Gooseberry Gin Fizz

One of the best things about having a home garden is that I can grow things that are kind of hard to find in the market. Take gooseberries, for example. They're easy to grow, slightly harder to pick because they have huge thorns, and a total treasure in my yard. Those huge thorns help to keep birds and critters from stealing my bounty... like they did with my cherries this year, grrrrrrrrr...

Rhubarb Vodka Tonic and a Homemade Rhubarb Ginger Liqueur

Rhubarb is an amazing thing to have in your garden.  It comes back bigger and better every year, and the more you use it, the more you will get.  It's one of the first edibles to sprout in the spring, and mine tend to produce well through summer into fall.  The rosy red stalks make me smile, and I love sneaking their aggressively tart flavor into treats of many sorts.

Come springtime this year, my inbox suddenly was filled with rhubarb inspired drinks, and that made me go into mad scientist bartender mode.  I looked at a few and then decided that they weren't quite what I wanted, so I set about making my own Rhubarb Ginger Liqueur.

First off, I chopped up a bunch of rhubarb from my garden, as much as my first harvest held, which was about a pound and a half.  

Then I made a quick simple syrup by heating a half a cup of sugar with a quarter cup of water until the sugar dissolved.  

I took a big jar and put in the rhubarb, the simple syrup, 3 cups of vodka, and a half cup of ginger liqueur.  

Put the lid on, give it a good shake, and let it sit at room temperature, shaking daily, for about 2 weeks, until the rhubarb has released all of its color into the liqueur.

Then I strained it through a fine mesh strainer and bottled it up to store.

But whoops!  It couldn't all fit in the jar I chose, so I had to sample it in a little beverage.

Take the rhubarb ginger liqueur, top it off with some tonic, and BOOM: Rhubarb Vodka Tonic.  I garnished mine with a little rhubarb twist from harvest #2 for the year.

It's tart and sweet and everything that I love about rhubarb, with the smallest hint of ginger to keep things interesting.  And that color...so bright and cheery!

Cheers to spring, my friends!

Hot Buttered Rum - Hot Buttered YUM!

*Warning*
This recipe is full of things that are not great for you in excess that taste delicious together.  I will make no health claims, but I will anecdotally tell you that when I feel myself getting the chills and possibly coming down with something, a hot buttered rum tends to chase it off.  Use judiciously.

In all seriousness, our highs this week are barely in the positive single digits.  The world is covered with a blanket of sparkling icy snow, and school has been cancelled because wind chills today are supposed to hit -30.  So the kids and I are bundling up and heading over to have a no-school playdate with friends.  And, well, mom friends need a little fun and warmth too, so I'm bringing the fixings for hot buttered rum!

An Evening with A Hollow Leg

I recently had an opportunity that I just couldn't pass up.  If you follow From Scratch on Facebook, you might remember that this past summer, I was asking people to vote for a local Chicago drink slinger, Devin Kidner, in Slow Food's Ark of Taste Cocktail Competition.  At that point, I was just happy to be supporting someone who used KOVAL liquor, Seedling cider, Ellis Farms honey, and other local ingredients to make what sounded like a pretty great drink.  Devin contacted me, and we were able to meet up in person.  It didn't take long for me to realize that we shared a lot of the same interests and beliefs about local food, about heritage strains of plants, and about supporting local farmers, and I felt like we could have chatted for days.  Turns out, Devin's drink took first place, earning her a trip to Italy to be a USA delegate at Terra Madre and Salone del Gusto!  And that kicked off a boozy whirlwind of exciting opportunities for her, including being invited to moderate the Speakeasy workshop of Terra Madre, becoming head mixologist at KOVAL distillery, being invited to design drinks for an event in NYC, teaching classes for Rhine Hall (another Chicago distillery) and starting up Hollow Leg.  Hollow Leg is Devin's way of packaging all her passion and knowledge about local drinks and presenting it to people who want to learn.  She offers classes on mixology, some basic and some more in-depth, but all meant to give the students the confidence to experiment with their drinks with Julia Child-like curiosity and conviction.  She has a line of classes called Hep Hops, that focuses on the up-and-coming trend of beer cocktails, and offers services to corporations looking to impress their clients.  She also has what I think is one of the coolest ideas ever: Cocktail Whispering, where she will talk to you, find out a bit about you and what you like to drink, and then design you your own personalized cocktail.  You get to name it and everything!  How cool is that?!?!

Cranberry Apple Cinnamon Vodka

You know what makes a great gift for the holidays?

Homemade booze.

Strawsmopolitan and a Splash Party

Do you ever feel like someone pushed the fast forward button on your life?  This summer has been totally like that for me.  I don't know where the time has gone, but I know that it's gone too quickly!

You know what this calls for?

A drink poolside.

Lovely Lavender Lemonade

I love summer evenings, where you can still feel the heat of the day, but it's lost its edge, and you can just sit outside and enjoy being where you are.  There's nothing much better than kicking up my feet in my hammock and watching the kids play around.  Unless, of course, you add in a tasty cool drink.

Today I was inspired by the lavender in my yard.  Lavender lemonade sounds lovely, doesn't it?  Sweet, tart, and floral.  Ooh, and let's kick it up a notch by adding a little gin.  Wink wink.

Strawberry Bonanza Part 5 - Strawberry Gin Fizz

So, remember that roasted strawberry syrup?  No?  Oops, because I haven't posted it yet.  Have to fix that...

So, toss a couple of cups of chopped strawberries with 2-3 Tablespoons of sugar and the seeds of a whole vanilla bean.  Spread them out on a parchment-covered baking sheet with edges, then bake at 375 for about 20 minutes.

Spring (Grilled) Chicken

Sometimes, fate works in mysterious ways.

And sometimes, fate does its work in unusual places, like, say, at Binny's Beverage Depot.

Maybe I should explain.  Give a little background.  You see, the hubs and I have had a lot of fun visiting local distilleries, but obviously, we can't buy everything at every distillery.  Sometimes there are gems that we leave there for another visit.  And sometimes, the flavors of some of those spirits left behind stick in my head.  Haunt me, if you will, in a good way.  This is the story of one of those.

One of the distilleries that we have recently visited is Journeyman Distillery in Three Oaks, Michigan.  They make some fantastic whiskeys, gins, rums, and other spirits.  We walked out with a bottle of their Ravenswood Rye Whiskey, which my husband really enjoyed.  But the drink that stuck in my head was their Humdinger Jalapeno Spirit.  It had really surprised me!  I'm usually pretty sensitive to spicy, and tend to prefer things on the mild side, which jalapeno is usually not.  The Humdinger had all the clean, fresh flavor of a jalapeno, but somehow avoided the burn that I usually dread.  It sounds cheesy, but after that day, I continued to play back the flavor in my head, imagining the possibilities.

Cheers! Root Beer for Grownups only!

There are several things, culinary-wise, that blow my mind.

This weekend, at Old Sugar Distillery, I had a drink that falls smack into that category.  Root beer.  But not the soda pop kind...a fully adult, packs-a-punch cocktail.  I couldn't wait to try making my own version at home!  I still can't wrap my head around the idea that the ingredients that you put into it end up creating the taste sensation that it does.  But somehow, they do. 

3 ingredients, plus ice.  Go for quality here.  If you, in any way, can get your hands on Old Sugar's Americanaki Ouzo, do it.  It is the smoothest, most delicious ouzo that I have ever had, and I'm pretty sure it contributes to how fantastic this root beer turns out.  The hubs is not a fan of ouzo, and even he enjoyed sipping on the Americanaki.  

Great Lakes Distillery, Milwaukee

So, the hubs and I have been on a bit of a distillery bender lately.  I just find it so cool that there are so many people so passionate about making their own spirits!  And it's amazing to see the heart and soul that each distillery shows in their product, their atmosphere, even their employees.  Every distillery we've visited, I've walked away thinking, "Wouldn't it be amazing if everyone loved their job THAT much?".

In the midst of a quick 24 hours in Milwaukee, we took a quick lunch break from the museum we were exploring with the kids to head over to Great Lakes Distillery for a tour.  Kids are allowed to join you on the tour, free of charge.  Ours grabbed a quick kiddie cocktail (with house-made grenadine!) from the tasting room bar before we headed on the tour.  Adults are encouraged to grab a drink on the way too, but since we had just had our *actual* lunch and I knew the kids would leave me juggling their half-finished sodas, my hubby and I held out for the tasting part of the tour.

Great Lakes is serious about their craft.  It's small batch, with a lot of attention to detail put into each run that they do.  Their tour takes you into the lower level of the building, where you can see that all their production is basically done in one big room.  They've got their still, storage for ingredients, space for bottling and packaging, a storage cage for kegs to age, and a tasting bar area.

It was really interesting to hear our tour guide talk about their process, especially because we could compare and contrast it what we learned when we visited Koval Distillery.  Some things were similar, and some were quite different.  While Koval focuses on whiskeys, Great Lakes, while they do make whiskey, has a number of other spirits that they make, including vodkas and (the one I was most excited about) absinthe.

Honestly, I was so caught up in what the tour guide was telling us that between that and kid-management, I forgot to take photos during that part of the tour.  But if you visit their website, you can actually get a virtual look around the distillery!

I learned a lot of interesting tidbits on the tour, but for some reason, the ones about tax laws stood out in my head.  We were told that around a third of the price you pay for spirits is tax...can you believe that?  It's almost enough to drive me moonshinin'!  And the cage where they store the kegs plays a role in that, because the distillery doesn't get taxed on them until the moment they exit the cage, even if they are staying in that room.  That just fascinated me.  Maybe it's because I'm always extra money-aware on vacations, who knows.  The kids were very into learning about prohibition and the history part of the business.

Sticky Chicken

I confess, I'm pretty lucky when it comes to feeding times at my house.  My kids are pretty open to trying new things (with the obvious exception of Mr. Picky), and they generally enjoy my cooking.  But it's not often that a new recipe gets a reaction like it did tonight.  My girls were practically fighting each other for more chicken...it was the Hunger Games From Scratch style!

Am I glad they enjoyed a good healthy dinner?  Absolutely.  But I'm even more thrilled because it happens to be a super-easy dinner to make.  Just takes a little planning ahead, and a little under an hour in the oven, and boom: dinner.  I've had this recipe for Sticky Bourbon Chicken with Rice on my Pinterest for a couple of weeks, and I was really looking forward to trying it.  I changed it up a little, cutting back on the soy sauce and upping the ginger, but it's a keeper for sure!

Traveling Tuesday: Lakefront Brewery, Milwaukee

For several years now, my kids and I have enjoyed tagging along when my hubby has business trips, making the most of the hotel room, whenever we can.  It just so happens that he has an event in Milwaukee annually, and we've found a ton of fun things to do in this city.

One of our can't-miss Milwaukee moments is the polka fish fry at Lakefront Brewery.  Well, the fish fry and the brewery tour, that is!

Lakefront Brewery started in 1987 when one of the founders gave his brother a "Beer Brewing for Dummies" book.  Which makes me love it that much more.  They worked on their beers, started and grew production, gained fans, and eventually ended up where they are now, in an old Power Plant building on the river in Milwaukee.  And as grungy as that may sound, it's actually a gorgeous place.

Malibu Coconut Nuts

I am all about nuts lately.  I know, ha ha, "nuts", but at any given moment these days, my kitchen smells like one of those irresistible vendor stands with cones of deliciousness wafting their siren song as you walk past.  I've been really hooked on this recipe for Lavender Rosemary and Cinnamon Spiced Nuts from Redpath Sugar.  It's great, and I've been bringing it to lots of friend and family gatherings.  This has lead to may, many mature jokes about my nuts, how delicious they are, how people can't stop putting my nuts in their mouth...basically, my nuts have been all over Facebook.

Anyhow, a lot of people have been asking me to put my nuts on my blog.

I'm sorry, I'm still snickering.

Field Trip! Koval Distillery Tour

Today, my hubby and I did something that I've been wanting to do for a long time.  We went to Koval Distillery in downtown Chicago for a tour and tasting.  We had been familiar with Koval's great whiskeys and liqueurs for a couple of years now, after finding them at Green City Market; a little booth with a policeman overseeing the sale of beautiful bottles filled with amber-colored concoctions tucked among the sea of farmers selling fresh produce and artisan foodies marketing their wares.  I was intrigued by their story.  The first distillery in Chicago since Prohibition, certified organic, kosher, and dedicated to their craft.

Sham-Shamrock Shake

I used to live for that time of year when a certain fast food green shake would make it's appearance.  My birthday happens to be exactly a week after St. Patrick's Day, and spring is my favorite time of year, so getting one of those sweet treats became a tradition of celebrating the season.  A sign of good things to come.

But then, once we started eating more "real food", those shakes just didn't taste as good.  I know a lot of people say that about things and mean it as some kind of metaphor, like their guilt over having it didn't outweigh the enjoyment of drinking it, but I mean it the straightforward way: the shake just tastes artificial to me.  I can taste the food coloring in particular, and it just doesn't match up to the idealized version of it that I have in my head.

So then, last year, I stumbled across this recipe for Drunk Shamrock Shake.  I'm a convert, full on in my new-found affection for this reincarnation of that minty green shake.  If the original shake left me feeling empty and cheated, this one fills my soul and makes me feel...well...happy.

King Cake

Mardi Gras is awesome.

Let's face it, even the name rhymes with "party claw".  Forget that it's just "Fat Tuesday" in French...you have no choice but to celebrate on a day named Mardi Gras.

My father-in-law's family is from Louisiana, so our ties to this celebration run to the core.  Ask any of my kids.  The family's favorite dinner?  Gumbo, hands down.  Party beads have been a regular part of the dress-up bins since before the girls were walking.  We may even bleed green, purple, and gold.  But, the Mardi Gras culinary tradition that has our heart in it's sweet, sweet grip is that of the king cake.

King cake has many different forms, and is found in many different countries.  When I was younger, I loved reading a book about a French orphan girl, and was enthralled with her description of finding the bean in her "galette des rois", and getting to wear a paper crown and call the shots all day.  In Mardi Gras terms, it's the last indulgence before Lent comes and spoils the fun by reminding us of sacrifice and restraint.

Boozy Cream Pie

Okay, so originally, this recipe from A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg, was called "Rum Cream Pie".  Which was as delicious and amazing as it sounds, and the first time I made it, it spurred our culinary imaginations.  What other liquor could we use in it?  Limoncello, like a frothy lemon cream?  Amaretto?  Irish Cream?  Any number of those fancy flavored vodkas?  The possibilities seem endless!

This pie doesn't take long to throw together, but you need to be ready to commit to a solid 10-15 minutes getting it ready, and then 4-6 hours chill time in the fridge.

Drink Your Citrus!

Some of you may follow From Scratch on Twitter or Facebook, and you might remember that I was experimenting a couple of months ago with making my own limoncello and blood orangecello.  Which was one of those ideas that could either turn out awesome or a horrible failure, with very little in-between.

I'm happy to say that, at least as far as the blood orangecello goes, it was a huge success!

So, I'm proud to share my method with you, so that you too can get a delicious, orangy (or whatever flavor you decide to try) buzz from your own homemade liquor.

I started by googling "homemade limoncello".  I know, total creative genius.  But, as it turns out, there are at least 487,000 different recipes on the internet in English for "homemade limoncello".  Huh.  So, not as easy as I thought.  Some of these called for Everclear.  Which my well-stocked liquor cabinet does not have.  And I was feeling too thrifty (i.e. cheap and lazy) to go out and buy some.  We did, however, have an overabundance of vodka, as a couple of friends of ours always seem to come over with a new bottle, drink a couple of drinks, and then leave the rest at our house.  Some of the recipes mentioned that you could substitute vodka for the Everclear, so good to go there.