a giant punchbowl of rum Manhattans, which is a cocktail we've been playing around with for a while; we'll write about it for you someday soon.)

Anyway, we knew we didn't want to tackle The Pilgrimage for a large group. But the idea of this cocktail kept tickling our brains, thanks to one very unconventional ingredient in it: pumpkin butter.

A Gelée in the Sun...

What happens to a gelée deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?

No. It melts into one globous, gelatinous mass.

After writing up the post about those Lemony Blackberry-Vodka Gelées, we took them on Sunday to Zach's sister Cassidy's house in Annapolis. She was throwing a crab boil, and we thought these gelées would be a great way to kick things off.

But.

The hour-long drive from DC proved too hot and sunny for our little Jello shots. By the time we arrived at Cassidy's, the individual gelées -- which we had worked so hard to pry out of the bowl and slice into perfect little cubes -- had oozed and congealed into one big mess.

(Forgive us, but it looked exactly like when a vampire gets staked on "True Blood." Only click on that if you want to see something truly unappetizing.)

Sure, the gelées still tasted delicious, but we couldn't bring ourselves to serve them and ask Cassidy's guests to grab a spoon and dig in.

But we did bring 'em back with us. And that grabbing-a-spoon-and-digging-in thing is still a very real possibility...

Lemony Blackberry-Vodka Gelées

Cooking Light (July 2013)

Once the provenance of frat houses and bachelorette parties, gelées now pop up occassionally in the pages of food magazines.

Whatever you do, don't call 'em Jello shots. They always go by their classier, more adult name, Gelée (which sounds like what we might name a baby we adopted from France). 

In fact, in our third month of blogging here, more than five years ago, we featured Lemoncello Gelée from Martha Stewart Living at a going-away dinner party. It was love at first shot sight. 

We're back with gelées today. The July issue of Cooking Light features the classiest looking gelées. With Fourth of July festivities ahead of us, we thought this might be the perfect recipe to get you ready for fireworks. 

Grilled Citrus and Grape Sangria

Food & Wine (June 2013)

Last Friday night, we had Zach's coworkers over for a cookout. We lucked out with the weather. It turned out to be one of those amazing days in DC -- we only get about five a year -- when the weather is just stunningly perfect. 

The gorgeous evening meant that everybody could mingle in our backyard (which was a blessing, as our apartment would have been awfully cozy for Zach's whole office staff and their spouses).

Given the large group of people, we wanted to keep things super simple. We had barbecue delivered from Rockland's, and we asked the guests to bring a side dish or dessert, which worked out great. We made exactly two dishes: One was a refrigerator coleslaw (by which we mean we shredded a whole bunch of stuff in our fridge and mixed it all together with some vinegar).

The other thing we made was this Grilled Citrus and Grape Sangria.

Rhubarb Fizz

We're coming to the end of the time in between -- that point in the year when spring has begun stretching into summer, but fresh fruits have yet to show up.

After a winter spent gorging on apples, they've quickly lost their appeal. The apples we're buying have become inconsistent, and we're tiring of carrying them to work, or snacking on them at night. We thank you for your service, apples, but you're dismissed. 

But it's too soon for strawberries -- hopefully, that may change this week -- and we're months away from the delicious stone fruits of August. 

Rhubarb, however, is here. Frankly, it's a fruit* for which we have no great affections. Its raw bitterness can be difficult to handle. To counteract that, most recipes that include rhubarb tend to go overboard on the sugar, and the result is a too-sweet dessert that doesn't really taste like fresh fruit at all.

Nonetheless, we find rhubarb a welcome sight in spring. Tall and red and green, rhubarb is the first fruit soldier to the spring front. 

But still, what to do with it?

Poach it and eat it as dessert?

Use a tiny bit raw or briefly simmered in a salad with a sweet vinaigrette? 

Make a rhubarb compote or jam? Maybe, once the strawberries have come in. 

Martha offers a nice suggestion this month, albeit one that requires ample amounts of sugar and, if you're into it, booze. 

This is a Rhubarb Fizz. 

Satan's Circus

Bon Appétit (May 2013)

Sometimes, we just can't help but make a dish just because of its name. 

This time, we've fallen for a cocktail called Satan's Circus, featured in Bon Appétit as part of a story about hotel bars. Satan's Circus comes from the NoMad Hotel's bar in New York City.  

(Incidentally, a book called Satan's Circus is about "a square mile of Midtown Manhattan where vice ruled, sin flourished, and depravity danced in every doorway." Though NoMad isn't in Midtown, we're assuming the cocktail takes its name from that infamous neighborhood.) 

The drinks mixes rye, cherry liqueur, a chile-infused Aperol and lemon juice for a drink that has a wonderful heat. The spicy-bitter combination is really excellent.

We're not quite wishing you vice, sin, and depravity for your weekend ahead, but we recommend that you mix yourself a Satan's Circus and see where the weekend takes you. 

New York Sour

Bon Appétit (April 2013)

Sometimes you want a cocktail to take the edge off.

Sometimes you want one in order to try a new ingredient, or a new kind of alcohol.

And sometimes you want a cocktail just 'cause it looks really freaking cool.

Enter: the New York Sour. 

Dandelion-Lime Cooler

Adapted from Martha Stewart Living (April 2013)

Want to have a big sip of spring in a glass? 

Then mix yourself up a spring tonic, like these Dandelion-Lime Coolers. 

We spied a recipe for Sorrel-Lime Tonics in the latest Martha Stewart Living. They were practically neon in their greenness, and so unusual sounding, that we were eager to whip up a batch. 

The only problem? We couldn't find any sorrel -- the farmers markets were all out and there was none to be found at Whole Foods. So we grabbed something else springy and unusual-sounding -- dandelion greens -- and got to mixing. 

Sparkling Rum Punch

Southern Living (December 2012)

A couple days ago, we mentioned that it's the season for sweets.

That's true, but it's also the season of the champagne toast. Between the first raising of your glass at Thanksgiving dinner and the last mimosa toast on New Year's Day morning, there's enough "cheersing" going on to give you tennis elbow.

Here's a fun sparkling wine cocktail to mix things up. It's an unexpected combination of rum, orange and sparkling wine. 

Rum and orange juice sounds like something a pre-motherhood Snooki would've drunk with breakfast. But rum, orange juice and sparkling wine? That, friends, is a classy combination. 

This sparkling rum punch is a festive, sweet concoction, just the sort of thing you want to be able to whip up on a whim during the holidays when friends are coming by.

Cheers! 

Cherry Brandy Old-Fashioned

Food Network Magazine (December 2012)

The first time Zach had an Old-Fashioned -- or at least the most memorable time -- was the first Thanksgiving he spent in D.C. A friend, Heather, invited Zach and several other folks to her family's huge Thanksgiving dinner in Northern Virginia. Awaiting the guests when they arrived was a 5-gallon glass jug full of Heather's dad's signature Old-Fashioned cocktail.

There was much ladling, and ladling, and more ladling. Suffice it to say, things got a little hazy. Zach's night ended quite eventfully, when he fell asleep on the Metro at midnight and rode the Orange Line straight through D.C. all the way to the end of the line in Maryland. A cab was called. An ATM was visited. Heather's dad's Old-Fashioneds were forsworned.

We're sure you can handle yourself better when it comes to these Cherry Brandy Old-Fashioneds. But be warned. They are strong. And they are amazing.