Category Archives: Cocktails and other loveliness

Post-holiday blues are probably the worst kind. Life seems so simple when you are lying on a white sand beach, gazing at the turquoise Caribbean listening to “Yellow bird up high in banana tree”  for the millionth time . All comes to a dismal reality when you are standing in Gatwick Airport at 6 in the morning shivering and waiting for your luggage to arrive. You wonder where that lovely optimism disappeared to? Looking at the fat, brown woman in the mirror, fighting jet-lag and the crowds in Waitrose over the last few days, I have come to a happy conclusion. Do more of the things you do on holiday at home!  It’s bound to cheer you up and I don’t mean mosquito spray and sand between your toes. Yes, I mean alcohol!

Spurred on by this, it seems a good time to revive my love of cocktails, they had me right back in the 80’s; I was there with my Harvey Wallbanger and my Screwdriver (this was before they added the long and slow bit against a wall) and my big hair. Happy days! We thought it chic  not just to drink them, but to display the bottles of Gallianos and Grenadine as if they were priceless ornaments. So let’s have a wander down memory lane….

Harvey Wallbanger:5 parts fresh orange juice, 3 parts vodka, 1 part Galliano. Method: Just pour the orange juice and vodka over crushed ice and float the galliano on top

Tequila Sunrise: 1 glass of fresh orange juice on ice, 2 shots of tequila, 1 shot of grenadine. Method: add the tequila to the orange juice and stir, then float the grenadine on top

And then finally, my drink of choice in Montego Bay, it was a no-brainer, really…..Pinacolada: (Makes 2)handful of ice cubes,8 Shots pineapple juice, 2 shots coconut cream (get the little  cartons from the supermarket), 1 shot coconut rum rum, 1 shot dark rum. Method: Place 2 empty cocktail glasses in the freezer 10 minutes before hand. . Pour all ingredients except the rum into the blender. Blend on full power till the ice has crushed. Put the 2 rums in to the glass, then add the lovely pineapple/coconut slush which should float in the lovely rum.  This is how they did them in Jamaica and trust me, it was delicious.

 

I love Rome, and whilst there’s nothing quite to compare with sitting at the bar at the top of the Forum hotel overlooking Ancient Rome by torchlight whilst waiters look down the front of your dress and ply you with free limoncello, the satisfaction of your own home-made vodka almost makes up for it. Also, I swear there were bed bugs and that’s the nasty hopping kind, not some sophisticated listening device.

This is very similar to making plum vodka. You need a large kilner jar that you have sterilised by placing in a hot oven for 20 mins and then allowed to cool. Whilst you’re waiting for this, take the zest from 14 lemons, yes, I know it’s a pain but worth it – if anyone out there has discovered a machine that zests, please put us all out of our misery! Place the zest in the jar and add 750ml of vodka. Put the lid on and place in a dark place for 2 weeks, or longer if you want more colour. If you don’t want to waste the juice from all those lemons, you can freeze it in those ice cube bags, so it is handy to be able to use cube by cube.

After two weeks, make a syrup of 1000ml of water and 800g of sugar ( I am experimenting using the lemon juice for this, but will report back on whether it worked). Allow it to cool and add to the vodka and zest mixture along with a further 750ml of vodka. Leave for a further rwo weeks or longer if you wish, then it is ready to strain in to pretty, sterilised bottles and to drink or give as presents. It is wonderful, freezing cold drunk on its own, but also good as part of my limoncello champagne martini (see method from last weekend).

Some of you will have tried my limoncello martinis, as they are my recommended drink with toffee bakewell puddings (recipe to come soon), but on these hot, lovely summer days, they are the best sun-downers.

Add 1 shot of vodka, (I like Grey Goose), 1 shot of Limoncello and top up to the brim with champagne or a good sparkling wine and decorate with a twist of lemon zest.

The best news is that this summer I have made my own limoncello, recipe and tasting to follow next week.

Happy weekend!