A Change of Direction

I was all set today to tell you all about the sweet potatoes I unearthed in the garden yesterday when I half-heartedly poked around the vines with the shovel, not expecting to find anything because we have completely ignored the sweet potatoes and they got taken over by the butternut squash vines, but LO, there were two sweet potatoes in the one spot I dug. YAY!

But then I decided that since it's Friday, I'd skip the wholesome garden post and instead go straight to the liquor.

Yes! Alcohol Friday, that incredibly infrequent but nonetheless riotously fun tradition, returns! WHEEE!!

So. Remember all that cider we have? (Thanks, Alyssa and Jodi!) I was wondering why there don't seem to be any hot alcoholic drinks made with cider, like a hot toddy with cider or something. Because virgin hot cider isn't enough for me. No, I feel the need to make it all decadent and liquored up. Also, I felt like a drink last night and it was like 40 degrees outside and raining, so ice cubes didn't seem appealing.

ANYWAY.

I put this query to A. and the MiL, neither of whom had ever heard of such a thing. Oh, but the Internet has!

A quick search turned up this website, that had many, many options for drinks made with apple cider, most with incredibly stupid names. Who names these things? Whoever it is obviously didn't have the assistance of my clever readers.

ANYWAY AGAIN.

There were several hot drinks listed, and I was briefly enticed by a few that use rum, because I like rum, but then I got to the Snortin' Buffalo Cider (SEE? See what I mean about the names? Really, that's ridiculous). It includes cider, cloves, and Buffalo Trace bourbon. The MiL totally randomly brought home a bottle of Buffalo Trace a couple of weeks ago, something none of us had ever had and something she bought on a whim after happening upon a bourbon tasting in progress when she was at the liquor store. I figured this was Fate stepping in to make my decision for me, and so that's what I made.

It was really, really good. There were no amounts listed in this recipe, so I just filled a pretty big mug with cider, got it nice and hot in the microwave, dumped in a shot of bourbon and two cloves and called it good. Although, how in the hell are you supposed to drink something that has whole cloves floating in it? I invariably get the clove in my mouth with every sip and end up having to spit it back into the cup every time. Charming.

A. liked it too, which is unusual because he generally likes much stronger drinks in which the alcohol is the prominent taste (like an Old Fashioned--ewwww). But for something to just sip while sitting around the woodstove, this was perfect.

I think the next time I make this (and there will be a next time, oh yes), I'll add a little cinnamon. Because you can't really go wrong with cinnamon and cider. Also, then I can give it a different name because it varies slightly from the original recipe. And really, that name is just too lame.

Or maybe I'll just work my way through ALL the drinks in that list. After all, Alyssa did say the cider-pressing yielded ten gallons of cider, and that I could take some more. And we wouldn't want it to go BAD, now would we? No, that would be a shame. So, cider and bourbon for all! Or cider and vodka. Or cider and rum. Or just cider, if you're feeling temperate. And no fun.