Aftermath

Thrift Item of the Moment

Pineapple Passion

Pineapple corer – 50¢ at a garage sale.

It works like a big corkscrew to scoop out the insides of a pineapple

Easier than it looks in this video. I was aghast when she threw out the shell…

because my whole purpose in buying this gadget was to hollow out pineapples to make vessels for  tropical cocktails.

Pina Passion

1 ounce lime juice
3/4 ounce passion fruit nectar
1/2 ounce peach brandy
3/4 ounce Demerara rum
3/4 ounce gold rum
1 pineapple slice
3/4 ounce honey

Blend w/a cup of crushed ice, pour and drink.

Peach brandy isn’t available here, so I used apricot brandy. As well, after searching all over town I couldn’t find any passion fruit nectar or juice, so I used a blend of tropical juices that had passion fruit in it (as well as mango, guava, pineapple, papaya and peach). Mighty tasty regardless.

Don’t forget to garnish.

Thrift Item of the Moment

Cocktail umbrellas

Box of 144 for $1.99 at Sally Ann. I think I’m set for life.

Birthday Week Day 4

Homemade sausage from Old Country Meat & Deli.

Homemade bannock (with lots of currants) from my kitchen. Before.

After. Not as good as the bannock at Fort Edmonton Park this summer. Something to do with lard and a campfire no doubt.

Breakfast.

Thrifting:

Sally Ann. Nothin’.

Value Village. Nothin’. The Lebanese bakery/restaurant next door is now called this:

which is a pity, because it used to be called this:

which was the best name ever.

This is where I wanted to go for my birthday.

This can’t be good.

Drinks before dinner. I finally cracked the bottle of Pisco (the one shaped like an Easter Island Moai) that I’ve been saving for a special occasion.

Rob samples a Pisco Sour. I used the recipe provided with the bottle (substituting lime juice for lemon):

3 parts Pisco
1 part lemon juice
Sugar to taste
Add ice and shake in a cocktail mixer

thasss one damn fine cocktail…

I can’t remember where I found this recipe, but I’m going to try it next:

Leche de Monja

One or more whole eggs WITH shells

Lime juice or lemon-lime juice to cover eggs

Sugar (to taste)

Pisco (to taste)

Place whole eggs, in shell, in a jar. Cover with lemon/lime juice. Seal the jar and refrigerate. Leave the eggs to marinate for 2-3 weeks. The shells should become soft. Place the eggs and juice in a blender and blend until smooth. Strain to remove egg membranes. Add sugar and pisco to taste.

So with the apparent demise of Churros King (damn, I was looking forward to sopaipillas, humitas, and torta mil hojas – and churros of course), my second choice was Tropika – delicious Malaysian food and Trader Vic’s style exotic drinks.

Brandon & Natasha share a Scorpion in a Moai bowl.

Cindy & Don suck on a Passion Punch.

Singapore Sling.

Tropika Sour.

Passion Punch.

Bahia.

Rob & Jill.

I forgot to take pictures of the food until it was almost gone.

My favourite cards have money in them (and play disco tunes).

Thrift Item of the Moment

Boozy Booklets

Last weekend I got these four vintage cocktail recipe pamphlets at a garage sale for a quarter (20¢ really, but I’m such a big spender I didn’t want the change). Price is one of the things that makes collecting these charming little booklets attractive, another is that they hardly take up any space at all – a very important consideration as my cookbook cabinet fills to bursting.

Another charming aspect to recipe pamphlets is that they’re created to push the company’s products and so you get some really, um… creative recipes. For instance, Let’s Serve Cocktails published by Taylor’s New York State Wines and Champagnes features booze in most of its hors d’oeuvre recipes including tuna salad and chip dip. As a friend pointed out, you know you have a drinking problem when you put sherry in your chip dip.

Two of these pamphlets are the latest addition to my thrift store cookbook website Mock Duck. Let’s Serve Cocktails is in the Hors D’oeuvres menu, and Beachcomber’s Barguide is in the Beverages section.

Thrift Item of the Moment

Party Girls

Made from psuedo-ivory (sic).