memorable pre-dinner cocktails

[Mr. Bill]

I had the sudden urge to try and replicate a martini I had at "727" (Grand Hyatt-Seattle) last year to serve as a special pre-dinner cocktail: "pumpkin spice martini". I know that they mascerated pie pumpkin and spices in vodka. I remember asking how long they let it sit, but I've forgotten what they told me! I think I was told something in the realm of "a few days". Seeing as I have just a week to go (!) I finally began the process tonight. Nothing like an early start. I scooped out the guts and peeled the pieces of pumpkin. It was a small pumpkin. Enough that seems appropriate to nearly 1.5l of vodka. My plan is to taste test over the next couple of days to see how pumpkin alone tastes. (I'm hoping that it doesn't taste too much like plain squash!) And then I'll add some whole spices, figuring those flavors will get extracted fairly quickly. Hopefully, it'll work. If anyone has some tips or advice, I'd love to hear them.

As a side experiment, I put a Celestial Seasonings gingerbread spice tea bag in 1 cup of vodka. I let it steep for 2 days. It seems like it might make a good match with the pumpkin.

[Mabelline]

Although not a drinker...give me some good gin before, and some good scotch after; I have one thing I found interesting to add. I've been going through some pioneer cookbooks from pre-statehood Montana, and I came across something INTRIGUING....a former pioneer gram with an Anglo-Pilgrim bloodline said, almost as an aside, that drinks, pastries, and mincemeats that called for apple cider at that time always meant "boiled cider", a 6 to 1 reduction. It just sounded so good that I wonder if I might have been hit with a stupid stick. I am going to try it out, but I think apple-rich folks might give it a whirl.

[PR Rum Time]

If you can't make up your mind, just stick to the four pillars:

Old Fashioned

Manhattan

Martini

Daiquiri

Ingredients needed:

Rye

Gin

White Rum

Vermouths

Angostura Bitters

Bar Sugar

Fresh Limes