Summer Dreams

In a little over 5 months, it will be summer again. I'm not one to usually yearn for June, but today I was. Why? Could be spending the afternoon watching the Ohio State Women's hockey game at the ice rink... or because tonight the temperature is supposed to drop to nearly 0 deg. F... or the frozen Ohio summer strawberries I found in the freezer.

At any rate, when I went to make myself a drink tonight, I wanted to taste summer. So here it is: Summer Dreams

6 strawberries 1 ounce vodka 1/2 ounce orange flavored liquor 1/2 ounce blackberry syrup (homemade if possible)

Muddle strawberries in cocktail shaker. (Better alternative would be to juice and strain the berries.) Add liquors and syrup. Shake with ice, strain into cocktail glass.

RIP Yellow

For her second birthday in September, our daughter was given an aquarium containing two danio fish, whom she quickly named Yellow and Red. This morning while I was cooking breakfast, she poured her milk in the tank. "It looks cloudy," she said. I took the fish out, but sadly Yellow did not survive. (He has not been looking healthy for the last week anyways.) What does this have to do with alcohol?

Well, after Alex came home and we gave Yellow a proper flushing in the toilet, we honored his life with a drink. Here is the recipe for our creation: Yellow Danio, an adaptation of a Delilah.

1 ounce gin 1 ounce citrus ginger flavored vodka 1 ounce orange flavored brandy 1 ounce lemon juice 1/2 ounce simple syrup

Shake with ice in cocktail shaker and pour into chilled martini glasses. Garnish with a lemon slice.

The Yellow Danio is pictured at left, in front of the clean tank and Red.

First Toast of 2008

With what did we toast the New Year? Saketinis. Of course Sake is Japanese in origin, but there are several quite nice American sakes available. Most of them come from California. The recipe:

1 ounce vodka (Skyy) 1 ounce sake (Ozeki) 1/4 ounce vermouth (optional depending on your taste)

Shake with cracked ice and strain into chilled cocktail glasses. The taste is very mild and nicely refreshing.