Cucumber Mint Soda

Last night and this morning I went through a bunch of old Bon Apetit magazines. I used to keep them all, but I don't anymore. Half of the magazines were still in the plastic wrapper, which is why I stopped subscribing (but they keep sending them.) In one of the more recent issues I found a recipe for Cucumber Mint Basil Soda. I had all the ingredients, so I decided to try it. Like Ross says, I never met a recipe I liked, so I decided to change it up. I left out the basil and added some alcohol.

Cucumber Mint Fizz

1 c sugar

1 c water

mint

thinly sliced cucumber

ice

club soda

your alcohol of choice

1. Bring sugar and water to a boil in a small heavy saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves.

2. Add mint and cucumber slices to simple syrup and steep for at least 30 minutes.

3. Strain the syrup.

4. Fill a glass with ice.

5. Add 2 Tbl. syrup to the glass.

6. Add 1-2 oz. alcohol to the glass. --I chose Tanqueray Rangpur and Ross chose white rum.

7. Top off glass with club soda and garnish with mint and cucumber.
I only put one ounce (2 Tbl.) of booze in my drink. It was nice and refreshing. Of course there's a lot of leftover simple syrup. I might have to try it in some iced tea tomorrow.

Gin and Tonic Gelatin Mold

I checked out Nigella Lawson's How to Be a Domestic Goddess from the library a while back. Almost all of the baking recipes require self rising flour. I'm not sure why, but I refuse to buy the stuff. I've tried to substitute for it, and it has never worked. I was really attracted to a recipe for a gin and tonic gelatin mold. I've tried to make gelatin molds before, and it hasn't ever worked out. Man, I made a huge mess in the kitchen yesterday trying to make this one. The recipe calls for leaf gelatin, and they don't sell that at WW. It gives the equivalency in powder, but I don't think it was right. The recipe also had an outright contradiction. It said to use a 4 cup mold, but to make 6 cups of liquid. If I ever try making this again I'm going to use a lot more gelatin. I tried it a little while ago. Wow. Tastes just like a gin and tonic (I guess I shouldn't be surprised--that's what's in it). It is STRONG, and I like it. Of course I made it with lime instead of lemon. There is one more recipe in the book that I might try. It doesn't require gelatin or self-rising flour, so maybe I can make it without screwing it up.

Laura's Wedding Shower

Yesterday I wandered up to the Denton area for Laura's wedding shower. It was nice to see everyone. I was in a bad mood from the moment I woke up. After dinner Ross had had enough of my bad mood and took me out for cake. A gin and tonic and a slice of lemon cake at Del Frisco's got rid of my grumpies. Here are a couple of photos. The first one is of the Ladies Mercado, and the second is me with the bride-to-be.

Death of Madam Geneva

I finally finished that book that I was reading about Gin. The history of gin makes for a really easy read. The English flirtation with prohibition is something that America, sadly, did not learn from. I'm glad that we (sort of) learned from our own experiment with prohibition. At least I got to have a gin and tonic on my birthday. The book made me want to try and make my own gin. At one point I was seriously researching stills online. I don't think I'll be distilling alcohol from grain, but I might try compounding (flavoring) some everclear with some sort of home-made still. I'll be sure and post about it if I ever do get around to it....

Madam Geneva

On the trip to NYC I did start reading the Gin book that I bought a while ago. It's the history of gin in England. I really like it. Apparently most of England was sloshed throughout the 1700s. It's very fascinating to me. They make gin manufacturing sound so easy and appealing. It really makes me want to make my own gin. I think at some point I'll set up a still so I can compound gin myself. In the meantime I'll have a few gin and tonics and try to finish the book. Tomorrow I'm going to embark into yellow cake territory. I'll post the results.