Metamorphosis Margarita

Oh wow what a year 2020 has been? Sheesh!?! And we still have a long way to go… Who knew we would of had so much ugly this year, it truly is unbelievable! It is our job to educate ourselves, listen to and support others. To make the change and the world a more beautiful and positive place. The one positive thing about this year is knowing that in the dark comes light. I truly believe through these dark times will come a big transformation for our country. A transformation that includes US ALL! Recently, I was asked by Chella Beauty about one of my own transformation stories and the biggest one for me so far is becoming a bartender/mixologist. Which has truly helped me spread a form of love and beauty from myself to the world. One cocktail at a time, it can be something small like a cocktail, a friendly face and an ear to listen. If we all take part in doing positive and nice things for people the world would be a better place. To find your transformation story, sometimes what you think you want in life is actually not always what you want and the universe can work in mysterious ways for you to get there. You have to be open to change and new adventures, but also have a trust in the universe. Here is the glimpse of that story…

I grew up in a small farm town in Washington state with lots of land, a creek, animals, flowers everywhere and fresh produce.  Pretty much a fairyland!  I was even known to make “perfume“ as a kid with my Moms flowers, something I chuckle about that now because Mixology was clearly my calling . As a very young woman I decided to move to the bright lights of Hollywood and set myself high on living the Dream in LA! I dove into pursuing an acting career but also knew that to do that I needed to have a flexible job-that is where the hospitality industry came in. For years I was a server having auditions and being rejected and something didn’t feel right. I didn’t feel authentic and it wasn’t something that I wanted to pursue anymore.  I liked who I was and was over people telling me I wasn’t good enough and didn’t get the job…it wasn’t for me.  In 2008, the economic crash happened and the restaurant I had worked at closed. I began looking for a new opportunity and stumbled upon an interesting Craigslist ad about a new restaurant group that was looking to train people who had never Bartended before.  That way we could learn the old pre prohibition style way before of making cocktails. It sounded interesting so I applied and was interviewed and got the job! I trained for 8 weeks and was placed into a restaurant that was opening and after that the rest was history. My whole world transformed. I began to play around with flavors and interesting spirits and my creative side that was always inside me as a young country girl began to really flourish. I really found my calling and my craft, plus I got to be myself, be somewhat of a ham, work with my hands and in the end make something fun, tasty and beautiful for someone and make them happy. I never thought this career choice would bring me such fulfillment and I love sharing my recipes with anyone. One delicious libation a day makes the world a better place right? 
Cheers to better times and delicious cocktails!

Ingredients:

• 1 oz. Lime juice

• 1 oz. Grapefruit juice

• 1 oz. Pineapple juice

• 1/2 oz. Honey Syrup (3 parts Honey to 1 part hot water)

• 2 oz. Butterfly Pea Tea Infused Blanco Tequila (Steep Butterly Pea Tea buds in the Tequila for 1 hour)

Instructions:

Add the juice and honey into a shaker tin and shake for 10 seconds. Pour into a glass with cracked or crushed ice. Then take 2 oz. of Butterfly Pea Tea infused Blanco Tequila and pour over the ice and drink to make a beautiful layered cocktail. You will see the color transform before your eyes. Garnish with a paper straw and grapefruit and lime peel rose. Serve and enjoy!

A little background on my preferred ingredients:

 Butterfly Pea Flower Tea:  I bought the brand Three Squirrels Whole Butterfly Pea Tea on Amazon and I love it!  A couple cool things about Butterfly Pea Tea, one being it is full of antioxidants and it known for helping your skin against aging, reduces inflammation, good for brain health, treats general pain, increases vitality and helps fight against certain types of cancers. What?!!!  Secondly, the tea steeps to a beautiful blue color but based on the pH level of what is added next the colors change.  Adding lemon/lime changes the color to a pretty purple and I have heard but haven’t tried yet that adding hibiscus can change it to red.  Nature is magical!

Check out how to transform your look over at Chella.com !

Amaro D’ell Etna Syllabub

As we close out this year and move into a new decade. I am taking this time to reflect, decompress and give myself a break. When I have some time off cooking is something I love to do and it helps me relax and be in the moment. I highly suggest you make something fun, historical, decadent and perfect for a festive occasion. A syllabub is frothy special occasion boozy dessert that was very popular from 16th to 19th centuries that takes sometime to make but it so worth the wait. Often made with cream, lemon, sugar and with either wine or sherry. I wanted to make it even more flavorful and complex, so I picked Amaro D’ell Etna from Sicily because it has a holiday flavor profile and is perfect for this time of year. Once freezing was an option and ice cream came into play syllabubs were a thing of the past. Well we are here to change that…

“Syllabubs are one of the oldest of all English desserts, and they have been known in this country since the first American colonies were established. The odd-sounding name itself—sometimes spelled ‘sillibub’ —comes from the early English word ‘silly,’ meaning ‘happy.’ As you will see, it is a very happy alcoholic dessert indeed.” –James Beard

Recipe serves 6-8 

In a medium size mixing bowl mix together 3/4 cup Cane Sugar, the zest and juice of 1 Lemon, 3/4 cup Amaro Dell’ Etna. Mix together until the sugar is really blended and dissolved well into the lemon juice and Amaro.  Once it is mixed, slowly add 2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream to the mixture.  Then continue to mix and whisk- definitely recommend an electric hand mixer because I mixed around 13-14 minutes. Be patient it is worth the wait!  Once the Syllabub forms soft peaks you know it is ready. Next pour into desired serving glassware and then refrigerate for several hours.  You will see the dessert will start to separate a lil then you know it is ready. Shave some fresh nutmeg and cinnamon on the top and serve!

A little background on my preferred spirit:

Amaro Dell’ Etna- Made since 1901 in Sicily with 26 aromatic plants and herbs from the soil of Mt. Etna.  The distillery is located amongst orange groves very close to Mt. Etna which gives all the plants and herbs a unique volcanic soil essence. Tasting notes bitter orange peel, blood orange, licorice, cinnamon, vanilla, rhubarb, Smokey minerality, kola, clove.

Ascoli Piceno Iced Tea

On a hot summer day all you want is something refreshing, hydrating and of course tasty! What about all the above plus a little alcohol! Low ABV cocktails are all the rage especially in the summer because who doesn’t want to stay hydrated but also be able to hang with family and friends for hours while imbibing! I love drinking iced tea on the warmer days when water sometimes becomes a bit redundant and the alcohol drinks we know with iced tea are always so strong and not good at all. Just thinking about them makes me cringe…yuck! But fear no more I have the cocktail for you tea lovers. Amaro (Amari plural) is by far my favorite category in spirits because of the history, the selection of plants and herbs and its versatility when making cocktails. The process of making Amaro actually resembles that of a tea bag inside of water. The selected herbs, roots, barks, fruits, vegetables and other ingredients for each individual Amaro brand macerate in the choose base spirit. Basically the flavors are steeping in the booze just like tea leaves with water. Knowing what Amaro to pair with my Black Tea was easy for me I wanted something slightly sweet yet slightly bitter with floral and citrus notes that would pair and enhance the flavors of the tea. I choose a favorite of mine Amaro Meletti made in Ascoli Piceno which is a Province in the Marche region of Italy. I am privileged enough to actually being able to visit the amazing place in the next couple months. At the Meletti Distillery they have a Caffe called of course Caffe Meletti where they serve food, beverages and also a store for you to to buy their products. I have been dreaming to go here for sometime now and I could imagine myself drinking an Amaro flavored Iced Tea as I sit and people watch outside the Caffe looking out to the Piazza and relaxing. La Vita E Bella!

• 4-6 Mint Leaves Muddled

• 2 Slices Cucumber Muddled

• 1 1/2 oz. Amaro Meletti

• 1/4 oz. Honey Syrup

• 4-5 oz. Black Iced Tea

  Add the mint and cucumber into your shaker tin and muddle. Then add all the other ingredients with a few ice cubes and shake for around 5 seconds. We want to get all the ingredients to marry together but we don’t want to over dilute! Next fill a chilled glass with crushed ice and double strain the tea cocktail into your glass. Next garnish with a mint bouquet, lemon and cucumber wheels! Serve and Enjoy!

  A little background on my preferred spirits:

  Amaro Meletti:  Silvio Meletti began producing Anisette liqueurs in 1870 in Ascoli Piceno a Province in Marche. A few years later began producing this beautiful Amaro.  With notes of saffron, lavender, violet, rose, chocolate, anise, cloves and orange peel. Family-owned and -operated for more than 140 years.

Mariposa Margarita

Spring is here and so are the Painted Lady Butterflies migrating from Mexico up the west coast through Southern California up their way to the Pacific Northwest.  Seeing these Painted Ladies is such an enchanting sight to see!  It almost feels like you are in a Disney movie, watching them flutter around.  Hiking my normal trail and seeing clusters of fluttering butterflies and watching them in the moment and not being on my phone on a beautiful sunny SoCal day really made me smile and was super inspiring.  I was in the moment with nature and it felt so lovely.  This large of a butterfly migration hasn’t happened in years and I think it really important we cherish these moments and really truly remember to respect the planet and all its creatures.  I wanted to make a cocktail that represented the metamorphosis that a butterfly goes through in its life (relatable), especially these particular Painted Ladies from out of their chrysalis and on their journey from Mexico.  A few months ago I finally got some Butterfly Pea Flower Tea that I have been seeing and hearing about and decided to experiment with some infusions.  Infusing with tequila was an excellent choice and really what the natural born Mexican butterflies would want to sip on.  Ha!  I also no joke on my hike saw a butterfly land on a wild honeysuckle, instantly I knew what to make.  One of my favorite classic cocktails is a Honeysuckle a rum, lime and honey cocktail that is refreshing and delicious!  This cocktail is a play off of that, lime and honey in a Margarita are a match made in heaven and with this Butterfly Pea Flower Tea infused tequila you can’t get anymore enchanting and succulent than that.  Enjoy the Mariposa Margarita!  Cheers!

Ingredients:

• 3/4 oz. Lime Juice 
• 3/4 oz. Honey Syrup (3 parts honey to 1 part hot water mixed)
• 2 oz. Butterfly Pea Flower Tea Infused Espolon Blanco Tequila  

Instructions:

As mentioned above we have some things to prep for this drink.  The honey syrup (listed above) is easy and a great thing to have in your fridge for other delicious drinks.  Next, let’s infuse the Tequila with the Butterfly Pea Flower Tea.  The good thing is this infusion is a fast one the Butterfly Pea Tea is very potent!  I took a 1/4 cup of Butterfly Pea Flower Tea and steeped in 2 cups of Espolon Blanco Tequila.  Right away you see the the color changing process happening and tequila will turn a beautiful blue color.  I left the tea in the tequila for around 4 hours and then took out the flower buds and discarded them.  Now we can make the cocktail!  Place any glassware being used inside you freezer to get extra cold.  Sometimes I like having a Margarita up but you can always put this drink on the rocks. Next get out all your ingredients measure them and pour all of them into your shaker tin.  Add around 5-6 ice cubes then shake hard for 10-15 seconds making the tin frosty, that’s how you know you did a good shake.  Grab your Hawthorne and fine strainer and pour cocktail out into your desired chilled glass.  Now the drink is purple and no longer blue... it’s magic!  Lastly, garnish the cocktail with a lime wheel (I dehydrated mine) and a few Butterfly Flower Pea Tea buds on top of the lime floating like a lime lily pad.  Serve and enjoy!  

A little background on my preferred spirits and inclusions: 

Espolon Blanco Tequila:  Made at the San Nicolas Distillery using the blue weber agave plant in Los Altos in the Highlands of Jalisco, Mexico.  Espolon tequilas were created by Cirilo Oropeza and was introduced in 1998.  On the nose it has hints of tropical fruit, sweet agave, lemon zest, pepper and floral notes.  On the palate pineapple, vanilla bean, pepper, spiced agave and vegetal notes.

Butterfly Pea Flower Tea:  I bought the brand Three Squirrels Whole Butterfly Pea Tea on Amazon and I love it!  A couple cool things about Butterfly Pea Tea, one being it is full of antioxidants and it known for helping your skin against aging, reduces inflammation, good for brain health, treats general pain, increases vitality and helps fight against certain types of cancers. What?!!!  Secondly, the tea steeps to a beautiful blue color but based on the pH level of what is added next the colors change.  Adding lemon/lime changes the color to a pretty purple and I have heard but haven’t tried yet that adding hibiscus can change it to red.  Nature is magical!

Spritz From A Rose

Another Valentine’s Day approaches us and this year more than any other year I have heard “Galentine’s Day” a lot and I love it!  To me and my friends Valentine’s Day has become a more cheesy and throw in your face “that you are single kinda holiday” and while relationships are great and happy for all the lovers.  It is also a time to celebrate love in all forms and make sure that we remember that having a significant other doesn’t and shouldn’t define anyone.  With that being said I wanted to make a cocktail that could be for both the romantic lovers but also for the gals who just want to Kiki and sip something pretty.  Behold the cocktail for both.  Fresh, floral, citrusy, bubbly and light the Spritz From A Rose is the perfect drink to cheers to whatever this holiday means to you!  Enjoy Lovers! 

Ingredients: 

• 3/4 oz. Lemon Juice 
• 1/2 oz. Blood Orange Juice
• 3/4 oz. Simple Syrup  
• Scant Bar Spoon Measurement of Rose Water  
• 2-2 1/2 oz. Dry Prosecco 

Instructions: 

Measure and pour all ingredients listed besides the prosecco into a shaker tin.  Add ice and shake ingredients for around 3-5 seconds.  Next have a glass with a stem prepped with some ice cubes. Add the prosecco to the cocktail in the shaker tin and then grab your Hawthorne and fine strainer and pour out into the glass with ice.  Garnish festively and serve! 

A little background on my preferred spirits and inclusions :

Prosecco: Any dry sparking wine.  I used Cecilia Beretta Prosecco from Trader Joe’s.  

Rose Water: Nielsen-Massey Finest Quality Rose Water.  This I purchased at Whole Foods.