Cocktails Posts
Two Chocolate-y Valentine’s Treats: Candy & Cocktails, Oh My!
Valentine’s Day is approaching. Love it or hate it, it’s a fabulous excuse to indulge in a few sweets. Here are recipes for two devilishly delightful chocolate-y treats. Chocolate-Covered Peanut Butter Hearts (Peanut-butter cup and pretzel sandwiches dipped in a lavish amount of chocolate) Chocolate Cherry Kiss Cocktail (Created especially for my friend Bunny, this [...]
Blood Orange Cocktail
Um, yum! Seriously? The blood orange has to be one of the loveliest fruits on the planet. And in typical Mouse-House style, we found a way to enjoy it in one of our very favorite ways—in cocktail form. This drink is sweet, but not too sweet. It’s fresh and juicy—and gets an extra bump of [...]
Basic Cooking: How to Make Simple Syrup
We’re kicking off our Basic Cooking series with a toast! (The makings of a toast, to be more precise.) Simple syrup is gloriously useful stuff. It’s one of the building blocks of many cocktails—from classic to contemporary—and, really, it couldn’t get any simpler to make. Also known as “sugar syrup,” “simple sugar syrup,” and “bar [...]
3 of My Favorite Ginger Treats (Hello, Ginger-tinis!)
I think ginger has to be one of my all-time favorite flavors—from ginger ale to the ginger in my Chinese food, and everything in between. While my favorite way to enjoy ginger is undoubtedly in its freshest form, sometimes that’s just not practical. Here are 3 of my favorite ways to get my fix when [...]
The Tea Drinker’s Handbook, A Review
The Tea Drinker’s Handbook By François-Xavier Delmas, Mathias Minet, and Christine Barbaste Published by Abbeville Press The Tea Drinker’s Handbook: Think reading about tea sounds kind of, well, bland? Think again. The Tea Drinker’s Handbook is an insightful, educational, and thoroughly delightful read. I liked it so much, in fact, that it’s earned a place [...]
Chocolate & Vanilla Guinness Floats with Creme Chantilly
Vanilla Guinness Float Guinness is the favored beer here at The Mouse House, hands down. While we usually enjoy it at home straight out of the can, we do occasionally cook with it, too. (Mmmm, Guinness Stew with Sage and Ginger.) One my all-time favorite things to do with this creamy, rich stout, however, is [...]
Don’t Dilute Your Drink! Use Whiskey Stones Instead!
Wow. OK. It’s late in the evening after a long day, so this may be me being impressed with something overly simplistic. But…this seems like a really neat idea—especially if you’re a cocktail connoisseur. Ladies and gentleman, I present to you: Whiskey Stones! I saw these on Daily Candy today, and thought they were too [...]
Happy Birthday, Angry Chef!
Happy Birthday to my dear husband, The Angry Chef, who turns 857 today! We celebrated this past weekend at our favorite Chinese restaurant—a place I fondly refer to as the Golden Dragon—with a small group of close friends. A huge thank you to all who came. Here are a few highlights from our evening. A [...]
Tea Tasting, Part I
One of my fondest—and most vivid—childhood memories is going to the tobacco shop with my father, who smoked a pipe.* Bear with me, I’ll get to the tea in a sec. Pipe-shop adventures Now, Dad has long since quit smoking and tobacco shops are getting harder and harder to find. When you do happen upon [...]
Maple Fireside Nightcap
Last week, our dear friends the Lady Otter and D. Bunnyhunter brought us a little jar of Macallan’s Amber Liqueur to sample. Made by Scotland’s The Macallan, this is an amazing whiskey liqueur with notes of maple and pecan. Talk about a great thing to drink in New England in the fall. I’m not usually [...]
