Today I craved ginger ale, and didn't want to wait the two days to ferment it. I had a 5-inch ginger root laying around, so I decided to make a syrup.
I peeled the ginger and cut it into approximately 3/4" chunks, threw it in 2c water and 2c sugar, and followed the previously linked process for flavored syrups. Afterward I cut the sugary ginger chunks into thin strips, and mixed them with lemon sorbet.

My new roommate Marin (house of 4 now) put some ginger chunks into mashed potatoes with broccoli and it's pretty great too.

2 oz ginger syrup to 6 oz soda water makes a great soda.

Updates?

What are those?

I have a house with no internet, which should be fixed some time Monday. In this house are two roommates, Cate and Carley, both lovely women from Omaha who share my love of booze and bacon. We have a little garden from the previous tenants that currently has lots of green tomatoes, some green leafy things, sunflowers, unidentified squash, and some herbs. Expect some ridiculousness in the future.
We might set up a still and make some booze in the garage. Corn liquor is first on the list, if this ends up happening.
Side note: our neighbors have chickens. I want to steal them.

Flavored Syrups

Flavored syrups are surprisingly easy to make. Here are two I've made recently, and a few serving suggestions.

Lavender Syrup
4 sprigs of lavender, preferably including flowers
1 c sugar
1 c water

Combine sugar and water in small pan, cook over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Add sprigs of lavender and cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Remove lavender sprigs, put syrup in separate container and chill.
Goes very well with lemonade.


Rosemary Syrup
2 sprigs rosemary
1 c sugar
1 c water

Do everything you did with the lavender syrup, but with rosemary instead. I haven't tried this with anything but lemon vodka, which is great.

Simple, delicious little details.

sweet tea liqueur and limoncello

Update: Both the rum and the ginger beer turned out fantastic. The rum is pretty lightly flavored. I steeped one bottle with vanilla, allspice, clove, and cardamom. The other bottle was flavored with the same, plus peppercorn and orange zest.

This summer has been more about experimenting with booze flavors than food flavors. I decided to try my hand at infusing some stuff. I can't get everclear, or anything of that proof, here in Washington so I use 100-proof vodka. Here are recipes for limoncello and sweet tea liqueur.

Sweet Tea Liqueur
750 ml vodka or neutral grain spirit
3 T loose black tea
38 oz sugar
38 oz water

Steep tea in alcohol for 3-4 hours. Filter out tea leaves, discard. Combine sugar and water in small pot over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves to make simple syrup. Allow simple syrup to cool to room temperature. Combine simple syrup and tea vodka. Allow to chill at least 2 hours before serving.

Limoncello
750 ml vodka or neutral grain spirit
10-12 lemons, depending on size
38 oz sugar
38 oz water

Zest lemons using a sharp knife or vegetable peeler, being very careful to get little to no pith (the white part beneath the thin yellow outer layer). Place lemon zest in alcohol, and let steep for 1-2 weeks. Make some simple syrup, as detailed in the sweet tea liqueur recipe. Combine simple syrup and lemon vodka. Allow to chill at least 2 hours before serving.

I plan on adding the sweet tea liqueur to whiskey, and either drinking the limoncello straight or combining it with gin and maybe a bit of rosemary syrup.

Dark and stormy

A friend and I are making rum. We made the molasses and yeast mixture a few days ago, and now my kitchen smells like fermentation and sugar. It'll be clear when we distill it, but we're going to put it in smaller jars and spice each one individually. Mostly they'll have clove, allspice, cinnamon, maybe some cardamom and I'm going to try one with cayenne.

Speaking of things that are delicious and spicy, I've recently fallen in love with ginger beer and want to try my hand at making some. We have everything necessary except ginger root.

I will definitely combine the two for an entirely home-made dark and stormy. Mmm.

Brunch Recipes

Served 6 people, with some leftovers. Pretty much I went to my local library, checked out cookbooks that came up when I searched "brunch," and ran with it.

BASICS
1) 8 hard-boiled eggs

2) Assorted fruit bowl

BEVERAGES
1) Coffee
Black, drip. I miss my French press. Milk, soy milk, and sugar available. The coffee I have right now is a French roast, which I should learn not to buy cheap because it's usually burnt.

2) Mimosas:
-1 part champagne
-1 part orange juice
Serve in champagne flutes

3) The Best Bloody Marys... Ever:
-2 1/2 cups Bakon vodka (possibly the only way this is delicious)
-7 cups tomato juice
-1 T Worcestershire sauce
-1 T Tabasco (or other brand) hot sauce
-Salt and pepper to taste
Throw them into a pitcher and stir. If making less, can be shaken in a cocktail shaker with plenty of ice. Serve over ice in a tall glass and garnish with
-Random pickled foods (mine included string beans, olives, pearl onions, and red peppers my stepbrother and his girlfriend made)
-Lime wedges
-Celery stick

FOOD
1) Donuts my other stepbrother was kind enough to bring over, including maple bacon. Not as good as the original Voodoo Doughnuts maple bacon, but still unexpectedly fabulous.

2) Caraway and Sour Cream Soup (from Cinnamon Mornings by Pamela Lanier)
-4 c chicken stock
-1/4 c butter
-2 c medium-dice onions
-1 c medium-dice celery
-1 c medium-dice carrots
-salt and pepper to taste
-1 T caraway seeds
-1/2 c all-purpose flour
-1 c sour cream
-1/2 c milk
Heat the chicken stock. In a separate 3-qt saucepan, melt butter. Saute onions, celery and carrots. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Add caraway seeds. Saute until onion is transparent. Reduce heat and add flour, stirring constantly so as not to scorch. Cook for 5 to 8 minutes to bind flour and fat. Gradually add hot chicken stock, stirring to dissolve the flour mixture. Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer.
In a separate bowl, mix sour cream with one cup of hot soup and stir vigorously to prevent curdling. Pour this mixture back into the soup and heat, taking care not to allow soup to boil. Finally, add milk and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.
Fancy culinary words in this recipe: roux, mirepoix.

2) Shrimp-Shirred Eggs (from same)
-3 T clarified butter
-8 eggs
-1 large shallot, chopped
-1 c brut champagne
-1 1/2 lbs frozen or fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
-3 c heavy cream
-1/4 lb (1 stick) unsalted butter
-8 olive rounds
-salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350. Butter a shallow, oven-proof casserole dish large enough to hold 8 eggs in a single layer.
Crack eggs into the casserole, being careful not to break the yolks. Dot yolks with 1 T clarified butter and bake uncovered in oven until the yolks are set.
Heat remaining 2 T clarified butter in a large skillet. Saute the chopped shallots lightly in the butter. Add champagne and reduce by half. Add the shrimp and cook gently for 2-3 minutes. Remove shrimp with a slotted spoon and keep warm. Increase heat under skillet and reduce juices to a thin glaze. Blend in cream and simmer until mixture thickens, about 20-30 minutes. Remove from head and whisk in 1/4 lb (1 stick) butter, a Tablespoon at a time. Stir in the reserved shrimp, season to taste and pour over the shirred eggs. Garnish with olive slices.

I prepared the mirepoix, other chopped veggies, hard boiled eggs, fruit bowl, and bloody mary pitcher the night before. I also made corn muffins, but they turned out incredibly dry so I don't want to inflict that recipe on anyone else.

I'm not dead.

I moved and have been getting settled.

Last Monday I made brunch for a few friends and my stepbrothers. I'll post recipes (no pictures, unfortunately) in the next couple of days, and then maybe a meaty review of The Vegetarian Myth (that pun was unintentional and now I hate myself a little.)

I might start posting stuff about homebrew and local microbreweries, as I'm maybe going to make a honey-blonde ale with my stepbrother. The Pacific Northwest is the perfect place to be a beer-lover. My older stepbrother just bought a house with his girlfriend and plans to grow hops around his back porch. Hell yeah.