Valentine’s Day

VALENTINE’S DAY COCKTAILS

I’m going to be opinionated and state that I like Valentine’s Day. I’m aware of the negativity. As a result, I find most of it petty.

Anyone who pooh poohs the day because it’s too commercial better not be caught participating in Christmas or Easter.

FOMO singles can exclude themselves or have a think about who they love because love is not exclusive to those in relationships, obviously.

Anyone arguing about its Christian, martyr worshipping or pagan origins, is missing a point therefore an opportunity.

Valentine’s Day is about love. Simples.

I’ve always tried to instill in my child the value that we don’t need to be frugal with thinking and love because we’ll never run out of either. This can be a challenge with teenage boys because most days Australians don’t tend to yak on about loving each other.

So, I’m big into a socially acceptable day to show affection and consideration. We can make it what we want.

Let’s make it what we want!

Which of the following three scenarios fits you?

 

A. PRE DINNER COCKTAILS

If you’re organised enough to have a sitter and able to get out of the house for Valentine’s dinner with your partner, you might like to set up a small appetiser at home as a halfway point from family intensity to relaxed adult conversation. I need this because it takes over 20 minutes to get my Mum Face off.

I like to pair drinks with food, not the other way around. So, we’ll start with food.

We need this to be light. Of course, if you have a favourite or nostalgic dish or drink that’s suitable then prepare that. Otherwise, oysters are pretty expensive at a restaurant but easy at home. If you both enjoy oysters raw, then grab a dozen of the freshest you can get your mitts on. But, if you can’t find them really fresh, don’t do oysters today.

I’d pair this with a lick, sip, suck tequila shot.

 

Oysters And Tequila

12 fresh oysters

2 lemons

60 ml tequila. Right now, I like Espolon Reposado because it is often on special and it tastes good. For shots I prefer gold tequila over white. At any rate, any tequila you like is the best choice here.

Salt

 

1. Cut your lemons. If you value aesthetics over juice cut neat cheeks. Personally, I cut chunky, old fashioned, fish and chip shop wedges, then slice away the middle, white pith and remove the seeds.

2. Loosen the oysters within their half shell. Arrange oysters on a serving dish. Pile them on a mound of salt if you feel like being extravagant but I’d just prop them in place by strategic placement of lemon wedges.

3. Pour 30ml of tequila each into two shot glasses.

4. Serve your tequila shot with a tiny pile of salt and lemon wedge.

5. An oyster, a shot and Mum has left the building.

 

 

 

Oysters Kilpatrick And Bloody Michelle

Oysters kilpatrick are a little more preparation but will meet the needs of those that struggle to eat more than one or two natural oysters, ie me. Bloody Michelle is our recipe for that yummy line between Michelada and Bloody Mary.

 

Bloody Michelle

Celery salt

1 lime or lemon

2 tablespoons (30ml) of lime juice

2 sprigs of celery

500ml tomato juice

Freshly ground black pepper

Tabasco sauce

2 bottles of pilsner or other mild beer. If you have a Mexican pilsner, that’s great.

Ice

 

1. Rim two tall tumbler glasses with celery salt. Add three or four ice cubes, a few shakes of Tabasco and 15ml lime juice to each glass.

2. Pour approximately 150-250ml tomato juice in each glass. You should to stop pouring about 5cm from the top of the glass.

3. Grind pepper into each glass and pop in your celery sprig.

4. Serve with two lime wedges and a bottle of beer. Mix the beer into the glass as you drink and adjust to taste with the lime.

 

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B. POST BEDTIME COCKTAILS

If the kids are in bed, you can’t or don’t want to get out and your evening is at home, maybe with a movie, a board game or chat over some music these are good Valentine’s Day accompaniments.

In lieu of or in addition to a box of fancy chocolate maybe try this:

 

 

Chico Byrne, Our Chocolate Chili Martini

60ml white crème de cacao

60ml vodka

Pinch cayenne pepper or other fine, hot chili powder

Cacao or drinking chocolate

Ice

 

1. Rim two martini or large coupe glasses with cacao or drinking chocolate.

2. Put ice, vodka, white crème de cacao and cayenne pepper in a shaker.

3. Shake until the shaker is very frosty then strain into your glasses.

 

 

Old Codger, Our Unfussy Old Fashioned

45ml bourbon

2 orange wedges. We cut a small orange into eight wedges.

1 teaspoon sugar. We use brown or raw.

Bitters

 

1. Add sugar to your glass.

2. Drip a few drops of bitters into your glass.

3. Pour your bourbon into your glass.

4. Squeeze juice from the two orange wedges into the glass then drop the squeezed wedge in the glass.

5. Fill glass with ice. Stir so the ice melts a little and flavours combine.

 

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C. LOVE YOURSELF

If you’re enjoying the single life and loving yourself on Valentine’s Day will you run a bubble bath while ordering your favourite meal? Blare musical indulgence from every speaker then rip air guitar without a stitch on? Or dust off the foot spa to pumice your callus?

Whatever activity recharges your batteries, your pamper evening needs a super easy, every sip a burst, cocktail to savour. Consequently, I have three on offer.

 

 

Frangelina

30ml Frangelico or other hazelnut liqueur

30ml spiced rum

10ml lime cordial

5ml lime juice

Ice

 

1. Pour Frangelico, spiced rum, lime cordial and lime juice into your shaker along with a scoop of ice.

2. Shake heaps. I stop shaking when the outside of the shaker is very frosty.

3. Strain the liquid from your shaker into a martini or coupe cocktail glass.

4. We like to garnish Frangelina with a slice of lime so the scent of the zest enhances the lime with every sip.

 

 

Marionetto, Our Nod To An Amaretto Sour

30ml amaretto

30ml bourbon

30ml pineapple juice

Ice

Glace or Maraschino cherries

Toothpick or cocktail pick

 

1. Pour amaretto, bourbon and pineapple juice into your shaker along with a scoop of ice.

2. Shake heaps. I stop shaking when the outside of the shaker is very frosty.

3. Strain the liquid from your shaker into your shallow cocktail glass.

4. Garnish with cherries on a cocktail pick, however two toothpicks will work perfectly well.

 

 

Lazy Margarita

30ml tequila

30ml Cointreau or triple sec

3 lemon wedges. As a guide, we cut a small lemon into six wedges.

Salt

Ice

 

1. Salt the rim of your martini glass, margarita glass or tumbler.

2. Pour tequila into your glass taking care to avoid knocking salt from the rim. Though, we are aiming for efficiency here, not perfection so don’t worry if the glass is a little untidy.

3. Pour your choice of Cointreau or triple sec into your glass. Cointreau tastes more citrus while triple sec is sweeter.

4. Squeeze juice from the lemon wedges into the glass then drop the squeezed wedge in the glass.

5. Fill glass with ice. Stir so the ice melts a little and flavours combine.

 

 

I hope you try a one or two of these ideas. If you do, please let us know.

Above all, Valentine’s Day is for expressing love. However we spend it, we should remember to love ourselves so we can better love others.

 

– Lamese