Vegan Hot Chocolate

This isn’t really a recipe or anything. I just want to brag that Ellen made me vegan hot chocolate with soy milk, Ghirardelli cocoa, and a whipped soy stuff. It was really good.

It is a fact proven by science that hot cocoa tastes better when someone you love a bunch makes it for you.

-Bret

Gewürztraminer and Cheese

I like having mini wine and cheese parties. I put on my monocle and top-hat and make lots of fnah-fnah noises. Being snobby is fun. For wine I picked out two gewürztraminers – a German and a New York – because I like comparing and contrasting local wine to wine from other types of places. Also because I have a Rewards card for the wine store and I feel like I’m accomplishing something when I buy lots of wine.

Oh, and know what? I don’t know anything about wine tasting or cheese tasting or anything. I’m trying to learn but there’s no instruction manual so I just make things up. In general I tend to like dry reds and strong blues, but I’m trying to branch out.

2006 Treleaven Gewürztraminer – New York

I was not a fan of this at first but I think it’s because it was chilled for too long. Pale, pale color. Citrusy nose. The taste was bubbly and didn’t have a lot to it. As it warmed up in the glass, it got a little sweeter and had more of an apple flavor.

2006 Valckenberg Gewürztraminer – Germany

I thought this was the better of the two. Sweet and pleasant. I actually thought it had a little bit of a chocolate taste to it. More of a yellowish color. I can’t remember what it smelled like though. Whoops. I would definitely pick this up again. I’m guessing it tasted better because gewürztraminer is a German word. Right?!

Blue Shropshire

Mmm. I love blue cheese. Mmm. This one was salty and creamy and not at all harsh. Blues sometimes have that sharp edge to them, and this one was super-mild. It went great with the Valckenberg gewürztraminer. Definitely a tasty blue.

There was another cheese but it’ll have to wait because I don’t remember the name of it right now. I think maybe it was montagnou but I’ll have to wait until I go home to make certain.

-Bret

The Salty Chihuahua

Arf!

I used to think mixed drinks were just for girly girls and people that don’t know good beer. But then I realized that making mixed drinks is really, really fun. I have aspirations to take a bartending course and be a part time bartender. It might happen someday. Until then, I just like to hone my skills and share drinks with my friends.

So Lost was new last night. So I had a couple of people over to watch it on my super awesome 13″ television.

And I made drinks. I made Salty Chihuahuas!

I made each one individually, but really this drink is good for making a big pitcher and just pouring into your glass when you want some. Tequila is good for summertime, and this is a super summertime drink. Salt is good for tequila, and grapefruit and Cointreau are just plain good.

So, for each drink, take an old-fashioned glass and rub the rim with a bit of grapefruit. You could also use cocktail glasses or even big tumblers (and make it a double!). Coat the rim of the glass is coarse salt and let it dry.

Put ice in all the glasses. Pour 1/2 oz. Cointreau and 1 oz. tequila into each glass. Add grapefruit juice to fill, and mix. Garnish it with a bit of grapefruit and drinky-drink!

I used a bottled grapefruit juice because I wanted a little more sweet than tart. But if you’re feeling fancy, juice yourself up some grapefruits.

As a plus, one of these drinks gives you more than your daily recommended amount of vitamin C!

Another plus – having a bottle of Cointreau on hand is good for things other than drinks. It makes a nice orange flavored icing.

Good drinks, and a good episode of Lost. They definitely made the lollerific parts of the show even better.

- Ellen