Nothing cures the after-holidays’ doldrums better than a good dose of chocolate, so I set about to do that today. The result, courtesy of Christie Matheson’s Cake Simple is luscious, moist, dense, and so rich you could gain weight just by inhaling.
As for Friday’s cocktail, I know that I’ve said that I’m not a big fan of fruit juice-based vodka cocktails, but I just happened to have a very small bottle of St. Germaine and so was itching to put it to use. I mean, is this not just the prettiest little thing?
This also proves, once again, that people will find a way to ferment anything that won’t outright kill them. I don’t know why I should be so surprised that someone thought of elderflowers for a liqueur. After all, Creme Yvette is made from violets (as well as raspberries, blackberries, wild strawberries, cassis and a whole slew of spices), and just this week, I found a terrific recipe for liquore di Rosa. The only problem is finding four cups of untainted rose petals. I’m told you can special order these things, but that seems like a lot of expense to me. Now, a liqueur out of oranges and rosemary . . . that I can throw together.
I’ve never given much thought to appertifs, mostly because I’ve never been one to have a glass of sherry or cordial before dinner. The whole point of appertifs is, supposedly, to stimulate the appetite (hence, the name). Now, I don’t know about you, but if I did the appertif or cocktail thing, then wine with dinner, and then an after-dinner brandy . . .you’d have to scrape me up from the floor with a spatula. I just wouldn’t be conscious for most of it. Plus, most wines give me headaches these days. So, for me, a cocktail is something I have alongside a meal. Having said that, though, I found this cocktail to be very smooth and quite delicate, that sweet sugary rim playing off nicely against tart cranberry and lime juice. My drink was also gone in a flash. It just went down that well–and hence, the danger of these vodka-based fruit juice drinks (even ones paired with a nice appertif): I can see where you could get yourself seriously looped in no time. Me, I stopped at one-and-a-half, and glad I did. I mean, we’re talking 100 proof vodka here. The last thing I want of a morning is to regret the night before 😉
