chocolatini

this is what happens when you have cookie cravings on a saturday night. we had made these a few weeks ago, and my god they were delish. if i remember the ingredients correctly, it was 3 Olive's Cake-flavored vodka, milk, Kahlua, chocolate syrup, and Oreo dust. Extra Oreos on the side, of course. 

recipe: lemon blueberritini

this weekend was quite lovely and springy out, so i seemed due time to bust out some lemons and make some lemonade. when i made lemonade, my sole intention was mixing it with various vodka-based cocktails, so i pre-prepped a bit by making some blueberry vodka to mix in. i have quite and arsenal of flavored vodkas i've purchased, but for some reason it never struck me before that i could make my own fruit-infused vodka (thank you foodgawker.com: drinks for that inspiration).

1) to make blueberry soaked vodka: add 1/4 cup or so of blueberries into the bottom of a martini shaker or small glass jar. fill jar with vodka, then stab blueberries with a fork until they are all punctured. refridgerate for 2-3 days.


2) to make lemonade: my go-to recipe is Best Lemonade Ever from allrecipes.com - the recipe makes a full jug (about 20 serving). you will need:
- 1 1/4 cups white sugar

- 8 cups water

- 1 1/2 cups lemon juice (fresh squeezed = about 6-7 large lemons)

in a small saucepan, conbine sugar and 1 cup water. bring to a boil and stir to disolve sugar. allow to cool slightly, then combine w/ lemon juice and remaining 7 cups water.

3) to make lemon blueberritini: combine 3 parts lemonade with 1 part blueberry soaked vodka. drop in a few of the muddled blueberries for kicks.

***

day 1 these were good (the vodka had sat for 24 hours only). day 3, they were awesome after the blueberry vodka fully developed. loving this, and it was a perfect compliment to Lemon Poppyseed Pancakes tonight. 7*******.

bangkok bistro thai restaurant & martini bar

saturday night a bunch of us went to try the new thai place in colonie ny, Bangkok Bistro. i was excited for this place since 1) i'm always craving thai & 2) i love martinis.

i had a bit of sugar-tummy going into dinner (i had a coffee icecream and vodka milkshake shortly before leaving), but by the time i sat down i was ready to go. i ordered the Thai Tea & Coconut martini, which i was secretly hoping tasted like a Green Tea & Ginger tini that i had once at The Point, but it tasted more like coconut, which was... OK. i'm a bit biased though b/c 1) i'm not a huge fan of coconut and 2) i had another drink burned into my memory (kind of like thinking you're sipping water but downing a big gulp of sprite). putting that aside, the drink in and of itself was very tasty.

we had the Crab Angels as an app, which were "crispy fried dumplings stuffed with cream cheese and marinated crab", served with plum sauce. these tasted like standard crab rangoons (which does mean absolutely delish), just cuter presentation. the plum sauce was a great little dip dip... it reminded me of the spicy wonton sauce from Yips which i am kindof in love with. for dinner i had the Red Curry (red curry paste in coconut milk, slowly cooked with bamboo shoots, carrots & bell peppers) with Lamb.

the curry is served normally with their 1-star (mild) spicy rating, so i asked them to bump it up a notch which they did and then some. it got to burny mouth/runny nose level and tappered off right before ear burn level (that's my limit... once the ear burn is on it the pain usually overshadows the taste), which was just right. it has a slight sweetness to it that helped round out the heat. that and a little rice with each bite.

in short, i'd pop it 6.5 stars ******~. would def go back, particularly for $4 martini wednesdays.

recipe: lemon basil tinis

we all know the phrase... when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. after that, you add vodka. cuz you a crazy mother effer. and then some basil, cuz you fancy. and cuz ur garden has a lot of it.

i don't really have any wine left and was going to be cooking/baking this afternoon, so i needed a good bev for the day. vodka cocktails it is.

ingredient list: (for one drink)
8 oz of homemade lemonade*
1 shot+ of vodka
5 fresh basil leaves

to make:
pour vodka; muddle basil (mash with a muddler or wooden spoon or smooth edge, just enough to release the basil yumness but not enough to fully break up the leaves... that will release chlorophyll which will make your drink taste like S). finish with lemonade.

*to make lemonade:
my go-to lemonade recipe is Best Lemonade Ever from allrecipes, followed verbatim with a touch less sugar.

mmm love this smell. the first lemon is fun to squeeze, makes me feel like Giada. after the 3rd, it just sucks. i need a juicer. not sure what i'm saving the zest for, but i'm sure some unsuspecting chicken will find out later this week.

rating: these are the tits. eight stars ********.

recipe: cupcake martini

cupcakes. martinis. these are a few of my favorite things. only seems natural to combine them. i'm providing the basic ingredients, but not quantities as each person as a diff opinion on how strong they like their drinks. play with it to see what works best for you. since the flavors (vanilla, chocolate, etc combinations in the icecream and liquor) are endless, there's a lot of ways this one can go.

general ingredient list - vanilla cupcake:
- 1 part Godiva White Chocolate Liquor
- 1 part Pinnacle Whipped Cream Vodka
- 1 part Vanilla icecream (or whatever you have in the freezer)
- whipped cream (alcohol infused preferrably)
- vanilla icing
- Sprinkles

to make: Blend all ingredients in a blender. Prep martini glass with icing rim; pour blender mix into glass. top off with whipped cream and sprinkles.

the first time we made these, we made them extremely strong, but the icing rim of the glass really cut the burn of the vodka. whipped cream (non-alcoholic) kinda sank on the glass, but it was still delish.

second time, didn't have any icing rim but a buddy brought over alcohol infused whipped cream. holy F that is goood stuff. love these!