This week, we had, I believe, three blackouts in Girl Drink Drunk Land. Some Aters saw six according to Twitter reports, and yet another Ater offered that her home temp dropped from 70 to 56 degrees during one of the blackouts in the OED.
So, I got to thinking about some cocktails that might warm me up -- and you, because I care.
I took inventory of our random, yet fairly impressive assortment of hooch and mixers and did a little fine tuning -- wait, no, more like loose improvisation in some cases -- and concocted this list of Icepocalypse cocktails to make you forget about your energy bill.
Surely, you'll have at least one of the spirits on hand, and most of the mix-ins are common pantry items, or at least crap you'd have left after holiday parties or, possibly, in anticipation of Valentine's Day.
Hunker responsibly.
Grown-Ass Hot Chocolate -- Most folks just add a shot of whiskey to their cocoa, and that's great, but I want a little more winterization. I suggest one packet of instant cocoa (barring that, some milk and chocolate chips or leftover Hanukkah gelt candies), a tot of the hooch and a mini peppermint stick left over from your stocking. You could also use an errant peppermint from a Sonic drink if you happen to have one lying around...which I do.
Snowball -- There are many, many variations on the "snowball" drink, but the simplest one I remember making for the grown-ups as a child involves Jack and peppermint liqueur (I found a take on the proportions here). I had some creme de menthe (don't ask), but that melted Sonic peppermint wasn't...um, awful.
Hot Ginger Toddy -- The Food Network provided a perfectly doable recipe...if I could get our garage door unfrozen and drive to the store for fresh ginger. But I can't. Oh, and I'm clear out of bourbon, so instead I'm going with Jameson...and ginger ale. With lemon, water and sugar it really wasn't too terribly bad. Note, you'll need a helluva lot more ginger ale so if you have a construction worker-sized insulated Thermos I'd dig it out of the recesses. Plus, then you can hang out under your Slanket (THE original, not the lame-ass Snuggie) and not have to get up for hours at a time.
more warm-ups after the jump...
Hot & Spiky Dr Pepper -- A time honored tradition, hot DP poured over a lemon, or accented with a healthy dose of lime juice, is delicious concoction you can enjoy at 10, 2 and 4 or whenever the hell you want. If you take into consideration that it tastes pretty awesome with a jolt of any liquor (old rum and whiskey, separately, tasted best out of our stock), that's three really happy hours.
Moscow Hot Chocolate, or my version, the Hot Hazel -- Grab the cocoa again. Add almond extract, hazelnut extract, or, if you're a freak like me and have it, creme de noisette. If you don't have any of those things but have a gas station tube of almonds, eat those while you drink this. Also, and this is very important, don't forget to add vodka.
If you're not into the cocoa, you can actually just heat up some milk and add the vodka, a bit of vanilla extract for smoothness and nut stuff and have a creamy, nutty mug of awesome. I couldn't find any recipes that gave this exact combo, so let's just consider this the even fairer-skinned cousin of the White Russian.
Shandygaff -- For you beer drinkers. Mix a beer with ginger ale to taste. Add a squeeze of lemon. If you don't have lemon, but you have that weird lemon flavored powder from the liquor store that someone left after a party, go with it, but gently.
Hot Cider -- This toddy (for which there are many recipes) generally calls for things like honey, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, so just dump out that spice rack your mom bought you when you first moved out and put it to use. It also calls for apple cider, but a juice box or two of apple juice will suffice once you've added the rum and warmed it up. If you have a bottle or two of hard apple cider and decide to use that, you should go ahead and get your hangover remedies ready.
