For the next five days, I am a lady of leisure! And what better way to celebrate than with a cocktail (or two)! And this Goose in Spring Cocktail fits the bill perfectly!
After three years, I am leaving the amazing team at Protiviti in Melbourne for pastures new. It was so hard to say goodbye; I have made so many friends there and worked for three amazing bosses. But new challenges beckoned and I am moving on.
But not until Monday.
So, in the meantime, while I am unofficially unemployed, I am as free as this little bird.
If being free means:
Cleaning out my pantry
Clearing out my wardrobe
Clearing out my bookshelves
Putting my car in for a service
A visit to the dentist
A visit to the hairdresser
Catching up with a girlfriend for lunch
A visit to the beauty salon for a mani & pedi
Getting the broken strap on my favourite handbag fixed
Trying to cook as many recipes from Persiana as possible
Vintage Shopping with my mum
Writing at least three blog posts to schedule for when I am on holiday next month
Writing that novel I’ve been thinking about for years
Scaling Everest
Yep, totally absolutely free!
The Goose in Spring cocktail was the winner of the May 2012 Vodka Cocktail Contest, where it was created by Elijah Venanzi.
[yumprint-recipe id=’68’]The Goose In Spring combines all the delicious floral flavours I love – lavender and elderflower with some fruity deliciousness from raspberries and lime! The original recipe used lemon instead of lime but I didn’t have any – and you know, when life doesn’t give you lemons, a girl’s gotta improvise! My lavender vodka was also VERY lavendery so I needed to adjust the other ingredients around it. The original ratios are per the link in the recipe.
Have a lovely week! I’ll be thinking of you while I’m doing all that nothing!
Take a look at this super delicious snack plate. Good at any time – but my favourite? A snack plate, a sunny Sunday afternoon,sitting on my balcony with a good book and a cheeky glass of wine = heaven!
The star of this particular snack plate is some potted cheese. .
Which sadly relies on two ingredients that may as well be unicorn’s tears and dragon’s blood for the times they have ever been available in this kitchen. Just one of them is nigh on a miracle and as for both, you had better go outside and look up because that moon out there will be bluer than Tobias Funke!
So what are these two magical, nigh on mythical substances?
Leftover cheese
Leftover wine
Whoever has them? No one I want as a friend!
My cheeses were the remnants….actually it even pains me to say that. The cheeses were items from a cheese platter (probably the previous weeks snacking plate) that I had just not got around to eating yet. And I cheated and opened a bottle of wine to make this.
I used a goat’s cheese, a blue cheese, a pecorino pepato and some cheddar. You can use any cheese you have.
First up, place all your bits of cheese into a food processor and whiz it up! Then add in your flavourings – I added port, a splash of red wine, Worchestershire sauce, cayenne pepper and then, because it was a little dry after the first whiz through, a little more port and a bit of cream. My recipe is based on a classic one by Jane Grigson but you can play with the flavourings to suit your palate and your mix of cheese.
Once you have whizzed it all up , pop it into a pot:
The next step is optional but traditionally the pot was then sealed with a layer of clarified butter:
Why Potted Cheese?
The idea behind potted cheese is simple. Back in the day when refrigeration was not as it is today, cheese was far more perishable than now. Potting your ends of cheese prolonged it’s life – I’m guessing the booze helped to preserve it whilst the clarified butter seal stopped bacteria getting in.
Nowadays, it is done more because it tastes delicious than for the preserving factor.
What Can You Do With Potted Cheese?
OMG, so much. Have it on crackers with a glass of wine! Quick, easy, delicious.
Replace regular cheese in a grilled cheese sandwich! Here is my salami, potted cheese, red onion and tomato version. With a pickle to add some sharpness.
So much oozy goodness!
I haven’t made these next lot but I think potted cheese would be delicious used in the following ways:
Replace sour cream in a baked potato. Or add it to chips and gravy for a take on a poutine.
Saute some bacon or steam some broccoli (or do both), cook up some pasta, top with potted cheese and stir through the bacon or broccoli
Fill celery sticks, add a topping of chopped walnuts
Replace crackers on a snack plate with slices of apple or pear
Heat up a dollop, add some more cream if necesary and use as a mornay or gratin sauce over anything you want to mornay or gratin
Spread it on bread, make up a savory custard and you have a super strata to go!
[yumprint-recipe id=’67’]So, it’s Sunday and whilst not balcony sitting weather at all, I’ve got the fire going and Hollow City, the second book of Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children good to go, so excuse me, I have a potted cheese snack plate to prepare! Dammit! Speaking of YA literature just made me realise I should have saved this for when The Cursed Child, the new Harry Potter comes out. I could have filled it with Harry Potter of cheese gags! Stay tuned for the re-post!
Welcome to my Blogiversary! Enter if you dare! Because the theme of this party is The Devil! I’ve even dressed up for the occasion.
We’re about to get things started. But first, allow me to introduce you to our eponymous cocktail du jour – The Devil!
When I was younger I longed to be the kind of person who had HollyGolightlyesqe parties where glamorous women smoked cigarettes from ridiculously long cigarette holders, people danced in crowded rooms and a drunk invariably wore a lampshade on his head.People at these parties seemed to get drunk incredibly quickly and I had been wondering what it was that, seemingly in a matter of minutes could turn you from this:
To This:
Now I think I know. It’s this:
Beware! The Devil is Potent! Delicious but it’s got a kick like a kangaroo! And totally perfect to kick off my devilishly themed 4th birthday celebrations!
Even better, it’s hellishly simple to make. Just three ingredients and you’re done! The original recipe calls for a splash of lemon juice and a lemon garnish. I had some kumquats left over from last week’s canapés so I used them instead.
Add the ice cubes to a glass and stir in the port, the vermouth and the lemon (kumquat) juice.
Strain into the chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish with a twist of lemon or a kumquat slice.
Enjoy!
Just remember to go easy – I think where The Devil is concerned, we need to heed the words of Dorothy Parker.
“I like to have a martini,
Two at the very most.
After three I’m under the table,
after four I’m under my host.”
On a non-birthday note, many thanks to both Donna and Yinzerella for letting me know the comments aren’t working. The WordPress support team of people a lot smarter than me are working to help me fix it! Until it’s fixed, please feel free to comment via Facebook or Twitter!
Have a great week! I”ll be preparing us some devillish appetizers!
Dear readers…you have no idea of the indignities I sometimes have to suffer to bring you this.
But first, let me tell you how my recipe for Cherry Beer Margaritas recipe came about. A little while ago, I was pottering around on Pinterest and I found several recipes for Cherry Beer Margaritas. Happy Days, I thought and began a clicking frenzy. Only, not one of these recipes was what I expected. I thought that these would be Cherry Beer Margaritas….i.e. margaritas made from Belgian Cherry Beer. Instead, they were all beer margaritas with some sort of cherry flavouring.
I could not find a Cherry Beer Margarita the way I envisaged it for love or money. And so I decided to make one.
First problem. I thought I would just run down to my local bottle shop and pick up some cherry beer and make me some margaritas. Uh uh. Not so speedy there, Gonzales.
They had Ginger Beer, Mango Beer, Lychee Beer, Chilli Beer, about a billion flavours of Cider and Perry but no Cherry Beer. This was repeated everywhere. I actually shelved the idea for several months simply because I could not find Cherry Beer anywhere.
That changed on the weekend. But not without a cost.
I finally tracked down the one bottle shop in Melbourne that sells Belgian Cherry Beer.
I asked for two bottles but they were on a very high shelf so the shopkeeper needed to climb up a ladder to get them. Whilst he was climbing he started telling me that they were getting more, different cherry beers in a few weeks. He rattled off some names.
“I used to drink a Cherry Beer…but it wasn’t either of those”
“Was it Belle Vue?”
“Yes! That’s the one”.
He said “That was a while ago”.
I had totally lost interest by then and was looking round the shop to see what else I could buy. “Yeah, I guess”
“Wow….was a REALLY long time ago” The dude was giving me a look that quite clearly said “Would you like a pension card and a zimmer frame to go with your two beers, Granny?”
“I beg your pardon what?” I asked him, giving him my best death stare and resisting the urge to kick that ladder right out from under him.
“Erm…nothing. Would you like anything else with that?”
How about one of these?
The Cherry Beer Margaritas were everything I wanted them to be. A gorgeous deep red, a great cherry and citrus taste, a good kick of salt and a pleasant hit of booze. Perfect drinking for a sunny afternoon!
I used a mix of vintage merlot salt I bought at Gewurzhaus and sea salt for the glass. The merlot salt is such a gorgeous colour and looked really pretty on the glass but any salt would do.
It’s almost a shame these tasted so good because I won’t be going back to that shop in a hurry. Anyway, I doubt these ancient bones would make the trip!
“Everyone knows what rockets at sea mean,” said the portly Boston Harbor pilot.
“They mean distress…It means, please come to me because I am in trouble. Simple as that.”
“But you see, that’s just my problem. If it is that simple, I’m trying to understand why the ship that The Titanic saw did not come….Is there any reason why the captain would not go to the aid of the distressed ship?”
“No, if he saw them, he must go. It’s the oldest tradition of the sea.”
The Californian was the closest ship to The Titanic on the night it sank, possibly only 8 miles away. It was close enough for crew members to see the lights on the sinking ship and the eight distress rockets sent up by The Titanic. They alerted the Captain. And, yet, they did not go to help.
This is the story of The Midnight Watch.
The Midnight Watch is a super read. I loved it and I’m sure it is going to rank high in my books of the year. Even though, it is also soooooo frustrating. Right from the start you know that The Californian did not go to help The Titanic. And of course, you want to know why. And at times you want to reach into the book and shake one of the people and yell “Why? Why didn’t you do something?” WHY?” Or, as one of the reporters in the book says to Captain Lord of The Californian
“If you’re the only one who can speak, then you must speak more!”
Chocolate Eclairs were served to the First Class Passengers on The Titanic.
The writing is beautiful. From tales of heroism and gallantry to cowardice and inaction, The Midnight Watch covers the best and worst of human behaviour both in the face of, and following momentous events:
“Because by now we knew the numbers. Fifty-eight first-class men has found their way into the lifeboats but fifty-three third-class children had not. It was an almost perfect correlation. For almost every rich man who lived a poor child had died”
American Ice Cream was on the menu for Second Class Passengers on The Titanic. Passengers in First Class were served French Ice Cream
“What Franklin (Head of The White Star Line) thought of the Captain I couldn’t know, but I did know that if he, Franklin, had been accused of abandoning so many people, the weight of shame would have broken him. And yet, Lord’s head was upright, he seemed to bear no weight at all”
So, so good. The Midnight Watch not only brought the story of The Californian but the entire period to life. This is the kind of historical fiction that I love; writing that truly transports you to another time and place. Oh and, if you wiki Captain Lord, he looks EXACTLY how I imagined he would!
When I read I see the words as a movie in my head and I think that this would make a fabulous film. The journalist searching for justice, the proud, flinty Captain; the second officer torn between loyalty and a desire to tell the truth. It would be amazing.
Third Class passengers on The Titanic were fed hearty, no frills fare. Fresh bread and butter, cold meat, cheese and pickles were part of their menu.
I was initially disappointed with the “answer” posited by David Dunn as to why Lord and The Californian did not go to the aid of The Titanic. Although perfectly plausible, It felt to me like an anti-climax; such a little reason for such an appalling consequence. But then I realised – pretty much any answer would have been disappointing. Because the only acceptable answer to the question of “Why didn’t you save the 1500 people who died that night?” would have been “Because we were too busy saving 1501 people elsewhere”.
Nonetheless a totally brilliant read.
Punch Romaine was served To First Class passengers on The Titanic as a palate cleanser between the first and second courses on the fateful night of April 14th. It is a white wine, rum and champagne cocktail served over…wait for it…. a mound of crushed ice. Which is surely worth it’s own line in Alanis Morisette’s Ironic. Don’tcha think?
On a total tangent, Romaine was one of the names my parents had picked out for me before I was born. Can you imagine a more foodie name than Romaine Fryer? Then again, Taryn was bad enough growing up, can you imagine going through life with the same name as a lettuce?
You know what else is a lettuce?
Iceberg.
Which brings us back to…..doh, oh, oh, oh….or Punch Romaine.
After three years, I am leaving the amazing team at Protiviti in Melbourne for pastures new. It was so hard to say goodbye; I have made so many friends there and worked for three amazing bosses. But new challenges beckoned and I am moving on. 
If being free means:
The Goose in Spring cocktail was the winner of the May 2012 Vodka Cocktail Contest, where it was created by Elijah Venanzi.
