We made it to Houston! We promptly had a cocktail!

The picture is a bit misleading at this point. First, we worked on an empty house for a week (cocktails and lodging on the parents, thank you parents) and then our stuff arrived on schedule. Nope, just kidding! Actually, we went back to work and then our stuff arrived late and we stayed at the house two weeks after we got to town (thank you again Mama for meeting the moving van).

The picture was taken that first night and we have since improved a great deal. I’m not willing to post all kinds of house pics without EE approval, though, and she’s off being a consultant.

I will leave you with a thought on cocktails. Specifically, the margarita. The pervasiveness of the Margarita in Texas is amazing and wonderful. It just opens everyone up to the fact that someone might drink something other than beer or wine. My more important insight is that Mandarine Napoleon is a poor substitute for Cointreau. I read some article that made me think it would be more like my homemade orange liqueur, but it’s just not right.

Templeton Rye takes the lead on my whiskey shelf.

Templeton Rye is from Templeton, Iowa.  My father-in-law turned me onto Templeton when we visited Des Moines over Christmas, and I became an instant convert (I sampled my first glass at Sbrocco, a really wonderful restaurant where you can buy your wine retail from their well-stocked basement).

The back of the bottle shows Templeton’s provenance (note the recent bottling date, 12-05-09 — this does not sit on store shelves long).

The trick with Templeton is that it can be challenging to obtain.  It is basically sold-out in Iowa, and even the restaurants that carry it run out.  Miraculously for those of us who live in states that allow online purchases of liquor, Templeton is also sold from Illinois by Binny’s.

Here’s what it all boils down to: Order it today.  Order a lot.

Templeton has a deeper and smokier flavor than I have encountered in other ryes.  It also has pedigree with a recipe dating to Prohibition.  And, oh yeah, it only cost me $35 a bottle!

As if all that weren’t enough, the TR initials and logo are perfect for Tessin Rinpoche:

Dahlia rocks my Templeton Rye logo hat

(sorry about the green eyes - my software has red-eye correction, not dog-eye correction)

I’m calling this month’s Mixology Monday entry the Sillke Water.  If you’re new to MxMo, it is a monthly event where mixologist from around the world wide web contribute drinks related to a theme.  This month’s theme: vermouth.

A great many drinks involve vermouth, and I have actually written previously about the value of using vermouth as a base for cocktails.  Additionally, many of the drinks I have already posted involve vermouth.  For my entry, I wanted to create something quick and totally different from my previous posts.

I spent the past Saturday on the New York Junior League house tour, which involved a visit to Marco Pasanella and Rebecca Robertson’s amazing home, located above their even more amazing wine store.  In addition to wine, they also has a great selection of some premium cocktail ingredients (e.g., Dolin vermouth and Dutch Genever).  In addition to these goodies, I picked up some sake.

The sake became my focal ingredient, but I also have some freshly-infused dill vodka.  I suspected that dill would go well with sake, and it turned out that I was right.   The result is a drink that comes across as watery and light, but that washes over the tongue with surprising complexity and a subtle finish.

Ingredients

1 sake

3/4 dill vodka

splash dry vermouth

dash maraschino liqueur

drop lemon bitters

Combine the ingredients in a shaker and shake.  I’m not too sure if shaking is good for sake, but I like the drink up with some ice floating on top….  Garnish with a cherry.

Photo credit: EE

This is our dog, Dahlia.  She knows what weekdays were intended for (she spends hours in this position on my couch – I spend them at work).

Don’t give in to a case of the Mondays.