Category Archives: drinks

Mar 25 0 comments
drinks

Carolina Blue Russians

I just want to say this- Go Heels. We may have lost tonight, but we played a great game against big odds. One of our star players was on the court on a sprained ankle, another was out with a fractured wrist. We had a few freshman on the front lines and as a team, they held their own. It was not the blowout that it could have been, and while I always want a Carolina victory, I was proud watching them play. And the best part? Because it’s a young team, I know that I’ll be drinking a lot more Carolina-colored cocktails next year.

I learned yesterday that North Carolina’s state beverage is milk. And as Dan and I were brainstorming what Carolina-blue cocktail we could drink tonight to watch the game I thought “what if we made blue white russians- it would be the perfect marriage of the state beverage and the state’s oldest public university.” I thought, that would be so hilarious and weird. And then I said it out loud to Dan. And then I thought… that’s no weirder than drinking blue Gatorade, let’s do this. And they were awesome. And weird. Also… milk?

Carolina Blue Russians

1 shot espresso liquor

2 shots vodka

1/4 cup cream (or half and half)

2-4 drops blue food coloring

Combine espresso liquor and vodka in a shaker with ice. Shake and pour into a glass. Top with cream. Stir in food coloring. Enjoy.

Dec 27 1 comments
drinks, holiday

Christmas Morning Special

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Merry a few days after Christmas! We’re still in the throes of a whirlwind holiday extravaganza but I wanted to pop in and share a time-honored Waldron family tradition, the Christmas Morning Special.

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Each year my Poppie makes this concoction, something he describes as a Southern Comfort Old Fashioned. It’s SoCo, orange juice, cherries, and oranges. Sweet, smooth, delicious, and festive. Perfect for a holiday morning!

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Christmas Morning Special

1 jigger Southern Comfort

As many cherries as your heart desires

An orange slice

Orange juice

Muddle together orange, cherry, ice, and SoCo. Pour in orange juice, as little or as much as you like. Enjoy!

Dec 23 0 comments
drinks, holiday

Irish Coffee

Happy almost Christmas! This morning, before we pack up the car and head to the north for a week of Christmas fun, I wanted to share a different kind of holiday cocktail, the morning kind.  Personally when it comes to drinking before noon I prefer bloody marys and mimosas, but there is something to be said for a hot Irish coffee.  It’s such a decadent drink, creamy and rich and full of flavor.  Worlds away from my usual cup of black coffee.

An Irish coffee is a combination of strong coffee or espresso, cream, and Irish whiskey.  Some variations include brown sugar or Irish cream liquor, but as I’m not much of a sweet coffee drinker (and I really don’t need that much booze in my morning cup), we opted for a more basic recipe.  And while I think I’m drunk just from licking the whipped cream off the side of the glass, this would be the perfect holiday brunch cocktail for the whiskey lovers in your family!

Irish Coffee

1 jigger of Irish whiskey

Dash of cream

1 cup strong coffee

Whipped cream (heavy cream & sugar)

Dash of nutmeg

Whip cream and a bit of sugar together.  Make coffee.  Combine coffee, a dash of heavy cream, and whiskey in a mug. Top with whipped cream and nutmeg.  Drink with caution.

Dec 10 0 comments
drinks, holiday

Corn & Oil

To continue our month of holiday cocktails, I’d like to share one of Dan’s favorites, a Corn & Oil.  He had this for the first time at Baltimore’s famous Woodberry Kitchen, a local restaurant that we love (we’ll be going there again for Dan’s birthday in January. 27!).  A Corn & Oil is a mixture of falernum, which is white rum that has soaked with almonds (or pecans), lime zest, and ginger, and black rum.  The end result is wonderful, spicy, sweet, and completely delicious.  And it doesn’t at all taste like alcohol, which is a very big plus in my book.

When I decided to do a month o’ cocktails, Dan suggested we try this one.  He searched around the internet for recipes, and then decided to go straight to the source- Woodberry Kitchen.  They graciously sent over their recipe and we’ve been working on it all week.  A big thanks to WK for being so generous and a toast to delicious holiday treats.  This drink is a wonderful addition to our growing list of holiday beverages!

Corn & Oil
Source: Woodberry Kitchen

Falernum:

6 oz Wray & Nephew Overproof Rum

4 limes, zested

1 cup toasted and crushed pecans (or almonds)

25 toasted cloves

Corn & Oil:

1 oz Dark Jamaican Rum

.5 oz Dark Solera Rum

1.5 oz Falernum

To make the falernum, combine all of the ingredients in a mason jar.  Seal, and let sit for 48 hours in the fridge.  Then, strain all of the ingredients through a cheese cloth to extract the rum.  Add two cups of water, two cups of sugar, and 6 oz of lime juice.  Shake until sugar dissolves and refrigerate.

To make the Corn & Oil, combine all the ingredients in a mixer with ice.  Shake, pour, and add a slice of lime.

Ed note: We couldn’t (for the life of us) find the overproof rum, so we substituted it for regular white rum.  Not as strong, but it worked fine.  We also used almonds instead of pecans (we had almonds in the house). Enjoy!

Dec 05 4 comments
drinks

Red Sangria

As I was thinking about my Christmas posting schedule it occurred to me that, when it comes to holiday food, I have a lot of the favorites covered.  Not to say I’ve posted them all (I’d be putting myself out of business), but I feel good about our holiday recipe list.  One area we are woefully short, however, is the land of cocktails.  Which is problematic as cocktails can be an important part of the holiday partying!  As such, I am excited to announce that this December we will toast the holidays with a month of cocktail recipes!

First up is one of my all time favorite mixed drinks, sangria.  Sangria is great all year round, but I especially love it in the fall and winter because the combination of red wine and brandy is warm and so lovely.  It is a great cocktail for both brunches and dinners, and the best part is that making it in advance and letting it hang in the fridge only makes it taste MORE delicious! It’s like it knows you’ll be busy making other things.  Enjoy, and check our holiday cocktails list (and watch it grow) this month!

Red Wine Sangria

1 bottle dry red wine
1 cup brandy
½ cup triple sec
1 orange
1 apple
1 pear
2 cups grapes, frozen
1 liter club soda (optional)

In a large pitcher, mix wine, brandy, and triple sec. Slice your oranges, dice your apples and pears, and add them to the wine. Allow mixture to sit in the fridge for at least an hour so that the fruit can soak and the liquid can mix.

I like to keep a bag of grapes in the freezer to use as “ice” for drinks without watering them down. When you’re ready to serve, add a few grapes to each glass. Either fill all the way with sangria, or for a lighter drink, fill ¾ way with sangria and top off with club soda.