Rainy farmer's market days always get me down

Mainly because this California girl still has a deeply ingrained dislike of being outside when there's water falling from the sky. It's not right, man. Water from the sky = take shelter.

But sadly, water falls from the sky pretty frequently in these parts, and lately it's been doing so on Thursdays, which are farmer's market days in our village. Of course we're still stuck at about 3 farmers at our market (dwarfed by the 10-15 non-farmers who sell various items at the market) but that's not my point at the moment.

My point is: I need more rhubarb. And the place to get it is the farmer's market. And it's rainy again. But my need for rhubarb will surely prevail and I will brave the weather and walk downtown. Or possibly I'll beg Robert to go and slay the mighty rhubarb and bring me back its carcass, a deed which would earn him many kisses and admiring sidelong glances.

And why is my need for rhubarb so desperate? Well, I'll tell you. Aside from the fact that rhubarb is one of the tastiest plants known to grow on this earth, I also make a delicious syrup from it. And that syrup is the basis of my favorite late spring/early summer cocktail.

Rhubarb Awesome

1 part gin
1 part rhubarb syrup
1/2 part lemon juice
basil leaves

Put all of the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with some ice. Shake it vigorously. Pour into a glass (be sure to include the basil leaves!). If you're making it for me, include the ice as well. Glory in the joy that is the Rhubarb Awesome. 

Vintage Cocktails: the Bronx Cocktail

Ok, so I'm not doing the best job at this whole "blogging regularly" thing. I mean, I'm not awful or anything, but I'd hoped to be blogging at least once a week, which hasn't happened...yet. Still gonna plug away at that goal, though!

This week's cocktail is the Bronx Cocktail. I had a soft spot for this drink before I'd even tried it, mostly because both Robert and I work in the Bronx. We also nearly moved to the Bronx, but at the last minute the family from whom we'd arranged to rent a house changed their mind and decided to sell it instead. That was pretty frustrating at the time, but it's also what brought us to our current home, so it ended up being fantastic!

A few things I've learned about my taste in mixed drinks so far:

1. I really like brandy
2. I do not really like vermouth (dry or sweet)

And now, without further ado, I present: The Bronx Cocktail!

Robert styled the drink with the best Yankees gear we could come up with, which is to say: none.

Bronx Cocktail

1/2 dry gin
1/4 dry vermouth
1/4 sweet vermouth
1/2 orange juice

Shake well with cracked ice, strain into cocktail glass and serve.

Thoughts- I like this drink. I like it, but I don't love it. I think it's the vermouth (see above). It is quite strong, as you might guess from the ingredients list, and has a flavor that is kind of like a really alcoholic creamsicle or orange julius. In my mind the Bronx Cocktail is like a bridge between the old school drinks that should remain in the past (Fibber McGee, I'm lookin' at you!) and those that are so delightful they should be revived immediately. It's a curiosity drink. It's worth trying-- after all, you might really enjoy it! and even if you don't you probably won't regret it-- but won't be in my regular cocktail rotation.

Vintage Cocktails: Fibber McGee

This week's cocktail is the Fibber McGee! Robert and I decided to try it for two entirely grown up and well thought out reasons. Firstly, we had all of the ingredients on hand, and secondly the name was funny. Good enough reasons, right?

A quick bit of internet research revealed that there was a very popular radio show in the 1930's and 40s called "Fibber McGee and Molly", and although there doesn't seem to be an explicit connection between the drink and the show my guess is that the drink was inspired by the show in some way.

Interestingly, this drink is not well attested on the web, nor apparently in print. The primary source for it is the Internet Cocktail Database, and only two cocktail bloggers that I found had made it and blogged about it. Both of them say that they found the recipe on the ICD, and one, Sonja at Thinking of Drinking, says that as far as she's found, the drink was only mentioned in print twice- once in a NYTs article from 1990, and once in this edition of The Ultimate Little Martini Book.

So, rather surprisingly, I can contribute something! My cocktail writings are total newb stuff, but my little blue book can be considered an authority- it says so right inside! And I can report that the 1947 Professional Mixing Guide, put out by the Angostura Bitters Company, includes a recipe for a Fibber McGee cocktail. The era is right for the radio show, too.

The proportions for the drink in my book differ slightly from those given at the ICD- I've noted them below.

Fibber McGee cocktail

1.5 oz gin
1/2 oz sweet vermouth
1/4 unsweetened canned grapefruit juice (internet recipes call for twice as much grapefruit juice. Also, the ICD does not specify the type of grapefruit juice. Thinking of Drinking calls for fresh (probably much tastier); we used some from a jar.)
generous dash of (Angostura) aromatic bitters (internet recipes call for 2 dashes of bitters)

Stir in a mixing glass with cracked ice, strain into a cocktail glass, twist a lemon peel on top and serve. As you can see, I kept my ice in.

Thoughts: Meh. I might like this drink if it were made with loads of fresh grapefruit juice I suppose, but it was exciting enough that I feel inclined to try. It was herbal-y and kind of medicinal. Robert actually poured his out, marking the first time in 12 years I've ever seen him chuck perfectly good alcohol. I dig the murky past on this cocktail, but having tried it I can see why it has been more or less consigned to history.

Vintage cocktails: Palisades Cocktail

Ok, here we go! Tonight we tried the first recipe from the Professional Mixing Guide, the Palisades Cocktail. We chose it because we actually had all of the ingredients on hand, and it used bitters which we got in the mail today. The fact that we live near the palisades of the Hudson Valley was just a happy coincidence!

The recipe is as follows:

2 dashes Angostura aromatic bitters, 1/2 dry gin, 1/2 cider. Shake well with cracked ice, strain into cocktail glass.

We used a local hard cider, from Warwick Valley. Just the plain apple stuff (though they told us they'll have a currant cider this week at the farmer's market! I love the seasonal ciders they've recently started; the cherry one was excellent).

Notes: What the hell is a dash, anyway? The Guide insists, rather sanctimoniously, that its instructions should be followed precisely, and that "When it says DASHES, use dashes not drops", however, it fails to actually explain what a dash is. So we just guessed. The first try didn't seem to have enough bitters, but a second try at least gave the drink a noticeable flavor.

Overall: A good, not great drink. As written it was too strong for my taste (Robert wonders if my super smeller status makes me that much more sensitive to stiff drinks), but Robert sipped his way through one. He add more cider to mine, which made it at least acceptable to drink if not actually delicious. Robert reports that as written the recipe produces something similar to straight Calvados, though "not as good".