Let’s Get This Winesday Started: Pinot Noir Shake
Jan 18, 2012 | Filed Under: TGIF Drinks | Tags: Cheers, Pinot Noir Shake Recipe, Wine Shake Recipe, Winesday
There is a burger bar in the neighborhood Mr. Candy and I enjoy going to, a place where we can feel like adults — A cocktail menu! No Happy Meals! — but that still accommodates kids with space for strollers and a kick-ass toasted peanut butter and jelly sandwich. With italics to emphasize the voracity with which I sneak bites of my daughter’s PB&Js from there.
Hey. I gave the child LIFE. I’d say that deserves a stolen morsel of sandwich. Or two. Or five.
The restaurant also offers a specialty Pinot Noir shake. Now, I know what you’re thinking because I had the very same reaction: Say wha –?! Wine? With ice cream? That’s madness! A little gross, even. I MUST TRY IT! Which is what I would say every time we went there, my mouth full of peanut butter and jelly, only to leave, shake-less, because I prefer to get my drink on after the kids go to bed. Also: a good time to dig into Skye’s goldfish crackers. So, being the experienced food-and-drink thief that I am, I decided to steal their recipe for the Pinot Shake to try at home — then share it with you.
Yes! I am a modern-day Robin Hood! Stealing from rich cocktail menus to give to buzz-poor moms.
THE PINOT NOIR SHAKE
This photo shoot interrupted by Laughing Stork CEO and wine shake lover, Marcy Cuddles
INGREDIENTS
About 1 cup vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt (we used the latter because we are health-conscious alcoholics)
1/4- to 1/2-cup Pinot Noir (we used the latter because… well, you know why)
Cherries
Chocolate syrup
Whipped cream
1 packet of sugar/Splenda/what-have-you (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS
Make sure your seven-month-old is SOUND asleep before opening wine bottle; otherwise, the *POP* will be immediately followed by the sound of “WAAAAHHHH!” (True story.) Soothe baby, if necessary, with appropriate lullabies such as “Let’s Get This Party Started.” Mix ice cream and wine — with sugar for added sweetness, if that floats your boat — in blender on “milkshake” mode. Pour wine-shake into glass, top off with whipped cream, chocolate syrup and, of course, a cherry.
THE VERDICT
Mr. Candy and I sat down to watch a DVR’d episode of Modern Family last Friday — don’t be jealous of our glamorous nightlife — and finished our shakes before the opening music even began. “Yeah, I’ll make more,” I offered, pausing on Sofia Vergara with her mouth open, much to Mr. Candy’s delight.
Wine and ice cream: I never would have thought of putting them together, but they make for a surprisingly delicious combination. Much like Sofia Vergara and Ed O’Neill.
Wine shakes and my two-year-old’s goldfish crackers, on the other hand… not so much.
And Finally…Candy’s Gingerbread Martini Recipe
Dec 18, 2011 | Filed Under: TGIF Drinks | Tags: Gingerbread Martini, Oh My Yum
Yes. I GOT THE SYRUP, PEOPLE. A Christmas miracle.
And I’m delighted to report this cocktail was so worth the effort and pained breasts. (If only I had a dollar for every time I’ve written that.) Here is the recipe once again, this time with ingredient amounts doubled because we are lushes to fill a normal-sized martini glass:
GINGERBREAD MARTINI INGREDIENTS
- 1 ounce gingerbread syrup (which I finally tracked down by going to Starbucks — which doesn’t sell seasonal syrups by the bottle — and ordering a gingerbread latte with the syrup on the side. Sounds like a weird request, right? Only the barista didn’t bat an eye, so I told her why I was getting the syrup on the side and she was all, “Oh! I’ll just sell you some syrup for fifty cents then!” I may or may not have grabbed her Starbucks hat and pulled her towards me for a big, grateful kiss at that point.)
- 1-2 ounces vodka
- 1 ounce Kahlúa
- 1 ounce Baileys Irish Cream liqueur
- 2 ounces vanilla milk
- Whipped cream
- Graham cracker crust for rim of glass
- Gingerbread cookie
"One of the best drinks you've made yet!" -- Mr. Candy, Girly Drink Expert
Oh. My. Yum.
If you are hosting a holiday party — or just celebrating your own Moment of “Yay! The Kids Are in Bed!” Zen — I highly recommend whipping up this sweet, smooth, goes-down-way-too-easily martini. After one sip, you’ll be as happy as this guy:
And after a couple drinks…? You may end up floating in a similar pool of whipped cream. (Sorry, I promised Mr. Candy I wouldn’t post the photographic evidence.)
How My Breasts Destroyed My Quest for the Perfect Gingerbread Martini
Dec 16, 2011 | Filed Under: TGIF Drinks | Tags: Damn You Gingerbead Syrup, Gingerbread Martini
This is a cautionary tale. By God, nursing moms, do NOT let this happen to you.
With the light at the end of the two-kids-two-and-under-tunnel beginning to shine, and my refrigerator and freezer overflowing with enough breast milk to feed a small nation, I decided it was time to start treating myself to TGI(INSERT DAY[S] OF CHOICE HERE) drinks again. Because if anybody needs a drink, it’s a mom with two small kids. Or a mom with one kid. Or somebody who knows a mom with one or more kids.
Yes. We all deserve a drink.
So I dropped the kids off at daycare this morning and, as any respectable mother would do, I drove off in desperate search of a ton of liquor. You see, I’ve been researching holiday cocktails for myself and this here column — tough work, but somebody’s gotta do it — and have become obsessed with a gingerbread martini recipe I came across:
1/2 ounce Monin Gingerbread Syrup
1 ounce Vodka
1/2 ounce Kahlúa
1/2 ounce Baileys Irish Cream liqueur
1 ounce vanilla milk
Whipped Cream
Graham crust for rim of glass
Gingerbread cookie
As Skye would say while rubbing her rounded toddler belly, yummy in my tummy.
Candy’s TGIF Party Sangria
Aug 27, 2010 | Filed Under: TGIF Drinks
As you may remember, my child was down in the dumps last week with a post-vaccine fever, a touch of a virus, plus (as it turns out), an eighth tooth breaking through. Good times all around. This week…? Genuinely good times. When in good health, Miss Skye is such fun to hang out with. She is cruising around the house like nobody’s business — and is so close to walking on her own that it’s almost ridiculous. This weekend I’m going to try dangling a piece of chocolate on the other side of the room to “help” her along. That same technique has worked to get me out of bed.
So, yeah, happiness abounds here at Chez Candy. And when I’m in a good mood on a hot summer day, there is no better TGIF drink than this:
PARTY (pronounced par-tay) SANGRIA
Sangria happens to be one of my specialties; I’ve helped kick off more than a few parties with my “special” (read: STRONG) recipe. This particular concoction is modified to make only one glass — and, I promise, is not so strong that it will lead to you drunk-Tweeting about your brother-in-law’s “secret” cross-dressing habit.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Candy’s TGIF Strawberry Shortcake Martini
Aug 20, 2010 | Filed Under: Food, TGIF Drinks | Tags: Tasty
If you heard a disturbingly loud moan coming from the Western part of the nation this afternoon, it was probably me after sampling this week’s drink. Yes, perhaps I become too intimately involved with my cocktails, but…
Oh. Dear. Lord. This is a good one.
And, boy, do I ever need it. It’s been one of Those Weeks. You know about Those Weeks. This week was marked with a fussy, feverish baby whose immune system was fighting off the effects of the MMR vaccine — yeah, the poor thing could probably use a cocktail, too, but Cheerios will have to suffice — and who has entered the ol’ “separation anxiety” phase, refusing to leave my side for even one second. If I so much as think about going to the bathroom by myself, she SCREEEAAAMS.
*SIGH* What is it with chicks always wanting to go to the bathroom with other chicks? This is why I de-sisterized from my college sorority.
And here is why I joined a sorority in the first place: access to good alcohol.
STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE MARTINI
INGREDIENTS
- 1.25 oz. Stoli Strasberi (which I could not find, so I used Strawberry Smirnoff instead)
- 1.25 oz. Chambord
- 1.25 oz. Baileys
- A dash of cream (for which I substituted Skye’s whole milk… hey, it’s not like she needs the calcium, right?)
- Strawberries
- Graham Crackers
INSTRUCTIONS
Shake all (liquid) ingredients with ice. Strain into a martini glass. Instead of graham crackers, I bought a graham cracker crust and used a peeler along the edges, which yielded the same result as crushing it — then rimmed the glass with the crust. I may or may not have also stuck my finger in that crushed crust and licked it off like a five-year-old. Garnish the glass with a strawberry and…
… Sneak into a bathroom by yourself, quickly close the door behind you, oh-so-leisurely sip your drink, and ignore your toddler’s cries outside the door. Happy TGIF.
Candy’s TGIW Raspberry Mojito
Aug 14, 2010 | Filed Under: Food, TGIF Drinks
TGIW: Stands for Thank God It’s the Weekend. Because, clearly, I’ve missed the TGIF deadline, thanks to a one-year-old who was being ridiculously cute yesterday, thereby forcing me to play hooky and spend the entire day with her — followed by a husband who forced me to whip up a couple rounds of refreshing, rum-heavy TGIF mojitos for us (SLAVE DRIVER), after which I wasn’t exactly in, um, optimal blogging condition. But I did it all for YOU, so that I could attest to the drink’s yumminess. Which I now can. Because that’s the kind of consummate professional I am.
RASPBERRY MOJITO
INGREDIENTS
- 8 or so fresh mint leaves
- 1/2 oz. freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1 teaspoon superfine sugar (Mr. Candy and I like our drinks sweet, so we used two packets of Splenda that I stole, er… I mean, borrowed from Starbucks)
- 2-3 oz. Bacardi Razz Raspberry Rum (or just white rum will do)
- 2-3 oz. seltzer
- 4-6 fresh raspberries
INSTRUCTIONS
Place mint leaves, lime juice and sugar in a highball glass (something tall and narrow is perfect). Using the straight end of a wooden spoon, gently press on leaves to release flavor (“muddle” is the official term). We do not own a wooden spoon at Chez Candy and Mr. Candy, so I used a wooden chopstick to muddle. I kid you not. Again, consummate professional and all that.
Fill glass with ice cubes. Pour in rum. Top off with seltzer. Drop in raspberries and CHUG! Or sip, if you’re all refined like that.
Happy weekend!
