I am addicted to Mad Men. The first few episodes though I found myself yelling at the men’s chauvinist behavior and encouraging the women to stop biting their tongues (”Tell him to kiss off!”). If I had been an adult during that era I’d like to think I’d have been a bra burner, or maybe just have had the courage to deliver a proper tongue lashing to a sexist fool. I’d love to travel back in time and tell a handful of them where they can stick their 11 a.m. Scotch.

But I am mad about Mad Men. I love the show. Now my yells are at the end of each episode – “More! More!” It’s brilliantly written, the costumes and coiffed hair are fabulous, and the cocktails (swilled with reckless abandon) I believe are creating a stir (pardon the bartending pun) amongst the vintage beverage-loving set. I include myself in that category.

To celebrate another episode (yes, it indeed is worth celebrating) we mixed up some Don and Betty favorites. For him, an Old Fashioned, for her a Gimlet. Did you know the Old Fashioned was the first drink to be called a cocktail?  And the Gimlet was named after a naval surgeon, Gimlette, who encouraged his sailors to drink the concoction to prevent scurvy. Tough medicine! Both are counted amongst the six basic cocktails.

Here’s to the Drapers, and here are the recipes:

Photo: thebittenword.com

Others as mad as I about Mad Men:

The Food Librarian: Mad Med Dutch Cinnamon Apple Cake from 1963 New York Times
Ezra Pound Cake: Mad Men Premiere Party Menu
Brokelyn: Scary food from the Mad Men era

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It’s Friday and you know what that means. It means we get to kick back, put our feet up, and pat ourselves on the back for doing such a fine job all week. What better way to celebrate your goodness (and take a well-deserved load off) than to sip a lovely cocktail in your sunny backyard. I’ve got the drink for you (the yard is up to you). It’s a delicious Lemon Lavender Martini.

What inspired me was the beautiful lavender bushes in our yard. I looked longingly at them one evening, knowing that soon I would have to cut them back, and commented on how they looked pretty enough to eat (or drink!) So we cut off a bunch of stems and made a lavender infused simple syrup. With our simple syrup we mixed in vodka, a splash of fresh lemon juice, and gave it a shake with ice. Adjust the syrup citrus ratio according to taste.

Now there’s some lemon lavender love for you.

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I discovered limoncello years ago in Italy and have been hooked ever since. But I’d never heard of Limoni di Sicilia, a lemon liqueur made by Averna, an old well-known Italian brand. The kind folks at Averna recently sent me a box of their wonderful libations and I’ve been sipping Limoni’s lovely nectar almost nightly.

At first I thought Limoni was just limoncello rebranded. But, no, there are differences, especially in the distillation. Limoni is distilled from the juice of Sicilian lemons, making it a more pure lemon digestivo. Limoncello, on the other hand, is made from the peels of lemons that are infused in grain alcohol. Limoncello is often a bright lemony yellow, whereas Limoni has a softer paler shade. It’s as if the former is the outgoing one at the party, while the latter smiles demurely and speaks with a sultry whisper. Both are sweet, citrusy and delicious over ice. The thing I love about Limoni, however, are its beautiful floral notes and pure, clean lemon flavor.

It goes down a little too easily…

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There’s something about the cooler months that seem to make spices smell more fragrant. At least to me. Here in Seattle the winter air is crisp and clean. While standing at a street corner waiting for the light to change I catch a whiff of the chai tea I cup in my cold hands. Cardamom, cinnamon, cloves all find their way up to tickle my nose with their sweet aroma. Mmmmm…

I was fortunate to recently be the recipient of a little baggie of chai tea spices made by the Indian mother of a friend of a friend. I wanted the recipe but because this woman was too many degrees away from me I didn’t want to be a bother by asking. So I asked my friend Kailash, who also kindly told me how they brew it in India. Whether I can do it properly is another thing, but I certainly will try as I’m sure it’s loads better than my mass-produced teabag version.

Chai Tea

7 cups water
1 tbsp fennel seeds
6 green cardamom pods
12 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
2 tbsp loose leaf Orange Pekoe tea
6 plus tsp sugar
1 cup of milk (you may substitute soymilk)

With a mortar and pestle, slightly grind spices; just enough to pop them open to release their flavor and fragrance.

Add six teaspoons of sugar to the spices, combine with water and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer, then bring to a boil again. Reduce heat once more, then simmer until the mixture becomes saffron colored.

Add tea leaves to the water and bring to a boil again. Lower and reduce twice as you did in the first step. Add milk and bring to a boil again.

Strain into cups and serve. Add more sugar to taste if necessary.

Makes about 8 cups.

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Cobbler schmobbler! There are so many other things to make with blackberries. I know, blackberry season is technically over, but we happened to find a bush hiding quite a few still edible ones. Not quite enough for a pie or cobbler, mind you, but enough to fix up a nice bit of blackberry sauce.

…and mix it with vodka for a tasty martini.

First, you need to make your blackberry sauce, which is delicious not only in cocktails, but in smoothies, yogurt, on pancakes or waffles, you name it.

Blackberry Sauce

1/2 lb blackberries
1 cup water
1/3 cup sugar

Heat the above ingredients in a saucepan on medium-high heat. Mash the berries with a wooden spoon to release all the juices. Stir until all the sugar has dissolved (about 10-15 minutes).

Strain liquid through a fine sieve to remove the seeds, then chill well.

Blackberry Martini

1 part chilled blackberry sauce
1 part vodka
Ice

Put into a shaker with ice and shake well. Strain into a martini glass and there you go.

Wasn’t that easy?

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If you didn’t already know, October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month. Like many others, this disease runs in my family, so I am diligent in not only monitoring my own health, but doing what I can to support and spread the word about opportunities in finding a cure for breast cancer.

Last night we went to Palisade in Seattle’s Elliott Bay Marina to have a cocktail. And on the table we discovered a card announcing “Cause-Mo For the Cure.” In 2004, restaurant managers of Restaurants Unlimited (a company consisting of 58 award-winning restaurants) cooked up the brilliant idea to donate $1 to the Susan G. Komen foundation for every Cosmopolitan cocktail it serves. The “Cosmo” just so happens to be one of my favorite frou-frou drinks so I jumped on the wagon and ordered myself a lavender cosmopolitan (yum!), complete with a pink rubber wrist band.

Help Save the Ta-tas!

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Photo: Phillip

It’s always nice to have a little drinky after a long hard day, isn’t it? Some days call for a shot of tequila, while other days something light will do. My favorite new-to-me light drink is a Pimm’s Cup. This old school drink has long been a swanky beverage in England, often enjoyed at fancy sporting events (champagne being the other drink of choice). In fact, a Pimm’s Cup is to Wimbledon as a Mint Julep is to the Kentucky Derby.

Pimm’s No. 1 was invented in England in 1823 as a health drink. It’s a gin-based beverage that is slightly reddish in color and has subtle spice and citrus flavors. By volume it is only 25% alcohol, so one drink won’t knock you on your keester.

Pimm’s Cup

In a tall glass with ice, mix one part Pimm’s No.1 with three parts lemonade or lemon soda. Serve with a wedge of cucumber and a sprig of mint. If you want to get fancy you can also add slices of lemon, orange and strawberry.

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I love tea. Actually, I think I prefer it to coffee, but don’t tell my fellow Seattleites that or I’ll be hung from the nearest Starbuck’s. I used to be able to find my favorite teas from Murchie’s at The Crumpet Shop in Pike Place Market, but last time I checked they no longer carried it.

Murchie’s Tea & Coffee has been in operation in British Columbia since 1894. Their goal is “focused on procuring only the highest grades of Fairly Traded teas and coffees obtained from the finest tea gardens and coffee farms.” Their coffees are roasted on site at their plant in Richmond, BC, where their teas and spices are also blended and packaged. According to Murchie’s, their “philosophy is grounded in purchasing their products only from growers that contribute to requisite wages, schools and medical facilities for their workers.” To me, that alone makes the tea sweet.

Barnaby likes their fruit blended teas; my two favorites are Earl Grey and their famous Empress Afternoon Blend, their exclusive blend served at Afternoon Tea (until 2001) at the Empress Hotel, a stone’s throw from their Victoria store.

You can purchase their products online, but it’s much more fun to go to their store in Victoria where you can buy 12-bag sample boxes of tea for about $5 Canadian.

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When life throws you lemons make limoncello!

The first time I had limoncello (lee-mohn-CHEH-loh) was years ago in Sorrento, a charming sea town on the Amalfi Coast in Italy known for it’s narrow windy roads, beautiful citrus groves, and well, limoncello.

Limoncello is a digestif made from lemon rinds, alcohol, sugar and water. Although it’s made from lemons it’s sweet not sour, since it’s made from the rinds and not the juice. It’s sipped icy cold (but never with ice) after dinner from small glasses.

Not only is limoncello delicious, it’s easy and inexpensive to produce, containing only a few simple ingredients and requiring just a bit of time to mature. Perfect for holiday gifts!

Limoncello

15 lemons
2 (750 ml) bottles minimum 80 proof alcohol (good quality vodka or grappa)
4 cups sugar
5 cups water

Note: If you use Everclear or some more pure alcohol, dilute it to about 40%, the strength of vodka. Below that, it will not properly extract all the oils from the rinds.

Step 1
Wash the lemons with hot water to remove wax; pat dry. Zest the lemons with a zester or vegetable peeler so there is no white pith on the peel. You want to take great care while zesting to make sure you are only getting the outer part of the rind. The pith is too bitter and will spoil your limoncello!

Step 2
Put the peels in a large 1 gallon plus glass jar and add one bottle of alcohol and seal tightly. Leave the jar to steep in a cool, dark place until the peels lose their color, at least 2 weeks.

Step 3
After the initial 2 week resting period, combine the sugar and water in a large saucepan and cook until thickened and clear. Let the syrup cool. Add the syrup and the additional bottle of alcohol to the limoncello mixture from Step 2. Allow to rest for another 10 to 40 days.

Step Four
Strain out the lemon peels through a coffee filter or cheesecloth and pour the limoncello into another container. Press down to remove all the alcohol and oils that you can from the peels before tossing them. Stir the liquid with a clean plastic or wooden spoon. Put the liqueur in clean bottles (I prefer swing top bottles), seal tightly and leave the finished bottles for at least 1 week before using.

Store your limoncello in the freezer to enjoy icy cold – it won’t freeze.

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It’s spring and I woke up with a sore throat. You shouldn’t be able to get sick in warm months. That’s what winter is for. We suffer the cold weather and the spreading of germs, then the sun comes out and we get a reprieve from carrying tissues and sucking on lozenges. Wouldn’t it be nice if nature worked that way?

But alas, it doesn’t, because the sun is out and I am in. With a sore throat. Sipping tea like it’s the dead of winter.

If you happen to get the same little bug here’s what will fix you right up: citron honey tea.

Also called yuja-cha in Korean, citron honey tea is a marmalade-like tea, made from the citron fruit. Citron, also called yuzu, is a lemon-like fruit that is wonderfully fragrant and packed full of vitamin C.

Stir in a heaping spoonful or two into a mug of hot water and serve with a spoon. You’ll want to scoop up the bits of sweet rind that remain in your cup.

Even if you’re not under the weather it makes a delicious treat. Try mixing it with ice water for a refreshing drink, stir into plain yogurt or spread on toast as you would marmalade.

You can find citron honey tea in asian markets or even order it online from Stash Tea.

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