Love Potion #9

The Shakers have come up with a new signature martini:

The Love Potion #9 (working title)

Inspired by the Velvet Kiss and couple of our favorite ingredients (Lillet Blanc, St. Germain) we've created a tasty tini to melt your heart......literally.

3 oz Vodka
2 oz Lillet Blanc
1/2 oz St. Germain elderflower liquor
1 oz lemon juice
splash of simple syrup (optional)

Shake above over ice, strain into a martini glass and gently drop in a frozen heart. Yes, that's a frozen heart of berry puree you see floating in the glass.

This martini is meant to be sipped slowly. The flavor changes over time. You start out with a nice citrus-y top note, but as the drink matures you start to get a more pronounced Lillet flavor and near the end, the berry puree heart melts to color and flavor the last half of your drink. This is a martini to savor, enjoying the layers as they develop.

Shaker 1 gives this a 4 1/2 olives...Shaker 2?

Let there be cake! and martinis!! and candles!!!

That's right, kids... I'd like to wish a fabulous and happy birthday to Shaker One!!!!

Chai Teanis- 2 Ways

Shaker 1 here- I just so happened to have a little bit of the Chai tea infused vodka left over from Zombie Night. We were so close to creating a terrific teani, so I wanted to see if we could bring it up an olive or so.

Method 1:

Toss a cinnamon stick or two into about 1/2 cup heavy cream. Simmer for a few minutes to infuse the cream. Chill and whip. Shake up ice, 2-3 large dollops of the infused whipped cream, about an ounce of simple syrup and 3 ozs of chai infused vodka (you can also sweeten the cream instead of adding simple syrup). Strain and pour into martini glass. Garnish with ground cinnamon if desired.

Method 2:

(I like to call this the "instant" method)
In a shaker, add ice, 3 ozs. chai infused vodka and an ounce and a half of Coffeemate Cinnamon Vanilla cream non dairy creamer. Shake, strain, pour, enjoy.

I've got to say, as weird as it sounds the Coffeemate method was really fantastic! Tasty and creamy with a subtle cinnamon hint that was not at all overpowering. I like the body that the whipped heavy cream gives the teani, but if you're in a hurry for some Chai Teani goodness or just feel plain lazy-Method 2 is your friend.

Nothing Says I Love You Like A Good Zombie.......

Hello and Happy Valentines Day to all our Shaker pals. Shakers 1 and 2, being single gals, decided the very best way to celebrate this holiday would be with good friends, good tinis and of course, ZOMBIES!!!!

So we gathered a small crowd of discriminating palates, assembled a menu of zombie and valentine appropriate tinis and screened "Zombieland".

Thanks to everyone for bringing such tasty snacks. We hovered 'round the table and hoovered up the treats. Yum.

First up- The Zombie Martini:

After searching the web for zombie themed drinks, we decided to pass on all the "colorful/creative" (read gross) "bleeding brain" type tinis and just go with a classic. We basically took the recipe for a traditional zombie cocktail and shook it up martini style. A mild martini, heavy on the fruit juices. One guest said it would make a good breakfast alternative to a screwdriver. You could easily speed up this zombie by altering the booze to juice ratio, but this was a nice way to begin the evening. Guests rated this from 3 1/2 to 3 3/4 olives.


Next up was another in our Teani Series- The Chai Teani:

We infused rain vodka with chai tea (Stash Chai Spice Black Tea from Trader Joe's). We then shook that with heavy cream, simple syrup and a dash of cinnamon. This was delicious, though all agreed that we'd gone just a tiny bit heavy on the cinnamon (*Shaker 1 holds up her hand to take responsibility for this, I just can't control myself with cinnamon*). This was a very good teani, with complex spice layers coming through. I still think we need to play with the recipe a bit more and perhaps even foam up the cream first to give it more body. Though Shakers 1 and 2 agreed it wasn't up to the level of the Earl Grey Teani, our consensus rating was 4 olives.

Last up for the evening was a martini created especially for Valentines Day. We let our guests name it and the result:

The Velvet Kiss:

This is a seductive martini. Rich red color, perfumed aromas of elderflower, deep berry base; with a splash of prosecco at the end. It lived up to it's name. Delicious, layered flavors, not too sweet, a sexy drink any day of the year. We gave this 4 1/2 to 5 olives. This was the hit of the evening. In fact, as our Valentines gift to you, here is the recipe:

-Take about a cup of frozen mixed berries, add a splash of triple sec and let thaw.(why a whole cup? Because you'll want more than one of these)
-In a shaker, muddle about 1/4 cup of the berry mix (I use an immersion blender to really get the juices flowing)
-add ice to the shaker
-add the following: 2 shots premium vodka
1 shot Chambord
1/2 shot St. Germain elderflower liquor
-shake well, strain into martini glass and pour in a splash of prosecco or champagne.

Serve this to your sweetie and we will not be responsible for the results (though you will thank us later).

A special thank you to all of our wonderful guests for making this a super fun Shaker night.

Oh, and the movie? Shaker 1 gives Zombieland a double tap!

Happy Valen-braaaaaaaainnsssssssssssssssss....................

Night of The Living Bacon

Hello Shaker fans. We welcome you to a monumental shaker night. Tonight we celebrate all that is bacon. Every dish, ever mouthful is bacon infused (well- ok, just one of the martinis has bacon).

So pretty much since we've begun this martini quest we've gotten links from friends about the mythical bacon martini. We laughed, we scoffed, we contemplated, but we never bit the bacon bullet. Until recently, when a halfway joking discussion among friends turned into plans to celebrate all things bacon. Carrie volunteered to infuse some bacon vodka and we all pulled out our favorite bacon recipes to create:

BACONPALOOZA!!

I put the paramedics on speed dial and plugged in my portable defibrillator. We gathered from near and far (Ventura is far, right?), each bringing our favorite bacon infused treats. You could smell the bacon emanating from at least 4 different geographic areas for two days. You see that haze over the Southland this weekend? That was not smog. That was bacon fumes.

As each new guest arrived the tables groaned under their delicious burdens. Bacon appetizers, bacon main dishes, bacon dessert. Yes my friends, even the famed bacon martini.

We all came hungry. None of us left that way.
Below, the bacon buffet:

Baked potato soup w/ bacon
Baconmole w/ chips (guac has never looked so good)
Bacon gougeres (grown up cheesie poofs- "super tasty" "off the hook" "fluffy with a hint of bacon"
Bacon balsamic deviled eggs (now this the devil you want to sell your soul to)
Bacon wrapped dates (you won't be late for this date)
Bacon Ranch dip w/ veggies (cause we had to at least pretend to care about our health)
Bacon Pastry bites (nom nom)

And on the dessert tray:
Bacon Bark
Bacon Fudge
Bacon Cinnamon rolls (that is so my breakfast tomorrow morning)
2 kinds of candied bacon, which we used as makeshift "spoons" to scoop out the
Bittersweet chocolate mousse

"the room went silent when the chocolate mouse with praline bacon scoops was distributed. This was followed by a round of grunting, then nom nom nom from the crowd"

Our first martini of the night was of course the Bacon Martini.

Basically, just bacon infused vodka shaken and strained. This was met with a certain apprehension by many. We made mini tasters and we all got brave. The results:

"tastes good as long as you don't look at it" "blindfold bacon martini-serve in the dark" "an experience"

The fat globules were a bit off-putting at first, but it was surprisingly not gross! We couldn't drink a whole martini of this, but were very glad to have tried it. We can't really olive rate this. It was more of an experience than a beverage.

Next up was the Jalapeno Cucumber Cilantro Martini

Shaker 2 sat this one out (severe cilantro aversion) but the rest of us rather enjoyed it. Slightly spicy, definite cucumber and citrus flavors. Interesting, in the good way. "tart with a very nice kick" I'd make this again, but perhaps without the cilantro so Shaker 2 could enjoy as well.

Brian braved the bacon beer- sadly, not bacon-y enough!~

Our final 'tini of the evening was the Meyer Lemon Drop Martini.

In the interest of full disclosure, Shaker One has had this one many,many times before (did I mention many?). I love this tini. You can make it with regular lemons, but if you have meyers, it kicks it up into a whole other olive zone. Alex manned the juicer and we all enjoyed a round of these. "absolute favorite, tart, tart, tart" "simply delicious"


But we couldn't end Baconpalooza there. No, we had to have just one more bacon treat. One that would make Elvis wipe a tear of joy from his eye (if he weren't dead and all):

The Elvis Bacon Shake.

"just too scary good" "religious" Carrie and Shaker One ratcheted it up a notch with Stoli Vanilla-
"I heard the angels sing when I drank the Elvis Shake with Stoli Vanilla"
If you would have told me before tonight that I would have loved a milkshake with bacon, peanut butter, bananas, marshmallow fluff and vanilla ice cream- and bacon- I would have said, "that's just crazy talk". But it was so good. We all loved this. Well worth breaking out the blender for. And we garnished it with more of the candied bacon, naturally.

What can you say about a night devoted to all things bacon? Carrie put it best:
"I felt my heart working a little harder and my blood became a little thicker as I made my way through each item on the table of bacon"

Was it decadent? Oh yes. Did we overindulge? My God, did we! Will we do it again? Without a second's hesitation we will.....but next time we will introduce our very good friend bacon to our other pal the bbq grill.

Shakers One and Two would like to thank all of our wonderful guests tonight. Everyone brought such delicious bacon treats and the company could not have been better. Please send any recipe requests along with a doctor's note or waiver from your insurance provider to us here, at the Bacon Shaker.

Good night and happy shaking!

Meetings can be fun!

Seriously... they can. Shaker Two here. I have just arrived home after a lovely evening with Michael and Ellen. We had our monthly meeting for an organization we are members of and part of the fun is that we are able to get together, take care of some business, socialize and enjoy a cocktail.

Michael is a fellow martini lover and has been a long time fan of the drink. In fact, is was one of the first things we bonded over when we met - vodka.

This evening, he introduced me to something I had never heard of, nor would be likely to try on my own - Tomolives! When he asked if I had tried any, I raised an eyebrow and said.. "uhmm no" he went into the bar area and came out with the most beautiful frosty ice cold glass of vodka I have seen in a long time... with a lovely metal pick with two little olive looking things on it.. turns out, they are pickled green tomatoes. I took a bite and was completely amazed! These little buggers pack a wonderful crunch with just a hint of tomato flavor and a decent amount of pickling. I think I am in love...or at the very least, lust.

The history behind these is pretty cool. They paired up with Ketel One at the beginning of the martini resurgence and were named as a key ingredient with the Ketel One Ultimate Martini. Their marketing team worked it out to be sold with the vodka, etc.. and their business took off. Now, these little guys might not always be easy to find in grocery stores, but you can order online. I recommend trying them out.

He also had me try a bit of the Crystal Head Vodka... if you have been to a liquor store, it is the unmissable bottle shaped like a skull. Since most of the time a really cool bottle is trying to compensate for a somewhat substandard product, I snarled a little bit, but he assured me that I should try it. Surprisingly, it was pretty good. Fairly smooth and drinkable well-chilled and served neat (with a tomolive garnish, of course) Plus, you get a really cool bottle!!

Frosty martini glass and the lovely Ellen.

Amazing sausage pinwheels that Michael made. So easy and so sinfully good.