Creme Brulee Revisted

I decided to take another stab at the creme brulee cocktail. What else am I going to do with a bottle of vanilla vodka (Suggestions?). This one used butterscotch schnapps and a bit of cream. I liked this cocktail better than my original try but the butterscotch still overwhelmed the vanilla flavor just like the hazelnut did. I need to find a way to amp of the vanilla...or maybe my bottle of vanilla vodka is subpar. I also greatly enjoyed the brown sugar rim on this one. I didn't think brown sugar would stick well but it did.

Creme Brulee Cocktail

Ingredients:

1 ounce vanilla vodka

.75 ounce butterscotch schnapps

Splash of cream

Brown sugar for rimming

Directions:

1. Rim glass using schnapps and sugar.

2. Add vodka and schnapps into a shaker with ice and shake, shake, shake!

3. Strain into a glass and top with a splash of cream. Mix gently with a swizzle stick.

Creme Brulee Cocktail!

I've been a huge creme brulee kick this school year. Every time we go out and it's on the menu it must be mine. A couple of weeks ago I had a particularly rough day and Mr. Lawyer surprised me with this delicious Ben & Jerry's Creme Brulee Ice Cream...a vanilla custard flavored ice cream with burnt sugar swirls? I was in heaven. When I saw this creme brulee inspired cocktail I was excited. I was also super excited to use my new stemless martini/cocktail glasses (Thanks Aunt Sandy!). The glasses did not dissapoint: they have good heft and are going to be super awesome for drinks, desserts, and serving shrimp cocktails. I need a dinner party ASAP so come on over!

The drink fell a little flat. It tasted perfectly fine but it did not taste like a creme brulee. The hazelnut was a tad overpowering. I've seen other versions that used butterscotch which might be a better bet, others had splashes of cream. I will continue to tinker with the idea of a creme brulee cocktail...it just has so much potential! Plus it was fun to finally use my vanilla sugar for something!

Creme Brulee Cocktail

(From the Food Network)

Ingredients:
1 ounce vanilla-flavored vodka
1 ounce Frangelico
1/2 ounce Cointreau or Triple Sec

Vanilla sugar or brown sugar
Directions:
1.Rim glass using Frangelico and vanilla sugar or brown sugar.

2. Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice. Stir gently and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Homemade Vanilla

I had all these grandiose plans of cooking up a storm and trying new things over vacation but then we were with family eating our faces off and then we came home with a ton of leftovers. I also realized that my paycheck will be pitifully tiny this pay period because of Christmas break so cooking up a storm is not in the cards or in the best interest of our already stuffed fridge. I can't resist the pull of my cute (and newly colorful!) kitchen so when I saw this empty bottle just chilling and then I found some old dried up vanilla beans in the back of my spice cabinet I knew what had to be done! Homemade vanilla extract requires three things: a bottle, vanilla beans, and vodka (one variation is to use bourbon...I'm intrigued). I had the bottle and the beans and we're not big vodka drinkers so I had no problem dipping into our bar to use it for a little project. I'll see how it came out in two months...

Homemade Vanilla Extract

Ingredients:

1 cup vodka

3 vanilla beans, split

1 glass bottle w/stopper or mason jar

Directions:

1. Split the vanilla beans in half lengthwise and put into jar

2. Add vodka and seal the jar

3. Put it in your cupboard and wait at least two excruciatingly long months, shaking periodically. 

It's Got Some Kick!

Deliciously spicy is how I would describe this drink. The first time I had one was at a cousin's wedding and man oh man did that one have some kick. We recently had one down in Disney which reaffirmed the fact that we needed to make these! Plus I just happened to have some extra ginger beer in the fridge leftover from our Dark & Stormies. There are a bunch of different recipes for the Moscow Mule and the quality really depends on the spiciness of the ginger beer.

The Moscow Mule

Ingredients:

2 ounces vodka

1 ounce fresh lime juice

.5 ounces simple syrup

3 dashes of Angostura Bitters

3 ounces ginger beer

Directions:

1. Pour into your shaker all ingredients except the ginger beer

2. Add ice

3. Shake, shake, shake!

4. Strain into an ice filled glass

5. Top with ginger beer

6. Garnish with a lime wedge or mint sprigs

Pretty Beverage Party!

I apologize in advance for the quality of these photos but it was a party and we were....distracted. You're lucky I got pictures at all! The first time I had these daiquiris was last summer down at the shore. Mr. Lawyer's mom made them and they were to die for. In an shopping adventure I would like to title: when grocery stores get *too* healthy, I couldn't find any sweetened strawberries so I just add 4 tablespoons of sugar to the mix. I also had to thaw the strawberries out a bit because my poor little blender couldn't handle them. These are the perfect treat to beat the heat!

Frozen Strawberry Daiquiris

(from The Taste of Home Test kitchen)

Ingredients:
3/4 cup rum
1/2 cup limeade or lemonade concentrate
1 package (10 0unces) frozen, sweetened sliced strawberries
1 to 1-1/2 cups ice cubes
fresh strawberries to decorate optional
Directions:
1. In a blender, combine the rum, limeade or lemonade concentrate, strawberries and ice. Cover and process until smooth and thickened (use more ice for thicker daiquiris). Pour into cocktail glasses.
2. Garnish with fresh strawberries if desired. Enjoy!

Next up was some Whipped Cream Soda. Delicious. The combination of whipped cream vodka and ginger ale tastes like cream soda. We added some whipped cream for decoration but it was totally unnecessary (and looked gross once it started to dissolve). Meanwhile the boys made manly drinks like Manhattans and played with bourbon. Gross.

Whipped Cream Soda

(a friend had it in a NYC bar and I loved it)

Ingredients:

Whipped Cream Vodka

Ginger Ale

Directions:

1. Mix 1 part vodka with 2 parts ginger ale.

2. Enjoy!

Valentine's Day Lovin!

Mr. Lawyer came home and said "What kind of cocktail should we make? I found a recipe for a Frangelico Martini." (We've been trying to experiment with our bar a little more lately). Suddenly, I was struck by inspiration! "What if we use the whipped cream vodka?!" The response? "Done." The inspiration: the last time we went down to NYC to see some college friends we were given a Chocolate Covered Pretzel shot. You lick some salt and take the shot, equal parts Frangelico and whipped cream vodka. It was divine. It actually tasted like a chocolate covered pretzel.

Chocolate Covered Pretzel Martini

(inspired by the chocolate covered pretzel shot)

Ingredients:

Frangelico

Whipped Cream Vodka

Salt

Ice

Directions:

1. Combine equal parts Frangelico and vodka with ice in a shaker. Shake and pour into a salt rimmed glass.

We don't really like going out for Valentine's because everything is so packed and you feel rushed. Our tradition the past couple of years is to cook a nice meal together (this is actually a challenge for me as I like to have everything ready as soon as Mr. Lawyer walks through the door). I made my roasted asparagus with a twist. I added some herbs de provence instead of straight salt/pepper/garlic. Mr. Lawyer  did his baked salmon. He lightly covered the fillets with butter, seasoned with pepper and smoked sea salt and baked it at 400 for 15 minutes. It was all washed down with a bottle of our New Hampshire wine we picked up on our September vacation (Stone Gate Vineyard: their website is here!).

I'm loving these orange roses and gerber daisies!

Date Night!

Mr. Lawyer can add personal drink master extraordinaire to his resume. Not only did he keep the mixed drinks following at our basketball party this past weekend but tonight he whipped up a couple of these yummy treats. I've seen a couple of recipes that call for Bailey's instead of vodka which might be interesting. This tasted good but not quite like a sugar cookie. My sprinkles were too heavy to stick to the rim so I just threw them all in the bottom.

 Sugar Cookie Martini

(makes 2, adapted from we are not martha)

Ingredients:
6 oz. vodka
3 oz. butterscotch schnapps
3 oz. milk
Sprinkles for decorating rim

Directions:

1. Rim the glass with sprinkles if desired.

2. Pour vodka, schnapps and milk in a shaker filled with ice.

3. Shake, shake, shake!

4. Serve it up!