Is it an old curse that says, "May you live in interesting times?" Well, we've certain had an interesting week. You may have noticed my absence. I had several recipes almost ready to post but none of them got to the add photos stage. Other stuff was going on...
Let's start with the office. I have a gorgeous view of Fall Creek from my fourth floor window. This week instead of seeing a parking lot, then Fall Creek Parkway, then Fall Creek, I saw water. It didn't get quite as high as it did back in 2004 but it was close. The building has a lower level with a lot of the mechanicals. The elevator goes down there but the stairs don't. After the 2004 flood when the flood waters came over the barrier outside and filled the lower level to the top of the elevator door, our landlord had some VERY expensive flood doors made. This time the seal on the doors failed. They've worked like a charm every other time but this was just too much water. So, the elevator was out of commission. That meant a hike up and down three flights of stairs to come and go. UGH! And, the other little detail... The pumps that run the tower that runs the heating system? Well, they were in the basement too. It's been a bit chilly in the office.
Next, we have entertaining. I was scheduled to have a Kappa networking meeting at the office last Thursday. Wednesday was when the heat went out. It wasn't too bad during the day but after the sun set, ummm, it got downright cold. That meant I needed to have everyone over at the house AND the house needed to be straightened. Talk about piling on!
Saturday, I had four appointments. The temperature was supposed to go way down. No way I was going to have all those folks in a cold office. Plus, the doors to the building are locked evenings and weekends so that'd have necessitated four extra trips up and down the stairs. Connie set up a monitor and the laptop on the dining room table. Thank goodness for really wonderful and flexible clients.
Today (Sunday) I dressed for the occasion. Two pairs of pants, t-shirt, flannel shirt, hooded sweatshirt. Then, we fired up the space heaters. So, other than my feet, I was pretty comfortable. Needless to say, when we got home I was ready for a cocktail!
Connie scoured two books and found a recipe that I cut out (shocking!) stuffed in the pages of one of the books.
Who is this dude? Johnny Michaels again. I posted a recipe from him, A Bee In Your Bonnet, recently, now I have found another that Connie has picked out. Spooky Dude. Turns out he is a “Bartender of the Decade”, if you can imagine that. Whoa. Minneapolis. Next time Connie and I are there, we are definitely going to drop in and tell him, “Chef's Choice”.
The Bard said it. All's well that ends well. It was not a great beginning, however it ended well. I present you with a Cherry-Lime Margarita.
From Johnny Michaels from somewhere in cyberspace. Sorry Johnny, we did not get the source recorded, we will now be on the lookout for you and give all due credit where it is due.
Cherry Lime Margarita
For two (adapted):
Ingredients:
4 oz tequila (we used Sauza Blanco)
2 oz frozen limeade concentrate
1 oz frozen apple juice concentrate
splash of maraschino cherry juice
squeeze of lime juice
Club soda to top off
Lime rounds for garnish
Directions:
Combine the first five ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake, shake, shake. We do not choose to rim the glasses with salt (Connie is grumbling again!), but feel free to do so if you choose. Strain the mixture into a chilled margarita glass. Top with the lime rounds. Count your lucky stars! Kiss the one you love and enjoy!
adapted from Johnny Michaels
Do I have a tale to tell you! Two months ago I bought a new Nikon camera and a speedlight. My friend Vicki sent me to Roberts where she'd discovered great service and very knowledgable sales people. She was 100% right. Vicki's a wonderful photographer! Here's the link to her website: http://www.studiovphotography.com/. I was getting used to the camera and really feeling like my photographs had improved a bit. Then, late last week my speedlight quit working. Connie pulled out the manual and went through every option. He couldn't get it to work. ARGH!
I got the notice from Foodbuzz that I was one of the twelve bloggers chosen to highlight Food and Wine magazine for the next month. Absolutely one of my favorite cooking magazines. I love sitting down with it and just reading for ideas. Then, I go back and clip recipes. How in the world was I going to do Food and Wine justice with the old point and shoot? Time for a trip downtown. The verdict: three weeks before I'd get the unit back. ARGH again! Well, thanks to the wonderful folks at Roberts, I have a loaner for the whole month if necessary. Now, bad photographs are my fault and not the camera's...
So, with that I'm ready to start blogging about Food and Wine. The first place I went when I found out I was selected was to my old emails. They regularly send an email called The Dish. It's always a compilation of recipes around a theme. Favorite Southern. Muddled fruit drinks. Best Gazpachos. Summer produce. Lots of great ideas to choose from. I printed a couple dozen recipes. Then, I got home and my October issue was awaiting me. Maybe I'd cook the issue like I did for another magazine's challenge a couple of years ago. A perusal of the recipe list opened my eyes to two things. One, there were about 70 recipes in this issue. No way to do that in one month. And, two, a few of the recipes called for ingredients I'd prefer not to cook. Veal and veal kidneys for example. Back to plan A.
How best to kick off the Food and Wine month? A cocktail of course! Connie put this together before he went off to his bridge game. He's such a fun bartender to have around :-) Down to the basement to get the simple syrup and the limes and a couple of things I needed for the dishes I wanted to make while he's playing bridge. Oops, forgot the limes. No problem. Still have to feed the Princess Gracie. She's not very subtle when she wants to be fed. MEOW. Ok, limes are in hand. Didn't we have some fun new skewers? Yes, but where??? Ah, in the bar. That makes sense. Whew, the drink's finally put together and we can clink glasses and smooch (my favorite part of cocktails!) So, what did I think? It's very refreshing. The blackberry is such a different flavor from our normal drinks. I'd give these guys a 4 on a scale of 1-5.
Blackberry Mint Margarita (serves one)
Ingredients:
8 blackberries, 2 skewered on a pick
Ice
10 mint leaves
1 1/2 oz tequila
1 oz fresh lime juice
1 oz simple syrup
Directions:
Muddle six of the blackberries in a cocktail shaker.
Add the ice, mint, tequila, lime juice and simple syrup. Shake well. Fill a rocks glass with ice cubes. Strain the drink into the glass. Or, if you don't mind it a bit "chunky" just pour it in. Top with the berries skewered on the pick. Toast the one you love and enjoy.
adapted from Food and Wine, originally from the Hungry Cat
food and wine.com
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This post is part of a series featuring recipes from the FOOD and WINE archive. As a FOOD and WINE Blogger Correspondent, I was chosen to do four recipes a week from FOOD and WINE. I received a subscription to FOOD and WINE for my participation.
