Spooky Cocktails

Hey, what are you guys doing for Halloween?  I 'm going to dress up as pregnant Kylie Jenner (the one who wears sweatpants and eats candy) and lay around on my couch drinking.

Black Magic Margaritas

Makes 2

1/3 c. black sanding sugar
2 c. ice
4 oz. silver tequilla
2 oz. triple sec
1/2 c. lime juice
red food coloring
blue food coloring
green food coloring
lime slices, for garnish

Rim two glasses with a lime slice and dip in the black sanding sugar. Divide tequila, triple sec, and lime juice between two glasses and stir to combine. Add food coloring until desired black color is achieved. Add ice and garnish with a slice of lime. Serve.

Embalming Fluid

Makes 2

1½ oz. mandarin vodka
½ oz. sour apple mix
½ oz. lime juice
4 oz. gingerale
2 drops green food coloring, optional

Mix all ingredients except ginger ale in a shaker over ice. Shake and pour into highball glasses, then top with equal amounts of ginger ale.

El Diablo

Makes 1

1 1/2 ounces reposado tequila
1/2 ounce​ creme de cassis
1/2 ounce​ lime juice
6​ ounces ginger beer

Pour the tequila, cassis, and lime juice into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well. Strain into a collins glass filled with fresh ice. Top with ginger beer.

Tuscaloosa is utterly charming

I had the pleasure of visiting the flute studio at (the?)* University of Alabama a couple of weeks ago, and I was pleasantly surprised by how adorbs downtown Tuscaloosa is.  I mean, it would really behoove you to like sports, but if not, there's still a bit to do.

Visit University of Alabama's grandiose, thoroughly Southern campus (down below).  There are Roman columns everywhere.  There are probably porches with rocking chairs, too, but I just didn't see them.

On campus, the Museum of Natural History is quite impressive for a university. Also on campus, Gorgas House delves into the Civil War history of the area, but whatever, you're in Alabama so there's no avoiding it.

There are nice parks, like Bowers (it has a pool and mini disc golf, below) and Cardinal (nice walking trails).  Capitol park boasts electricity.

There are some great restaurants downtown.

R. Davidson Chophouse is cool and soothing inside, with upscale, modern Southern cuisine. It's pretty fancy.

The Avenue Pub is a little more casual and boasts great happy hour specials.

Five Bar has nice snacks like the baked avocado and a proper Southern weekend brunch.

Here's how cute the downtown is!

Anyway, thanks for having me, UA flute studio!

*It is always a total crapshot trying to figure out how the natives refer to their school, and I hate it.  When I was at University of Illinois, it was called U of I, and you got mocked for adding "the" in front of it.  But the letterhead all says UI, so what the hell is it, actually?  What the hell is UA?  Is it UA? the U of A?  Or are they dyslexic like University of Colorado, which is inexplicably CU?  In short, I wish you would get it together, academia!

Thai curry squash soup

It has turned to fall for reals here in NoCo, and we are swapping out our late summer dinner salads (bye-bye, fresh tomatoes) for some warming soups.  You can throw in whatever vegetables you want, but I think the most valuable thing here is that the broth will help you utilize some of that massive pile of summer squash, if you're starting to lose hope but still don't want to just throw it in the compost heap...

Thai Curry-Summer Squash Soup

Serves 4

2 cups roughly chopped summer squash
1 vegetable bouillon cube
3 cups water
1 tablespoon red (or green, or yellow) Thai curry paste
1 cup chopped frozen spinach
1/2 cup frozen corn
handful fresh cilantro, chopped
2 large fresh tomatoes, chopped
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/4 cup flaked coconut
1 cup cooked brown rice (optional)
salt and black pepper to taste
roasted, salted cashews as garnish
Bring the 3 cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan.  Add the bouillon cube and the squash, and cook until squash is tender, about 5 minutes.  Pour into a blender (careful to place a towel over the cover) or use an immersion blender to blend until smooth.

Replace this thick broth to the sauce pan and stir in the spinach, corn, and cilantro.  Cover and simmer until vegetables are hot about 5 minutes.  Stir in the tomatoes, coconut, lime juice, and rice and season with salt and pepper.  Continue to cook until heated through and serve in bowls topped with cashews.

Chicken and Rice revamp (Romanian style)

This is not actually Romanian, nor does it have rice.  It's very loosely based on a delicious, simple, and incredibly comforting dish that a Romanian friend, a talented filmmaker named Ouana, would make to take the chill off a snowy Wyoming night after shoveling the driveway clear.  The peppers, paprika, and sour cream (or my favorite substitute, yogurt) are pretty clearly Eastern European, and the pasta was just what she served with it.  But given the almost international tradition of chicken and rice (of some sort), I thought orzo would echo that nicely. 

Romanian Chicken and "Rice"

Serves 4

8 oz. whole wheat orzo
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 chicken breast, cut into 1/2-in strips
1 teaspoon paprika
1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 small green bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 small red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
12 cup dry white wine
salt and pepper to taste
generous handful of fresh basil leaves, chiffonaded
sour cream or plain yogurt for serving

Cook the pasta in well-salted water according to package directions.  Drain except for 1/2 cup of reserved cooking liquid. Set aside.

In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.  When it shimmers, add the chicken breast strips along with some salt and the paprika and stir fry until almost cooked through.  Remove to a plate with a slotted spoon.

Add the onion and peppers to the hot oil and lower the heat to medium-low. Season with salt and stir.  Allow to simmer until very soft, stirring occasionally, which should take about 20 minutes.  Add the wine, garlic, and chicken to the pan and stir to coat.  Season with salt and black pepper to taste.

When the garlic becomes fragrant and some of the wine has reduced, add the pasta and reserved water.  Stir thoroughly to mix and allow to simmer another 5 minutes to allow flavors to meld and liquid to reduce slightly.  Stir in the fresh chopped basil and serve in bowls topped with sour cream/yogurt.