summer

vanilla greyhound pitcher cocktail

I know it’s still very much winter out there, but I couldn’t wait to share this super easy, super summery pitcher cocktail with you all.

Now that I think about it, I guess I posted another citrusy cocktail recipe pretty recently didn’t I?

I think maybe this whole kitchen project has been driving me to drink! Thankfully I’m finally able to just sit back and enjoy the benefits of all my hard work! I guess this long, cold, wet, windy, snowy, awful winter hasn’t been helping either, and might be just as much to blame for driving me to drink too.

I always crave citrus in the winter, especially near the end. Citrus fruit is so bright and sunny and fresh that I can’t resist it when everything else is so dull and dreary and dead. Not only does this cocktail have citrus in spades, but it also has a really fresh summery feeling that I think most of us could really use plenty of right about now.

I first came up with this recipe for our wedding back in 2013. We were married outdoors on the first of June in a big white tent overlooking the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains. We were serving two signature cocktails in big drink dispensers at the bar and, while our caterer was providing the bartenders, we were in charge of supplying the booze and all the fixins. I wanted the cocktails to be so simple that all I’d need to do is give the bartenders the ingredients and a spoon, and just tell them what quantities to mix together.

In the name of trying to please everyone (or mostly everyone) we served one signature cocktail with whiskey, and another with vodka for our friends and family who aren’t as crazy for the brown liquor as we are. The first was a bourbon spiked Arnold Palmer and the other was one of my favorite summery vodka drinks, a vibrant greyhound made with pink grapefruit juice. To really make it our own, we added some vanilla to warm it up, and some rosemary for a little fresh herbal depth. In honor of Doris (this was before Betty joined our family) we called it the little grey dog.

I was expecting the Arnold Palmer to be the more popular of the two drinks because most of our friends have the same penchant for whiskey that we do, but to my surprise our vanilla greyhound was a much bigger hit. In fact, despite bringing enough ingredients with us to fill our 2 1/2 gallon drink dispensers twice, we actually ran out of it before the sun went down! I think it may have had something to do with the fact that it was unbelievably hot that day, and that this greyhound is light and refreshing and oh-so-thirst-quenching.

The other day we were having some friends over for drinks to show off our fancy new kitchen. We wanted to serve something that might help take our minds off of the frozen muck and slush outside and I thought this would be the perfect thing for it. It’s easy to mix up in advance so you’re not stuck tending bar all night, and it’s so light and bright that you can drink a few without feeling like you’ve had a few too many!

The grapefruit juice really shines here so you want to make sure that you get a the best quality 100% pink grapefruit juice you can find. The addition of vanilla adds an unexpected homey warmth that doesn’t normally go along with grapefruit but somehow works really well. Despite the fact that grapefruit juice doesn’t taste all that sweet on it’s own, once it’s mixed with the vodka and vanilla it’s somehow perfectly (and surprisingly) sweet enough and doesn’t want for any additional sugar. For that reason, I’d advise against using vanilla flavored vodka for this, which tends to have artificial sweeteners already added.

Right at the end the whole thing gets just a hit of effervescent soda water to keep it feeling light and bright. If you’re only serving a few drinks at a time I think it’s best to leave the soda water out of the pitcher and just top off each drink as they’re served, but if you want to make this in a big ol’ drink dispenser, just mix it all right in. With volume in mind by the way, this recipe is easily doubled (or quadrupled in the case of our wedding).

If you have time, I think the rosemary comes through a little better if you let it infuse with the vodka and grapefruit juice overnight. If you have lots of time (and love rosemary) you could even let it infuse in straight vodka for a couple days to really extract it’s flavor. Really though, the rosemary isn’t meant to be the star of the show here and you don’t want to overdo it, so adding to the drink just before serving is totally delicious too.

Drink up y’all!

Vanilla Greyhound Pitcher Cocktail

Servings: Makes about 9 or 10 six ounce cocktails
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2 cups vodka
3 1/2 cups pink grapefruit juice
2 tbsp vanilla extract
4 to 5 rosemary sprigs
1 cup soda water

Mix vodka, grapefruit juice and vanilla in a large pitcher and stir well. If you have time, I think the cocktail benefits from letting the rosemary infuse overnight. If serving immediately, you can add the rosemary to the pitcher or use a single sprig as garnish in each glass. Just before serving you can either stir the soda water into the pitcher, or you can top off each glass with about 2 oz of soda as the cocktails are poured. In a drink dispenser or punch bowl it’s best to just stir the soda in, but if you don’t want the soda to go flat over time, it’s better to top off each glass as they’re served.
Either way top off each glass with plenty of ice.

I went camping!

A couple weeks ago I pulled a Snake Plissken and escaped from New York.

I’ve mentioned this before, but my mom is in the process of renovating an old house upstate. I am a weirdo masochist so rather than using my vacation time this year to go to Europe of the Caribbean, I opted to go upstate and spend my vacation time sanding ceilings on a ladder, getting drywall dust in my eyes and lungs, breathing paint fumes, and working 10 hour days in an empty 100+ year old home with no air conditioning or functioning plumbing.

When my mom said her contractor was almost finished putting up her new drywall and that she could use help sanding and painting, it didn’t take much arm twisting to get me on board. I totally love those kinds of projects and not-so-secretly wish that I had the opportunity to do them in a home I owned myself. She also needed some help choosing fixtures and finishes for her bathroom and kitchen, which is something I already spend countless hours doing on Pinterest, planning for my non-existent future home. The opportunity to actually do this for real, even if I wouldn’t get to live with the finished product, was a total dream.

My only stipulation for doing all that sweaty manual labor was that I would get to take off for two days with my older sister and her kids to go camping. Sorry house! I needed those two days to at least pretend this was an actual vacation! My mom needed the break just as much as I did, so she even joined in the fun and drove up to relax (and drink) with us on our second day.

Before I moved to Brooklyn I used to camp, like, a lot. For most of my life I’ve lived either in the Fingerlakes region or in the Adirondacks, so spending time outdoors has always been a major part of my life. Since moving here though, opportunities to get out into the wild have been fewer and farther between. Having grown up in southern California, Russell doesn’t really share my love of staring into a camp fire for hours on end, or my love of sleeping with nothing but a thin sheet of polyester protecting me from the nocturnal creatures outside, making camping trips even less likely. What, to me, is the height of rest and relaxation, to him is a painfully boring way to feed mosquitos.

Since Russell was going to sit this trip out and stay home with the pups, it took me all of a quarter of a second to decide I wanted to go camping. I called my sister and begged her to come with me (she needed zero convincing), and we started making plans. Since we only had a couple days, and my niece and nephews would be with us, we decided pretty quickly on Fair Haven Beach State Park. It’s less than an hour from my home town, and since it’s an established camping park we could just roll up, set up the tent, and get down to the business of relaxing. It also has a number of amenities like playgrounds and fishing spots to keep the kids entertained while we were doing our thing. Not only that, but it’s absolutely gorgeous there, with scenic ponds, untouched wooded areas, zillions of deer running around, and a gorgeous sandy beach on the shore of Lake Ontario, all just a short walk from the camp.

Once we set up camp, and opened some wine, we set to building a fire and setting up our temporary kitchen. With three kids to feed, my sister takes food just as seriously as I do. We brought a ton of fresh produce with us, some from her garden and some from the farmer’s market in my home town; along with plenty of supplies from the grocery store. We ate like kings (and queens) over the course of our stay, and I while I was there I was bound and determined to try to take some blog worthy camping food photos. Always thinking ahead, just before leaving Brooklyn I rolled a couple of my knives into some kitchen towels and stuffed them into my suitcase along with my camera equipment and a cutting board.

We had a ton of juicy ripe tomatoes, and she’s picked up a couple of mangoes, so just before we got on the road I decided we should pick up a nice piece of fish and some limes to pull everything together. The salmon at my hometown Wegmans looked beautiful so that was that.

Truth be told, if I were making this at home I would have done things a little differently. We didn’t bring any oil with us and the pan I used to cook the salmon wasn’t really ideal, but that’s half the fun of cooking in the great outdoors. The recipe below should be used only as a guideline, as cooking times and your camping supplies will vary a lot. It was a bit hard to gauge when the fish was cooked because the coals weren’t as hot as I would have liked them, but in the end everything was absolutely delicious. The salad was bright and acidic and complemented the smoky fatty salmon perfectly. Sometimes kids can be picky eaters but all three of them loved it just as much as we did.

Then, afterward, we had smores. Duh.

The whole trip was absolute heaven and I’m so glad I made the time to go. Spending time with family, sunny days, starry nights, the smell of wood smoke, plenty of wine, and chipmunks making off with the marshmallows. The perfect trip for the end of the summer. What better farewell to the season than to fully immerse yourself in it?

Campfire Grilled Salmon with Tomato Mango Salad

Servings: 4
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4 servings of salmon (at least 4oz each- I used one big fillet that I portioned myself)
salt & pepper to taste
juice of 3 limes, divided
1 pint cherry tomatoes
2 mangos
1 small red onion, finely chopped

Season the salmon with salt and pepper, and squeeze with the juice of 1. Brush the grill or the pan with some olive oil, if you have it. Place the salmon skin side down on the grill or pan. Grill or sear until the flesh on the cooked side is visibly turning pale and firm. You want it to be cooked about 1/2 way up the side. Depending on the heat of your fire, grill, or pan, the time this will take can vary quite a bit. Over a camp fire it took a long time, but in a hot cast iron on the stove top it would only take 3 minutes or so.

Flip the salmon over and cook until sides have visibly turned completely pale and firm.

Meanwhile, make the salad. Slice the cherry tomatoes in half and place in a large bowl with finely chopped onion. Remove skin and pit from mango and slice into bite-sized chunks, add to the bowl and squeeze the remaining two limes over everything. Toss it all together with a spoon and season with salt and pepper.

If not already portioned, slice your cooked salmon into individual fillets with a sharp knife. Spoon salad over salmon just before serving.

Serve with grilled corn, if desired.

buttermilk ricotta ice pops with lemon, thyme, & honey

Okay, so it’s Summer.

But I think the honeymoon’s already over. Sorry Summer.

I mean, don’t get me wrong. I’m still into it. There’s so much about the season to be into. Parties and picnics and barbecues and day drinking and sunshine and long days and shorts and slip-on shoes and trips to Coney Island and fresh local produce. Glorious beautiful juicy ripe produce. Unbeatable unbelievable produce.

I’ve been so excited about the warmer weather and all the wonderful things that come along with it though, that I forgot about the things that I’m not so into. Unfortunately, now that Summer is upon us those unpleasant things refuse to be forgotten.

Sunburn and mosquitos and fruit flies and humidity and sweat stains and sleepless nights in sweaty sheets and days so hot that the plants just wilt against the force of the sun. To make matters worse, there’s something especially… yucky about this time of year when you spend it in New York City. Stale air and hot concrete and nights just as hot as days and stifling subway platforms and the smell of hot garbage on a Friday night. Ugh. So gross.

To help cure my hot weather woes, my red hot blues, I thought a fresh batch of ice pops was in order. Since I can’t actually live in the freezer, I figured that something sweet and icy straight out of the freezer would have to do.

They say that necessity is the mother of invention, and it’s totally true. I invented these ice pops because it was necessary for me to not go outside in the heat for groceries. I had a tub of ricotta in the fridge that needed using up, and since lasagna isn’t exactly hot weather food, I thought I’d give ricotta ice pops a whirl. From there I thought that lemon, thyme, & honey would be the perfect complements to sweet and creamy frozen ricotta, and that buttermilk would be an ideal liquid to thin out and pair with all that yumminess.

These ice pops are wonderfully cool and refreshing, but beyond that, they also have an amazing unexpected flavor. I will admit that the ricotta does give them a slight sort of graininess, but I don’t find it at all unpleasant. Maybe it’s because they’re so creamy and taste so rich without feeling heavy. There’s something almost cheesecake-like about them, but they’re somehow lighter and more sophisticated. The lemon and thyme are the perfect, dare I Summery, complement to the subtle sweetness of the honey and the cultured dairy creaminess of the buttermilk and ricotta.

You better eat them fast though because they won’t be around for long in this heat!

Buttermilk Ricotta Ice Pops with Lemon, Thyme, & Honey

Servings: about 10 3-ounce pops
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1 1/2 cups whole milk ricotta
3/4 cup buttermilk
zest and juice of 2 lemons
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, washed and stripped from stems
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons sugar
pinch of salt

place all ingredients in a blender and puree until very smooth, about 3 minutes. Scrape down sides of carafe as needed. Carefully pour mixture into ice pop molds, filling almost to the top. Place cover or foil over molds and move them to the freezer for 30 to 45 minutes. Remove, add popsicle sticks to each pop, and return to freezer. This keeps the sticks from sinking too far or moving off kilter. Freeze for at least 3 hours more, or until completely solid.

Remove from pop molds by gently running under warm water for 10 or 15 seconds per mold.

the paloma cocktail

It’s finally FINALLY starting to warm up and stay warm(ish) outside.

I know that it’s not actually WARM, yet, but it’s warmer, and I’ll take it. Today the sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and Doris and Betty were driving me crazy going outside and coming back in and running back and forth all day long. All this warm(ish) weather had me standing outside in our backyard, wandering around staring hard at the dirt to see if I could spy any little hints of green poking up from underneath the soil. It also had me yearning for backyard barbecues and fresh summery cocktails.

I guess Russell had the same idea, because when I came home from work yesterday he greeted me at the door with a sparkling, icy, fresh paloma. If you’ve never had a paloma, it’s really one of the simplest cocktails you can make, and one of the most delicious you can drink. It’s little more than a few ounces of white tequila served over ice and topped with grapefruit soda. I’ve seen it gussied up at fancy restaurants with homemade soda, fresh fruit juice, and salt or sugar rimmed glasses; but I really think that in this case you shouldn’t mess with tradition. This super simple cocktail is said to be the most popular tequila-based cocktail in Mexico, more popular than the margarita, and once you taste it you’ll understand why.

I can actually remember the exact moment that I tasted my first paloma. It was the summer of 2008, I was waiting tables in Williamsburg Brooklyn, and the restaurant where I worked added a paloma to their seasonal cocktail menu. I was hesitant to try it at first because at that time I tended to stick with whiskey or gin, and really didn’t care for tequila. I did love grapefruit though, so I let the bartender twist my arm and I was hooked for life. It went straight to the top of my list of favorite summertime libations, and ended up being a gateway drink that taught me to love tequila.

Traditionally a paloma is served in a highball with a pinch of salt and squeeze of lime. It’s decidedly unfussy, so you really don’t need to rush out and buy the fanciest tequila or make your own grapefruit soda. I recently discovered that San Pellegrino makes a grapefruit soda called “Pompelmo” that’s seriously perfect for making palomas. It’s made with real grapefruit juice so it has a fresher, more natural flavor, without all the bother of making your own soda. If you can’t find the SanPellegrino Pompelmo don’t freak, you can make a totally legit and delicious paloma using Squirt or Fresca.

Brooklyn is in the midst of a resurgence of fancy-pants depression-era craft cocktails, but every once in a while a simple classic does the job without all the fuss. You don’t need to know how to tie a bow tie or wax a mustache to make this cocktail. Not only is the paloma super easy to make, but it tastes totally amazing! Even though it’s made from little more than soda and hooch, it tastes impossibly summery and refreshing. It literally tastes like sunshine and warm weather. Are you thirsty yet?

The recipe is so ridiculously simple that it’s almost silly to write it out, but check it out below. In the words of Russell, “It’s so easy it’s stupid.” If you want a to gussy it up a little you can salt or sugar the rim of your glass before serving, but I don’t think you need to bother.

The Paloma

Servings: one 7 oz cocktail
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ice
2 oz silver tequila
6 oz grapefruit soda
pinch of kosher salt
1 lime wedge

Fill a highball or rocks glass with ice. Pour tequila over ice, sprinkle with salt, and top with grapefruit soda. Squeeze some juice from the lime wedge into the drink, and add the wedge. Stir. Sip. Enjoy.