Two failures in a row. I'm getting de-pressed! But I'll recover!

16 years ago

We're doing our annual chef's table holiday event tomorrow night and traditionally we start with cosmos at my house before moving on to the restaurant (our hubbies drive us both ways so we can drink "responsibly").

So I found this great (I thought!) recipe for a cranberry daiquiri and thought it might be a nice change. Still red and servable in a martini glass so it met all the requirements. Part of the recipe involves making "drunken cranberries" which are cooked quickly in simple syrup, cinnamon and orange zest, then soaked overnight in that liquid plus rum. You then use the resulting liquid, along with rum and lime juice to make the daiquiri.

Well, ugh. The drink was bitter. I guess it was the cranberries. So much for that idea. I'm back to cosmos and I'll be tossing cranberries and rum. Bummer.

Next. I wanted to make biscotti for little gifties for my girlfriends. I picked a recipe from epicurious that included anise seed that sounded good. Well, I blew that recipe. As I took them out of the oven, seeing that they had spread out to flat flat flat, I remembered that I'd neglected to add in that last 1/2 cup (of the 4-1/2 cups) of flour. Oy.

Well, there was no way they were going to turn into real biscotti so I just sliced them and told my husband that my loss was his gain. I was going to just make another batch tonight but to be honest, after two failures, I'm not sure it's a good idea.

Instead I'm going to go with a T&T recipe. Annie's Molasses cookies. Man-o those babies are good!

And now it's snowing - in Houston (pix on conv page). They sent us home early from work so I'm going to go in and make the cookies in a few minutes. No more experiments for a while, I guess!!

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Comments (7)

lindac
16 years ago
May...it was the orange zest that made it bitter.....get some Boggs cranberry liquor and proceed with that.
And try my recipe for biscotti...on the biscotti thread....tried...many many times and true....if you don't forget that last half cup of flour!!
Linda c
caliloo
16 years ago
Or add some Roses Lime Juice to your mix for daiquiries. It is sweet and tart and will compliment any drimk IMHO. Or jsut add sugar - it may straighten out the tart/bitter prob.

Have a blast, take pics and tell us all about it!

Alexa
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doucanoe
16 years ago
Oh, May! So sorry you are having such a rough time with this event! For what it's worth, we've all been there at one time or another!

Check out the Biscotti recipe thread, lots of great ideas there! I have not tried the Molasses Cookies, yet. I will, even tho I am not a big fan of molasses cookies. I am sure Tim will gobble them up!

If you are looking for alternatives to Cosmos, here are a couple Tried & True cocktails that are very festive for this time of year. I can vouch for both of them! (hic!)

Holiday "Pom"tini

Makes 1 cocktail

1 ounce freshly squeezed pomegranate juice (I use bottled)
1 1/2 ounces vodka
1 1/2 ounces freshly squeezed grapefruit juice (I use bottled/frozen)
1/2 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 ounce Simple Syrup
Ice cubes
Orange peel, for garnish

In a cocktail shaker, combine pomegranate juice, vodka, grapefruit juice, lime juice, simple syrup, and ice; shake until well combined. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Twist orange peel over cocktail and add to glass; serve.
Oprah's Pomegranate Martini Recipe courtesy of Oprah Winfrey 1 1/2 cups pomegranate juice 2 oz. Absolute Citron vodka OR white tequila 1 oz. Cointreau liquor Cup of ice Optional: Splash of sparkling water Optional: Squeeze of lemon Shake ingredients in a shaker and put in chilled martini glasses. Put pomegranate fruit into glass as garnish. Linda
dgkritch
16 years ago
And from the frugal one.........

Don't toss the cranberries and rum!!! Make fruitcakes!

Deanna
annie1992
16 years ago
I agree, Deanna, make fruitcakes, or muffins, or something!

Those molasses cookies are really good, I love 'em. That's why I seldom make them, because then I eat them. Lots of them. I have no self control if they are anywhere around.

Which is why I probably shouldn't make gingerbread biscotti, but I will anyway....

Aw, go for it, May. The cookies will be fine. Have fun tomorrow night and drink a couple of extra whatever-you-decide-to-make. Then you won't really care, LOL.

Annie
claire_de_luna
16 years ago
I'll be thinking of your during your Chef's Table festivities. The snow should be putting you in a holiday mood! We make a lot of Pomegranate Martinis around here, and I think Linda's recipe is perfect for the season. Have fun...I'll be wishing I was there too!
lowspark
Original Author
16 years ago
Well the molasses cookies came out a-ok! Plus that recipe made enough for me to give a dozen cookies to each girlfriend (six) and have a baker's dozen left over for me! Well, almost a baker's dozen. Looks like one or maybe even two cookies may be missing. No idea where they went!

Thanks for the Pomtini recipes!! I may just run out and get ingredients tomorrow morning. The snow stopped around 5 pm and it's supposed to be clear tomorrow.

Two failures in a row. I'm getting de-pressed! But I'll recover!

Comments (7)

lindac

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Two failures in a row. I'm getting de-pressed! But I'll recover!

Comments (7)

lindac

caliloo

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