Happy Hour Martini

My kind of martini, near equal parts gin and vermouth.
Many, many olives.
Too many?*

*No such thing as too many olives.

Distraught enough to Blog about it....

To the untrained eye this looks like a lovely bottle of wine, but for the more observant readers, it is a minor tragedy.



Cork broke :-( Poor little nub (see the floater?) liked the wine sooooo much it stayed behind. Instead of you-Googling "how to remove a broken cork from wine bottle" I pushed it in with a knife... so wine, under pressure, shot all over. I didn't have an apron on. I did have a white shirt on. (and *ding-ding-ding* an experimental necklace that was not affected at all)


It didn't stop me from enjoying this lovely Cabernet Sauvignon from the Round Barn Winery in Baroda, Michigan. It is nice and dry, not very oak-y. I like dry and I like oak-y. So, on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the best thing to cross my lips this millennium, I give it a 5. That's pretty good considering what it did to my shirt.*

*The stain was not taken into account during the scoring process.
**Please note I'm taking literary license with the word distraught. This was a minor stain, that if it doesn't come out I'm thinking of dunking the entire shirt in wine, because it's actually quite a lovely color. All in all if this is the worst life hands me today, I'll take it. Squirting wine and all.

Cheers!!!

Happy Hour --George Dickel

This is whisky in the old time western-y sense.

*shudders*

Happy Hour Old Forester

Wow it makes my sterling sippin' cup look GOLD on the inside! And you know what? This is nice stuff, not harsh, smells wonderful, perfect for sipping on a cold eve.
Or for my sore throat, mmmmm smooth.

Happy Hour (Back by Popular Demand)-Sauvignon Blanc

Starborough Vineyards Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, nice, not too rich tasting nor complex, but Hey, it's a screw-top! It was good with the roasted chicken. Besides I bought it for the nicely textured label, I'm gonna texture some metal with it!

Please note the lovely glass made by Jerry Catania of Water Street Glassworks
I bought it several years ago up at the barn studio in Saugatuck. Still love it!

Message on the bottle

Beer Gods are sending me messages

I have an uncontrollable urge to run to the store...

Valentine Weekend Special

So yeah, it's a Bloody Mary, and I know there's nothing bloody about Valentine's day, hmmm well except for the Valentine Day Massacre... anyHOW I wanted to make something red and I love Bloody Marys. Maries? No-It's Marys.

You can't see them, but instead of ice cubes I have 3 BIG frozen shrimp in there. They won't melt like ice cubes and make it all watery and limp tasting...
Genius I tell ya'!

This is a complete meal.
What?
Don't you see the salad on top?

Mulligatawny and....

Mulligatawny Stew and.....

Beeeeeeeer, bitter, smokey nectar of the GODS!

Gotta' get a tough one to stand up to that spicey stew-
To the rescue (once again) Kalamazoo Stout!!!

What? Wine...Me?

I'm new to wine...I got some left overs from a "wines from around the world wine tasting" (that I'm now kicking myself that I didn't go to.) So there was about a 1/16 of a bottle left and a friend (another dry lover-Thanks Angi!) held others back, stuck this tiny bit in her purse and said try this...well, blow me down. I. Now. Like. Wine.
No. I mean: I REALLY like wine.
So much that I went out and bought my own bottle.

From the vineyards of Conde de Valdemar, a Crianza 2004 vintage, from tempranillo grapes in Spain. As always dry, dry, dry. We had this with pasta alfredo and Mmmmm. Near perfect, a little overpowering for the alfredo.... Then I tried it with an almond biscotti and WOW! Definitely perfect! It would go good with BOLD meals....Hmmmmm... something spicey with tomatoes.

Is it wrong to fix meals to go with a wine...?

No. I think not. I think it is just like making a necklace and then needing to find clothes to go with it. And that is just fine in my book.

OH! Check out the fabulous wine glass I bought from Water Street Glassworks in the Arts District of Benton Harbor... Just look at that stem it is HOLLOW! Blown by the fabulous Becky Wehmer.

Now all is complete.

Happy Hour Absinthe

I received this as a special holiday pressie. At first I wasn't too sure about it because it smells just like Jagermeister *yuck-pitooey* but it doesn't taste like it...much more subtle, anise, fennel, has a light feel in your mouth.

I really like how I get to add the amount of sweetness according to my tastes. I like dry and bitter over sticky and sweet any happy hour.

Plus there is this entire ritual to it: measure the liquor, balance the slotted spoon, rest a sugar cube on it, slowly drip ice cold water over the sugar cube until the absinthe "louches". Once it is all completely cloudy it's ready for sipping.

And nope, no hallucinations. Not a single one.

You can read about it at Wikipedia

Shady Lane Sparkling Riesling

Sparkling Riesling in a pilsner glass.
*tsk*
Is that wrong?



So sue me, I wanted to see the bubbles!
This is really yummy & dry (is there anything else in my Happy Hours?- No!)
Grapes grown right in my own state. So this wine has a very low carbon foot print for me-
Cheers!

From Shady Lane Cellars, on the Leelanau Peninsula way up there in Michigan.

MmmMmmMmmm! Kalamazoo Stout!

With a head thick like whipped cream, you could rest a quarter on that head!


Dark. Dark. Dark.
Rich & Smokey!

From Kalamazoo, Michigan's Bell's Brewery.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

May your 2009 be filled with peace and joy.

And a little gin.

And a lot of olives...