Of course the meal is delicious on Thanksgiving. But….isn’t there something special about eating the same meal for the next 3 days? It never gets old until it’s gone! Sadly it is, but not before I captured the full experience.
Our entire meal was gluten free, and amazing. All the way down to Heather’s molasses cookies. Which is the same recipe as I posted before, just with Cup4Cup flour.
Now that you saw the photos, you can watch me eat it! Enjoy!
One of our days in NOLA we took the Ferry over to Algiers. I highly recommend this if you have a couple hours to spend. It’s a beautiful little residential area with lots of character. It was nice to walk around and check out all of the architectural styles. Plus, you may get to meet Cool Bob (from Buffalo of all places) at the Old Point Bar! We chatted with him for a while before we had to head back out into the heat, and across the river.
After the ferry ride back, we meandered our way over to Latitude 29, again. We weren’t aware that famed rum collector Professor Remsberg was going to be in the bar for a meeting. I wish we could have said hello, but didn’t want to interrupt.
Professor’s Remsberg’s Punch is the inspiration for my version of Planter’s Punch. Most versions of this punch are different, so feel free to make it your own!
2eat2drink Punch
Shake with ice and serve in a well garnished glass. Or you can always mix up a pitcher and stir!
The Lapu Lapu I created is based on the Disney version from The Tambu Lounge at the Polynesian Resort. I altered the recipe slightly from what I found only because I wanted to use a better rum for the float than 151. Plus, I can’t bring myself to use sour mix.
The Lapu Lapu
Mix all ingredients except float and stir well. Pour into a hollowed out a fresh pineapple filled with ice. Gently pour additional rhum to float on top. Garnish with orchids and mint and serve with a straw.
What is your favorite tiki drink? I’d love to know so I can do another series. Cheers!
Only as wild as the vines in our back yard. Every year the wild black raspberry vines creep a little closer. It’s almost overwhelming to keep up with, but this time of year it’s all good. Because there is pie (made by our friend Dan) and wild black raspberry mojitos! The pie was gone from the 4th of July party before I got a picture, but the mojitos made their debut this evening.
See the recipe here. Just add a handful of black raspberries after the limes…and muddle them in as well. Cheers!
It’s been cold. (Apparently too cold to do a post since New Years Eve…sorry!) I’m sure everyone is aware that it’s been a cold winter. The polar vortex, or whatever the heck is causing this cold spell, has been all over the news. I feel like this tree.
I want to be warm, walking down the brilliantly sun-lit blue cobblestone streets of Old San Juan with my beautiful wife. We would start towards El Asador on Calle de San Francisco. Along the way we would see a picturesque purple balcony and a few cool cats hanging around. When we arrive, we would sit at a table with a view of the street. The awesome bartender, Daniel, would make us mojitos with Don Q Cristal. They would be super refreshing. Daniel would bring our order of ceviche. It would be excellent and flavorful. We would sit, laugh, and enjoy.
What is your warm thought of the day? Cheers!
I think we should call this the pirate taco. “Fish taco” just doesn’t have enough character, especially since I cooked it with spiced rum!
My brother in law dropped off a freshly caught rainbow trout for us on Friday night. (Thank you, Jamie!) We consulted Chef Mark on a cooking method and settled on baking it wrapped in parchment paper, while stuffed with thyme, lemon, garlic, onions and bay leaves. It was a great meal, but time (and hunger) did not allow for photos. Since the fish was huge, we had plenty left over for the next day. Thus the creation of the pirate taco!
I started by sautéing some onion slices and diced jalapenos in a touch of olive oil. Once browned, I threw in black beans, rice, diced tomatoes, the leftover fish, some chopped cilantro and cotija cheese. I then poured in a few ounces of spiced rum to steam it since I really only wanted to heat everything up quickly. Once warmed, I added some diced avocados, lime juice, seasoned with salt, and tossed before serving in lightly grilled flour tortillas topped off with salsa and sour cream. Enjoy with rum for a true pirate experience!
The pirate taco. Fire up the stove, Matey!
Do you watch Burn Notice? If you do, you’ll know who Sam Axe is, and that the minty mojito is mentioned frequently. If not, I suggest you mix up a few of these and look for the show on USA.
We were fully immersed in the mojito when we went on our honeymoon to Puerto Rico, including the oddly silly tour of the Bacardi factory (which you should ask me about). We had all kinds: sweet, not sweet, super minty, barely minty, mint pulverized and whole. Pulling from all our experiences, we created our favorite classic style mojito; Minty, not too sweet, not too wimpy.
You can never go wrong mixing lime and sugar, but adding mint is what this drink is about. Thus the minty mojito, as Sam says. Take 10-15 medium sized mint leaves and place them in the bottom of your glass, pour in a splash of rum and muddle until the leaves are well crushed and the flavors are released into the liquid. (Breathe deep, the scent is marvelous, too.) Add lime wedges equal to half a lime and muddle some more to release the lime juice. Add crushed ice, 1 1/2 ounces light rum, 1/2 ounce simple syrup, 3 ounces lime seltzer, and stir. Take a sip and envision yourself on a Caribbean beach!
Mint, meet the muddler. Muddler, meet (and crush) the mint.
The muddling process (old Cuban sugar bag not mandatory).
The splendidly refreshing mojito! Warm weather in a glass.
10-15 mint leaves
1 1/2 ounces light rum
1/2 ounce simple syrup
3 ounces lime seltzer
crushed ice
“Can you please make me a dessert drink with a little caffeine?” Heather asked me. “Sure!” I said… but hmmm, I thought… what am I going to do now? Thus the discovery of a drink that tastes just like a Cherry Tootsie Pop.
The below ratio works out well when splitting one can of Coke Zero. And… it has to be Coke Zero. It doesn’t work nearly as well with any other cola.
Put crushed ice into a tulip-shaped glass. Add 2 ounces light rum, 6 ounces Coke Zero, and 1/2 ounce creme de cacao, then stir. Pour in 1 ounce grenadine and drop in a maraschino cherry. You should have a nice red glow at the bottom. Garnish with another cherry or two, and enjoy!
The Cherry Tootsie Pop, featuring Coke Zero.
2eat2drink 