Pipes frozen again? Might as well have a drink!

We have been experiencing some brutal wind chill factors lately (down to about 25 below!), so I have been staying up all night, stoking the fire, checking on the heaters, and monitoring the pipes. I made the mistake of taking a three-hour nap on the couch at 6:30 this morning, and when I awoke, the hot water in the kitchen had frozen just as the cold water had done two days before, despite my vigilence. Not to panic, I employed a brilliant but very complicated system of pipe thawing that even professional plumbers can't fully appreciate. Observe my Pots and Pans and a Hair Dryer Methodology (patent pending).

Suffice to day, Old Man Winter has me frustrated and completely exhausted. Other than ripping up the kitchen floor to get to the currently inaccessible pipes that keep freezing up on is, the most immediate solution simply must involve a cocktail. I hardly ever drink, but when I am driven to it by the torments of home ownership and vicious weather, my poison is a an icy, tart, citrusy margarita. And I declare the official margarita of this bleak midwinter and frozen plumbing: The Blood Orange and Ginger Winter Margarita.

The recipe comes from Honest Cooking, and it is simply delicious. Now that interesting citrus is plentiful, you can easily find fresh blood oranges for this drink. I would also recommend that you use a high-quality, microbrewed ginger beer for this. I love Maine Root's Spicy Ginger Brew, which has a real kick to it, and just might defrost your wintry disposition.

Blood Orange and Ginger Winter Margarita

(Source: Honest Cooking)

 

For garnishing all drinks:
1/4 cup blood orange juice
zest from one blood orange
1/4 cup granulated sugar
slices of blood orange for garnish, optional

For each individual drink:
ice
2 ounces blood orange juice
1.5 ounces tequila
juice from 1 wedge of lime (I use half a lime)
3 ounces strong ginger beer

Place 1/4 cup blood orange juice into a bowl. In a separate bowl, combine blood orange zest and sugar. Dip the rim of a glass into juice first and then into the sugar mixture to coat the rim evenly. Fill the glass with ice.

In a cocktail shaker, combine one cup of ice with two ounces blood orange juice, one and a half ounces tequila, and the lime juice. Shake vigorously. Pour into the prepared glass and top off the glass with ginger beer. Stir and enjoy!

A semblance of summer...

I have decided that I am just going to pretend it's summer, even if it rarely looks like it outside! So I am going make simple suppers, like a crusty French baguette, sliced and slathered in butter, drizzled with balsamic, sprinkled with minced garlic, and topped with shaved garlic. (This will be even more phenomenal when local tomatoes are ready to be sliced and added to the mix!) And I will eat many, many of my beloved buttery, bright green, Castelvetrano olives on the side.





The strawberries are finally here, so I will have lots of salads topped with these red ripe beauties, and also sliced red onion, blue cheese crumbles, pepitas, and creamy balsamic dressing. Oh yes, I shall.

 
 





And my own little garden has started to yield good things, too, like herbs, lettuces, and my very first sugar snap peas! YUMMY!















I will also make silly, girly cocktails based on things I've seen floating around Pinterest and Facebook, like the one drably called "Summer Pool Drink." But as I like my drinks frozen and frothy, I will adapt the recipe to be made in my fabulous margarita machine! And I will rename this libation, Grown-Up Hawaiian Ice.

Grown-Up Hawaiian Ice

1/2 cup whipped cream vodka (or regular)
1/4 cup Key Largo Schnapps (or any tropical flavor you prefer)
1/4 cup dark rum
1/4 cup frozen pineapple juice concentrate
1 cup water
1/2 little cup of Crystal Light or Totally Light lemonade mix
1 can Fresca
3 cups ice (or to desired consistency)

Blend, pour, and share with a friend!

A brief glimpse of summer...

Cyd installed the air conditioners this past weekend because the heat was doing us in. Then last night, I froze to death with the windows open and a fan blowing on me all night. Tonight, I am running around, closing all the windows and reaching for a blanket because it's too late to build a fire. I'm afraid that Spring 2013 has a bipolar disorder.

But during that brief burst of heat, I fashioned a lovely summery beverage to cool us off, based on a recipe in the May Bon Appetit (photo credit to them as well): Thai Chai Berry Iced Tea!

Combine ten star anise pods, three tablespoons sugar, and eight cups of water in a large saucepan. Scrape in seeds from one vanilla bean and add the scraped bean to the pot as well. Bring just to a boil, then remove from heat and add 15 black tea bags (I used an organic berry white tea). Cover and let steep for about 20 minutes. Strain into another large pitcher. Stir in 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk until dissolved. Chill thoroughly, then serve over ice.

Because society frowns on margaritas for breakfast...

I just love the Margaritaville Frozen Concoction Maker that I bought half price at the end of the last summer season. But until today, I'd only used to it make...well...margaritas. But I have been seeing this McDonald's commercial lately for a blueberry-raspberry-pomegranate smoothie, and I thought I might try making something similar at home. I didn't have any pomegranate juice on hand, but I used a little frozen orange juice concentrate, and it turned out really yummy! I love berries and citrus flavors together, especially when blended with creamy dairy goodness. If you do, too, give this smoothie a whirl in your blender.

Berry Orange Smoothie
(Makes two 16 oz. glasses)

1 cup milk (I use fresh, whole, unpasteurized milk that I buy locally)
1/2 cup Greek yogurt (preferably, vanilla)
1/2 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen)
2 tablespoons frozen orange (or orange-pineapple) juice concentrate
1 teaspoon honey (or to taste)
1 cup ice (or more, to reach desired consistency)

Hibernating for the rest of the Memorial Weekend....

2012-2013 was a very difficult academic year with much inner political upheaval, shall we say, at our institution. As usual, I taught full-time at the community college and part-time at the state university, so seven classes a semester plus a few extra-curriculars made Gina a very busy gal, and a very tired one by the end of the spring term and the academic year. Moreover, they are repairing the heating system in the main building over the summer, so I had exactly one day after the semester ended to finish all of my final grades, make syllabi for the summer sessions, and purge thirteen years' worth of crap in my office and get everything packed up before leaving for the annual SUNY technology conference in Utica for a few days.

If that weren't enough, I have been rocking a particularly vicious sinus infection for about three weeks that I am just now getting over. And as I blogged about yesterday, right on the heels of my conference, we had a day in Montreal planned to reconnect with some good friends who were passing through on their way to Quebec City, and we didn't get home until late last night.

Given all of these conditions, plus unseasonably cold, rainy, and windy weather, Cyd and I plan to relax by the fire, clearing out the dvr and watching dvd's, and napping alongside three snoring dogs until Tuesday when we are contractually compelled to return to work. So today, we stay home and recuperate, but tonight, we pay homage to our cosmopolitan neighbor to the north, Montreal, with a supper of Croque Madame and Croque Monsieur (the Madame has the egg on top, naturellement). And though I cannot source tamarind in my provincial little town to be able to replicate the Itacate house margarita, I have fashioned a tangy and refreshing ruby red grapefruit margarita that hits the same sweet and sour notes. C'est si bon!

Croque Monsieur and Madame
(Source: adapted from Gourmet, March 2007)

First you have to make a béchamel:
Melt 3 tablespoons of butter until it foams, then whisk in five tablespoons of flour and cook for a minute or two, whisking the whole time. Slowly pour in two cups of milk and cook until thick, whisking constantly.

Remove from heat and grate in some fresh nutmeg (1/4 teaspoon, or to taste), 1/2 teaspoon white pepper, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and about 1/4 cup finely shredded gruyere or emmenthal cheese (or your favorite aged, Alpine-type cheese).

 

Take one piece of bread and spread a goodly amount of the sauce on top (about 3 T?). Then sprinkle on another tablespoon of shredded cheese, a couple of pieces of ham, and another tablespoon of shredded cheese. Spread the top slice with a very thin layer of Dijon mustard, then top the sandwich. Brown the sandwich on both sides in a buttered skillet until golden. Top each sandwich with another few spoonfuls of the bechamel and broil for a couple of minutes in the oven until the sauce gets brown and bubbly. For Croque Madame, top with a fried egg.

Garnish with fresh chives if you've got 'em! YUM!

 

Ruby Red Grapefruit Margarita

 

1 cup ruby red grapefruit juice (I used "light")
1/4 cup frozen orange (or better yet, orange-pineapple) juice concentrate
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/2 cup tequila of choice (I use Sauza silver)
2 tablespoons triple sec (or Cointreau or Grand Marnier if you're fancy)

ice to just BELOW the fill line of the Margaritaville blender (about 4 cups?)

lime wedge garnish for each glass (=three 16 oz. glasses)
rim each glass lightly with salt if you prefer