Hot Room Cocktail - give me something thirst quenching!

I know I said I was going to try writing one post a day. That was part of my 2012 New Years resolution. Just 2 weeks after New Years, I've already missed 2 days and will be missing another one tomorrow. Feeling a bit ashamed at my lack of endurance, I hope you can forgive me as I really have been busy. Tomorrow I will be a bridesmaid at one of my best friend's weddings. It's going to be a blast but it means I won't be able to write tomorrow either. After tomorrow, I promise I will be writing every day again! :D

For the mean time I leave you with another one of my alcoholic adventures, or rather Yuye's. It was a very hot day that day and he said 'I want a drink that's cold and thirst quenching. I'm thirsty!' So, he made this cocktail. Although I think it backfired on him because although it was cold, it was a bit too alcoholic to be thirst quenching.

Hot Room Cocktail - give me something thirst quenching!
Ingredients:

- 20ml Cointreau
- 20ml Limoncello (the one I used was house-made, I will post up a recipe for this at a later date)
- 20ml Southern Comfort
- 40ml soda water
- wedge of lemon
- 40ml apple juice or pineapple juice*
- a few slices of apples as garnish
- ice cubes

Achamango Paradise, perfect cocktail for the hot weather

 
It's getting so hot I feel like I'm going to melt. I don't have a proper garage so the car just sits in the driveway, soaking up every bit of the heat. On over 30 degree days like this, all I feel like doing is to sit in a well air-conditioned room and drinking a refreshing cocktail or drink and just laze around.

 
I bought a few achachas the other day from Seafood Smart in Springvale. I had no idea what an achacha was until I read the promotional pamphlet and did some research on it that night on the internet. It is a a tropical fruit from the Amazon Basin of Bolivia and in recent years cultivations of the achacha began in the North Queensland region of Australia.

 
During the research, I realised that there was an official launch of the fruit back in 2009 and many bloggers went to the event. It was held at Baroque Bistro in Sydney. You can find event details at popular blogs such as A Table For Two (Billy from Masterchef's blog), Grad Your Fork amongst many others.

Ichigo Illusion - a strong yet refreshing cocktail

I'm falling in love with cocktails. I know it's a strange occurrence when I can't even drink more than half a standard drink but it's true. It's the vibrant colours and the refreshing ingredients (not to mention sometimes it's actually quite delicious) that has me hooked. It doesn't help when Yuye loves making cocktails and even has a mini bar of his own (it's actually bigger than some real bars I've been to).

I made another cocktail that looked a little Christmassy - I know Christmas is over but I can't get enough of that lovely green and red combination so here's a little post Christmas booze hit, I'm sure you haven't had enough yet. The name "Ichigo Illusion" is a twist on the popular Midori Illusion drink. 'Ichigo' means 'strawberries' in Japanese and of course is also the name of my blog! :D

This cocktail is a bit stronger than the Pimm's one, and contains more than a standard drink. Please drink responsibly.

Ichigo Illusion (an original recipe by Ichigo Shortcake)
Serves 2

Ingredients

- 2 strawberries
- 1/4 lemon
- a few mint leaves
- 1 shot Soho Lychee Liqueur
- 1 shot Midori
- 1 shot Vodka (I used Finlandia, but any vodka can be used)
- handful of ice cubes

Note: You will also need a shaker and a pestle. 1 shot roughly equals 45mLs.

Technique:

1. Pour Soho Lychee Liqueur, Midori and vodka into a shaker

2. Put in mint leaves, ice cubes and squeezed lemon juice then shake well. Shake harder and longer if you want a cooler and well mixed drink.

Pimm's Cup with a gingery twist & Merry Christmas!!

I've never really celebrated Christmas with my family. I do remember having a Christmas tree when I was very young but the memories of celebrations are a blur. Even if we celebrated, I'm sure it was Chinese style instead of the usual Christmas fare.

After my parents became busy with work, mum gave all our Christmas decorations, including the tree, away to relatives. As we were rarely in Australia during this festival season, the tree wasn't even missed. Now I'm all grown up and I look back at the blurred memories of Christmas and felt just that tiny bit sad.

I spent last Christmas in Melbourne and wanted to go out for a drink and snacks with Yuye on Christmas Eve, but realised that nothing was open! I should have been smarter and thought ahead, who in their right mind would be opening their shop when they could be spending time with their families? We drove all the way to the CBD and then to Prahran, and finally found Basque Tapas and Wine.

Even with such an experience, I still want to try tonight as staying home when no celebrations are on just seems so lonely. I hope I find some nice places tonight. :D

To suddenly celebrate Christmas this year when we never did is a bit hard to achieve, but I felt I wanted to make this year a little more special. Although I didn't really cook up a storm or anything, I did mix up these cocktails for a little adult indulgence and add a little Christmas cheer and colour to our lives. It was especially good in this 30 something degree heat!

Instead of baking ginger bread (as I don't really like ginger bread much), I thought adding ginger beer or ginger ale instead of lemonade into the drink would make it even more Christmassy.

Pimm's Cup with a gingery twist
Serves 2

Ingredients

2 wedges of lemon
2 slices apple
4 slices cucumber
4 blueberries
1/2 strawberry
Handful of mint leaves
1 part Pimm's to 2 parts ginger beer
Ice cubes

Technique:

1. Assemble 1/4 strawberry, 1 apple slice, 1 wedge lemon and 2 slices cucumber in a cocktail glass.

2. Pierce 2 blueberries with a toothpick and place inside glass, leaving a gap between the blueberries so it can lean on the side of the glass without falling into the drink.

3. Top glass with ice cubes.

4. Pour in ginger beer and Pimms and top with mint leaves.

5. Repeat steps for second glass.

Note: I didn't specify the amount of Pimms and ginger beer as the amount depends on the size of the glass. If you want to drink a slightly more alcoholic beverage, just add more Pimms and vice versa. I used the above fruits because that's what I had around the house, feel free to put in any citrus or refreshing fruits that you have lying around.

Merry Christmas everyone and hope you're having a great time filled with lovely food and good company!

xxoo
Jenny