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imbibing exploits

Celebrating the World Cup

7/14/2018

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PictureCocktails all decked out for the World Cup
I don’t know much about what we Americans call soccer. I didn’t play it as a child nor did any of my kids. Of course, full disclosure: I didn’t have any children, so there is that.

​I know almost as much about socc – football as I do about hockey.  That is to say, I pick a team (usually because I like the color of its uniforms, or think one of the players is hot, or I like the team’s mascot) and yell encouraging things like “Go!” or “You got this!” or “Kill him!” And I cheer when other people cheer so I look cool.

I picked England and Belgium to be playing for the World Cup championship on July 15. They played July 14. For third place.  Congrats Belgium.  Tomorrow it’s all about Croatia and France.  And in my time zone the match begins at 9 a.m.

And 9 a.m. on a Sunday, for me, means one thing: coffee. But tomorrow, in honor of the two countries playing for the title, I’ve decided boozing is in order. Why not enjoy a little of the crazy the folks in those countries, and all the fans of the two teams, will be embracing?

I won’t pretend to love socc – football, but I can truthfully say I love it when the World Cup rolls around every four years. The world’s football isn’t as popular in our country as America’s football and our fervor for our favorite football teams is crazy. But American football crazy is pretty tame compared to the fanatical world football crazy that takes over the globe for a month.

So for this booze blog entry, I picked two drinks from both countries to try today so you can reap the benefits tomorrow while screaming “Go!” or “You got this!” or “Kill him!”


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Makin' Me a Piña Colada

7/10/2018

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I am lacking the palate for boat and beach drinks. All that fruit and pretty colors makes it hard to take seriously. Plus, I was scared the fruit was a backdoor way to make me eat healthier. However, I realized I had better actually make the recipe I was posting for this day because booze. 
It's been hot here. I know. It's been hot everywhere, but I don't care about everywhere. I care about here. In my house. Where it's hot. I didn't sign up to live in a desert. That's why I live where I do. Anyhoo . . .
PictureI have a shit ton of coconut cream if anyone needs it.
I purchased all necessary ingredients for to make the drink for National Piña Colada Day. I went home to my "dry heated" home and headed to the basement. The only place to get respite from the eternal gaze of the sun. And that's where the bar is so it was a win-win. 
So I gathered all my ingredients and proceeded to measure (I am not Deidre) and prep. I got all my ducks in a row, added them to the blender, and blended the hell out of them. It was satisfying. I plopped my beverage into the waiting glass, garnished it, and promptly took pictures. 

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Gonna need to try again.
PictureWell, shit.
After I completed my required stint for these hijinks, I sipped my drink. Ooh. Light and refreshing. Loving the coconut. This isn't even strong. I could drink twelve. 
I downed the delight and promptly began clean up. I washed the blender and measuring cup. When I reached for the shot glass, I realized my error. The shot glass was full. Of Bacardi. Well, not anymore. Half of it was now on the counter. Hmmm. No wonder my drink was so light. Since I am not a rum drinker really, I guess I didn't know what it was supposed to taste like anyway. Except for the Piña Colada Jelly Belly candies. I know what those taste like.

Lesson learned. Check your ingredients and make sure you put everything in the damn drink that goes there. Bummer. Now I have to make another. If you need to make one and prove you are more able than I am, follow the link here. 
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Happy Birthday, USA!

7/4/2018

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Ah, the good ol' U S of A. 'Murica. The land of the free. What a good home you are. In honor of your birthday, people get obliterated every year on the 4th of July. How lucky you are. While beer seems to be the most consumed alcoholic beverage on this fine day, let's not forget the cocktail drinkers. The ones for whom beer makes them think of Nascar (no judgement) and people who wear their ballcaps backwards (possible judgement). I am a beer drinker so I am shutting up about that.
However, I am also a cocktail drinker. And it's fugging hot out. Hot. And a cocktail with ice is just what any subpar doctor would recommend.
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Happy birthday to the red, white, and blue!
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No fancy equipment needed.
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Don't let your drink get watered down. It's unAmerican!
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It's a holiday worthy of a garnish.
I am a gin & tonic fan. They make me happy. However, on this day of days, a special G & T is necessary. Enter the Basil Lemon Gin & Tonic. Let's make this bad boy.
Basil Lemon G & T
2 oz. quality gin (try an American Dry like Botanist)
1/4 to 1/2 oz. lemon juice (fresh-squeezed if you can, if not, fuck it - use juice from a plastic lemon)
3 large basil leaves or 5 small ones (do you say bah-sil or bay-sil and does it really matter?) 
tonic to top (Q or Fever Tree is my recommendation)
ice - Note: I made my ice out of tonic. This way when my drink gets low, I can simply pop some more gin and lemon juice in there, and I have a completely refreshed drink that never gets watered down. Just sayin'.
Muddle the basil leaves and lemon juice in the glass. Add the gin and ice and then top with tonic. Garnish if you feel the need. 
This light and refreshing drink helps one forget that it's burning up outside and fireworks are illegal this year. Drink one as a toast to the country that lets you drink one for your country. 
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Road Trip - Colorado Springs, CO

6/15/2018

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Since PB and I still have kiddies who are in school, we are obliged to take care of them. For our youngest, we take him to various swim camps and meets. One swim camp was in Colorado Springs, CO, and we were kind of excited because Colorado has a pretty happening brewery scene. One of our servers told us that Colorado Springs has 39 craft breweries, which to me seems a bit much, but oh well. As this trip was all about Dex, we couldn't ditch him and pub crawl, so alas, we only got to visit two  breweries, one cocktail bar, and one gastropub (which I didn't know was an actual word). We just combined our food and brewery experiences. Here's a brief (hopefully) glimpse into our adventure.

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Pool Party Imbibing

6/9/2018

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PictureWhat's a pool party without the necessities?
​​There is no way I will spend time at (or in) a swimming pool without a tasty beverage in my left hand. Left hand because when I was younger the group of friends I spent time with required beverages to be held left-handed. A beverage in your right hand required pounding said beverage as a punishment for violating the scared left hand only rule. But I digress . . .

My friend MP, whom I’ve known for half her life, turned 50 June 9. She is a pool goddess. If it’s summer, that English (Language Arts) teacher is sunning and funning the day away. Why not combine the milestone birthday with her favorite summer activity? Which meant we also got to combine one of my favorite activities – day drinking – with her party.  Saturday perfection.

Pool drinking requires some pre-planning. Obviously no glass bottles. Breaking one of those bastards would ruin a party in a heartbeat. No red wine. Cool chlorinated water, 90-degree sun, and a lounge chair is really no place for a velvety Cabernet Sauvignon. Really pool beverages mean light, cold, refreshing, and because it’s a daylong event, low alcohol content.

So we hit the liquor warehouse. I heart liquor warehouses; I can spend hours there. But that’s another post.


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So Very Many Glasses

6/7/2018

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 Ever been so confused about what glass to use for a drink that you just don't have a drink? Yeah, neither have I. Maybe someone has been though . . .

There are bunches of different types of glasses for alcohol. It isn't so much important that you know them all or that you even care, but it's fun information to have. This is a brief (here's hoping) glance at many different types of alcohol glassware. I need to admit up front that I don't own a brandy snifter or a Nick & Nora glass or a hurricane glass . . . you know what? I think I will just stop right there on that list and focus on what I do have.

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Does Ginger Beer have Soul? Hell yeah!

5/31/2018

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PictureSo very many choices... WTF? Who bought the Diet Cock n' Bull?
Many people just don't understand that the mixers used for drinks are just as important, if not more so, than the spirit used. An icky sweet ginger beer or sour tonic will ruin your drink and create a tear in the fabric in time.

Here at Highball Hijinks, we are all about trying to create quality experiences. I would rather have one fantastic G & T than a pitcher full of swill that attempts to pass for it. 

One mixer I use often is ginger beer. I enjoy Moscow Mules, London Mules, Berry Mules, and other mules in general. I am a mule gal. My one true rule for ginger beer is that somewhere in the list of ingredients on the bottle/can, it MUST say ginger in some form be it extract, ginger root infusion, or ginger root. It has to have actual ginger in it. I also won't buy anything ever at all at any time that has HFCS in it. Just say no.
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​As you can see in the picture, I went a little nuts bringing together different ginger beers for this taste test. There are so many from which to choose; it can be sort of intimidating, but I was totally set on forcing my testers to run the ginger beer gauntlet. And run it they did. Three of my kiddies and I spent a delightful afternoon smelling, tasting, and swishing these ginger beers. The opinions are solely ours. If there's a brand we didn't particularly love, but you do, then that's great. You do you. When we say a ginger beer is spicy, we don't mean it's spicy hot; there's just a lot of spice affecting the taste.


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Zima, take me back to 1993...

5/21/2018

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Back in the day when I was a novice drinker, Coors came out with a "refreshing citrus beverage" called Zima. I vividly recall sitting on the deck with my father drinking a Zima spiked with cinnamon schnapps. It was the 90s, be nice.

​In 2017, Zima was re-released. I tried quite hard to get my hands on some, just to wax rhapsodic about my youth which is slipping away at an alarming rate. I digress. I did not manage to find any. My memories of my pops and me sharing a quiet afternoon sipping ice cold cinnamon Zima would go forever as just that: memories. ​However, the other day in the liquor store I spotted Zima in the cooler. Could this be true? Was it a mirage or wishful thinking? NO! Lo and behold, Zima was there on the shelf, just waiting for my arrival and subsequent rush of father/daughter memories. I was the proud owner of six bottles of the elusive elixir of my youth. Two shooters of cinnamon whatnot and I was headed home with my spoils.
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​I was genuinely worried that I had romanticized this whole thing in my head. It wouldn't be the first time I had done so. Was it really quite as delightfully refreshing as I recall? It was all a horrific possibility.

​​I went home and created my masterpiece. I filled a pint glass about 2/3 full with ice, put in about 3/4 ounce of Hot Damn! cinnamon schnapps, topped off with Zima, lightly stirred, and tasted...
​YES! The clouds parted and the light shone down with verve on me and my beverage, bathing us in the gentle but bright light only true joy can bring. My dad sipped it and said, "We used to drink these on the deck" and my heart burst.
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​This isn't my go-to drink of choice or anything, but it sure was a grand trip down memory lane. My Zima bottle says this is a limited release. Bastards. ​
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Cabernet, Feet, and TB, Oh My...

5/20/2018

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PictureThe swirling warm water and pretty blue light are supposed to relax me.
I am not a fan of feet. They're gross. Looking at them. That's gross. Touching them. Gross. So I'm getting a pedicure. Makes sense, right?

But I have wine.

A small Asian man with a cough forecasting the onset of tuberculosis is filing my toenails. Peering at them through tortoise shell cheaters while wheezing what I'm sure will be one of his last breaths.

It's fucking skeeving me out. The whole combination is gross. A: feet. B: phlegmy old dude. 3: touching. A lot of it.


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Who Says Booze and Housework Don't Mix?

5/19/2018

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Last February (2017) in the midst of one of the most emotional teaching years I have ever experienced, the district put out a retirement incentive designed to rid the district of the crotchety, dinosaur teachers like me. February is universally a shitty month for teachers. The school year is crawling by and seems as though it is an endless abyss of need that cannot possibly be sated. That February was no different. As I was emotionally bereft due to the loss of a good friend and physically weakened thanks to a bout of pneumonia, I thought, "Why not?" Because when your life is upended, that is the exact time to make decisions regarding the rest of it.

I was emotionally unprepared for the realities of giving up everything I have ever known since I was three. Of course, I have been reminded that I am usually emotionally unprepared for most things that happen to me. However, I have never been in the private sector; I have always been in school either as a student or a teacher. I am finding I am ill-equipped for life outside of teaching, but I didn't know that then.

Long story short (too late), I am now retired. Thanks to some fun we already had planned, Poor Bastard and I have traveled and had some adventures, mostly dealing with wineries, distilleries, restaurants, and breweries. All of which I have posted to social media, which makes me unpopular with my friends and family, most of whom are teachers. I must admit my liver has taken a pounding over the summer as I mired in the muck that was my regret. However, now it is taking a pounding just because. Shut up, Liver. You are fine.

Yesterday, a friend told me that she was tired of seeing my posts of dining and drinking during school hours and would appreciate seeing more of the mundane tasks of my new life. I didn't see any reason not to acquiesce, so here is a glimpse into the private day-to-day goings on of my post-teaching experience.
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    We have been friends for more years than we haven't. Perhaps because of that or simply because we both have jobs/family that seem to encourage escape, we often bond over an ounce or so of liquid magic. Through these experiences, we have discovered the joys that can come with a well-crafted cocktail, quality beer, and excellent wine. It's about quality for us, and we want to share that with you.

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DISCLAIMER: Okay, look. You should be 21 to participate in our hijinks. We are not advocating alcoholism, under-age drinking, binge drinking, etc. We are promoting possibly humorous, possibly philosophical, possibly educational, definitely imbibing topics. We do not encourage drinking to excess nor driving once one has been drinking. We could go on and on. Be responsible. Drink responsibly and be kind.

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