Rhubarbarita

When I hear the word rhubarb, my imagination runs wild. I envision myself having an Aunt Rhubarb who I visit in the nursing home. When I visit, she insists that the kitchen staff make me a big glass of sweet tea, and even though I don't care for sweetened tea, I drink it anyway because it's the the polite thing to do, and she's my Aunt Rhubarb who I will do anything for.

During the visit, she shares jokes she learned from the latest issue of Reader's Digest. Then she'll tell me how she was born hungry and how the food at the home isn't fit to eat. Then she'll ask me if I can smuggle an electric skillet into the home. As I hug her goodbye, I tell her that I'll see what I can do about the skillet.

For the folks over at The Splendid Table, rhubarb inspired them to make a Rhubarbarita. I tried it, and I like it. On my second glass, I cut the simple syrup in half and replaced it with lime juice because I like a little pucker to my margaritas.

This afternoon, I'll try the rhubarb-infused simple syrup in a glass of iced tea, even though I don't care for sweet tea. Remember, the mind is like an umbrella; it works best when it's open.

catch a wave,

muddywaters

Belfast Brownie

I have days when stress perches on my shoulder, digs its talons in, and prevents me from enjoying time with my family. I can usually shoo this beast away by doing any of the following:

1. Writing
2. Reading
3. Cooking
4. Praying
5. Walking or hiking
6. Lounging in my hammock
7. Listening to music
8. Taking control of my attitude and simply willing stress away.
9. Composing, choreographing, and performing an extemporaneous musical before my family gets home.

This is just a partial list of stress reducers. As I grow older, it seems like my arsenal for combating stress keeps expanding. For example, today my daughter taught me a new way to cope with stress. I decompressed simply by dressing Barbies with my daughter and doing a fashion shoot. Here's Barbie in a Jayhawk sweat suit that my mother created:

Here's Barbie looking casual in some of Ken's clothes:

I never thought that something so simple and somewhat feminine would relax me.

I usually don't turn to eating as way to deal with stress, but I have been known to reach for a beverage as a way to decompress. Sipping a good drink tends to slow time down and melt away the stress. The following are a few drinks I turn to when I want to mellow:

1. Hot chocolate
2. A good Kansas limeade
   
3. Iced tea with lemon
4. Sangria
5. In the fall, I love to drink a Guinness
6. A margarita

Last week I treated myself to a nice cocktail, the Belfast Brownie. I might add it to my list of stress-reducing beverages.

Belfast Brownie

Ingredients:

• 1 ounce Bailey's Irish Cream
• 1 ounce Godiva chocolate liqueur
• 1 ounce orange liqueur
• 3 tablespoons half & half or milk
  

Directions:

1. Fill cocktail shaker with a little ice. Add all of the ingredients. Shake. Strain into glass. Enjoy.

NOTE: The drink also calls for a strip of candied orange peel, but the staff at The Greasy Skillet wasn't resourceful enough to prepare this element of the drink. Heads will roll for this oversight.

What's your favorite way to banish stress from your day?

take care,
muddywaters

Miyauchi's Snack Bar: The Lemonade Cooler

Sometimes the prod of my wife's demands lead to inspiration. A week ago we were enjoying the beautiful scenery and settling into full vacation mode as we sat at the Grand Lake public docks. My wife decided that the moment would be complete if she had a dish of sherbet or sorbet, so I embarked on a quest to find this treat.

I approached Miyauchi's Snack Bar and quickly realized there was no sherbet or sorbet on the menu. I grew tense because I knew there was a strong possibility that my quest would end in a miserable failure. I could return to the docks empty handed, or even worse, I could return with a treat that missed the mark when it came to satisfying my wife's craving. If this happened, I'd be labeled an incompetent male incapable of satisfying my wife's needs, and somewhere in a string of disparaging insults, I might be called an insensitive jerk. It's tough being a guy. It's one test after another.

I frantically scanned the menu for an appropriate proxy to the sherbt. Fortunately, the last item on the menu, something called a Lemonade Cooler, looked like it could meet my wife's criteria. I The Lemonade Cooler was simply soft serve ice cream mixed with lemonade.

The cashier slid the Lemonade Cooler my way. I took a sip. It possessed the consistency of a milkshake. The sweetness and creaminess of the ice cream offered a nice contrast to the tartness of the lemonade. I strolled towards the docks wearing a triumphant smile. On bended knee, I presented my wife with my snack bar treasure. She frowned when she saw it wasn't sherbet. Then she tasted a treat, and a smile graced her lovely face. I emerged victorious and on that day I brought great glory to males everywhere.

Of course, I had to attempt this recipe at home. Here it is:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup vanilla ice cream
• 1/2 cup lemonade

Directions:

1. Simply place ingredients in a blender and blend until the mixture the consistency of a milkshake.
2. Serve in a glass with a straw.
   

NOTE: The Lemonade Cooler is best enjoyed while lounging on a porch or dock.

Life is good,
muddywaters

Cranberry Margarita

When I consume too much tequila, I have an alter ego that rears his ugly head. He's affectionately dubbed "Margarita Boy" by friends and family. Too many margaritas or shots of tequila transform me from a responsible, sensitive introvert into a raging extrovert who tends to engage in juvenile behavior and by the end of the evening, I'm stumbling around like Keith Richards circa 1975. I could regale you with stories of this behavior, but I don't want to sully my good name any further. Fortunately, Margarita Boy hasn't appeared in the last couple of years. This, I think, is a good thing.

My blogging alter ego, muddywaters, also loves tequila. However, he practices some restraint with this liquid libation. I love margaritas, but I'm a bit picky about how I prepare them. I don't care for overly sweet, slushy margaritas that mask the flavor of the tequila. I want my margarita tart, and I feel all the flavors should have equal billing. The following recipe meets my criterion for a good margarita:

Ingredients for one drink:

• 1/4 cup Tequila
• 1/4 cup cranberry juice
• 1/8 cup fresh-squeezed lime juice
• 1/8 cup triple sec or other orange liqueur

Directions:

1. Salt rim of glass.
2. Place crushed ice in glass
3. Mix all ingredients in cocktail shaker.
4. Pour into glass.
5. Garnish with lime and fresh cranberries.
6. Enjoy

Limoncello Mint Lemonade

For the record I don't watch The View. However, I remember hearing from someone about Dannny Devito's drunken appearance on the show. Apparently, he pulled an "all nighter" drinking with George Clooney and showed up on the set intoxicated. I don't find this strange or out of the ordinary. However, I find the fact that he got smashed doing shots of limoncello intriguing. This was my first introduction to limoncello, so I set out to learn about this magical elixir.

Limoncello is a aromatic sweet lemon liqueur that is made from lemon peels. It's not exactly "shot" material. For the record I don't advocate doing numerous shots of any liquor. However, Mr. Devito's made the mistake of doing too many shots of limoncello. Shortly after that infamous incident, Mr. Devito launched is own brand of limoncello.

Last year I made my wife a lemon drop martini using limoncello that smelled like Lemon Pledge and tasted like this cleaning product, so I moved the limoncello to the back of the liquor cabinet. Last week I dusted off the bottle and attempted to use it in a new cocktail, a limoncello mint lemonade.

Prior to this recipe when I thought about mint in my food or beverages, I turned my nose up. In my world mint was reserved for toothpaste, breath mints, and chewing gum. However, I believe in expanding my horizons, so I picked up some mint at my local grocery store and set out to try something new.

This cocktail was a hit. In fact, it knocked the ball out of the park. There's a lot I like about this cocktail:

• First, this drink just looks beautiful and refreshing. It begs you to drink it. A big batch of this cocktail in a glass pitcher would be the perfert centerpiece for a lazy afternoon with friends.
  

• This cocktail tastes great. It reminds me a lot of those bottled hard lemonade drinks they sell in the liquor store. It's not overly sweet though, and it's a drink that leaves me feel refereshed.
  

• The recipe is versatile. It can be adapted and morphed into a variety of cocktails. You could substitute the limoncello with rum and make a mojito. If you don't have mint leaves, you could leave them out. I actually prefer this cocktail with a limeade concentrate.

• I know it's not hip to embrace high fructose syrup, but the lemonade concetrate makes this recipe quick to make and it helps with the flavor of the beverage. Feel free to make your own simple syrup if you choose.

Limoncello Mint Lemonade

The following recipe makes a 10-oz drink:

• 2 tablespoons lemonade concentrate
• 1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 6 or so mint leaves
  

Place the above ingredients in the bottom of a glass and using a wooden spoon, muddle mint leaves with lemonade and lemon juice - this will release the mint's oils. I like the idea of muddling. Usually when I muddle things up, I'm screwing something up. It's nice to know that I can muddle something up and it's part of the process. In addition, I get a drink out of the muddling.

Top the glass with the following:

• Ice cubes
• 1/4 cup limoncello
• 1/2 cup club soda

Stir and then garnish with:

• Lemon slices and sprigs of fresh mint

Cheers,
muddywaters

Gin Daisy

Sorry for the hiatus. I've grown a little frustrated with trying to photographing my food. I hate interrupting my cooking to take photographs, so I've quit doing it for a few days. Without photographs I've been reluctant to post. I need to get over this. I promise to change my attitude and relax. Posting today is my first step. Last Friday's cocktail of the week was a Gin Daisy, a recipe I found at Chowhound.com, one of my favorite food sites.

I'm a relatively newcomer to the world of gin, but it's quickly becoming one of my favorite spirits. There's something very comforting and soothing about the aroma of gin that I love. Lately I've been thinking about how I can cook with it.

I enjoyed this cocktail because it's simple and refreshing. It's a great summer cocktail. I really liked it because it's not an overly sweet cocktail. My wife didn't care for this cocktail. She said, "It's just missing something." However, she never elaborated on the specifics of this comment.

Note: I didn't have any grenadine. It seems like whenever I buy grenadine I use it once, and then there's a five-year gap until my next use. With this recipe, I simply used a little cranberry juice its place. It gave the drink it a nice pink tinge, without disrupting the flavors.

Gin Daisy

INGREDIENTS

• 2 ounces gin
  
• 1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons grenadine
• Cold club soda
• Slice of lemon and sprig of mint
  

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Shake the gin, lemon juice, and grenadine with ice; then strain into a chilled glass filled with cracked ice. Add club soda to fill. Garnish with a lemon slice and a mint sprig.

Variation:

Bourbon Daisy: Substitute bourbon for the gin, and float 2 teaspoons Southern Comfort on top just before serving.

Enjoy,
muddywaters

Scarlet O'Hara

I'm at the point in the year when monotony dominates. It seems like my life consists of waking up, going to work, picking up my daughter from preschool, preparing dinner, spending a little bit of quality time with the family, giving my daughter a bath, and before I know it, I'm ready for bed. Then I get up the next day and do it all over again. Of course, I'm not alone in this. The rest of my family follows the same routine, and many readers of this blog probably adhere to a similar schedule.

When this monotonous funk afflicts my soul, I rebel. I, like Dylan Thomas, will not go gently into that good night; I will rage, rage against the dying of light so, I seek out activities to reclaim my mojo. I know life is just a series of mostly ordinary events. However, I believe we have the power to occasionally make the ordinary extraordinary. We can slow down the sands of time and savor the gifts life has bestowed us.

This is why I'm resurrecting our cocktail of the week ritual. Two years ago I gave my wife a cocktail shaker for her birthday, and every Friday we tried a new cocktail. This was a healthy way to unwind after a hectic week. However, this ritual got lost in the daily grind of life. After a seven-month hiatus, today marked the triumphant return of the cocktail of the week. After a seven month hiatus, this week I'm resurrected this ritual.

This afternoon we mixed up a batch of Scarlet O'Hara cocktails, a refreshing drink that had us speaking in a sweet, syrupy Southern drawl after a few sips. We perfectly ended our week - sipping drinks, grazing on chips and salsa, talking about the events of the wek, and planning our weekend. We successfully made the ordinary extraordinary.

Scarlet O'Hara

Things You’ll Need:

• 4 ounces Southern Comfort
• 2 ounces lime juice (approimately 2 limes)
  
• 4 ounces cranberry juice
• Cocktail mixer and strainer
• Cocktail glass
• 6 cranberries for garnish
  
• ice
  

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and all teh ingredients except the cranberries. Shake vigorously until the outside the shaker is beaded with sweat and frosty.

Strain into cocktail glasses, garnish with cranberries, and serve.

Makes two 5-ounce drinks, or you can you make yourself one 10-ounce drink.