No one's complaining about a November where we ate lunch outside several times and didn't turn the heat on once. But a cold snap before the holidays is just what everyone wants- an excuse to light the fireplace (every night!), and warm up- inside and out- with hot cocktails. They're just the thing to sooth a chill, sweeten the voice, and huddle around a fire. Our three house favorites now? One from our new world (Crete), one from our old world (my grandparent's house, and one we just made up that we can't get enough of.
Rakomelo (from "raki"- distilled spirit of grapes, and "meli" = honey)-
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| With a the classic holiday cookie- Kourabie. |
This widely available in the winter at cafe/bars and casual mezze places throughout Greece.
2 shot glasses full of honey, and 4 of raki/tsicoudia
3 or 4 whole cloves or a cinnamon stick
Gently warm together and serve in a small clear glasses.
Hot Buttered Rum-
My grandfather George- of meticulous and refined hand and tastes- made hot buttered rum batter in ample supply for holiday entertaining.
125 g/ 1 stick butter
225 g/ generous 1 C brown sugar
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
whisper of ground cloves
tiny pinch of salt (to be honest, this appears in no recipe I have ever seen, but he may have used salted butter, and this almost undetectable amount of salt enhances the butter's presence tremendously)
For each cocktail, use two tablespoons of batter, 2 shots of dark rum, and 125 ml/ 1/2 C boiling water.
This is classically served in a mug. I do not like mugs, and use these handle-less Japanese tea cups instead.
Tea-time-
Like the using tomato juice or fresh orange juice makes it somehow ok to have a drink at 11 am (the bloody mary, the mimosa- brunch's civilized companions), using tea makes it perfectly ok to enjoy this before dark (it's winter; the sun sets at 5- the start of any civilized cocktail hour.)
You will need to have made a batch of crystallized ginger to enjoy this drink- a spectacular result for a very simple activity.
Brew strong black tea. To each cup, add a shot of bourbon and a shot of the thick spicy syrup left over from making the candied ginger.
This goes straight to your lungs and makes your voice sound, and feel, great. Serving in a fancy tea cup underscores the drink's respectability.
(I know this supposed to be all about entertaining and pleasure, but I'd swear any one of these keeps a chill from turning onto a cold. Wishing you health and joy.)
