Today I complained about being uninspired. My daughter just saw one way out of this creative drought. Ever since I had a sip of this spontaneously created raspberry cocktail, things started moving. My creativity galloping away ( – me clinging on), pulled me into new terrain. The topic of discussion for the night has become profane : “is the primitive contrast of red and green enough to stimulate the demanding readership of my blog?” Here […]
Right now, I feel like in Scotland. Pouring rain, the forest has never been this green, some cows escaped from the field and greeted us blocking the road (just sub sheep for cow and you get the true scottish highland feel). Someone else must have thought so too: Georg Schenk, the owner of Augustus Rex Distillery is already internationally known for his selection of noble spirits. He stuck to the old German varieties until this […]
Finally the nights have become warm enough to inaugurate the Barbecue season. No better holiday feeling than heating the charcoal, mixing the sauces and preparing the lots of meat we normally abstain from. And of course, our guests had to be introduced into the pleasures of a well-prepared Leapfrog.
Since strawberries are in full season now (we can pick them ourselves in endless strawberry fields nearby), I have been looking for some more exciting recipes than the familiar cakes, creams and yoghurts. Here is the result of my research: The STRAWBERRY SORBET comes from David Lebovitz’ book The perfect Scoop, the best ice cream book I ever owned. Every so often I prepared it, it disappeared in the twinkling of an eye. Believe me, it’s […]
The peppermint plantation in my garden is ripe and ready to find its way into the cocktail glasses… For 2 glasses of irresistible-dazzling-turqoise Leapfrog take 6 mint leaves 4 parts Gin 1 1/2 parts lemon juice 1 part Blue Curacao 1/2 part sugar syrup 2 dashes Angostura Bitter In a mixing glass, muddle the mint leaves with the sugar syrup, then add the rest of the ingredients. Shake with ice cubes and strain into a […]
Our new favourite from now! As I’m convinced that the malevolent Ehec germ lives neither in spanish cucumbers nor in our regional vegetables, I fancied trying a cocktail with fresh cucumbers. The Intro To Awesome Punch has been created by Jane Danger, head bartender at Cienfuegos, a spin-off from the owners of Death and Co., a cocktailbar located in the East Village of Manhattan. The Punch mixes best while listening to this music How to […]
Sunday’s cocktail comes on a bad-weather-Monday! However, are you ready for a summer series of fresh sours and punches? Being the White Lady still a true classic, my next drinks will come along much more creative with fruit, cucumbers and herbs muddled in the syrup and the spirits. Ah? Do I see that some of you are raising the eyebrows? Don’t worry, Paul Carr, an English composer and big aficionado of cocktail mixing, once taught […]
Eighty-year-old Grandma arrived to celebrate Easter with us. Knowing she loves the bittersweet taste of Campari and and its beneficial effects on the digestive system, we decided to mix a Negroni to welcome her. I admit we felt a bit worried the high content of alcohol could harm her (dizziness, sudden tachycardia, sleeplessness…). Instead she enjoyed it a lot, slept perfectly well and asked for repetition tonight… The original Negroni was invented in Florence, in […]
The first Cocktail to be presented is neither the Margarita, nor the Mojito, nor the Cosmopolitan…. it is the Blue Champagne! If you wonder how I aquired my broad knowledge of cocktail mixing and alike I blush and tell you some invented anecdotes from my past before I admit, that the secret lies in Charles Schumann’s Bar book. I remember a BLUE CHAMPAGNE we tried out once with unexpected consequences. Since then it has become […]