Thirsty Thursday: Winter Citrus Shandy

I want to shout: "I'm back bitches!!" at just the hint that I can drink cocktails again, but alas, drinking hard liquor while breastfeeding is sort of frowned upon. So I'm easing my way back into the adult beverage business with a light and lovely beer cocktail usually reserved for summer sipping - the Shandy.

Shandies are a mixture of beer, lager or pale ale, and lemonade or ginger ale. The low-alcohol, high flavor drink has been enjoyed for hundred of years. Usually shandies are enjoyed in hot weather when you need something light & refreshing, but I've always wondered why summer time gets all the lemonade love. Winter is prime citrus time. And who couldn't use a glass of sunshine when there are 6 more weeks of winter left?!  I've started juicing all the citrus and mixing it with a little maple syrup and water for a wintry lemonade that is a perfect 3 pm pick-me-up. Add a little lager and you've got a darling little drink.

Shandies are also great for breastfeeding mamas because they are low alcohol. There are anecdotal reports that beer drinking (in moderation) can help support milk supply. In fact, our lactation consultant prescribed non-alcoholic beer when I was struggling to breastfeed Ella, because brewers yeast is good for milk production (as seen in these cookies)! But honestly, I just don't enjoy drinking a O'Douls the way I enjoy a cocktail. There is a certain ritual missing. And while I'd recommend waiting until your breastfeeding routine is well established before imbibing, I do think an occasional adult beverage is beneficial, because mama needs to relax a little.

Making your own lemonade is the key to this Shandy. I like a mix of 50% lemon juice and 50% other citrus. Cara cara and blood oranges give the juice a sweet pink hue, while clementines will lend a sweeter sip. Grapefruit juice is ridiculously delicious in a shandy made with a not quite pale ale.

Maple Winter Citrus-ade
makes 1 quart or 8 servings

1 cup fresh citrus juice - I used 4 lemons, 2 cara cara & 2 blood oranges (or about 8 lemons)
2 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup maple syrup

Combine the citrus juice, water, and syrup in a pitcher. Stir to combine, chill until ready to serve.

Winter Citrus Shandy
makes 2 drinks

Ice
1 cup Maple Winter Citrus-ade
12 ounces chilled Lager or IPA

Fill two rocks glasses with ice and divide the Citrus-ade between the glasses. Top with beer and stir gently to combine.

More Shandy Facts & History from NPR
More on Breastfeeding & Alcohol

Feeding Baby | Nana's Frosty

Today's recipe is like our Thirsty Thursday for the under 5 set. There is no booze, but I consider the banana frosty as much a classic kids drink as the Shirley Temple. Maybe you know this banana smoothie by any other name: Banana Freeze, Faux Ice Cream, or as we call it in our house - 'Nana's Frosty. 

{Thirsty Thursday}: Fuzzy Peach

A peck of peaches is becoming my new summer tradition. Lured in by cute roadside farms or beauties at a berry farm, I enthusiastically pick the prettiest peck to bring home. A peck is between 12 and 20 pounds. I didn't know that last summer, but somehow that fact slipped my mind as I payed for and carried home another twenty this year.

Thirsty Thursday: New to Me Negroni

The subtitle of this post should be "Or how I accidentally got drunk on a Sunday afternoon".

Thirsty Thursday: Toasted Almond

I don't know about you, but I generally don't keep amaretto stocked in the bar. Among my bar regulars are bourbon, vodka, gin, and rum. Sure, we have a bottle of Kahlua and now some Rootbeer liquor. I mentioned picking up the amaretto for a very special cake I made recently. Now that I have a bottle of amaretto in the bar I feel obligated to give it a go in a few classic cocktails.

Thirsty Thursday: Sours

 



I ordered a Whiskey Sour the first night Brian took me to Top Flor. I remember feeling like it was a confident but safe cocktail order. Of course in someways, I was right: David Woodrich has called Sours "the children of punches" meaning that they are as easy to make as they are to drink; And of course, I was wrong too, because a Whiskey Sour is basically a whiskey and water that goes down much, much too easy. Sours are trouble if you are out for the first time, at a bar, with a boy you find so handsome that you have to drink just to shutter the nerves.

A Sour is lovely if you fancy a drink and your bar or fridge is quite bare. It requires only an alcohol, sugar, some citrus, and some water. You don't even need a cocktail shaker. A jar with a resealable lid will serve just fine - and it multiplies well! The first party I ever tended bar at served a Whiskey Sour as their signature cocktail and I mixed in a pitcher.



For almost a hundred years (from 1860 to 1960) the Whiskey Sour was considered the most American of cocktails. It was and is quick and simple, without fuss or flair, and quite flexible. The only point of argument among barkeeps of a Sour may come from its name sake: the sour.



Now, I am partial to a balanced sour, without too much sweetness, but gentle enough to still taste the liquor in the citrus. Some keepers demand that a Sour bite your teeth and clench the jaw so much so that your lips pucker. Recipes vary in the use of a whole lemon, a half, or a quarter to one drink. Taste and determine what you prefer. Then make yourself a drink or make your friends some punch.



Sour

2 ounce liquor: whiskey bourbon gin

1 ounce water

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 a lemon, lime, or orange

Combine in a mason jar filled with ice. Lid and shake. Enjoy but be careful.

Thirsty Thursday: White Russian, Dude.

 



Appearing to have evolved from the Alexander in 1950s or early 1960s, the White Russian has no great origin story. The drink, of course, is not Russian but is so named, like its cousin the Black Russian, due to inclusion of vodka. Though many modern mixologist use half and half, cream was the original dairy of choice because it helped to "thicken" the drink.

We drank more than a few of these during the great ice storm. Then this week Design Sponge highlighted a cult classic in their "Living In Column" and I knew we had to address something here:

I am a Little Lebowski Urban Achiever.

Most of my junior year of high school was spent watching, no no, studying The Big Lebowski. As such, the White Russian was among the first cocktails I drank. Funnily, the infamous and revered David Woodrich described the drink as such in a New York Times Article from 2008: “When I first encountered it in the 1970s, the White Russian was something real alcoholics drank, or beginners.”  I still enjoy a good ole Caucasian and if that makes me an alcoholic by Mr. Woodrich's standards, I'm okay with it. The drink gets a bad rap for essentially being a grown-up milkshake and I personally think that is a shame; but the Dude abides:

The Classic White Russian

1 part coffee liquor

1 part vodka

1 part heavy cream or half and half

Pour the coffee liquor and vodka over ice in an old fashioned glass. Top with the cream.

Something Southern Sunday: Sweet Tea

I was not born or raised in the South. I spent some time growing up on the West Coast and some of early twenties in the Northeast. It wasn't until I went home over the holidays that I realized, with some remorse and some relief, that I am becoming Southern.

There were things I did not appreciate about the South when I first arrived: it is hot (why? why is it so hot?) and I wasn't always sure when I should say "Yes ma'am" and "No sir" (never? sometimes? always.) Though I will probably never be a true southern bell, I have fallen in love with a Southern man, his family, and have learned that being Southern is mostly about being graceful, thoughtful, and welcoming. Nothing epitomizes this for me more than Sweet Tea.

We did not have sweet tea growing up. Though I do remember my mom occasionally made sun tea, it was unsweetened. My sister asked me recently for a recipe "You want a recipe for tea?!," I thought. After sending it I realized - a lot of people make tea the wrong way - too many bags, too few bags, too long of a steep, too hot water. I'm certainly uncertain as to whether Mamaw Betty would approve, but I learned from Carmi Adams, who's about as Southern as I like.

Sweet Tea

Think of this more as a guideline than a recipe.

You will need a kettle or some other device for boiling water, a pitcher, black tea bags [I like Luzianne brand], sugar, water, and a timer (in this case I used my phone, it was handy):



For a gallon of tea:

Bring a quart of water to a boil. Pour the boiling water into the pitcher and cool for 5 minutes. Add the tea bag(s) [I used Luzianne Family sized bags which require one for a gallon, check your tea bag's box for guidelines]. Steep for 5 minutes. Remove the tea bag and add 1 cup of sugar.  Stir to dissolve and add three quarts of cold water. Give it a good stir and chill or serve immediately over ice.



I find a pitcher of tea starts to taste off after a week or so in the fridge, so make it and enjoy it often.

One of my favorite moments of our Seattle visit was during a breakfast at the Original Pancake House. Brian leaned across the table to ask me in a whisper, "Do you think they have sweet tea." "No Darling," I said, audibly, "Sweet tea is a Southern thing." We both laughed.

Dark and Stormy

 



It's hot, mean hot, in Atlanta during August. Somedays we're lucky enough to wake up to a cloudy sky that holds the humidity against the city until late afternoon when the clouds break and we get a quick shower. Today was one of those days. And being forced to wear pant in such weather (our office is always cold) I was dreaming of a cold beverage from the moment I stepped out of the house.

[Craving alcohol before 9 am is totally normal, right?!]

Traditionally a Dark and Stormy is a spring cocktail (you know, May showers?). It's also the national drink of Bermuda and one of the few cocktails with a copyright. You can read more about all that here, because, really, let's get to the drink.

Dark and Stormy

Ice

2 ounces Dark rum (preferably Gosling's, see link above)

6 ounces ginger beer (I like Reid's)

lime wedges to serve.

Fill a tall glass with ice. Top with rum, followed by the ginger beer, stir gently and enjoy.