Nibbles & Sips

Fun with food and beverages: recipes and opinions about what, how, and why we eat.

Cocktail Advent 3: Candy Cane Cooler

Sips

I can generally take-or-leave candy canes, but the soft, pillowy, melt-in-your-mouth peppermints that this cocktail uses are one of the few “hard” candies that I truly love.

Image via NoMa Social

Image via NoMa Social

Candy Cane Cooler

Ingredients:

  • 1 tbs crushed soft peppermint candy
  • 1½ fl oz vodka
  • splash of white creme de menthe
  • ¼ fl oz brandy
  • ½ fl oz half-and-half
  • Crushed ice
  • Peppermint stick for garnish
  • Mint sprig for garnish

 

Directions:

Combine the vodka and crushed peppermint.  Stir to dissolve.  Add the remaining ingredients, stir and garnish.

This recipe comes courtesy of NoMa Social, a restaurant in New Rochelle, NY, who is running a 4×4 promotion between 4 and 8 pm each evening throughout the “winter season.” While I understand the potential global reach of blogging, I generally don’t post promos from restaurants outside of my little corner of the continent since I cannot vouch for them, personally. So this Cocktail Advent series is really the only time a pitch like this would ever see the pixels of day here on ScrapsOfLife!

I’m fairly certain you could sub any non-dairy milk for the half-and-half in this recipe and that it would scale quite well into an entire pitcher of peppermint pink-ness. Maybe switch the garnish to a peppermint patty for whenever you plan to watch a Charlie Brown Christmas special?

***This recipe was submitted by a representative of NoMa Social. I am in no way affiliated with this restaurant nor have I been compensated in any way. As always, we promote responsible refreshment and the use of the Designated Driver. No drunken monkeys, please!***

Cocktail Advent 2: Cranberry Celebration

Sips

One good cranberry deserves another, yes?

Well, maybe not, but if you over-bought on the whole berries and are looking for something to do with them other than make garland, here’s an idea.

Image via Ketel One

Image via Ketel One

CRANBERRY CELEBRATION

  • 1 ½ oz. Ketel One® Citroen
  • 1 tablespoon of cranberry reduction
  • ½ oz. fresh lemon juice
  • ½ oz. simple syrup
  • Club soda

Combine first four ingredients in a mixing glass. Vigorously shake with ice and pour contents into a rocks glass (fine strain over new ice if you prefer no chunks). Top with a splash of club soda. Garnish with a cranberry and mint sprig.

****To make a cranberry reduction, take a 12 oz. bag of cranberries, rinse and add 4 oz. of orange juice and 4 oz. of simple syrup. Bring it to a boil, and let simmer for 5-7 minutes. Stir occasionally while it is simmering. Place the reduction into the freezer for 30 minutes and allow the reduction to thicken.

I like that this one seems fairly low-alcohol (all depends on how much club soda you add, I suppose–that splash could be extended to a good pour without too much trouble) and a good possibility for sipping throughout an evening.

***This recipe was submitted by a representative of Ketel One®. I have no affiliation with them nor was I compensated for posting this recipe, not even with review samples. As always, we encourage responsible refreshment and the use of the Designated Driver. No drunken monkeys, please!***

Cocktail Advent 1: The Cosmopolitan Pilgrim

Sips

To start off our Cocktail Advent, here’s a recipe that uses up a Thanksgiving leftover: cranberry sauce!

Now, it might sound odd, sure, but if you’ve ever used a syrup or preserve in your cocktail this isn’t all that different. Made your own cranberry sauce with, say, some orange zest and cinnamon? It could totally work! So will the canned/jarred stuff, just give it a whirl!

The Cosmopolitan Pilgrim

In a shaker combine:

  • 1.5 parts American Harvest
  • 2 scoops of leftover cranberry sauce
  • 3/4 parts fresh lime juice
  • 1/4 part orange liqueur

Add ice and shake well, strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a lime wedge.

This recipe was sent in by a representative of American Harvest, which is a vodka distilled in Idaho and certified organic. Never tried it, so can’t speak to how good it is or how it compares to others. Have you tried it? Let me know what you think!

I have an issue with cocktail authors who use “parts” along with some other nebulous measurement (in this case “scoops”), leaving the entire recipe up to anyone’s guess as to how much of anything to use! I would suggest a part is an ounce, and I’d suggest a barspoon or teaspoon as the scoop measurement.

And if I have to tell you to use Cointreau over something like Triple Sec you need to read more of my cocktail archives!

Cheers!

***I have absolutely no affiliation with American Harvest Organic Spirit and was not compensated for posting this recipe, not even with samples for review. As always, we support responsible refreshment and the use of the Designated Driver. No drunk monkeys, please!***

Announcing: Cocktail Advent!

Sips

You know what we haven’t had as much of around here* this year? Cocktails and other related spirits coverage.

There are reasons for that, some good, some meh, but since I maintain my tagline for this site is “Better living through creativity… and cocktails!” I think it’s high time we caught up on some of our drinking.

You know what’s also fun this time of year? Countdowns. Specifically Advent Calendars.

Now, Advent Calendars can be found in many sizes, shapes, fillings, and themes. But this one (which has, apparently, been making the rounds online for a year now) showed up on my Facebook feed a couple months ago:

image via Imgur.com (reverse image lookup isn't giving me any other sources, either)

image via Imgur.com (reverse image look-up isn’t giving me any other sources, either–if you know who originally uploaded this, please let me know!)

Now, unless you’re constantly entertaining, a bottle of wine a night for the next 24 days might be a 1-way ticket to cirrhosis-town, so I want to go on the record and say I am not encouraging you to drink copious amounts of alcohol this month.

However! If you find yourself in a celebratory mood on any given day, or are looking for some cocktail inspiration, that I am happy to help with, by passing along some of the tipples that land in my Inbox this time of year courtesy of various PR companies and their spirits clients. I generally just file them away and never look at them (seriously, I get a lot of press releases and requests for coverage, most that don’t fit what I’m doing here) but this year I thought I’d use them up.

So, every afternoon around 4pm EST (plenty of time to plan a detour to the local liquor store on the way home, should something catch your eye), starting today and lasting throughout the month, I’ll share one of those recipes, perhaps with some commentary, perhaps all on it’s own.

Cheers!

*And by “here” I obviously mean my various blog projects as the booze news used to have it’s own site and was plentiful in its alcohol goodness.

Your Secret to the Perfect Party Revealed!

Nibbles

Organization.

Yeah, okay, not exactly a big secret, right? But I lost track of how many people said ‘I don’t know how you did it’ or something similar at or after the Halloween party. Because, yes, when the dining room table is fully extended and still barely contains everything, it does look like a lot of work.

IMG_20141025_182211214

That’s roughly 24 square feet of deliciousness.

So the “secret” is organization, and the strategy is divide and conquer.

Food is always a big part of all my parties. If you leave my house hungry, it’s your own damn fault. I like there to be a good variety and enough so that I don’t have to worry about running out of food before the fun is done. But it’s true that time is of the essence, so being organized to a fault is a plus and being reasonable with my expectations. Once I figure our what I’m making, I put it in order of what holds best on down to what must be made just before serving and then I start making 1-3 things a night for the week leading up to the party.

But what to make and how much of it? Catering math is the completion of the party-planning trifecta.

Catering math involves 3 variables and simple multiplication (yes, you can use a calculator if you need to).

  • How many people do you expect?
  • How long will the party last?
  • Will dinner be served?

If you’re serving nibbles before a dinner, you don’t need as many hors d’oeuvres otherwise your guests will be too full to enjoy the meal. But if all you’re serving is cocktail food (especially if it’s during the main lunch or dinner window) you need to have enough to serve as the meal. So for a party with both snacks and dinner, it’s 5 pieces per person per hour. Without a dinner planned it’s 10 pieces per person per hour. Simple as that!

Catering math made simple.

Catering math made simple.

For the Halloween party I figured on around 25 people for 5 hours or so with no separate meal served, which means I needed somewhere in the vicinity of 1250 (25x5x10) pieces for the evening.

1250 pieces sounds like a lot, but when you figure that–for instance–each veggie on a veggie tray, each meatball, each little cookie counts as a piece (and a bigger cookie counts as a 2 or 3 pieces), the numbers start adding up quickly. And if you’re serving things that a little bigger, you can fudge those numbers even more. So as I add things to my party menu, I note how many pieces I’m expecting out of each and I can keep a running total as I build it out. The number is a guide, though, and you have to know your guests and adjust accordingly.

I also make my shopping list, prep schedule, and plan for serving pieces while I make the menu: a one stop planning doc!

I also make my shopping list, prep schedule, and plan for serving pieces while I make the menu: a one stop planning doc!

Something else I do as I make my menu is to categorize the dishes by content, texture, and temperature as well as taste. Having a balance between sweet and savory is often as far as a lot of hosts go, but I like to make sure I plan options that are both crunchy and creamy, hot and cold, plus a good mix of vegetarian options among the more carnivore-friendly. It’s all about the mix, just like the mix of people you invite over!

Preparing for this year’s party was surprisingly chill. I kept up with my prep schedule and Todd and I kept everything moving so that on the day of the party there was no last minute rush before the guests arrived and we were able to greet our guests as calm and collected hosts. I hope these tips help you navigate your next party in similar form!