About abourbongal

Award-winning food writer, cocktail historian and recovering archaeologist Darby Doyle covers the gamut of Utah’s gastronomic and natural wonders for Devour magazine, cityhomeCOLLECTIVE.com, Park City Magazine, visitUtah.com (the Utah Office of Tourism), Dishing Park City, Vamoose outdoors mag, and is a frequent contributor for Salt Lake City Weekly newspaper. Her work has also appeared in Cheese Connoisseur magazine. She lives near Salt Lake City, Utah, with her husband, two teenaged sons and a couple of goofy chocolate Labradors.

Hemingway Mojito: another Mason jar cocktail

Posted on January 30, 2014 by abourbongal

Hemingway Mojito: Grapefruit, rum, Disaronno, ginger syrup, mint & kumquat

I’m all up in here canning kumquats this week. They’re delightful little buggers with the wonderful dichotomy of having the reverse tastes of most citrus: bitter fruit and sweet skin. They’re definitely not in the Canning 101 category. Like okra and apricots, they’re notorious floaters and take quite a bit of pre-canner finessing [soaking in baking soda, pricking the skin to prevent bursting, etc.]. I’ll post the recipe soon, not to worry.

Right now, I’m frantically packing and getting ready for a trip to Louisville to see my fan-damily AND attend the Bourbon Classic with my mom and sis. Girls trip! Until I get back and tell all y’all about my boozy adventures in the Bluegrass, I hope this will tide you over.

Hemingway Mojito [story soon, promise!]

4 mint leaves

2 oz. aged rum [like Mount Gay]

0.5 oz. Disaronno liqueur

4 oz. grapefruit juice

1 oz. ginger simple syrup*

Additional mint leaves and a kumquat for garnish [or, a gingered kumquat in rum-mint syrup, if you’ve got ‘em. If not, I’ll be sharing the recipe real soon!]

To a pint Mason jar, add all ingredients except garnish. Fill with ice, leaving about 1” head space. Attach lid, and shake like crazy. Remove lid and add a little club soda, if desired, and the extra mint garnish. Enjoy!

*to make ginger simple syrup: make a pint of simple syrup as usual, then add about 1/3 cup rough chopped peeled fresh ginger while still hot. Cool to room temp, add lid to jar, and refrigerate overnight. Strain out ginger before using. Keep refrigerated, and it’ll last a couple of weeks.

Tullahoma Whiskey Sour

Posted on January 16, 2014 by abourbongal

Tullahoma Tennessee Whiskey Sour

This weeks H.O.A.G.Y. (Help Out a Gal/Guy, Yeah?) comes from my college gal pal Strawberry Julep (yup, she’s just that sweet and sassy) who sent me a Facebook message:

“I had a drink in a restaurant recently that I just loved. I copied the menu description here for you to see. I suck at trying to recreate drinks but figured if anyone could, it would be you [ed note: Awww, thanks gal!]. It tasted kind of like a margarita made with whiskey instead of tequila. It was a little tart. My girlfriends and I added salt and that made it super smooth (and therefore deadly!). I’d love to mix these up at home. Can you help?”

Absolutely! The barkeep’s description of the cocktail (called “The Derailed”) called for Chattanooga Whiskey Reserve, triple sec, mint-infused simple syrup, and lemon juice.

Sounds to me like this is a fine example of a Whiskey Sour, the raspy pack-a-day voiced barfly of the cocktail world. In this case, sweetened up a little with triple sec and mint syrup. We’ve talked about using mint syrup previously on this here blog, and it’s a wonderful concoction to keep on hand for impromptu Juleps, Mojitos, etc.

First things, first: I couldn’t get my hot little hands on any Chattanooga Whiskey Reserve in Utah, but after a bit of research decided that I’d substitute another Tennessee Whiskey widely available here with what I think is a similar flavor profile [in this case, Dickle 8 yr Tennessee Whiskey]. Lemme know if I’m wrong on this one, friends. As my gal Strawberry Julep noted, adding a pinch of salt is a clever trick to balance out sweet and tart in a cocktail, and works well especially with drinks in the ‘sours’ category. When life gives you lemons, make a badass Whiskey Sour!

Tullahoma Whiskey Sour

1.5 oz. Tennessee Whiskey

0.5 oz. Cointreau

Pinch of sea salt

1.5 oz. fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 oz. mint simple syrup

Fill a cocktail shaker ½ way with ice. Add all ingredients, and shake like crazy. You want this to be super frothy and cold. Fill a tall Collins glass (or Old Fashioned glass, the classic) with large ice cubes. Strain the shaker into the glass. Garnish with fresh mint, a couple of lemon slices, and another generous pinch of sea salt over the top. This is one of the few cocktails I like with a long straw.

Hot. Buttered. Rum.

Posted on January 7, 2014 by abourbongal

Hot Buttered Rum. Yeah, baby.

Baby, it’s freaking cold outside! Well, here in the SLC it’s a balmy 21 degrees, but I’m feeling for my friends braving the Polar Vortex. Yikes! That’s some serious shit goin’ on, there. Although my hot beverage of choice is usually a bourbon or rye based Hot Toddy, I do love a nice mug of Hot Buttered Rum on occasion. Around Thanksgiving I mix up a pint jar of butter batter, and scoop it out as needed all winter long. It’ll keep for months in the fridge, and one pint will make 20+ drinks, depending on how buttery you like your mug. For a serving a crowd, I like to dole out individual portions of butter and rum, leaving the spoon in the mug so guests can make the buttery magic happen when we top off their serving with hot water. You can also put the entire butter batter recipe in a crock pot with 4 cups of water and a bottle of rum (heat on low, then reduce to ‘warm’ – don’t let it come to a boil or it will cook off your alcohol!), it makes for delicious self serve ladle-ing.

For the booze component, a golden-hued barrel aged rum like Mount Gay from Barbados gives the drink a nice molasses tone, but you can use white rum if that’s what you’ve got on hand. Spiced rum? Gross. If you like heavier spice than what’s in this subtle butter batter, just shave a little more nutmeg in, or a bit more cinnamon.

Hot Buttered Rum

To an 8 oz (1 cup) mug add: 1 heaping tablespoon of butter batter* and 2 oz. dark rum. Fill the mug almost to the rim with hot water (just off the boil), and stir gently until the butter is melted and sugar dissolves. Rub the rim of the mug with a bit of orange zest and drop the zest into the drink. Top off the mug to the rim with more hot water, and another little grating of fresh nutmeg.

Best Butter Batter with rum

Rum Butter Batter

You want to use artificial sugar and margarine instead of butter? Y’all are making me sad. It’s BUTTERED rum. Not margarine-ed rum. Gah.

½ cup vanilla ice cream, softened

½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1 ½ cups packed light brown sugar

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

¼ tsp. fresh grated nutmeg

¼ tsp. ground ginger

A pinch each of: ground cloves, ground mace, and smoked sea salt

Butter Batter at its best.

In a bowl, smash all of the ingredients together until they are completely combined. Transfer to a pint mason jar or other re-sealable container. Store in the refrigerator until ready for use.

The PomeGrenade

Posted on December 31, 2013 by abourbongal

This week’s H.O.A.G.Y! (Help Out a Gal/Guy, Yeah?): a pomegranate-tequila-sparkling wine cocktail

The PomeGrenade – made with Pomegranate-tequila liqueur

My gal Big Bold California Cab brought me back a bottle of tequila-based La Pinta Pomegranate Liqueur after her last turn-around to Mexico (she’s a flight attendant for a major airline). She said all of the folks she worked with were raving about the stuff. They mostly liked it on the rocks mixed with diet lemon-lime soda, or with seltzer, but they’d like to try it out in some festive cocktails. It’s definitely a tequila-forward liqueur (38 proof – 19% ABV), with a bright ruby color and not-too-cloying sweet fruity tone that rings pretty true to pomegranate with some cranberry notes; it also has a slight citrus finish.

Well, with it being New Year’s and all, I thought it would be perfect in a champagne cocktail! I’m in the middle of writing a piece for CityHomeCOLLECTIVE about the French 75 for my “Cocktails 101” series, so I have WWI artillery (it’s named after the eponymous 75 mm gun), and champagne on the brain already. The old root of the word “pomegranate” comes from the French name for the fruit first cultivated in Persia; the French called it a pomme-grenade. The word “grenade”—referring to ordinance—is believed by historians to come from the Old French word that alluded to the resemblance of hand-sized bombs to the fragmented nature of the fruit within its spherical hull. Hence, the fruity AND explosive moniker for this cocktail. Plus, it will totally knock you on your ass after one or three. BOOM.

So, here ya go, my flighty friends! I’m happy to take any and all extra drinks coupons you may have laying around off y’alls hands in exchange.

The PomeGrenade

½ teaspoon superfine sugar

Juice of ¼ lime (plus a nice long twist cut from the rind)

1.5 oz. pomegranate liqueur

2 oz. sparkling wine (champagne, prosecco, or whatever you’ve got open)

To a cocktail shaker add sugar, lime, pomegranate liqueur, and 4-5 cubes ice. Shake like crazy, and strain into a martini glass. Fill to rim with champagne. Garnish with a long lime twist.

Cranberry Nation

Posted on December 19, 2013 by abourbongal

Cranberries Three Ways: in an Old-Fashioned, Sugared, and in a Cranberry-Rum ginger jam that is amazeballs instead of that jiggly canned shit served at Thanksgiving. Trust me. It’s also delightful stirred into rum cocktails, or into club soda with a dash of bitters for a gorgeous spritzer.

Cranberry-Clementine Old Fashioned. Mid-century style (photo by Tristan Shepherd).

My super-hip friends Fat Tire Ale and Cosmopolitan recently asked me to curate—which it seems is a fancy-schmancy word used everywhere now for ‘make shit up’ as opposed to the ‘curatorial’ work I did in museums, anyhoooo—the cocktails for a holiday party they hosted recently at their gorgeous mid-century modern house. I was MORE than happy to do so, and even more excited about the substantial research and testing needed to get the job done. I suffer for y’all. Really I do.

For the past couple of years, I’ve been experimenting with making a cranberry jam. Cranberries are perfect for canning projects: they are easy to process (no peeling, seeding, etc.), take on flavor well, and already have a lot of natural pectin, which means they gel delightfully well. As I often do, I referenced the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving (ed by Judi Kingry and Lauren Devine) to make sure my acid levels would be appropriate for canning to avoid the cooties. In case you hadn’t heard: Botulism sucks. Avoid it. If you are a beginning canner, or just want to have pretty much The Bible of Canning on hand, THIS, my friends, is the book for you. Here are the recipes I came up with, based very loosely on the Ball book’s Cranberry Rum Sauce.

Cranberry-Clementine Old-Fashioned

My buddy Ramos Gin Fizz and I, all fancied up. Classic polaroid. (photo by Cody Derrick)

For the full story on my Old Fashioned experience, see the piece that I wrote for CityHomeCollective this week. Apologies in advance to my in-laws: they are wonderful, talented, loving people. They are just not-so-great bartenders.

Rub ½ of the rim of a lowball glass with ¼ of a Clementine wedge;

dip the citrus-coated rim of the glass in turbinado sugar to coat.

To a short glass add:

juice of ¼ Clementine wedge (drop it into the glass, if you want to be like Don Draper’s daughter)

3 dashes bitters

½ tsp. cranberry jam (or cranberry sauce)

½ tsp sugar

Stir with a spoon until sugar dissolves.

Add 2 oz. bourbon

3-4 cubes ice

Top with an optional tiny baby splash of club soda.

Stir gently to combine.

Garnish with 2-3 sugared cranberries*.

Cranberry Jam with ginger and citrus. If you have a few tablespoons left from canning, it’s terrific on toast, or mixed into a rum-citrus cocktail with a little ginger beer floater.

Cranberry-Rum Jam with ginger and citrus

Makes nine or ten 8oz. jars

3 lg. (6”) cinnamon sticks, broken into 2” pieces

12 whole allspice berries

9 whole cloves

4 ½ cups granulated sugar

2- 2/3 cups water

12 cups fresh cranberries

3 large apples (sweet or tart, or a combo), peeled, cored, and chopped

1 ½ cups rum

2 Tbs. fresh grated ginger

Zest of 1 orange

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 envelope liquid fruit pectin

Prepare canner, jars and lids for water bath canning.

My Canning Bible.

Make a spice bundle with a large square of cheesecloth: add cinnamon sticks, allspice, and cloves.

To a very large non-reactive saucepan, add sugar, water, and spice bag. Bring to a boil, and stir constantly until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat, and boil gently for 5 minutes.

Add cranberries and apples, and return to boil. Boil on med-low gently, stirring frequently to avoid scorching, for about 15-20 minutes, or until cranberries have burst and the apples are very tender.

Remove the spice bag, and remove pan from heat. Add the rum to the pan. Purée until smooth using an immersion blender (or in batches- careful!!!- in a regular blender). Add the ginger, orange zest, and vanilla extract. Stir to combine.

Bring to a high boil that cannot be stirred down (as for jam), add the liquid pectin, and stir constantly to avoid scorching. Boil hard for one minute, then remove from heat.

Ladle hot jam into jars leaving ¼” headspace. Wipe rims, add new sterilized lids and clean rings. Tighten to fingertip tight.

Process in boiling water bath canner for sea-level baseline 15 minutes (adjust for altitude wherever you are!). Turn off the heat, and remove canner lid. Let jars sit in canner 5 minutes. Remove jars, cool, and store for up to one year.

Sugared Cranberries

To make sugared cranberries: whisk together 1 egg white and 1 Tbs. water in a medium bowl until frothy.

Throw 1 cup cranberries in the egg-water and toss to coat; shake off the excess egg by letting it drip through your fingers.

Immediately toss the cranberries with 1 cup turbinado or sanding sugar until evenly coated. Set out in a single layer on a rimmed cookie sheet to harden for 24 hours. Store for up to one week on the cookie sheet or in a vented container (if it’s sealed tightly, the sugar will melt).

Utah Craft Beer Dinner at Finca

Posted on December 3, 2013 by abourbongal

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock while trapped in a sea chest and thrown to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, you know that Utah beer makers are kickin’ some serious ass, and throwin’ down some wicked clever names at national and international brewer’s competitions. Recently, 60 lucky folks attended the 2^nd annual Utah Craft Beer Dinner, slurping up some award-winning suds alongside a table of impressively mustachioed brew masters representing four of Utah’s top breweries: Wasatch Beers, Red Rock Brewery, Uinta Brewing, and Epic Brewing. All hosted at the ever-lovely and luscious Finca restaurant. I was lucky enough to sit with my buddy IPA (aka Hoss on Hops), who actually knows A LOT about beer. Hoss wrote a terrific blog review of all of the beers at the dinner, and you can read all about what a real beer aficionado thinks over there. I thought they were all super tasty, and wonderful with the pairing menu. Yup, that just tapped out my beer knowledge (badap-bap-pssshhh).

Finca (and Pago) owner Scott Evans, along with executive chef Phelix Gardner pulled out the big guns for this celebration of all things hops and yeast. Oysters on the half shell with a playful coriander mignonette, grilled citrus salad, a rich Verduras y Castillas—that would be fall veggies in sherry cream with house-smoked bacon and pull-apart-with-butterfly-wings-succulent braised short ribs. Duck confit Empanadas were delicious with Uinta’s Sea Legs Smoked Porter, my vote for sexiest label. (I don’t know if they have that category at the Brewers competition, but they should).

Uinta Sea Legs Baltic Porter, fondled by my spectalulary tatooed buddy, Ramos Gin Fizz

Uinta Sea Legs Baltic Porter, fondled by my spectacularly tatooed buddy, Ramos Gin Fizz

We’d heard rumors that Finca’s massive paella pan would be pulled out for the event and weren’t disappointed. How big is it? Well, let’s just say we are tempted to sneak into Finca and pull it off the wall some snowy morning so we can take our whole family sledding on it, dogs included. Or, put to it’s intended use (feckingkilljoys) you make one bangin’ maldito Paella with house-smoked chicken, roasted local-foraged mushrooms and black garlic for six dozen of your closest friends.

Paella for 70

Confirming that these guys take their final salvos seriously, Epic Brewing rounded out the meal with Big Bad Baptist Imperial Stout, a respectably shitface inducing 10.5% alcohol beer brewed with cocoa nibs and coffee beans and aged in High West Distillery barrels. It’s terrific on its own, but paired with Finca’s delicate churros snuggled alongside a chocolate-stout beer dipping sauce it put us over the top. Happily so. I’ll be sending The Macallan with my beer shopping list to Epic’s Brewery Cold Case (at 825 South State Street – OPEN Sundays!) to go with all those holiday cookies I’ve told myself I wouldn’t eat this year.

Bourbon Caramel Spiced Bar Nuts

Posted on November 27, 2013 by abourbongal

Perfect to go along with your Thanksgiving cocktails!

I love making handmade gifts for the holidays, and these bar nuts fit the bill perfectly: tasty, easy to throw together quickly, and gorgeous in a pretty jar or crinkly bag. Plus, they make your house smell hella good when they’re roasting! I made these for our Supper Club a few years back and they’ve been a favorite ever since; great with salads or alongside cocktails. Technically, they’re really not a ‘caramel,’ but the presence of sugar and butter together gives it that distinctive caramel-ly flavor. I fix up a few batches of these sweet-spicy-savory treats just before Thanksgiving and have ‘em on hand for football tailgating, hostess gifts, and impromptu cocktail parties through the New Year. For the mixologist in your life, snuggle a box of bar nuts alongside a great bottle of booze and some swanky mixers.

Cheers, y’all!

Bourbon Caramel Spiced Bar Nuts

Bourbon Caramel Spiced Bar Nuts

2 ½ lbs. unsalted nuts (just pecans, or any combo you like)

3 Tbs. butter, softened to room temperature

½ cup brown sugar

¼ cup bourbon

1 tsp. smoked paprika

1 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 ½ Tbs. smoked sea salt (any variety, any color)

¼ cup coarsely chopped fresh rosemary

1 Tbs. raw, turbinado, or other large-grained sugar (for finishing)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread nuts evenly out on a large rimmed cookie sheet.

To a very large mixing bowl, add all remaining ingredients except for the raw/turbinado sugar. Stir to combine well (it’s okay if the butter is a little lumpy, it will melt later).

Toast nuts on the center rack of the oven until they are fragrant and golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Immediately toss the nuts into the large bowl with the other ingredients and stir with a large spoon until evenly covered. Spread all of the nuts out in an even layer on the rimmed cookie sheet; sprinkle with turbinado or sanding sugar. After cooling for about 15 minutes, taste, and adjust with a little salt or spice to your liking. Serve immediately, or store in an airtight container for one month.

I recently served these nuts for a photo shoot on a piece I wrote for CityHomeCOLLECTIVE about Hot Toddies. Check it out!

Green Tomatoes: Fried, pickled and in Salsa Verde

Posted on November 3, 2013 by abourbongal

We’ve got snow! Time to pull in all the harvest, my friends, if you haven’t already. We’re eating green tomatoes for days here. My friend White Lightin’ Lemonade FB messaged me recently, “I would love to have your green tomato salsa recipe if you’re willing to share.” Sure! I’m going to do that, and more for this week’s H.O.A.G.Y (Help Out a Gal/Guy, Yeah?) We’re having them fried, pickled, AND in salsa verde.

Here’s how to do ‘em up right:

Fried Green Tomatoes with Chili Sauce

Fried Green Tomatoes

Use only entirely un-ripe firm green tomatoes for this dish. Some of my friends prefer a buttermilk/egg coating to the tomatoes before the dredge, but I like the crisp crunch of very lightly battered tomatoes.

4-5 large green tomatoes, sliced crosswise in ¼” thick rounds (discard both ends).

1 cup white flour

1/3 cup cornmeal

1 tsp. each salt, fresh ground black pepper, and Cajun seasoning

Combine flour, cornmeal, and spices in a shallow bowl. Coat tomatoes entirely in flour dredge, tapping lightly to remove excess dredge. Fry in a cast iron skillet coated with a scant 1/8” deep hot vegetable oil or bacon grease, over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium if your oil starts to smoke and burn the tomatoes. Fry tomatoes until golden brown on each side, and just slightly softened through (about 7-10 minutes per side). Remove to a plate covered with paper towels to drain; sprinkle hot tomatoes with a little kosher salt. Add more oil or fat to skillet as needed. I like mine served with a little hot/sweet chili sauce.

Spicy Pickled Cherry or Pear Tomatoes

Use only entirely un-ripe firm green cherry or pear tomatoes with no cracks in the skin. Those cute little 4 oz. or short wide-mouth 8 oz. jars work great for these pickled beauties. Use them as a spicy change up from olives in your dirty martini! Makes about 2 pints total

Spicy Pickled Cherry Tomatoes – ready for brine and the canner!

1 cup white vinegar1 cup water

1 tsp. pickling salt

2 lbs. small green cherry or pear tomatoes

Prepare brine: combine vinegar, water, and salt in a saucepan. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer.

Prepare canner, and heat jars. Sterilize lids and rings.

Pack hot jars to within ½” of rim with tomatoes. To each 8 oz. jar (halve for 4 oz. jars), add: 1 small clove garlic, ½ bay leaf, 10 black or mixed peppercorns, ½ tsp. dill seeds.

Ladle hot brine into jars, completely covering tomatoes, leaving ½” head space. Remove air bubbles and adjust for headspace with more brine if needed.

Wipe jar rims, place lids and rings. Tighten to fingertip tight.

Process completely covered with boiling water in canner for 15 minutes (at sea level; adjust for altitude). Remove canner lid and turn off heat. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool to room temp, and store for up to 1 year.

Green Tomato Salsa Verde

Green Tomato Salsa Verde

I volunteer at my kids’ school garden, and we had a TON of leftover green tomatoes this year. I made this salsa verde (usually made with tomatillos) with produce from the school garden and am planning to give it as thank you gifts for garden volunteers and teachers. It’s super tasty with tortilla chips, but I like it best with cheesy scrambled eggs and tortillas for brunch. Makes about 10 half-pint jars.

8 cups finely chopped green tomatoes (I leave the skin on)

5-10 (about, to taste) chopped hot peppers; jalapeños, Serrano, whatever you’ve got!

1 very large red onion (2 cups), chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

½ cup lime juice

¼ cup agave syrup or nectar

¼ cup tequila

½ cup chopped cilantro, loosely packed

2 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. Mexican oregano (dried)

1 tsp. kosher salt

2 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper

Prepare canner, sterilize jars, lids, etc.

Combine all ingredients in a large non-reactive saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce to just bubbling, and cook for five minutes, stirring constantly to avoid sticking. Remove from heat.

Ladle hot salsa into hot jars. Leave ½” headspace; tap gently to remove air bubbles. Wipe rims, place lids and rims to fingertip tights.

Process completely covered with boiling water in canner for 20 minutes (at sea level; adjust for altitude). Remove canner lid and turn off heat. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool to room temp, and store for up to 1 year.

The Poison Apple: a bright red cinnamon-apple cocktail

Posted on October 29, 2013 by abourbongal

The Poison Apple

This week’s H.O.A.G.Y (Help Out A Gal/Guy, Yeah?) comes from my friend Sazerac –she’s from Baton Rouge, y’all—who texted me with this request:

“I’ve decided to be Snow White for Halloween! I want to make up a ‘poison appletini.’ Can you help me?!”

Of course, gal! We’ve got your adorable backside covered. Sazerac also said it needed to be a simple cocktail, since folks would be mixing up their own at her party.

The result: With a day or two of prep to start an infusion and freeze up some “poison apple” ice balls, the drinks only had three ingredients and they were both gorgeous and delicious, especially if you like your cocktails on the sweet-spicy side. If you don’t have the time or equipment to freeze ice balls – which look supah cool, but I’m warning you they are a pain in the ass to remove from the trays, the red food coloring gets EVERYWHERE, and beware the red shits the next day—regular old ice cubes work just fine and the drink is still a beautiful clear red color.

24 hours + in advance:

Start your Cinnamon Vodka Infusion: to a clean glass quart jar, add 25 cinnamon hard candies, and cover completely with not-expensive vodka (about 3 ½ cups). Store in a cool place out of direct sunlight, and shake the jar a few times a day to dissolve the candies. After one or two days, strain the vodka through a fine mesh strainer to remove any candy pieces that did not dissolve. I poured the vodka into an oversized clear liquor bottle and labeled it with a cool sticker label for the party. This will make about 20-25 cocktails.
Make the Poison Apple Ice balls: I make these in my kitchen sink to trap spills. Fill up the bottom half of your ice mold almost all the way to the rim with water. For a tray of 4, add about 12 drops of red food coloring and an optional 4-6 drops of cinnamon oil (available at most baking supply stores). For cripes sake be careful with the cinnamon oil and food coloring: the former is super strong flavored, and the later will stain everyfuckingthing it touches. Tightly secure the ice mold lid, tip it slightly to remove excess water, and move the ice mold to a flat spot in your freezer. I put paper towels under the tray to collect the red staining water as the trays froze.

Snow White and Sexy Jesus (aka my gals Sazerac and Saketini) – Halloween 2013

The Poison Apple

1 oz. red hot cinnamon-infused vodka

1 oz. Applejack (such as Laird’s)

1 oz. ginger beer (Sazerac likes using diet ginger ale)

Add all ingredients to a large wine glass or martini glass, stir gently to combine. Add a couple of ice cubes or a poison apple ice ball.

Happy Halloween, y’all!

The Poison Apple

Corny Candy Cocktail

Posted on October 24, 2013 by abourbongal

Corny Candy cocktail

Now, this is how you make a safety cone orange cocktail, my friends. One week left until Halloween! I love this holiday: the weather, the ancient ties to pagan harvest festivals like Samhain, the slutty costumes, the silly-themed food, and especially the outrageous cocktails. I started a couple of infusions last week in preparation for the festivities. The one I’m sharing now uses a candy-corn infused vodka that is shockingly hunter-vest orange. Fabulous! I’ll post the other one (hint: it’s called The Poison Apple, for my gal Sazerac who is dressing as Snow White) after it premières at her party this weekend.

Corny Candy Cocktail

2 oz. candy corn-infused vodka*

2 oz. blood-orange sparkling soda

Pour both ingredients over ice and stir gently. Garnish with a couple of candy corns threaded on a toothpick (make sure they are fresh from the bag, if they are dried out they will crack right in half).

*Candy corn vodka: Fill any sized jar about 1/3 full with candy corns. Fill the jar up to within ½” of the rim with vodka (use the cheap stuff for this one). Store in a cool place out of sunlight for 3 days, shaking the jar twice a day or so to encourage the candy disintegration. After 3 days, strain the vodka through a mesh strainer to remove candy fragments, and decant into a clean glass container. Shelf stable for about a month, refrigerate for up to one year after that.

I’ve also been writing for SLC’s fabulous City HomeCOLLECTIVE blog recently, and what a freakin’ fun gig that’s been! To see more on their blog about a fabulous dinner by Pago chefs at Frog Bench Farm, featuring unfiltered totally fab RUTHLewandowski wines, click here.

A Bourbon Gal in Utah

DARBY DOYLE: food, booze & all things outdoors

Author Archives: abourbongal

About abourbongal

Hemingway Mojito: another Mason jar cocktail

Tullahoma Whiskey Sour

Hot. Buttered. Rum.

The PomeGrenade

Cranberry Nation

Utah Craft Beer Dinner at Finca

Bourbon Caramel Spiced Bar Nuts

Green Tomatoes: Fried, pickled and in Salsa Verde

The Poison Apple: a bright red cinnamon-apple cocktail

Corny Candy Cocktail