Tag Archives: D.R. Slaten

Warm Weather means Cool Spritzes

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Warmer weather always ushers in the season of the Spritz. It’s just goes hand in hand with the higher degrees outside. For me, it also brings up memories of Italy and good times. But it’s not just me. I was out for a girls’ night the other evening and I saw two ladies enjoying a spritz or two. They were having them in the normal big bulbous gin glasses and not the one I used for mine in this picture. The glass is less important than the ingredients.

The one pictured is a Campari Spritz. Which I love. But I have been known to enjoy other spritzes as well. The Spritz is great using Aperol instead of the Campari making it an Aperol Spritz. You can used St. Germain and make an elderflower spritz. Bonus points if you make it in their carafe with the proportions written on the outside. There is a new kid on the block, a bergamot- savory orange- forward liqueur called Italicus, which makes a pretty good spritz as well. I prefer the Italicus Spritz with gin to tame the sweetness. And lastly, my cocktail club–Shaker & Spoon–have a spritz called the Myrtle Spritz made with spiced blueberry syrup. No matter which spritz you chose, it is sure to be refreshing.

Campari Spritz

  • 1.5 oz Campari
  • 2 oz Prosecco/Sparkling White Wine
  • Splash of Sparkling water/Soda water/Fizzy water
  • garnish with a slice of orange and a green olive

Add the Campari and the Prosecco to a gin glass. Add green olive and stir. Top with ice cubes. Add splash of Sparkling water. Put orange slice along the side of the glass. Add a straw. Give it a small stir. Enjoy!

You can substitute Aperol,/St. Germain/ Italicus+Gin for the Campari in the recipe above. I would start with the same proportions and then add or subtract depending on your palate and whether you like it sweeter, more bitter forward, etc. With the St. Germain and Italicus+Gin, I would leave off the olive as a garnish. And maybe play around with some cool bitters. A peach one or a juicy orange one. Lots of new ones on the market out there. There is no end to the experimentation possible. And a whole Spring, Summer, and Fall in which to try things out.

Even out of Season, Bees Knees are Just That

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You wouldn’t think honey and gin and lemons would turn into something magical, but they do. It’s the Bees Knees, y’all. Really. No, really. It’s super delish.

I use Barr Hill Gin because it’s made with honey. But more importantly, they donate a part of the proceeds to sustaining honey bees. It’s a total win for me, for the bees, and for our planet. I can’t tell you how important it is to us and our plant to keep the bees around all happy producing honey and being like little flying sunshine nuggets. If I have to drink Barr Hill Gin to help out the bees, well, I can be a helpful bitch. I really can.

To make this yummy concoction, you will need a martini glass or a large coupe and a shaker.

Bees Knees

  • 2oz Barr Hill Gin
  • .5 oz honey
  • .75 oz lemon juice

Put all the ingredients into a shaker, fill with ice, shake for 45-60 seconds, Pour into a martini glass. You can garnish it with a lemon twist. Or you can just drink it down. Either way, know you are doing good for the world.

Bitter Bitches are Delicious… No, Really

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There was a whole movement of women who began drinking Bitter Bitches in response to the Supremes losing their damn minds and doing what no other Court has ever done before, claw back right already bestowed. Right or wrong. It was singular. Or was. Or will be… was. Who knows what crazy people will decide. Back to this delicious drink, it’s kinda of yum. And it’s a pretty color. What’s not to love?!?! Well, the reason it was invented. But if one was to mount a response, this isn’t a terrible one with which to begin.

Bitter Bitch

  • 2oz gin
  • 2oz limoncello
  • 1oz tangerine juice
  • 1oz lemon juice
  • orange bitters
  • .5 oz Aperol

Put first five ingredients into a shaker with ice and shake for 50 to 60 seconds. Pour into a martini glass. Take a spoon and invert it. Touch the spoon to the inside edge of your glass. Slowly pour Aperol over the spoon. It’s supposed to float, but will sink instead. The sinker is pretty, as I can attest. I have never made one that floats the Aperol so I can’t speak to that one.

If you have a small, bitter place in your heart for how some stuffy fuckers are taking away rights or for some romantic reason as it is February and Valentine’s Day is near and some fucker is breaking your heart in a different way… make a bitter bitch. And at least that shit will go down delicious.

Dirty Martinis are My Favorite Drink

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I’m not sure when I fell in love with the dirty martini, but I feel like it’s been years. And I haven’t been sad about it. At. All.

In the beginning, I would just order them at restaurants. Making them at home seemed to involved. Plus, they seem to taste better when someone else made them. Capital Grille in DC was a fav. A place I would return to again and again. They are also the reason I have upped my dirty martini game.

Stuffing your own blue cheese olives starts the endeavor known as a dirty martini. In some circles, a dirty martini with blue cheese olives are called a Dirty Executive. However, I think blue cheese olives are a standard in a dirty martini and doesn’t signify a different name. Grey Goose was also the vodka of choice for said dirty martini. It’s a clean vodka. And works well to carry the olive flavors necessary to this classic.

Adding a cocktail onions made total sense. A hit of pickled sweet after all the savory… Yummo! Then I learned about adding anchovies to the cocktail pick loaded with olives and onions. This was from a cookbook based on the Venice region of Italy. With these two additions to the cocktail pick line-up along with blue cheesed stuffed olives make my Dirty Martini complete.

Each drink and bite… or not… is unique. Adding little bits of flavor and texture and umami-ness. And since I use both vermouth and olive brine in my Dirty Martini, well shaken and not stirred, I also get a uniform canvas upon which to appreciate all the differences… and some sameness.

Dirty Martini

-makes a large pour

  • 4 oz Grey Goose
  • .75 oz olive brine
  • .5 oz dry or blanc vermouth
  • 3 dashes olive bitters
  • 1 spritz lemon oil
  • blue cheese olives, anchovies, cocktail onions

Put ice in a martini glass. Stick it in the freezer as you make the martini. Put the first four ingredients into a shake. Fill with ice. Shake it up. Take glass our of freezer, dump the ice, and pour the martini into the glass. Spritz with lemon oil or express some lemon oil from a cut rind. Garnish with olives, onions, and anchovies Enjoy!

Apples, Apples… Apple Cider Martini

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Fall and winter holidays, like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and all the others always brings to mind delicious apple cider. I love freshly-pressed juice of ALL THE APPLES. It was such a no-brainer to come up with a delicious apple cider cocktail.

After much experimenting, I came up with lovely Apple Cider Martini recipe that should hit the spot for the holidays. Add in a cinnamon stick and you have a festive cocktail you can have alone or batch for a group.

  • 2 ounces vodka
  • 3 ounces apple cider
  • a pinch of cinnamon
  • .5 ounces lemon juice
  • cinnamon stick

Put all the ingredients into a shaker with ice and shake. Strain into a martini glass. Light one end of the cinnamon stick, swirl the smoke over the glass, blow it out, and then use as a garnish. Drink and think of fall.

This drink is light and not very alcohol forward. Which makes it perfect for parties or the occasional martini alone. Plus, apples say fall.

The French Gimlet was my Fall Down the Rabbit Hole

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I knew I’d fallen irrevocably into the spirit world, and by that I mean HARD LIQUOR type spirits and not the kind who haunted a person or place, when I started loving Gin. Gin isn’t for the faint of heart. And many will tell you they hate the stuff. I was was on of those not too long ago.

But then it all changed.

I found Hendrick’s gin. And all its iterations. And while the juniper-forward gins made famous by the London Dry style left a lot to be desired for a young gin drinker like me, the floral-forward Hendrick’s was right up my alley. It was everything I’d been missing in gin. A little cucumber, a little rose, and juniper took a back seat. I mean, that pine flavor was still there, letting everyone and their brother know that this spirit was gin, but it was tempered and softened. And the limited edition release known as Midsummer’s Eve edition was all that and two bags of chips. I LOVED it. And I am so sad it is no more.

I like Hendricks for my French Gimlets. I tried it with Plymouth gin, which I normally favor for anything with sage in it, and I thought it would play well with the Elderflower liqueur, and it did. But I think it played too well. The French Gimlet with Plymouth gin was too soft. If you know what I mean. And then I tried it with a French gin, Citadelle, and I knew I had a winner, winner chicken dinner.

And that’s when I knew.

I’d been able to make a cocktail with various gins I had in my repertoire and some I didn’t and found the one I liked the best in the recipe.

I’d become a gin lover.

For a delicious French Gimlet shake in a shaker:

  • 2 oz gin
  • 1.5 oz elderflower liqueur
  • .5 oz lime juice

Strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a lime wheel.

Amaretto Sour and the Beginning

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I think the search for a better Amaretto Sour might’ve been the beginning of my deep dive into the craft cocktail world. The ones I keep getting were too sweet, too hazelnut forward, not well-balanced–although, I wouldn’t know it then, or too something. I’ve never been a fan of whiskey so whiskey sours we’re just out of the question. Then I stumbled onto the Morgenthaler Amaretto Sour. Jeffrey adds in just enough cask-proof bourbon to the usual amaretto to make the drink more balanced and have more depth and more tasting notes. Just more of everything.

But I don’t like bourbon. And what I don’t like about bourbon is doubly present in over-proof bourbon.

Still, I made them the Morgenthaler way for years. That is until I discovered Japanese whiskey. They oak they use makes Japanese whiskey sweeter to me. The Mizunara oak imparts a taste not present in any other whiskey. And I love it.

My recipe for an Amaretto Sour is:

  • 2 oz amaretto
  • .5 oz cask-proof Japanese whiskey
  • .5 oz Suntory Toki whiskey
  • 1 oz lemon juice
  • 1 tsp enriched simple syrup (2:1)
  • .5 oz egg white

Shake in a shaker. Strain into a rocks glass filled with ice. Garnish with a cherry. Or three.

The Morgenthaler Amaretto Sour was a huge improvement over the regular one. But I think I’ve taken it to the next level with my substitution of Japanese whiskey for bourbon. And because I don’t like the boozy forward-ness over over-proof whiskeys, I did a mix instead. It’s damn near perfect when cherries are added to the mix. Luxardo cherries, to be exact. They are my favorite as well. And I’ve tried a LOT of cocktail cherries.

It’s been a few years since I perfected my Amaretto Sour recipe, well, perfect for me. And in that time, I’ve made a few more drinks. And then, I fell down the rabbit-hole of craft cocktails. And now my home bar has more bitters than most commercial ones.

I’m not sad about it. At. All.

Espresso Martini… and My Hunt for the Perfect One

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I discovered the Espresso Martini in the last couple of years. I’m pretty sure it’s a throw-back to the 1980s and my Kailua fueled college years. It’s taste reminds me of my past. Plus, they are super delicious.

The recipe I’ve been using lately is pretty simple:

  • 2 oz vodka
  • 2 oz espresso
  • .75 oz coffee liqueur

Add all the ingredients to a shaker with ice. Shake. Pour. Garnish with 3 beans. Viola.

Sometimes, if I’m feeling myself, I will add a thin layer of fresh soft cream on top. I like cream with my morning coffee, so it’s not a stretch that I would like a little with my espresso martini. Other times, I add some Frangelico and add a little hazelnut flavor. That’s the beauty of this drink. With just a little of this or that, you can make it fresh and new.

Or be like me and just drink the classic.

Check your Ta-Tas

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pink ribbons on pink surface

I know it’s the end of the October… almost. I know that it’s been awhile since I posted… but still, check your ta-tas. It’s that time of the year; it’s that time in this month. 2016 will live as a year in infamy for me. I hope that you check your ta-tas and that 2020 isn NOT a year that lives forever in your memory.

I had a scare this month. I normally get my boobs checked in August. Which is the month that I received my cancer diagnosis. But for various reasons–Covid–well that just didn’t happen. Instead, I got it this month, of all months.

And I noticed a small spot of skin change about six months ago. I decided to keep watch, in case it was just radiation damage. But about three weeks before my mammogram of my old boob was scheduled, I felt a hard lump under the spot with the skin change. Well, two things make alarm bells go off in my head. So, I asked them to check it out as well. Thank goodness my gynecologist had included additional ultrasounds and biopsies and stuff on her order. Because it allowed the radiologist to check that spot, mammogram my DIEP boob, and do an ultrasound guided biopsy. All this with just a few days. Which is AWESOME-SAUCE.

Don’t be afraid to point stuff out. Don’t be afraid to be the squeaky wheel. You might be a pain in the ass. But you will be a pain in the ass who is ALIVE.

My biopsy came back negative.

It is my wish that this is your outcome as well. But it can’t be if you don’t schedule and attend to your own ta-tas.

Reflections of a Lived Life

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I just recommended the Artist Way by Julia or Julie Cameron to a friend on Facebook. Now, most of the people on my personal FB page are friends from high school. I went to a weird, freak high school where people have stayed in touch with each other over the years. We still have a pretty good turnout for both kids and teachers at our reunions. Although, they’ve gotten grayer as the years have moved on.

Dating

I stumbled on the Artist Way due to a recommendation from my bff. It literally was a necessary thing at a period in my life when I needed it. I wrote stream of consciousness in the mornings for almost three years. Probably longer than I thought I needed, but looking back far shorter than I should have. My mother’s death, wherein I went into a deep, dark depression fora few years probably could’ve benefited from journaling every morning. I forgot during that period as I was in survival mode. I wish I had kept up the writing so it would’ve already been there. I have given a lot of thought to getting back to it.

I still take myself on dates and buy myself presents. I spend ALL of my $10. I leveled up from $5 because inflation, yo.

Weirdly, the one other thing which has helped my mind is an amalgamation of a short story I read in 9th grade and something I read many years later. When I was in 9th grade, Mrs. Sinclair, who was my 9th grade English teacher gave us tons of short stories throughout the year. The one I remember in relation to this thought was one that was a science fiction. It was about the invention of teleportation. Humans has invented a teleporter. But in order to have living things alive from one point to the other, anything alive had to be put to sleep. So, you are put to sleep, you are teleported, and then you wake up. Less than a minute or two. A smarty pants boys wanted to know how and why a person had to be asleep to teleport. So, he took drugs or somehow concocted to stay awake during the teleportation. He ended up completely insane when he arrived on the other side.

Although the teleportation took only a second or two, the human mind when it teleports and doesn’t have a frame of reference perceives it as infinity. His brain had live an infinite amount of time… alone and in a vacuum. He came out insane. In case you have figured it out by now, humans are community species. We are built to live together with others. otherwise, bad things happen.

The second thing which hammered this home was Stephen Covey’s first 7 Habits book. I don’t remember anything else about that book today. But I remember this: Infinity resides in the space between action and reaction. The old ways of doing something doesn’t need to be kept because you have all the time and choices in the world as you sit in that space between the initial action and the attendant reaction.

When you put that together with the short story, you get a complete thought, in my mind at least.

Now, when you put all this together, using stream of consciousness writing to help your brain gain more time between action and reaction. Making that period of time go in slo-mo.

Anyway, I woke up this morning thinking these things and thought I would share them with you.

Infinity resides in that space between breathes.