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Muddle
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The Ultimate Bar: Muddler
With spring break narrowing in on us, (woo-hoo! even though I'm not in school anymore I celebrate spring break each year by spending a long weekend away), it's the appropriate time to stock up on a bar tool that you will use a lot once the warm weather hits hard. A muddler is essential to making juicy, refreshing mojitos and caipirinhas.
Definition: Muddle
Muddle: To mash, smash, or crush ingredients with a spoon or a long wooden/metal rod with a flattened end (muddler). A technique that is usually identified with the preparation of mixed drinks such as when mint leaves and cucumber are muddled together for a Limelight cocktail.
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Happy Hour: Raspberry Shag
As much as I love experimenting with new spirits, sometimes I just need a girlie pink vodka cocktail with a fun name. Enter the raspberry shag.
Don't be fooled by the vibrant color.
Happy Hour: Blackberry Crush
It's my favorite time of year in San Francisco: blackberry picking season. I discovered an especially fruitful patch on a frequent exercise route, and being an overly ambitious multitasker, I take a berry-picking break during my runs, and then jog home with my daily stash.
There are so many things I love about foraging for my own berries: being zero degrees removed from the local-food movement and knowing precisely what it is that I'm putting into my mouth; the gritty juiciness of the berries; the fact that they cost zero dollars.
Happy Hour: Kiwi Cobbler
Last week at the market, I spotted some New Zealand kiwis for a good price. I know they're not local and organic, but they simply looked too plump and verdant to pass up, so I bought a ton. And, when life handed me a bunch of kiwis, what did I do?
Come Party With Me: Summer Cocktail — Drinks
A Summer cocktail party must have a specialty cocktail. At first I thought to serve a classic concoction like a martini or Manhattan, but when I came across this updated version of the sidecar — a drink dating back to World War I that consists of cognac, lemon juice, and orange liqueur — I knew I had to make it. The basic three ingredients are there, but the addition of pineapple juice and muddled blackberries provide a distinct and deceptively delicious taste.
Fast & Easy Dinner: Peach and Snow Pea Stir-Fry
During the Summer I'm always looking for innovative new ways to serve stone fruit. While I've had my fair share of nectarine salads and muddled cherry cocktails, I've never enjoyed a peach stir-fry.
This creative and scrumptious dish combines succulent peaches with snow peas, tofu, and water chestnuts.
Happy Hour: Gordon's Cup
I am always tempted by cocktails with cucumber in them but often disappointed. Aside from the classically refreshing Pimm's Cup, the cucumber-based recipes I've tried have either been too sweet, not sweet enough, or way too much trouble.
The Gordon's Cup, however, made me giddy, and it wasn't just the 1/4 cup of gin.
Happy Hour: Mo'Gingerito
Waiting for a table at a Caribbean joint a few weeks back, my friends and I were enchanted — possibly a bit too enchanted — by the ginger mojito on the cocktail menu. Fresh and crisp like the traditional rum drink but with a kick of aromatic ginger to balance the tang of the lime and the coolness of the mint, these mo'gingeritos were so good, I had to replicate the recipe.
While I have no idea how the restaurant made its cocktail, my at-home version tasted remarkably similar.
Happy Hour: Peach and Mango Sangria
Recently my parents hosted an impromptu barbecue. When I asked if I could make the specialty cocktail, my dad said, "nah, that's too much work." Then I politely reminded him that a specialty cocktail doesn't always involve muddling and exotic spirits.
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