Well, it's here.  It's Halloween, All Hallows Eve, the day before All Saints Day.  Whether you are dressing up as a ghost, a demon, a naughty schoolgirl, a fallen angel, a fried egg, a cat, President Obama, or any of the other costumes I've seen in the past, remember that this is the night to *cut wild*.  And enjoy one of these while you do.  This is called a Salem Witch.

Salem Witch

Ingredients:

    1/2 oz Vodka
    1/2 oz Raspberry schnapps
    1/2 oz Midori melon liqueur
    Splash Lime juice
    Splash Grenadine
    Fill with 2/3 Sour mix
    Fill with Soda water

Mixing instructions:

In a collins glass with ice, pour vodka, midori, and raspberry schnapps. Add a splash of lime juice. Fill 2/3 with sour mix and the rest with soda water (or seltzer). Stir gently, and finally top with a splash of grenadine.

All right?  Wake me when it's over.  SEE YA!

Eve of All Hallows...

It's almost the eve of all Hallows...here are some great recipes for Halloween drinks.  I've also included a photo of a nifty "eyeball" (actually a cored radish with a cocktail olive inside) that will float in your drink (or your friends' drink).  If you use dry ice to cool the drink, you can actually get a nice fog to come up.  Here is a list of places that sell dry ice nearby to Bradley Beach NJ.

Zombie Martini:

Gin
Vermouth
Radishes
Pimento-stuffed olives







For the bloody eyeball cocktail:

Vodka
Triple sec
Lime juice
Cranberry juice
Lychees, canned and peeled in a can
Cranberries (fresh or dried)

All right?  All right.  'Til next time, have a happy Halloween!

(By the way, has anyone heard about this snowstorm?  I've never heard of snow before Halloween in my entire life.  Never, not one single time.  The earliest I ever remember it doing any serious snowing was on Thanksgiving in the early 90s, when I was spending some time in New England, in Massachusetts, to be exact.)

SEE YA!

Coffee Cocktails!

This drink is simply called a coffee cocktail, although, interestingly enough, there's no actual coffee in it--go figure!  Anyhow.  This one will keep you toasty when the wind blows.  The cognac gives it a refined taste, the egg and sugar make it sweet and rich, and the port gives it a kick.  Try one tonight--there's a storm coming!



1 oz cognac
1 oz ruby port
1 small egg
1/2 tsp sugar

Shake all ingredients well with ice and strain into a small wine or port glass. Dust with nutmeg, and serve

The Jets won last week, making their record 4-3.  They could do it.  Bear in mind that the Super Bowl winner last year, the Green Bay Packers, had a not-entirely-remarkable record of 10-6.

Hopefully, there won't be a similar contremps with seats this year--Jerry Jones won't be in charge, so that is good.

By the way, the NFL Week 8 Schedule is below.  Come see us to get beers for the games!

(Seattle-Cincinatti ought to be an interesting game.  Two of the worst teams in football.)

Week 8
SUNDAY

NO @ STL              1:00 PM     Edward Jones Dome
JAC @ HOU           1:00 PM     Reliant Stadium
MIA @ NYG          1:00 PM     MetLife Stadium
ARI @ BAL            1:00 PM     M&T Bank Stadium
IND @ TEN           1:00 PM     LP Field
MIN @ CAR          1:00 PM     Bank of America Stadium
DET @ DEN          4:05 PM     Sports Authority Field at Mile High
WAS @ BUF         4:05 PM     Rogers Centre
CIN @ SEA          4:15 PM     CenturyLink Field
NE @ PIT             4:15 PM     Heinz Field
CLE @ SF            4:15 PM     Candlestick Park
DAL @ PHI          8:20 PM     Lincoln Financial Field

MONDAY

SD @ KC             8:30 PM     Arrowhead Stadium

All right?  All right.  'Til next time, SEE YA!

Back Again With An Orange-Cider Drink!

Well, now it's *really* fall.  The leaves are changing, the trees are going into hibernation.  Today is the last big garage sale day, all over town.  Some of them close at one, but the die hards will be open all day until five, so if you haven't checked it out already, you owe it to yourself to do so!  I got some pretty nice things this year but my best finds were an Olympus D-540 digital camera that I picked up for $2.00 and a small, 10 watt guitar amp with an 8" speaker that I picked up for $5.  I spent the morning pleasantly rocking out and jammin' on some chords.  Feels so good!

In honor of the orange of the leaves, we have a drink called a Lillet of the Valley.  It calls for Solerno.  We have other blood orange liqueurs in stock, but not that one.

Incidentally, blood orange liqueur goes well with dark chocolate.  It's good to serve for dessert at Thanksgiving or Christmas, or as a mid-meal sweet.
 



This drink is called a Lillet of the Valley.

    2 ounces chilled Lillet Blanc
    1 ounce Solerno Blood Orange Liquor
    3 dashes orange bitters, such as Bitter Truth
    3 dashes grapefruit bitters
    1 teaspoon Gran Classico Bitter
    3 ounces chilled semi-dry cider
    1 thick twist orange twis

Procedures

Fill a mixing glass with ice, then add Lillet, Solerno, orange bitters, grapefruit bitters, and Gran Classico. Stir well.  Strain into an ice-filled collins glass. Top off with cider. Stir gently to  combine and garnish with orange twist.

All right?  All right.  'Til next time, SEE YA!

The Guns of Brixton!

Hi all!  This is a quickie.  It calls for an interesting ingredient--simple syrup made with brown sugar, not regular white sugar.

It also calls for Fernet Branca, which is an Italian aromatic apertif hard wine.  I have a theory that Pimms No. 1 Cup would do just as well, if slightly differently.

This is called The Smoking Gun.
2 oz. Islay or other peaty scotch
3/4 tsp. Fernet Branca (or Pimms No. 1 Cup)
1/2 tsp. brown sugar cordial (see below)
2 dashes bitters
Cracked ice

Tools: mixing glass, barspoon, strainer
Glass: small scotch or cocktail glass
Garnish: mint leaf

Stir all ingredients and strain into a chilled glass. Garnish.

To make the brown sugar cordial, heat two parts brown sugar and one part water until sugar is dissolved and solution has slightly thickened. Allow to cool and stir in an ounce of demerara rum per every 10 ounces of syrup. Keeps for a month in the refrigerator.

All right?  All right.  That ought to hold you guys and girls on a Monday afternoon.

Take care, SEE YA!