balsamic vinegar » The Red Shaker

So Long, Shaker! Shake

May 062011

One of the most interesting thing in life is how it changes both in small ways and on the larger scale. The latter is the scale of Shaker Two’s big change, which is a move to another state. Now, not to fear, this blog will still be going and plans are in place and being formulated on the most fun way to keep bringing you all the crazy martini recipes and fun we have been writing about since 2009.

So, in light of Shaker Two’s imminent departure, we put together a So Long, Shaker! Shake

Shaker Two Says A Sip For The Hostesses~John joins us via skype

A few of our friends joined in both locally and via Skype and we revisited some of the favorites from the blog this far and, wow, they were just as tasty this time as they were when we first made them pair that with some of our favorite recipes and it was a night of fun, food and – of course – martinis.

First off is the Spicy Lemon Drop.

We first wrote about this in July 2010 and included it in part of our Founding Fathers 4th of July Shaker Night. This was a summer favorite with a lovely kick to a somewhat traditional lemon drop.

This was a hit with the guests and there might have been more than one consumed by a few.

As drinks were flowing, the table was set with a veritable buffet of tasty bites ranging from smoky cheezee poofs (gougeres), vichyssoise, red pepper puff pastry rolls, grilled vegetable wraps, an assortment of cheeses and fried chicken from KyoChon.

: Shaker Two Says A Sip For The Hostesses~

: John joins us via skype

Next up is the Citrus Bliss.

Shaker One spent lots-o-time juicing citrus for these bad boys and is it worth it. The fresh citrus takes this drink from good to *SLURP*.

Third on deck is the Balsamic Martini created by Jacopo Falleni.

This one has some really amazing flavors going here and it was well worth revisiting it.

To round out the evening and to somewhat taper the spice from the KyoChon chicken (YUM!!! Thanks, Simon and Bill!) we ended with a Shaker Two favorite – the Parisian. In honor of Shaker One’s quickly approaching firtst trip to Paris, we thought this beautiful drink would be a nice addition.

All in all, this was a lovely night of friends, memories and cocktails.

Tinis Al Fresco!

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Jul 232010

The (belated) arrival of true summer weather is met with varying degrees of enthusiasm from the two Shakers. One thing we can agree on is that dinner tastes better outdoors. Last night Shaker Two put together a lovely spread to officially open the Patio Bar for the season.

We dined on grilled rib eye steaks in a coffee rub (Shaker One was in heaven over this rub), herbed potatoes, grilled corn on the cob and a fabulous salad with candied pecans, goat cheese, mango and a poppy seed dressing…..yum.

We finished up our relaxing meal with a sabayon meyer lemon tart with fresh strawberries from Shaker One.

hope you all enjoy your weekend……oh, what?? You want to know if we had drinks? Why yes, as a matter of fact we did! how did you guess?

Shaker One as been gorging on fresh strawberries this season, so when I came across a couple of martini recipes involving strawberries and balsamic vinegar how could I resist??

First up was the Balsamic Vinegar Martini:

Simple and very pretty, but basically a vodka martini up with a lovely garnish. As written 2 1/2 olives.

The Shakers decided to muddle this up with some extra balsamic and it was tasty! 3 1/2 olives muddled.

Next is the Balsamic Martini by Jacopo Falleni:

4 1/2 olives. This is a must try.

I must admit this sounded like a rather odd combination to me, but I was curious enough to mix it up. Shaker Two and I each took a sip and our eyes grew big and round. Mr. Falleni- you are a genius. This is beyond delicious. The vanilla and lime (I used vanilla vodka instead of the vanilla rum he recommends) marry perfectly with the strawberries and balsamic and the balsamic glaze adds the perfect touch. This is a fabulous martini, really creative and well worth the bit of effort in assembling/muddling. Oh, we skipped making the cute sword garnish from the rind of a spaghetti squash like he did.

The Shakers are off to discover more recipes that embrace the flavors of the season……check back soon for more summer mixing and muddling~