Poire Martini with Pear Grey Goose Vodka

I like weddings. I find them neat and sweet and I've been lucky enough to have gone to many. They are all memorable for different reasons, and I like that I remember little glimpses of peoples days. Uneven flagstones at Heather's wedding. The way the wind whipped Alana's dress. A baby crawling across the floor at Michelle's and me nearly splitting my bridesmaids dress reaching for him. Anna rushing for her sister when her hair started to come undone. Kirsty waiting for the right moment in the music to start walking down the aisle.

Speaking of Kirsty, she's the younger sister of my dear friend Tree and she had a really awesome little Las Vegas wedding. We ended up having her reception in a cocktail lounge on top of the Delano here in Vegas and I had an amazing cocktail there. It, of course, had champagne in it since I was at a wedding after all.

The inaugural blog post of 2015 and the first (hopefully not last) of my new mission to play with all of the liquor in my bar features Pear Grey Goose.... which I bought specifically to make this cocktail. We'll not discuss how many times I made it in order to try and get the ratios right. Suffice to say, I've made a small dent.

For the Champagne/Prosecco/Sparkling Dry Wine any will work. Bear in mind that if it says sparkling wine on the label it doesn't mean it's not worth drinking.... technically it's only Champagne if it's from Champagne, France and lots of Vineyards respect that tradition and don't mislabel their product.

Poire Martini

1oz Pear Grey Goose Vodka
1/2oz St Germaine
1-1.5oz Champagne, Prosecco or other Dry Sparkling Wine
1 Thin Pear Slice to Garnish

In a cocktail shaker, shake the Grey Goose and St Germaine with plenty of ice. Strain into a glass and top with the Champagne. Garnish with a pear slice if you wish. If you don't have pears handy, don't let that deter you, because I think this drink is lovely.

All Grown Up

When I was younger, maybe 10 years ago or so, I started dreaming of having an amazing bar. As an avid cocktail lover, I envisioned the day when I would have all the necessary ingredients for incredible things at my fingertips. I imagined coming home after a long day of work, mixing something delicious, and relaxing on my veranda surrounded by flowers that I had grown myself, before flitting around the garden and picking the vegetables I would make for dinner.

Well, a fair bunch of that didn't happen.... partly because I work from home, partly because I live in a desert and partly because I'm not really one to, well, flit. I also don't have a veranda.

But I do have a bar! As I was going through some photos I found a picture of my lovely bar from back in April, when I had just come back from Napa and stocked up on a bunch of wine. I had a few bottles of liquor, just the basics, but nothing too extensive.

I just went and counted and back then I had 24 different bottles hanging out on top of the bar. Maybe it's a little more extensive than I thought.

Which makes it even crazier now that I get to show the expansion I've made. I, um, well, now there are 40 bottles.

And a dual zoned wine fridge.

And a spare rack for overflow wine that's young and needs to age a little.

Yeah.

Okay. So. What was my point?

Ah yes! My new sort of plan. I'm giving myself a little challenge. I want to try my hand at cocktail making more frequently. So I'm going to try really hard in the new year to make a different cocktail every week or two with a different liquor from my bar. I've got a couple ready to go and I'll hopefully have those up soon. In the meantime, happy holidays and here is a picture of a cute puppy to distract you from the lack of recipes in this post.

(By the way, my boyfriend, procurer of the dual zoned wine fridge, has major brownie points for winning Christmas with that quite fantastic item this year).

Cucumber Mint Sparkler

I'm sorry, were you busy? Well, never mind what you were doing. Right now, you need to go to your kitchen or your bar. You need to mix yourself one of these, then you need to kick back and relax on your porch, or by your pool, or in front of some trashy TV (usually something by Gordon Ramsey). It's summer, and a delicious and refreshing cocktail on a weeknight is really what you need right now.

I could drink these all day.

Cucumber Mint Sparkler

1oz Cucumber
2 Shots Vodka
2 Tablespoons Roses Sweetened Lime Juice
10 Mint Leaves
Sparkling Water

Peel the cucumber. In a blender, add the vodka and the lime juice. Blend until mostly smooth. You'll have a little texture there. Put the mint and three cubes of ice each in some small highball glasses. Divide the mixture between the glasses then top with sparkling water. Stir, then top with a slice of cucumber and a fresh mint sprig.

Enjoy, barefoot at sunset.

Makes 2.

Watermelon, Gin and Rosemary Cocktail

Ah summer. It really is in full force here in the Valley, and this means that I say goodbye to my winter wine and hello to my summer Gin and Tonics. I am a sucker for a good Gin and Tonic. It's light, refreshing, crisp, and perfect for summer. 

A while ago, I went out for lunch with Dani to Brio, the home of the fabulous Cucumber and Basil Gimlet. This got me thinking..... what else would be an interesting addition and make me feel all fancy without breaking the bank? Watermelon. Definitely a nice, summery watermelon. So I came up with this little gem of a drink. It's fruity but not too fruity. The rosemary enhances the gin instead of pulling focus, and the whole drink is incredibly refreshing.

Making herb syrup is really easy, and you can do it with most herbs. I highly recommend making Basil Syrup and mixing it with lemon and vodka if you ever get a chance. Drinks like this are for by the pool, or for front porches, or maybe barbecues with friends.... or just to be enjoyed while curled up on a couch, watching TV after a long hot day.

Watermelon, Gin and Rosemary Cocktail

If you aren't in the mood for rosemary with this drink, try substituting Rose's Lime Juice instead, making it more of a Gimlet but still delicious!

Rosemary Syrup

1/2 Cup Sugar

1/2 Cup Water

5 Sprigs Rosemary

Makes 1 Cup. Keeps in the Fridge for two weeks.

Cocktail

1 Part Gin

2 Parts Watermelon

1/2 Part Syrup

1 Part Tonic/Sparkling Water

1 Sprig Rosemary

To make the syrup, in a small saucepan stir together the water and sugar and heat until the sugar has all dissolved and the liquid is near boiling. Place the sprigs of rosemary in a heat proof jar. Pour the hot syrup over and let it sit to cool to room temperature. It's best for it to steep for at least a couple of hours. You could leave it in the fridge overnight if you so choose. Strain the syrup. 

To make the cocktail, use a shot glass to measure out your parts, chopping the watermelon up so it will measure easily. You can also weigh it if you so choose, but I like to just use a simple shot glass measure. Place the gin, watermelon and syrup in a blender and blend until smooth, just a few seconds. Place four or five ice cubes in a high ball glass. Pour in the gin blend and top off with either Tonic Water or Sparkling Water. Stir lightly and garnish with the Rosemary sprig. 

Makes 1 Drink

This post marks my 100th post here on Salted Spoon! Thanks for being here and hanging out with me!

Day in the Life #1

Every so often I get into a kind of rut where what I eat doesn't change much, or I'm not really doing much cooking. This isn't particular conducive to writing a food blog. So, it's Day in the Life time. Early morning tea with toast and Laurie's home made plum butter was first up for the day.

My weekends fall on Tuesday/Wednesday. Having weird days off is pretty standard when you work in the entertainment industry, and you get used to it quite quickly. One of the nice things is that on the weekends, life and restaurants feel much busier, but if your Saturday is a Tuesday, everything is nice and quiet.

My friend Dani and I almost never have the same days off, but when we randomly do we go to Brio for their Basil and Cucumber Gimlets. I don't know what it is about this drink that makes us both love it so. Maybe it's how fresh and delightful it tastes. Maybe it's just the right amount of sweet with the tang of the gin. Either way, we love it.

They are so perfect! The bread there is great too.

I tried the Chicken Piccata. I confess I didn't love it. The sauce was yummy, but it tasted like there was too much egg in the batter. I didn't mean to eat it all, but I finished my plate. Then, it was home to get dolled up for a voice gig. They wanted me on camera so I had to put on good makeup with fancy liquid eyeliner. It turned out that they didn't want to do the camera work after all, and they gave me the script so that I could go and record it from my home studio. Worked out perfectly for me because I hate being on camera and I'd always rather record from home!

Mini-recording session was followed by a short stint at the pool, which was blissfully quiet. I've been reading this fabulous book and I'm loving hearing about what it was like for Julia Child living in Paris in 1949. I would love so much to have been there! It really does sound like a heavenly time for food and wine and camaraderie.

The weekends are my long days in the gym. I usually spend two hours there one of the two nights. This  feels like a lot, but it flies by when you're watching the season finale of the Voice. I did an hour of jogging, followed by 20 minutes of weights, then forty minutes of incline walking work.

Back home it was cheese and crackers and wine for dinner. I'm still eating through the leftover cheese from my birthday. On the plate there is a Cave aged blue, Emmi Gruyere and Seaside Farm Cheddar. Plus a glass of wine to make me feel all classy. I've been working my way through 30 Rock and I adore it.

Finally, some candy imported from back home. When my Dad last visited, he brought me lots of goodies including Quality Streets and Fruit Pastilles. I'm rationing them out, slowly but deliciously!