Cruella DeVille

"Cruella DeVille, Cruella DeVille if she doesn't scare you no evil thing will..." If you are a Disney fan like I am it is very hard to forget that crazy "witch"!  Trying to make those cute lil Dalmatian puppies into fur coats!  The movie was adapted from a 1956 Dodie Smith novel and in 1961 Disney made their cartoon version, which is my favorite!  Then in 1996 a live action remake with Glenn Close as the evil villainess!  Also, word on the Hollywood street is that Emma Stone is starring in a movie about Cruella herself!  They made need this cocktail in a shot!  I'm available!  Love to hate her but growing up this movie was a favorite in our house and although we were always scared by Cruella she was definitely fun to watch!  Halloween is right around the corner and I wanted something spooky but still very stylish!  Disclaimer: NO Dalmatian puppies were harmed during the making of this cocktail!  

Ingredients: 

• 1 Egg White
• 3/4 oz. Lemon Juice
• 1/2 oz. Simple Syrup
• 1/2 oz. Heavy Cream
• 1/4 oz. Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur 
• 1 oz. Beefeater London Dry Gin 
• Scrappy's Aromatic bitters with Activated Charcoal tablets

Instructions:

Crack an egg and separate the yolk out and drop the egg white in your shaker tin.  Next, measure and pour all other ingredients in the tin.  Then without ice dry whip all ingredients in a circular whipping motion for 5-10 seconds.  Add ice and shake vigorously for 10-15 seconds.  The tin should be frosty and very cold to the touch.  Next, double strain with a Hawthorne and fine strainer out all the ingredients catching any ice chips into a chilled coupe glass. Lastly, drop on or spray some Scrappy's Aromatic bitters (mixed with Activated Charcoal tablets making the bitters very black) with a stencil making 9-10 Dalmatian spots!  Serve and enjoy!

A little background on my preferred spirits and inclusions: 

Beefeater London Dry Gin:  First produced in 1820 by distiller James Burroughs and still made with same recipe today in Kennington, London.  The Beefeater recipe contains juniper, Angelica root, Angelica seeds, coriander seeds, liquorice, almonds, lemon peels, Seville oranges, and oris root.

 Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur:  First created in 1821 by Girolamo Luxardo and the original recipe is still used today.  Distilled from the pits, leaves, stems and skins of Luxardo family's own sour Marasca cherries.  Then aged in Finnish ash wood for a year resulting in a beautiful dry and slightly sweet liqueur with complex notes of cherries and rosewater.  Also, the Luxardo family company was founded in Zara, a port city on the Dalmatian coast!  How perfect!

Activated Charcoal Tablets:  I use Nature's Way activated charcoal.  An all natural absorbent that helps trap toxins and chemicals from staying in the body! Win win!

"Picture it, Sicily..." Sophia Petrillo

While contemplating what my next blog post should be about, I recently was given a gorgeous tiki bar (more info on the bar and who it came from below) and as soon as I saw it, all I could think about it was the Golden Girls!  Which happens to be one of my all time favorite tv shows!  The original Sex and the City!  Dorothy, Rose, Blanche and of course my homegirl Sophia!  Sophia Petrillo is a sarcastic, sharp witted, straight shooting little old Sicilian lady that lives in Miami.  Now what would Sophia drink?  She is Italian, lives in Miami, has a beautiful Lanai to drink a fun and refreshing cocktail...so let's embrace those last few warmer days and nights we have with a fun tiki style cocktail!  Here I have a fantastic Italian Mai Tai variation made with the lovely Amaro Montenegro that takes the place of the Curaçao, trust me it is fantastic!  Picture it...The Sophia Petrillo! 

Ingredients: 

• 1 oz. Lime juice
• 1/2 oz. St. Vincent Almond Orgeat (shake well before using)
• 3/4 oz. Amaro Montenegro 
• 1 1/2 oz. Diplomatico Exclusiva Riserva Rum

Instructions:

Take out your jigger and shaker tin and measure out and combine all ingredients into the tin.  Dry whip all ingredients without ice in the tin for 10 seconds making sure all ingredients are combined.  Next add 4-5 medium sized cubes and shake for 5 seconds and then with your strainer pour out into a chilled double old fashioned glass filled with crushed ice.  You can make crushed ice by filling a gallon plastic bag with ice, seal it and then cover the bag with a towel and then pound the ice and cracking it into small pieces.  I use a muddler but anything heavy and sturdy will do!  Lastly I grab 1-2 mint sprigs and place on my palm and give them a nice slap and shake, this awakens the mint and brings out the aroma!  Place the mint sprigs in the crushed ice and serve.  Enjoy!   

A little background on my preferred spirits and inclusions: 

Amaro Montenegro:  An Italian digestivo made in Bologna, Italy founded by Stanislao Cobianchi in 1885.  It is made with 40 different herbs including rose hips, vanilla and orange peels.  It is named after Princess Elena of Montenegro.  Stanislao must of fancied her...

Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva Venezuelan Rum:  A copper pot distilled funky and fun Venezuelan rum made from molasses.  That is aged for 12 years in small oak casks making it a deep rich amber color.  Flavor notes of brown sugar, toffee, oranges, raisins, chocolate and cinnamon.  The distillery is located on the northern slopes of the Andes mountains.  This rum is one of the most awared rums in the world!

Almond Orgeat syrup:  I use St. Vincent brand but most speciality liquor stores will have  some sort of Orgeat syrup. 

I was lucky enough to inherit this beautiful three seat tiki bar from my parents good friends (Thanks Jim and Toni!) and it came from his Uncle Gary.  Gary Fraser aka Uncle Gary was one hell of a guy!  He was in the first ever Navy Seal group appointed in 1961, he created the original SEAL logo, he was a Casanova to the ladies and he loved Campari and bar culture.  I never got a chance to meet Uncle Gary but I feel very privileged being the recipient of his gorgeous tiki bar and it seems fitting that a fancy bar wench like myself have it now.  Hope he likes that too.  Here is an amazing article about him check it out. ❤️

 http://www.shadowspear.com/2016/02/seal-team-one-plank-owner-remembered/

Aperol Spritz a la Mickey Mouse!

If you haven't had an Aperol Spritz, one WHY NOT and two you gotta try it!!  An Aperol Spritz in so perfect for summer, easy to make and a crowd pleaser!  If you have a dinner party or are out to dinner, this is the perfect way to start the meal, the slight bitterness of the Aperol gets your tastes buds salivating and ready to devour food!  I make and drink Aperol Spritzes all the time and instead of the traditional way of making them, I wanted to have a little fun!  One of my favorite things in the world is anything Disney and to me Disney is part of my life and I will always be fascinated by its magic!  Around this time of the year I always think about Walt Disney and how he had such an incredible vision of making the world's greatest amusement park and how he did it solely to make people feel young, happy and carefree!  Coming up is Disneyland's Anniversary and what better way to make Walt smile then a drink to cheers with family and friends and that has a little Disney Magic!  M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!  Enjoy!

Ingredients:  

• 1 1/2-2 oz. Aperol or 3-4 Mickey Mouse or anything fun shaped Aperol ice cubes! (Instructions below)
• 3-4 oz. Bele Casel Prosecco Col Fondo  
• Splash of Club Soda  (I used La Croix Pamplemousse) 

Instructions: 

To make the Aperol ice cubes pour in equal parts water to Aperol and fill up an ice tray and freeze overnight.  The next day when you are ready to serve!  Put 3-4 Aperol ice cubes in a glass and top with 3-4 oz. of prosecco and a splash of club soda, an orange wheel and Bibidi Bobbiti Boo the coolest Aperol Spritz ever!  If you don't make Aperol ice cubes then just pour 1 1/2-2 oz. Aperol in your glass add regular ice then add the prosecco, club soda and orange wheel. Then serve! 

A little background on my preferred spirits and inclusions:

Aperol:  Aperol was launched to the public in 1919 at the Padua International Fair in Italy.  Created by the Barbieri brothers and very quickly became one of Italy's beloved aperitvos!  Made from bitter orange peel, rhubarb, gentian root and chinchona bark.  Aperol is legendary and a staple at my home bar.

Bele Casel Prosecco Col Fondo:  The Ferraro family started producing wine back in 1977 in Asolo, Italy.  This varietal is a creamy mineral laced dream.  Col Fondo translates to "with sediment."  This sparking beauty has notes of fresh fruit, bread crust and as you pour more complex notes emerge as lees are present in every bottle.  This traditional method is letting the sediment stay in the bottle so it causes a cloudy effect, but don't be scared it's awesome!

Mickey Mouse Aperol ice cubes:  I used a red silicone Mickey Mouse muffin tray to make the ice cubes.  I bought at the World of Disney store in Downtown Disney in Disneyland, but I am sure they are available online as well!

Run for the Roses

It's that time of year for big hats, pretty dresses, fancy gloves and red roses!  The Kentucky Derby is here and after having so many mint juleps I believe it is time for something a little different and just as pretty!  "The Run for the Roses" is a nickname for the Kentucky Derby and it references the lush blanket of 554 red roses that is awarded to the winner each year.  It was believed that in 1883 that New York socialite E. Berry Wall started the red rose tradition, by presenting ladies with each a red rose at a post Derby party.  Both the founder Churchill Downs and the president Col. M. Lewis Clark attended this party and was said to give them the idea of the red rose being the race's official flower!  However, the first recording of the blanket of roses being awarded to the Derby winner was in 1896.   To pay homage to the Kentucky Derby and the beautiful red rose tradition how perfect to have a cocktail to embody not only the Derby but also the time the tradition began and what the cocktail scene could of been like...Around the late 1880's and until the 1940's the fizz was a widely popular family of cocktails in America.  In the last ten or so years the resurgence of the fizz and many other amazing cocktails have resurfaced and have become popular again!  A fizz is typically any spirit, lemon juice, egg white, sugar and carbonated water and the first published recipes are in the 1887 edition of Jerry Thomas's Bartender's Guide.  For this glorious tradition of "The Run for the Roses" it only seemed fitting to create a drink with Four Roses a Kentucky Bourbon whiskey and actual real roses with a lovely Italian rose jam!  You wanna live fancy and have the perfect cocktail to serve while watching the Kentucky Derby look no further cause here it comes!  Introducing the "Run for the Roses" cocktail! 

Ingredients: 

• 1 egg white
• 3/4 oz. Lemon Juice
• 3/4 oz. Rose Jam
• 1/4 oz. Heavy Cream
• 2 oz. Four Roses Bourbon
• Top with 2 oz. Club Soda

Instructions:

Take out you shaker tin and first crack an egg and separate the yolk out and drop the egg white into the tin and add all other ingredients besides the club soda.  Dry whip all ingredients in your tin for 10-15 seconds.  Then add ice and shake vigorously for 10-15 seconds, until shaker tin has a frost on it.  Lastly, add the club soda to the tin and then double strain and pour out all ingredients into a chilled glassware of your choice.  Garnish with a red rose petal or a whole red rose like I did, it's the Kentucky Derby- Be Fancy!  

A little background on my preferred spirits and inclusions: 

Four Roses Bourbon:   The name Four Roses came from a story when the founder Paul Jones Jr. became infatuated with a lovely Southern belle.  When he saw her at the grand ball she was in a beautiful gown with a corsage of four red roses.  He later married the girl and named his beloved Bourbon "Four Roses" after that glorious night at the ball with his beautiful Southern belle.  This delicious Bourbon is an beautiful golden Amber color with notes of pear, apple, honey, flowers, and gentle spices.

Confettura Extra di Rose Jam:  Very common in Italy and is super fun and delicious in a cocktail!  You can order online, a specialty spice store, or go to Eataly if you have one near you, that is where I got mine.  

Dream Within A Dream...

 "All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream" a line from Edgar Allen Poe poem rings very true in how life really is.  Life can be so unpredictable, overwhelming and awe-inspiring at times and sometimes we cannot believe that is is our reality!  No matter what is going on good or bad all experiences make you "stronger than yesterday!"  I learned about this beautiful Poe poem not from school but from it being the underlying theme of one of the most iconic music tours is history from the one, the only, the legendary Miss Britney Spears!  Believe it or not Britney is a constant inspiration to me and will always be and just like her, "I go through life like a karate kid."  When I was concocting this dreamy elixir, all I could think about was how this cocktail was a high class, strong and vivacious lady drink and to me nobody embodies that more than Britney!  Enjoy this gin martini variation and let it take you into your own dream within a dream.

Ingredients:

• 2 oz. Martin Millers Westbourne Strength Gin
• 2 dashes Scrappy's Grapefruit Bitters
• 3/4 oz. Dolin Dry Vermouth
• 1/4 oz. Amaro Meletti 

Instructions:

Take out a chilled mixing glass and stir spoon and add in all ingredients above and 4-5 medium sized ice cubes.  Then stir ingredients for up to a minute until cocktail is fully diluted and chilled.  Next, take out your julep strainer and pour cocktail out into a chilled coupe glass.  Then peel a long grapefruit peel and express oil onto the cocktail and rim the glass with the peel.  Finally take the peel and roll up into what looks like a rosebud.  Cheers!

A little background on my preferred spirits and inclusions: 

 Martin Millers Westbourne Strength Gin:  A small batch London Dry Gin with notes of jade, jasmine, juniper, citrus peel, cardamom and peppercorn.  After distillation the spirit is shipped to Iceland and blended with Icelandic water.

Amaro Meletti:  Silvio Meletti began producing liqueurs in 1870 in Marche and a few years later began producing this beautiful Amaro.  With notes of saffron, lavender, violet, chocolate, anise and orange.

Dolin Dry Vermouth:  Produced in Chambéry, France since 1821 and is the last distillery in that region.  Tasting notes of lemon peel, green grass, tarragon and stone fruit.

Scrappy's Grapefruit Bitters:  Seattle Bartender Miles Thomas created this bitters line in 2008.  He set out to make an artisanal small batch bitters line made with integrity and quality  and he did just that.