How Bizarro

I’m gonna take this moment to be really honest and say I am not sure what life will bring. In my core I’m an actor. In my core I’m also a wine person. But I love to write. I want to write things to act in. But also I always want to bring the food and beverage fun to you. I am figuring it out. One way or another I will be there for you, whether toiling through a pilot as I am now, or tasting canned cocktails like the warrior kitty-cat-kats I am. Thank you for being here.

And because life is nuts, let us drink Bizzarro. Bizzarro itself is an aperitivo. I haven’t had it straight from the bottle, but based on the canned cocktails using it, I surmise I’d find it handy on my bar cart. It comes from Australia, made by Deliquente (they do have a thing for augmented spelling) Wine Co, a producer working with Italian varieties in Riverland.

Considering the name, Deliquente not at all bizarre, but wise and good for the world, sustainable and organic. Good stuff! And (once again the opposite of bizarre, not that there’s anything wrong with that) they taste good too. They are mysterious the way an amaro or an exceptional egg salad is. Full of flavors you can’t quite point at, but just right in fullness, texture, and I can’t explain it, but my spirit is along for the ride.

And now for the particulars:

Bizarro Bitter Aperitivo Spritz

Made with Vermentino. It has orange soda themes with b stories of myrrh, something hitting at grapefruit, and unsweet creamsicle. And then the thing is it’s a great texture–not too bubbly, but plush bubs. It all provides a nice platform to notes of wicked herbs and witches brew. . Don’t know how to define “witch’s brew” but it reminds me of incense I burned when I was a Wiccan.

Bizarro Mischief Brew

It’s low-abv, it’s a touch incense myrhh and frankincense and maybe candied (but not sugared) grapefruit rind. And lifted and light and rosewater. And then there’s that finish of creme soda. More funtimes!

What does the future hold? Well hopefully more delightful things to inspire and distract me in equal turns–too much of one or the other is no good but a balance of both is a delight. On we go.

Queen’s Park Swizzle (fo shizzle)

Again I beseech thee to tell me which photos are best. Do you like the first (seen above) or the second:

Do let me know. I know that I still have a ways to go when it comes to photography but I’m trying to improve, bit by bit.

Also, I’m still trying to be ahead of the trend, drink-y wise.

I never am good at doing what other people do.

I think this gets in my way. Until it BECOMES my way. As in, it’s the people who don’t fit in, who do their own thing, who end up standing out.

Or they live lonely, lonely, brilliant lives and are famous when they die. I hope that’s not me.

That thought was deep and dark. Like I like my coffee, chocolate, goth-ware.
Let’s have a drink.

The Queen’s Park Swizzle will be served at the restaurant I’m going to open someday called Pho Shizzle.

So let’s swizzle at Pho Shizzle, fo rizzle.

G’night.

Oh, and I friggin’ made the bloody crushed ice with a plastic bag of ice and a hammer, y’all.
Queen’s Park Swizzle adapted from Bon Appetit May 2010

1 1/2 Tbsp. Splenda dissolved in equal amount of H2O
12 mint leaves
1 1/2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
1/4 c. White rum
2 cups crushed ice
1/2 tsp. angostura bitters
Mix mint, Splenda syrup and lime juice in the bottom of your glass. Muddle that shiznit. Add rum, then ice, and swizzle (or stir). Add more ice, mounding as high as you can then float the bitters.

Classic

Please know I am not posting a drink instead of dessert because what I served for Thanksgiving was piedenfroid. It was not. As always, my apple cranberry streusel pie(with a secret ingredient!)dominated. I just feel like a cocktail.

Ah, yes, The Classic Champagne Cocktail.
I kept it classic and served it to my Thanksgiving guests wearing the classic little black dress.
Drinking the CCC in the LBD. Cause I’m old-fashioned.
Yeah you know me.
You are supposed to imagine the previous few sentences rapped to the rhythm of a little Naughty by Nature.
Yeah, 90’s.

If I had my old-fashioned druthers I’d have used a champagne coupe. I know they don’t keep the bubbles in but…I just like them. Problem is I don’t yet actually a champagne coupe yet, nor enough proper vessels for my nine guests so for this event, plastic flutes would have to do. Crud, I really need to work on my run-on sentences.
Crud.
That’s better.
I sometimes have referred to this as an Old Fashioned champagne cocktail. It has a similar base to an Old Fashioned. Minus the orange slice and marachino cherry.
I went to DomaineLA to seek guidance in the proper champagne to defile with other ingredients. I ended up with an awesome and affordable Spanish Cava to which I award the Most Informational Label Ever award. Check it:


They even tell you the soil type. Wicked.

Favorite coctail? Do tell.

Old Fashioned Champagne Cocktail(from Ultimate Bar Book by Mittie Hellmich
1 sugar cube
2-3 dashes of Angostura bitters
champagne
lemon twist
Place sugar at the bottle of a champagne flute. Toss in a dash or so of bitters. Fill up with champagne, twist lemon peel over it and run along rim of glass, then drop in.

I have huge melons, and I’m bitter.

Actually it’s more like I had one huge melon and some Angostura bitters. My own melons are extra petite and I like em’ just that way.

I discovered the love of bitters last summer via the classic champagne cocktail. I’ll do a post about that later. In the meantime, I was excited to see a non-alcoholic, in fact not a beverage at all, recipe using angostura bitters.
I dearly love old, housewive-y cookbooks and as such own a reprint of the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook from 1953.
This little do came from the Appetizers section in a list of Melon-Ball Cocktails. Twas delightful. Subtle. Amazing what little embelishments can do to a simple melon.

Love this recipe. Love this book. Though it is hard to entirely trust when it calls for. For instance, say, a package of pudding mix. I am betting the ones they sell these days are completely different in size and make-up than the ones in the 50’s.
This recipe did not call for pudding, but it did call for preserved ginger. The only type of preserved ginger I am aware of at my local supermarket is the dried and sugared type, and the pickled type. I went with the latter since it is prettier. And rinsed it to taper down on the pickle-y taste.
This recipe did not list amounts. Here is what I concocted:
Old-school Housewife Melon
1 cup of cubed cantaloupe
1 slice of pickled ginger, rinsed and chopped
1 dash of angostura bitters
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lime juice, mixed with a pinch of sugar
Mix it, eat it.
This was so simple and pretty much unbelievably tasty. In the future I will add even more ginger. Actually, I also just tried wrapping a melon wedge in a piece of the ginger. It was like a vegan version of those melon-prociutto things people seem to love. Yup, yup. Seems like these super-simple recipes are always the winners.