Brandied Ginger Gold

Wednesday is Farmers' Market day in our neck of New London (sometimes, unlike in Charleston, it almost seems to be a singular Farmer's Market, but today there were half a dozen stands set up). I walked up this afternoon to stock up on tomatoes (just coming in), and eggs, and blueberries...  and Ginger Gold apples, the first apples of the season!

I can't tell you how excited I am to be in New England for apple season. Lots of cider awaits!

Ginger Gold apples naturally got me thinking of Ginger cocktails, and back in the day we made a Brandied Ginger that called out for a Curtain Call.  The recipe in the Guide called for too much brandy and not enough ginger, so this time around I shook up the recipe as you'll find it online. 

Well, mostly as you'll find it online...  After my years working with the Guide, I'm a firm believer in a healthy sized drink, and I decided to triple the online recipe in order to make two cocktails.

My recipe for two glasses of Brandied Ginger:

Ingredients:

3 oz Brandy

1.5 oz Ginger Brandy

.5 oz Lime Juice

.5 oz Orange Juice

Directions:

Shake with ice and pour into two chilled cocktail glasses. Go ahead, garnish with a lime slice if you don't happen to have any preserved ginger in the house.

Ramping up the ginger flavor was absolutely the way to go, and makes a much spicier drink than the Brandied Ginger of the Guide. A nice cocktail to share on an autumnal evening like the one we're having here in Connecticut!

Tomorrow we'll be in need of a cocktail by the time the hour rolls around, but I don't think I'll be able to post it as soon as we make it...  We're going without power tomorrow in order to switch out our screw-in fuses with a new and improved panel.

All part of the fun of settling into a new house.

After the Waterfront

Our friends Snappy and Grey came to stay with us last week (yay!), a visit perfectly timed to give us a chance to play tourists - and we were more than ready to take a break from moving in. 

We plunged into the waters of Ocean Beach after soaking up the sun on the sand... We spent a morning at the Book Barn(s) and then headed back for more after lunch... We wandered Mystic and had beers in lieu of pizza...  

And Snappy and Grey treated us to an outstanding dinner On the Waterfront.

It was Linguine with Clams for me, melt in your mouth Swordfish for DP (yes, it's sustainable), the Scallops of Stonington for Snappy (take some home to use in a scramble in the morning, per Grey), and an array of fish for Grey. So good! And by the time we got home, we were ready for some sort of digestif...

'After the Waterfront' is what we're calling the one we made up:

Ingredients:

1 part Lime Juice
1 part Brandy
1 part Dimmi Liquore di Milano
1 part Green Chartreuse

Directions:

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

I've been iffy about Dimmi in the past, but it works so well in this concoction. Tart lime, sweet herbaceousness from the Chartreuse, and what I've been tasting as sour orange in the Dimmi comes into its own with an almost apricot floral note. 

A delicious end to an evening!