Monthly Archives: December 2012

Drink of the Week: Rum Punch

Posted on December 21, 2012 | Leave a comment

Dear readers who suffered through reading about a large batch (nine gallons) rum punch I made for a fundraiser last spring and the fallout from the ensuing “rumaway,” I bring you a much more manageable version of one of my favourite cocktails: the single-serving Rum Punch.

It’s strong but so yummy. And it’s not often you get to put nutmeg in a drink!

It was not my intention to blog about rum punch tonight — sometimes I worry I give Barbados’s No. 1 cocktail too many shout-outs. No, I had intended to create and then sample a different recipe entirely, a yummy-sounding number called It’s Fig’n Cold Outside. Appleton Estate sent me a bottle of the Appleton Estate Reserve along with a cute little recipe card for the fig drink. Sadly, they did not send me the star ingredient — fig juice — and it’s fig’n impossible to find it in Calgary (I tried Community Natural Foods and The Cookbook Co. No fig’n luck).

But that’s okay because I got excited thinking about trying the rum in my favourite rum drink. Besides, with nutmeg and Angostura bitters adding spice, I think this makes a great holiday cocktail. Blake and I sipped them after trimming the tree a couple weeks ago, and I think we’ll shake up a couple up on Christmas Eve. Just beware making a large batch for Christmas dinner unless you’re angling for a rumaway.

Rum Punch

2 oz Appleton Estate Reserve
1 oz lime juice
1 oz Demerara sugar simple syrup
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Pinch nutmeg

Shake all ingredients with ice and then strain into an ice-filled rocks glass. Add another pinch of nutmeg as a garnish.

Drink of the Week: Clark Griswold

Posted on December 14, 2012 | 1 comment

Sometimes the holidays get away on you a little bit. Your redneck cousin shows up in his motorhome, the sewage line backs up into your house and you discover a rabid squirrel living in your Christmas tree. On those occasions you might want to mix yourself a nice strong Clark Griswold.

Mmmm…gin-nog. It’s pretty, boozy and yummy.

The good folks at Bombay Sapphire have updated the modern eggnog recipe by adding gin, Amaretto and chocolatey Creme de Cacao, and renaming it after Christmas Vacation’s star character. You will drink it quickly, forget all about your first-world problems and be ready to embrace “the jolliest bunch of assholes this side of the nuthouse.”

Clark Griswold

1 oz Bombay Sapphire gin
1/2 oz Bacardi Oakheart spiced rum
1/3 0z Amaretto Disaronno
1/3 oz Creme de Cacao
2 oz eggnog
Shaved dark chocolate garnish

Combine all ingredients with ice. Stir briefly and fine strain into a rocks glass. Top glass with ice, garnish with shaved dark chocolate and serve.

— Recipe courtesy Bombay Sapphire

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Posted in Cocktails

Tagged Bombay Sapphire gin eggnog, Clark Griswold recipe, gin cocktails

Little orphan Avery

Posted on December 13, 2012 | 2 comments

It’s amazing how you spend your time when you have kids: Avery and I “enjoyed” a morning at Value Village last Saturday looking for an orphan costume. Her choir was performing two numbers from Oliver — Food Glorious Food and Consider Yourself — during the Christmas concert this past Tuesday night, and she needed to look like a street urchin from 1800s England. I pictured a child chimney sweep wearing rags, but I saw my vision was off base after the choir director e-mailed everyone this photo for guidance.

Cute, right? I’d adopt this kid for sure.

Just like English aristocracy, Victorian-era orphans looked smart. And evidently, coloured clothing didn’t exist back then. For some reason I figured Value Village would stock an assortment of drab, threadbare capris and vests, each for $2.99. Wrong. There was exactly one pair of olive-hued clam diggers, one cream-coloured turtleneck two sizes too big (orphans’ clothes never fit properly, right?) and two appropriate vests (Avery would borrow my brown corduroy newsboy cap). Not a great selection, but we took the items to a dressing room.

Little orphan Avery rocks her $10.99 rabbit fur vest.

The first vest, according to Avery, made her “look like an old man.” She was clearly gunning for the second vest, a stylish brown number made of suede and rabbit fur, with a $10.99 price tag to match. It was just the kind of coveted item that would have drawn unwanted attention from rival street urchins back in the day.

It looked a bit rich, but we were already pushing the envelope with a turtleneck (a 1970s invention, I believe), so why couldn’t Avery go all out and be a poor little rich orphan?

Clearly the fur vest didn’t go over very well with Avery’s castmates because she wasn’t wearing it when she took the stage for Food Glorious Food. Backstage after the performance I inquired why she hadn’t worn the vest.

The orphan choir — nary a fur vest in sight.

“They wouldn’t let me, Mommy.” “Why not?” I asked. “One girl said it was too nice and orphans didn’t wear that kind of thing.”

Sigh. Was it like that in Oliver’s time? Fellow orphans sabotaging his chances for adoption success?

No matter. Avery still rocked the songs and now we have a chichi fur vest that she can sport in Fernie over the holidays. I hear the poor little rich ski bunny look is all the rage this year.