Happy New Year!

On this New Year's Day
and the whole year through,

May the kindness and generosity
you've given to others
returns many times to you.







All Rights Reserved 2008-9 © Big Black Dog

Eggnog - And it will knock your socks off!

My husband used to travel quite a bit when he worked at IBM and he had friends all over the world. We were living in Florida at the time and since Tampa was headquarters for The IBM Information Network whenever one of my husband's co-workers was in town for business we would get together for dinner or drinks. And many times they even stayed at our home, and when I look back I really think I should have charged IBM hotel fees...but I digress!

It was close to Christmas and we got a call from Tom, a friend in Washington D.C. that he was going to be in town with his wife, Marianne, visiting family and they wanted to get together for lunch. We met Tom and Marianne and had a great time at lunch along with a few Martinis. Then we proceeded over to Marianne's Mother's home in Clearwater and immediately upon arrival Marianne served us her Eggnog. Now, this is not just a seasonal Eggnog like your Grandma made. This is lip-smacking, long-lasting, sweet-tasting, swear-like-a-sailor buzz kill that would even get old Scrooge in a jolly mood! And I loved it!









Knock Your Socks Off EggNog
Recipe adapted from a friend, Marianne

12 eggs, separate
1 LB confectioners sugar
3 c. blended whiskey
1/2 + 1/3 c. light rum
1/2 + 1/3 c. dark rum
1 c. Peach Brandy
1 qt Whipping Cream
1 qt half/half

Separate the eggs.

Place the egg yolks in a VERY large bowl and beat until light in color.

While beating add confectioner's sugar

Continue beating and add 1 c. blended whiskey, 1/2 c. light rum, 1/2 c. dark rum

Let mixture stand for at least 1 hour to dispel egg taste.

After it has rested start beating the mixture again and add, 2 c. blended whiskey, 1/3 c. white rum, 1/3 c. dark rum, peach brandy, whipping cream and half/half.

Refrigerate covered for 3 hours.

Beat egg whites until stiff and gently fold into cream/booze mixture.

Garnish with a dollop of whipped cream, nutmeg and a candy cane as a stir stick. The Candy Cane dipped in the Eggnog was delicious!

This is a large recipe but you can half or quarter the recipe and it works out just fine!











All Rights Reserved 2008-9 © Big Black Dog

New York Housewives and The Swinger

I admit it, I'm a huge fan of Bravo's The Real Housewives series. When my friend Courtney of Coco Cooks, aka @Glamah on twitter, announced her Real Housewives Cocktail Contest, I jumped at the chance to highlight my favorite housewife. But which one? I like many of the housewives and now that the series has expanded from the original Orange County, CA to include New York City, Atlanta and the newest cast from New Jersey, I had several favorites to choose from.







But I knew all along who rose above all as my favorite! Not really a housewife but definitely one of the stars of the series, Simon van Kempen, was an easy choice. His Aussie accent, flamboyant sense of style and complete adoration for his wife, Alex, won me over months ago. His red leather laced-up pants in the last show was a sight I will not soon forget. Please view the below video to see Simon dancing in his red pants.







Inventing a cocktail for Simon was not difficult. I knew it had to be very colorful, slightly spicy with a bit of fringe and fun. I decided to use my new Mole Poblano Vodka, a slightly spicy but mellow vodka, distilled right here in IL by North Shore Distillery.







Red Patent Leather Swinger
Recipe developed by Big Black Dog

1 oz Mole Poblano Vodka
5-6 oz V-8 Juice
Dash of celery salt
Few drops of dill pickle juice
1 TBL beef broth
Freshly ground pepper

Garnish:
Slice of Lemon
Whole Green Onion, the longer the better
Playful monkey

Mix together V8 juice, celery salt, dill pickle juice, pepper. In a tall glass filled with ice add Mole Poblano Vodka, pour in V8 mix stir well. Garnish with a slice of lemon, whole green onion and monkey.








All Rights Reserved 2008-9 © Big Black Dog

Frozen Chocolate-covered Cherry Blitz!

I know this is going to be hard to believe but I had a leftovers of my Frozen Hot Chocolate dessert that I made last week. So I froze it and last night I made a delicious after dinner drink.

Chocolate-covered Cherry Blitz
Recipe developed in the kitchen of Big-Black-Dog

3 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 TBL powdered sweet chocolate
1 c. milk
7-8 c. ice cubes
1 oz cherry brandy

Garnish with a sprig of mint and fresh cherries

Heat 1 c. of milk in the microwave. Put chocolate chips in a small bowl and add the hot milk. When the chocolate chips are completely melted, add the powdered sweet chocolate and remaining milk and thoroughly mix. Cool to room temperature.

Put ice cubes in a blender and add the chocolate mixture and the cherry brandy. Blend until smooth. Pour into a martini glass and garnish with mint and fresh cherries.




All Rights Reserved 2008 © Big Black Dog

The Melon Double Twist

To continue our month celebration of tequila, I whipped up a new drink the other day a refreshing Tequila Melon Twist. It was especially good and we enjoyed them relaxing on our porch on a lazy Sunday afternoon. This is a perfect adult beverage for a brunch.



Infused Tequila

About 1 c. of 1" cubed cantaloupe
Tequila, enough to cover the melon

Dice melon and put it in a glass jar or covered bowl. Add enough tequila to cover melon and let it sit the refrigerator for at least 3 days.



Melon Double Twist
Recipe developed in the kitchen of Big-Black-Dog

2 oz Infused melon tequila
1 c. cantaloupe, cubed (you can use the tequila soaked melon)
Juice of 1 large orange
Juice of 1 lime
About 10 ice cubes
Tad of Pomegranate syrup

Garnish: Course sugar, orange peel curl and slice of lime

Rub a lime around the edge of a champagne flute and sugar the rim. Allow the sugar to dry about 10 minutes.

Put the first 5 ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Add a tad of Pomegranate syrup to the bottom of the flute and then pour in the contents of the blender. Garnish with orange curl and slice of lime.




My Tequila Melon Double Twist is my entry in Lore's Culinarty monthly Original Recipe Roundup.





All Rights Reserved 2008 © Big Black Dog

Strawberry Margarita

National Tequila Day is July 24th I think we are going to celebrate Tequila for the entire month.

Strawberry Margarita

About 3 oz clear tequila
1 oz triple sec
Zest of 1 lime
Juice of 1 lime
1-pt strawberries, cleaned and save 2 for garnish
About 12 ice cubes
Sugar, if needed to taste

Makes 2 large Margaritas

Put all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Pour into a margarita glass that has been rimmed with salt. Garnish with a strawberry and a slice of lime.

Enjoy!!


All Rights Reserved 2008 © Big Black Dog

Skinny Girls Margarita

I was a fan of television reality series "The Real Housewives of New York City" and one of my favorite housewives was Bethenny Frankel. Bethenny was so honest and such a good person and she's a chef!

Several times on the show Bethenny referred to one of her favorite drinks, Skinny Girls Margarita, and tonight I made one and it really is good...it fact it's delicious. I was a bartender for a time when I was putting myself through school and I've not had a good Margarita in years, until tonight!



Skinny Girls Margarita
Recipe adapted from Bethenny Bakes

Makes one serving on the Rocks:

2 oz of clear Tequila (100% agave, Patron Silver)(count 1, 2 while you pour, no need for measuring)
A splash of fresh lime juice
A splash of Cointreau, Grand Marnier or Triple Sec

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Pur over a glass of ice. Garnish with a lime wedge and salt/sugar.

For a semi frozen version: **See Note

2 oz clear Tequila or more to taste (I use more)
1 lime
1 lemon
Splash of Triple Sec
1/8 well rounded c. sugar
Water
Ice, 10-12 ice cubes

Makes 1 large drink.

Juice lemon. In a clear glass measuring cup add the lemon, sugar and enough water to make 1/2 cup. Mix well until sugar is dissolved.

In a blender add the ice, lemon/sugar water, Tequila and Triple Sec. Over the blender zest the lime and squeeze the fresh juice. Blend until ice is just shaved.

Run a slice of lime around edge of glass. Dip glass edge in kosher salt and then course sugar. It's best to dip the glasses in the salt/sugar and let it dry for an hour or so, otherwise you get big taste of salt/sugar and no Margarita! Pour in Margarita and garish with a fresh strawberry swirled with a lime.

NOTE: This is my interpretation of Bethenny's video.

Enjoy!



All Rights Reserved 2008 © Big Black Dog

A celebration, a milestone and a martini

Well, this is my 100th post on my blog! I never thought I would be writing #100 so soon!! When I began my blog Feb 17, 2008 I just thought I'd post once or twice a week! Then I found the food blog challenges and even joined Daring Bakers, made some new friends and I just took off from there! It's been a blast so far and I hope it continues.

And I will be celebrating visitor #10,000 sometime today too. WOW, just think 10,000 people have visited my little blog!!! And to my regular visitors and new alike, thank you for supporting me! I so appreciate your kind comments and thank you so much for taking your time to visit!



To celebrate I made Strawberry Infused Vodka. Boy, it is good! I am a die hard martini drinker, Vodka Martini, up, with a double olive and twist, and usually don't like the pseudo martinis so popular now. But vodka infused with fresh strawberries was very refreshing and quite good too!



Fresh Strawberry Infused Martini
Recipe developed in the kitchen of Big-Black-Dog

Large glass jar or container
Vodka
Fresh strawberries
Course sugar

Clean strawberries and layer them in your container. Pour enough vodka to completely cover the strawberries. Cover and put in the refrigerator for 3 days.

After 3 days strain the vodka. The strawberries are pretty good to eat but do be careful as they will pack a punch!

Carefully dampen rim of martini glass and dip in coarse sugar. Fill glass with vodka and garish with a large strawberry. YUMMY!!!!




All Rights Reserved 2008 © Big Black Dog