Placeholder (Drinkholder?)

Steve and Patrick apparently threw a party in my absence. I am too tired to get all forensic, but whatever transpired involved a whole fuckload of Lift-the-flap books. Someone chose not to just lift those flaps, oh no, someone has lifted and then torn and shredded those flaps into 1000s of pieces. They are everywhere. I kid you not, there are teeny tiny bits of Spot adhering to the soles of my feet right now.

I'll be back later to write something. Something trenchant, I have no doubt, and deeply moving.

In the meantime I need to trouble you for some cocktail recipes. Why not harness the power of the Internet for good, says I? I am a wine drinker, obviously, but my long-suffering husband likes to tip a concoction every now and then and I am fresh out of ideas. Kristina, perhaps you wouldn't mind posting that lemon thing? Anybody else? Come on, it is time to give back to the community.

In the spirit of the recipe exchange I offer:

1 cup of frozen Limeade
1/3 cup of fresh mint leaves
3/4 cup of vodka
3 1/2 cups of icecubes

Blend.

Comments

[Summer]

I am a simple woman, a red-wine woman if you will, but I am also fond of the combination of good rum and spicy Jamaican ginger ale. Mmmm. It warms the belly. This would only be enjoyed by fans of ginger, but if you like ginger, you'll like this.

[Ninotchka]

I'm also a wine drinker but do remember this Caribbean "delicacy" from my young and stupid days - hence no measurements.

Ingredients:
Lime juice
sugar
rum

Boil sugar in water to a syrupy (sp?) consistency, add lime juice and rum to taste, shake with ice and serve as shots. Utterly delicious and 2 or 3 will have you feeling what I call "Barry White allll-right!"

Let me know if you try it!
Nino

[Kristina]

When summoned....

The first is Nigella's Lemon Drop from Forever Summer:
1 lemon, peeled (cut off the top and bottom then stand upright on one end and cut away the zest and pith from top to bottom) and then quartered to remove all seeds
1 tablespoon granulated sugar (or sugar syrup)
2 oz. limoncello or other lemon liqueur
2 oz. Triple Sec
Handful of ice
Put the lemon pieces in the goblet of the blender, sprinkle over the sugar and leave to dissolve for a few minutes then pour in the limoncello and Triple Sec, tumble in the ice cubes and whizz away. When everything's combined, thickened and ice-white, pour into a large tumbler.

My other personal favorite is the Sidecar. Very easy and doesn't involve the blender.
Into a cocktail shaker pour juice of one lemon, aprox. 2 tablespoons cointreau, and 2 tablespoons brandy. Add handful of ice and shake. Strain into martini glass with a sugar rim. In case you were wondering, I also substitute the lemon with lime for equally delicious results.

[jilbur]

I fancy this punch--I made it up, but it's not terribly creative:

1 part limeade (from frozen concentrate)
1 part pineapple juice (not canned--either the refrigerator case stuff or from frozen concentrate)
good quality (e.g. Mountain Sun or Lakewood brands--not Knudsen) unsweetened cranberry juice, for color

Mount Gay or other flavorful rum

Mix limeade and pineapple juice; add enough cranberry juice to give a pleasing pink color. Pour drink mix over ice; add rum to taste.

[Christine]

Swamp water

2 oz. rum
1/4 oz. blue curacao
1 oz. orange juice
1/2 oz. lemon juice

Shake with ice and strain into a glass.

Organized Paul likes to put notations next to all recipes we try, and he had noted here "not good first." If I remember correctly, it's not too tasty first thing (although better a little later in the evening) but it is a perfectly delightful color, so it has the advantage that you can teach Patrick what yellow and blue make.

[e]

best when served on my porch in the summertime (so bring steve on over and patrick can shred our lift-the-flap books.....if there are any left unshredded by my own children)

Pimms Cup

1 measure Pimms (English whiskey, no other will do)
3 meaures ginger ale
slice of granny smith apple
served over ice

[kay]

Oh, Julia. I LOVE your blog! I too am a primarily-red-wine-drinker. Normally I lurk, but today I offer my own scaled-up version of a drink called "Damn the Weather", which I concoct when I need to have my socks knocked off (and I would sincerely argue that thousands of bits of shredded lift-the-flap books all over the house definitely merits such a state)...

In a double old-fashioned glass, mix:
1 1/2 oz gin
1 1/2 oz vodka (not in original recipe; added simply and unapologetically for extra kick)
3/4 oz Campari
3/4 oz triple sec
Fill up to the brim with orange juice, and for god's sake, DON'T leave room for ice.

[T]

Hey that sounds good, but you could throw a splash of Chablis in there and give it some liver killing pizzazz!