Recipe: pear ginger beer co*cktail
Did you go to a Halloween party this weekend? It looked like everyone I know did! Driving through Boulder Saturday night on our way home, we saw a lot of zombies and other characters walking to their presumed social lives. I really love Halloween, but I don’t dress up for it anymore. In fact, the last time I dressed up was in college and I was a (very tipsy) white rabbit. Then the following year I went to a U2 concert at Dodger Stadium on Halloween night and made it back to campus in time for the pumpkin drop (see under annual events). I didn’t see a green flash, but I *did* run into a particular freshman I had been thinking about all day. We went to movie night in the dorm, made sure my housemate got home safely, walked around campus in the dark holding hands, and had our first kiss under the olive trees. Ah youth. Jeremy and I were so young nineteen years ago…
That’s one of the many reasons why I love Halloween.
As promised from my post cards over the weekend, I have some Yosemite photos…
sunset on half dome
fern springs
sunrise from gates of the valley
The whole set is on the photo blog. The snowstorm I missed while I was in California delivered a good 15 inches of snow to our house. This is the snow that will not melt away in the high country, setting up a base for us to play on through the winter and spring. We went to check it out this weekend and Kaweah wanted to come along. Some days she’s slow and stiff, but getting out into the snow always puts a spring in her step. It’s the same for me.
frozen lake and snowy peaks
sunshine, snow, and puppy dog
Winter is coming and my parents are heading back to Virginia soon. We had dinner with them Saturday, but they always want to do happy hour before dinner with us. Their definition of happy hour is wine and cheese, but I brought fixings for a new co*cktail we really wanted to share with them. I’ve tried it on a few friends who have all given it a big thumbs up. It’s Jeremy’s new favorite co*cktail which is saying a lot if it can unseat the Buddha’s hand citron lemon drop martini.
pear liqueur, a bundy, and lime wedges
Yes, it starts with pear liqueur and ginger beer. Beer not ale. It isn’t alcoholic, but it has a far stronger ginger taste than ginger ale. There are a few brands out there and some taste like cough syrup. My favorite mass produced ginger beer is Bundaberg, which comes from Australia. They call it a Bundy. Aussies are great, aren’t they? I get mine from Cost Plus World Market. They aren’t cheap. My favorite small batch ginger beer comes from Seattle and it is Rachel’s Ginger Beer. I met Rachel and sampled her ginger beer at Delancey when it was taking off. Her ginger beer is in huge demand for good reason – it’s the best.
fill a high ball with ice
pour in the pear liqueur
There are just three ingredients if you don’t count the ice, but the flavors are bouncing off one another for that super awesome party in your mouth. Fizzy, spicy, sweet, mellow, fruity, tangy – woohoo! Kat says you can’t really taste the alcohol in it. That can be dangerous. It’s quite drinkable and goes down easy. My parents really liked it too!
squeeze a lime wedge
top it off with a good ginger beer
The pear ginger beer is a perfect co*cktail for fall to sip on your own or toast with friends and family. I kinda want to throw a party just so I can serve the drink!
here’s to autumn
Pear Ginger Beer co*cktail
[print recipe]
2 oz. pear liqueur
1 bottle (~12 oz.) ginger beer (I prefer Rachel’s Ginger Beer which might be hard to find right now, or Bundaberg Ginger Beer)
2 lime wedges (a wedge is 1/6th of a lime)
ice
Fill a high ball glass with ice. Pour the pear liqueur over the ice. Squeeze a lime wedge over the ice. Top off with a good ginger beer (don’t use ginger ale – it is totally different and inferior). Serve with a wedge of lime. Makes one co*cktail.
October 31st, 2011: 12:22 am
filed under beverages, booze, entertaining, fruit, photography, recipes, sweet, travel
