Recipe for the Remedy

Assemble your supplies.

3 cups of ice sitting in a bowl of water to soften (about 15 minutes)
one lemon
sugar
berries
libation of choice
knife
blender
reamer

It should look something like this:



Directions:

Cut the lemon in half and juice it directly into the blender. Dump in 1/4 cup each of sugar and vodka. Blend. Drain the water out of your ice and add it to the blender - you should have about 2 1/2 cups. Pulse until smooth.

Pre-softening the ice really makes a difference in the texture - if you don't you'll have little icy granules which isn't exactly the end of the world but isn't exactly what you're going for here either. Of course I'm sure this doesn't apply if you have a fancy blender. Like say a Vita-Mix 1700 Turbo Blend 4500 Countertop Blender with 2+ HP Motor. In which case yeah, yay for you. Whatever.

Anyway. Pour the lemonade into the glass. Leave what sticks to the bottom in there and throw in 1/4 cup of berries. Pulse a few times and pour on top of the lemonade.

Stick a straw in your glass and admire.



Sip contentedly. Avoid brain freeze.

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Greyhound Jellies

I might be a little obsessed with the cocktail jellies. This one is so, so, seriously good. The technique is exactly the same as the Manhattan Drops but I replaced the whiskey, vermouth and bitters with 1 & 1/2 cups fresh squeezed grapefruit juice, 3/4 cup of expensive vodka and a pinch of salt. Also instead of individual molds I used a 9x13 pyrex baking dish and unmolded the whole thing out on a cutting board before hacking it into squares and half-moons.

Greyhound Jellies



There's gotta be a better name for these!

Initially I garnished them with a bit of candied peel, but then I went all Alinea @ the Double Wide (apologies to Mr. Achatz, and Carol, and well, everyone) and busted out the coffee grinder. I had decided to grind some of the peel and for some reason it seemed like a good idea to throw in a few cardamom seeds and sprinkle a little bit of this magic dust on top of my pretty little jellies.



Know what? It totally worked. The peel adds this intense grapefruit POP right at the beginning and the cardamom adds just a little spicy warmth and the next thing you know you're saying "wow, that was -really- good!". Or at least that's what I said.

Next up the Lemon Drop Drops - for realz this time.

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Manhattan Drops

Just when you think it's gonna be a long, hot summer... and then you don't care.

Courtesy of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario by way of Jumbo Empanadas.

Manhattan Drops

1 big jar of maraschino cherries with stems (buy an extra to cut down on the whining when the kids realize you aren't making them a snack)
1 cup simple syrup (mix 1 cup of sugar with one cup of water, bring to a boil and cool)
3 packs unflavored gelatin (these are the little envelopes of Knox that come in a box. Hint - get the box of 32, it's way cheaper than the box of 4)
1 1/2 cups whiskey (I used Canadian Club because it was on sale)
3/4 cup sweet vermouth (I used Gallo 'cause that's all they had)
3 shakes of Angostura Bitters (This stuff is freakin' expensive but I'm really glad I bought it. Even though you just use a smidge it's this flavor that makes a Manhattan taste like a Manhattan. It's a teeny little bottle but I'm guessing it will last forever and will become part of my estate.)

1. Drain cherries well and blot on paper towels. Use LOTS of paper towels because they will soak through and stain your counters pink. You've been warned. Meanwhile, pour the simple syrup into a small saucepan. Sprinkle gelatin on top and stir to combine. Let stand until gelatin softens, about 2 minutes. You can tell when it's soft because all the white bits will be clear. Place this mixture over low heat and stir, gently splashing around the sides of the pan until all of the gelatin has dissolved. Do not boil. This shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes.

2. Combine whiskey, vermouth and bitters in a bowl. Stir in gelatin mixture. Stir slowly for 1 minute.

3. Arrange cherries, stems pointing up, in your molds. I used little plastic condiment cups and I'm kicking myself for not saving them. Divide alcohol mixture evenly between molds. I used a spouted measuring cup to pour. Yes, it was tedious. Transfer to refrigerator for 45 minutes or until softly set. Straighten any slanted stems. (I totally skipped this step) Chill for at least 1 hour longer.

4. To unmold, dip bottoms of the cups briefly in body-temperature water, turn upside down and squeeze/shake the jellies out.

Next up - Lemon Drop Drops. It's gonna be an awesome summer!

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