Partial to Grey

Feastin'

The past quarter, or so, has been exceedingly lousy. Shit, the past few years have boasted a steady decline in which each weeks has, more or less, been worse than the week that preceded it. As a result I haven't posted much of late, I'm a bitter, angry and generally miserable person, but I derive no joy from making others unhappy (if I did then I'd likely be better off) so I see no point in posting nothing but a bunch of bitching and complaining. I don't mind pointing out something shitty, but I don't enjoy just plain ol' bitchin'. Thus the silent blog. I've been unable to think of anything positive (or at least funny) to post.

That said - it's Thanksgiving again!

As I've said since I can remember, I'm not thankful for shit. The vast majority of my problems come from having been born wrong, that is having nothing of consequence in common with those who make my decisions for me. So I'm not going to sift through the life for which I am the placeholder looking for each little nugget that doesn't suck and then pretend to be "thankful" for them. I have nothing that I haven't earned entirely on my own and nothing that isn't out-weighed by the negative aspects of my existence which are almost always a direct result of an outside force. So, fuck "thankful".

But...

Tomorrow is feast day!

Christina makes a massive traditional Thanksgiving dinner and we feast. It is usually a pleasant day with great food and if I drink enough (and I usually do) I can shut down my brain enough to stop thinking, momentarily, about the countless things beyond my control that deprive me of life, liberty, justice and the pursuit of happiness. It's usually a good day and it is a good thing.

If anyone is still reading this blog - have a safe and happy Thanksgiving, however you think about it.

Thanksgiving Cocktail

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Yep, you can count on me to provide you with the imperative information that you would be lacking without me. Give me a second here whilst I check a calendar... uh huh... yeah... OK. It's a week from today, next Thursday, the 24th of November to be precise. I'm your huckleberry. Just think, if you didn't read this blog, you might have missed it.

I would like to take this opportunity as a professional leader of the L.L.A. (The Liver Liberation Army) to share with you a Cocktail that I believe significantly enhances the Thanksgiving day feast. I love the Thanksgiving day meal. I don't really give two squats about Thanksgiving as a holiday. I'm not thankful for shit. I'm not a huge fan-boi when it comes to parades. I don't dig team sports. So for me this holiday is an annual meal. Well that and a day without pants. But that's cool, because I'm quite fond of food, drink and pant-less cavorting . Christina is an extraordinary cook and I'm pretty adept at eating. It is a fruitful combination, methinks.

One of the few areas in which I'm not completely useless (aside from notifying my loyal readers of impending holidays) is Cocktail concoction. She creates the meals, I facilitate the destruction of brain cells in pursuit of fleeting delight. Thus I'm now sharing with you a nifty treat that I believe enhances the Thanksgiving feast. Christina makes a very traditional Thanksgiving meal comprised of turkey, dressing, gravy, cranberry sauce, lima beans, corn, candied sweet potatoes, fresh bread, and pumpkin pie. As we lead up to the meal Christina proffers bread sticks, crackers with a broccoli-creme-cheese dip and salted almonds. I'm having a difficult time typing this because I've drooled all over my Power Book.

I'm generally a red wine kind of guy. I'll even drink red wine with chicken, pork and fish because I prefer it to white wines. I don't drink blush wine; I've never been quite that indecisive. That said, like provolone cheese, white wine just goes better with turkey than red, methinks, and this is one day a year when I can be relied upon to drink white wine. We usually have a nice German Riesling with the meal. Of course one bottle of wine for two lushes isn't enough, especially with all of that food in your belly soaking up the Alcohol! Thus the meal must be book ended with an Aperitif and after dinner drinks. Enter the Thanksgiving Cocktail.

Our Thanksgiving day after dinner drinks vary each year based upon weather, mood and whimsy. Often we will finish the night with something simple, such as Makers Mark or Crown Reserve on the rocks. Scotch also works well after this particular feast. This year I have a couple of very nice single malts at the Compound including a rather complex cask-strength that is fantastic. More drool. However we have the same Aperitif each year.

The word Aperitif is derived from the Latin word aperire which translates as "to open". That fits. An Aperitif is a drink used to open a meal. Technically whatever Alcoholic beverage you drink before your meal is an Aperitif. Traditionally however Aperitifs are aromatized wines, dry sherries or cocktails comprised of such ingredients. I'm of the opinion that all rules of etiquette are more fun to break once they are known and understood. Consequently I've been known to start a meal with just about every type of Alcohol at one point or another. That said, I do have a soft spot in my liver heart for traditional Aperitifs.

Thanksgiving Cocktail

1 oz Dry Vermouth
3/4 oz Tanqueray Gin
3/4 oz Apricot Brandy
1/2 teaspoon Creme de Cassis
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

Combine all of the ingredients in a shaker half-filled with ice cubes. Shake well. Strain the glorious results into a Cocktail glass. Drink. Enjoy.

Christina and I both love this autumn Cocktail, so we usually have two apiece before actually sitting down to dinner. We drink the aforementioned Riesling with the meal proper. I decided to post this a week before Thanksgiving so that anyone interested in trying this pleasant little elixir would have the time to work the ingredients into their shopping list.

We did not concoct this libation ourselves. We didn't even modify it, this is a traditional Cocktail that we picked up from a recipe book / Cocktail guide somewhere along the line. I'd love to take credit for it, but alas I cannot. It has however found a secure place among the staple-Cocktails at the Naked Acre Compound.

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving.

The Naked Acre Compound House Bloody Mary

I mentioned here, a while ago, that I was going to spend a day pleasantly intoxicated (I did it was fabulous). In that entry I also stated that I would provide my Bloody Mary recipe to you, my loyal glorious miscreant readers. However I repeatedly forgot to grab the recipe and type it up. Lucky for you my pal sleeper has come to your rescue. He emailed me yesterday asking if I had a good Bloody Mary recipe. I don't know if he was being coy and teasing me about not having delivered upon my promise (not uncommon this year, sigh) or if he hadn't read my post, for which he should forever feel shame. ;-)

Regardless of the reasoning behind his request, I stuffed the recipe into my backpack before heading to the office this morning, and now I'm going to share it with the entire blogosphere. It is no mistake that my personal nickname of Booze Monkey was later upgraded to the name of my band's moniker. I'm quite the learned lush. Christina and I have worked diligently, in the name of science, over the years to create, modify and collect a collection of Cocktail recipes of which we are quite proud. As an unrepentant Boozer, I am personally quite fond of classic Cocktails, primarily the ones that are comprised of Booze and Booze with the occasional garnish. I also drink more than my fair share of neat and/or on-the-rocks elixirs. Yay! I have debated for a very long time about writing my own bartender's guide slash Cocktail recipe book. I just haven't gotten around to it... yet.

That said, I really need to make a habit of sharing more of these recipes here, but for those who cannot wait until I become a more reliable blogger, I'd like to recommend the Booze Monkey studio albums (not the two live E.P.s, only the studio records) which contain drink recipes instead of lyrics in the liner notes. Many supporters of "Good Luck Mr. Gorsky" have said that the recipes alone are worth the price of the disc. Yay!

Well, exposition aside, here is the recipe for the world's best Bloody Mary, you can trust this degenerate blogger when it comes to Booze, this is the shit. It has quite a few ingredients, but it is worth the effort:

The Naked Acre Compound House Bloody Mary

• 2.5 oz your favorite Vodka. I use either Stoli or Luksusowa (which we call "LuckySucka" at the Compound) but it will work fine with all standard non-flavored Vodkas.
• 5.5 oz tomato juice. Tomato juice, not V-8. 5.5 oz is the size of the little cans.
• .5 oz lemon juice.
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper.
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt.
• 1/8 teaspoon celery seed.
• 3 dashes Worcestershire sauce.
• 1 dash Tabasco sauce.
• 1 Celery rib.
• 1 Lime wedge.

Combine the Vodka, tomato juice, lemon juice, pepper, Tabasco, Worcestershire, celery seed and salt in a shaker half-filled with ice cubes. Shake well and strain the heavenly results into a high-ball glass (an ice tea glass) that is nearly filled with ice cubes. Garnish with the celery rib and the lime wedge.

Notes:

• If you try my recipes (by "my" I mean that these recipes have been created/modified/collected/compiled by Christina and me) then follow the damned directions! I am amazed at how often someone will come to me and say, "I tried your *** recipe last night, it was fucking horrible!" Then they'll proceed to say something like "I followed the recipe to the letter," at which time I'll convey surprise and they'll continue with, "except that I didn't have lime juice so I used lemon juice and I didn't have a measuring spoon so instead of a tablespoon I used a 'capful', but it sucked!" Some of the recipes leave plenty of room for alteration, mutation and the joy of experimentation, but try it correctly once, then modify it so that you know what you are doing. Others like our holy grail recipe, the Surely Hang, are inexplicably inflexible and must be mixed perfectly. Go figure. But trust me on this, try it correctly the first time.
• With this Bloody Mary recipe, use tomato juice, NOT V-8, I like V-8, but this recipe contains quite a few spices and amenities, V-8 overwhelms it.
• If you don't like exceedingly spicy drinks, try this recipe as it is written. If it is not spicy enough for you you can add an extra splash of Tabasco, but don't add it until you've tried it. Every time someone has modified this recipe before trying it, they've regretted it. See the first note. ;-)
• Do not use a "pepper Vodka" with this recipe, at least not the first time.
• I suggest you collect these ingredients in advance; just print the list and take it with you when you go grocery shopping.
• If you want to make a batch of these (great for the morning after a party where you have drunks who've slept over) you can do so. Just mix it up without the Vodka; if you add the Vodka the mixture will separate. Another advantage to this is the your non-drinking friends (yeah, we all have them, sad but true) can drink a Virgin Mary.