When life gives you blueberries ...

Blueberries! I discovered the first surprise blueberry bush in early summer, then found another smothered by our overgrowing mint (the mint is now gone, the blueberries are happier).

But even two small bushes do not produce more than a couple handfuls of berries at a time. What to do with this delightful, but minimal, discovery?

The easiest thing was to eat them plain. And a few went on salad. Most were wonderfully sweet, but some -- so tart! So the rest went into homemade lemonade. :)

Blueberry Lemonade, shown above with our garden's hydrangeas.

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup lemon juice

4 cups cold water

A handful of blueberrries

Stir first three ingredients till sugar melts. Add blueberries. Drink.

* I think if Martha Stewart made this, she'd add a generous splash of vodka.

Thanksgiving preparations: Mulled wine

I wanted a beverage that was fun and not too boozy for thanksgiving, so Megan at work suggested mulled wine. My mom suggested the crock pot, for keeping the wine consistently warm and leaving the stove free. 

I decided to practice my mulling today. Most recipes are similar, but I picked a German glühwine based on my very fond memories of studying in Berlin in winter -- glühwine is not a fancy drink, but something you find at kiosks on the street and in cheap boxes in the supermarket. 

I needed cloves and cinnamon sticks, and found them with the Mexican spices, among plastic baggies of peppers. These were less expensive than those I found in the larger spice section -- and since they're soaking in cheap wine, I'm not too worried if it's the very best cinnamon stick in the world.

For my practice round, I'm mulling one bottle of wine in my smaller crock pot -- one standard 750 ml bottle of wine is about 1 quart. Wine type doesn't seem to matter much, beyond something red and dry. Different sources online suggest burgundy and zinfandel.  

 

I considered buying some festive mugs for serving, but while I was looking for this crock pot I found a box of heavy goblets and glasses inherited from my grandmother. The style is a bit too elaborate for daily use (spent much time trying to find the right word), but I think they'll be fun for having family over. And I'm glad to finally have a chance to use them.

Cranberry vodka, part II

My cranberry vodka steeped for a week, and is now beautifully bottled. 

Last saturday: the ingredients. (Pardon the cheapo vodka -- it will be wrapped in cranberry and sugar soon.)

A pitcher of vodka, then a simple syrup with orange peel with cranberries.

 

This week: my original cranberries were too thoroughly macerated to use as pretty garnish, so I made a new little pot of sugary berries and distributed among the bottles.

After much (non-photogenic) straining and filtering to remove berry pulp, the pink booze went into the bottles. So pretty!

Cranberry vodka, direct from Martha Stewart

Last winter I took a trip to visit all the friends who've left me for the other side of the country: two weeks in Chicago, Ann Arbor, Manhattan, and Northampton and Boston, MA. Along the way, I stopped to see someone else: Martha Stewart.  

It's no secret I love Martha, primarily because she carries her general air of perfection with such non-chalance. (You didn't hand-sew the 24 linen napkins for thanksgiving dinner, or raise the turkey on your farm upstate, while managing your commercial empire, recording a daily TV show, and maintaining perfect skin? What exactly are you doing with your time?) 

It's easy to apologize for or feel uncomfortable about our success -- we are uncertain of our cooking or entertaining skills, and women rarely ask for raises or promotions at work. Martha turned a catering business into an major corporation, and elevated the traditionally feminine skills of entertaining and home-keeping to be commercially significant (if still not quite glamorous or professionally well-respected). She managed to navigate a prison term without losing her image. She's not a chef or an artist, but she knows how to bring elegant food to a beautiful table -- and, more importantly, she knows how to sell you the idea and the supplies for the feast, and still seem like your too-perfect, enviable friend.  

So I stood in line in Chelsea, with scores of giddy Martha fans from around the country. Inside, during a lengthy warm-up session by Martha assistants, I was picked to ask a question. I would stand up, on camera, in a new grey dress and a bright red scarf, and Martha Stewart would say hello to me, and I would ask her a question.  

Martha: Please raise your hand if you do have a question. Oh, a lot of people have questions.  

Me (with exceptional awkwardness): Hi Martha. My name's Raven, and I'm from Seattle, WA, and I was wondering if you had a favorite holiday drink recipe that you could mix ahead of time for a party, to serve to a group of people.

Martha: Well, we have that great cranberry vodka that I just love, and the recipe's on our website at marthastewart.com. Make that ahead of time, it tastes better after a week or two. 

So make it today or tomorrow, and you will have it in time for the holidays. It's really great. 

So I bought the cranberries and the largest jug of vodka I could find (complete with plastic handle, for pouring). The recipe is super easy, and -- from what I remember of the pink concoction pouring through our New Year's Eve party last year -- super easy to drink. It would be lovely with club soda or mixed with something fruity, but you can drink it straight. 

Cranberry-and-orange Vodka from Martha Stewart

• 1 cup fresh cranberries 
  
• 1/4 cup sugar 
  
• 2 tablespoons water 
  
• 1 piece fresh orange peel (2-by-1-inch) 
  
• 3 cups vodka
  

Dissolve sugar in water in a saucepan, and add cranberries and orange peel. When the berries just begin to pop and the sugary liquid is pink, pour into vodka, stir, and store for at least 1-2 weeks (up to 3 months). Strain out berries before serving.

A drink for saints and sinners

All Saint's Day has passed, but you can celebrate St Germain any day. The lovely liqueur was introduced to us by friends with a suspiciously well-stocked bar for people who insists they are not lushes.

Made from elderflower, St Germain is quite sweet and fruity, not floral as you might expect. Around $35 a bottle, it's an indulgence for people who regularly buy under-$10 wine -- but it can be used sparingly to great effect.

The beautiful bottle reminds me of Guerlain Shalimar, and comes with a small booklet of recipes. Intriguing options:

• Sangria Flora (with fresh fruit and white wine)
• Winter Cup (with spiced rum, mint, and fresh strawberry, lemon, lime, orange)
• Pear Tree Martini (with pear vodka, fresh lime juice, and Angostura Bitters -- another cocktail ingredient to explore)
  

My favorite uses so far are a splash in champagne or a gin & tonic. The original St Germain cocktail is a slightly more involved version of the former:

• 2 parts champagne, sparkling wine, or dry white wine
• 1 ½ parts St-Germain
• 2 parts sparkling water or club soda

Stir ingredients in a tall ice-filled Collins glass, mixing completely. Think of Paris circa 1947. Garnish with a lemon twist. (Instructions from www.stgermain.fr/cocktails.php)

Greenwood weekend: Mr Gyros and Pig & Whistle

Moving into a new neighborhood is always a bit scary. But arson is terrifying. 

While Greenwood residents organize patrols of volunteers and firefighters, businesses are still open and busy.

So with normal eagerness to support local business amplified by communal tension throughout the blocks of Greenwood, this weekend included dinner from Mr Gyros and brunch at the Pig & Whistle.

The oniony, messy gyros from Mr Gyros would be a fairly awful first-date choice. For any other occasion, $5 buys dinner. You may question the lack of apostrophe in a seemingly possessive title (apparently "gyros" is the official Greek for the food), but you may not question the softness of pita, the tang of tzatziki, or the tastiness of lamb sliced from a rotating slab.  

This was actually our third time to the Pig & Whistle. The first was with Brian's parents just after our home inspection; the second, we met our sellers for dinner. This Sunday was no significant home-buying milestone, but it did include the Pig & Whistle brunch special: $10 for eggs, bacon, potatoes and a bloody mary. During which I decided breakfast has the very best cocktails: enthusiastic mimosas with their bubbly champagne, the caffeinated hot delight of Irish coffee, and the spicy, peppery, acidic bloody mary.  

I can't quite bring myself to make a joke about Greenwood restaurants being hot, so I'll just say I hope the arsonist is caught very soon so we can all go back to enjoying our excellent local fare without fear.