I don't want to take down the tree. I might have to stop having Bailey's in my coffee every morning. I'm keeping a close eye on the hubs to make sure he doesn't put that nasty semi-skimmed in it but at some point I'll have to go back to having coffee the boring, non-alcoholic way.
It has been a quiet Christmas but we had a few visitors after the day itself, one being my cousin and her fiance who came to stay with us at the weekend. It's so wonderful to have family nearby and makes spending Christmas at home so much more Christmassy. They brought with them the greatest gift of all; booze, lots of it!! And more specifically, all the fixings for a fancy shmancy drink. They brought this on all their travels over the Christmas holidays and I might just have to adopt this for future travels. It's a great gift to your host and a nice way to introduce them to a new cocktail or treat them to an old favourite they had no idea they could get their hands on in this foreign land. Thanks guys!!
One was very English - A trifle shot! He's English, she's Canadian and there's just something about that match that makes it a perfect one! I've never attempted to make a trifle but something tells me this shot is a heck of a lot easier - though there was some discussion about which alcohol goes in first and something about pouring it over a spoon. Anyhoo, it was delish! And the perfect ending to our meal when all you want is a little taste of something sweet (and, well, when you've spent the last week eating every last Toblerone in sight).
In order to be able to tell you how to make it, I've just taken one for the team and tried it out myself and it goes a little something like this: pour the Chambord (a raspberry liquor) in first, then pour the Dooley's (a toffee liquor) over the back of a spoon so it goes down the side of the shot glass and settles on the bottom, under the Chambord. Using the same spoon technique, pour double cream and it will settle on top. Down the hatch! I could honestly skip dinner and have a few more of these. I may or may not be developing a problem here.
The Canadian cousin brought the fixings below. Not as well received by the English they visited but I was thrilled!!
The only time I have seen Clamato juice outside of Canada was when I went to Portugal in 2010 with one of my best gal pals (from Canada and who also has an Englishman in her life - see?! Great matches) and we came across a little Canadian bar (which the visiting cousin had also been to before me - it really is a small world!). The Canadian (of course) bar owner imported Clamato juice to make Caesars. They were 5 euros each and well and truly worth it but we were a little upset that our responsible nature (I have some - a little) had us leave our bank cards at the hotel and bring only 20 euros each with us, which however, was still enough to get us dancing on the benches in the bar. What can I say, cheap date.
Anyway, my cousin mixed the cocktails and I added the garnish. Teamwork, people! Standard garnish is celery but I love a dill pickle. It's a great drink to start the night with and also one that permits daytime drinking. It's also been known to be a good hangover cure, most likely due to the fact that you're just jumping back on that drunken horse. On a completely unrelated note, I'm off to Sainsbury's.
Caesar Cocktail
1.5 ounces of vodka
3-4 drops of tabasco sauce
splash of worcestershire sauce
pepper
celery salt
lime wedge
Clamato juice
ice
celery or pickle
Rim the glass with a lime wedge and celery salt. Add ice, vodka, tobasco and worcestershire sauces, sprinkle of pepper and top with Clamato juice. Stir and serve with a lime wedge, celery stalk or a pickle (or anything else that takes your fancy). Drink up!
