Bourbon is Sunshine

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Bourbon/Ginger (Packs A) Punch

Posted by James on September 11, 2014
Posted in: New Home, Recipes. Tagged: , , , , . 7 Comments

Here’s a new cocktail for y’all.

Bourbon/Ginger Punch

Bourbon and ginger beer are a refreshing mix. Spicy and warm. Yet somehow crisp.

All the Ingrdients for Bourbon-Ginger Punch

You will need:

  • 2-3 Ounces of Bourbon
  • 1 Ounce of Orange Liquor
  • 1 TBS Ginger Simple Syrup
  • 1/4 TSP Bitters
  • Chilled Ginger Beer
  • Mint Sprigs/Orange Slice for Garnish

Start with the bourbon. Pour 2 to 3 ounces over a few ice cubes in a shaker. We just use a Mason jar.

Add 2-3 Ounces of Bourbon

Then an ounce of orange liquor. Like tripe sec or Grand Marnier.

Add 1 Ounce of Orange Liquor

Ever made a simple syrup?

It’s pretty…..well, simple.

Boil together 2 cups of sugar and 2 cups of water, (For ginger flavor I add about 1/4 cup of chopped ginger root). Stir constantly until it’s reduced by about half.

Make a Simple Syrup with Sugar, Water and Ginger Pieces

Remove the ginger and let the syrup cool.

Add 1 tablespoon of ginger syrup to the shaker.

Add 1 Tablespoon of Ginger Simple Syrup

Bitters may sound a little unusual.

By that, I mean you probably don’t have any on your bar-cart right now. But you should. Bitters adds a certain….(clears throat) bitterness to drinks.

At the turn of the century bitters were a pretty common ingredient in most cocktails and actually thought to cure many stomach-related ailments.

Fee Brothers Bitters

I found some at our local liquor store. I really wasn’t expecting to. So it should be pretty easy for y’all to find too.

Add a quarter teaspoon of bitters to the mix.

Add a Quarter Teaspoon of Bitters

Give it all a good shake.

Shake all the Ingredients

Pour over an ice filled glass. Also a Mason jar…….you may notice.

Pour Over Chilled Glasses with Ice

Top off with chilled ginger beer.

Fill to the Top with Ginger Beer

Ginger beer isn’t a beer at all. It isn’t even alcoholic. It’s really a sweet, ginger-flavored fizzy water.

We got ours at Sur La Table, but I see it’s also available at World Market.

Don’t forget to garnish with a sprig of mint and an orange slice.

Bourbon-Ginger (What A) Punch from the Cavender Diary

Enjoy.

It packs a punch, like most bourbon drinks do.

So be sure to enjoy it slowly.

Chalk Board Door

Posted by James on January 15, 2013
Posted in: New Home, Projects. Tagged: , , , . 7 Comments

I Know, I know…..This is hardly a unique idea.

But it’s a new one for us.

So y’all will have to just bear through this post…….. and pretend it’s something Mind Blowing.

Here goes….

The door from the garage into the kitchen has been a thorn in our side for a few years now. It’s cheap, thin, someone cut it too short…..and when we open the refrigerator door it hits the doorknob. We’ve planned to replace it with something with a window, but until that happens we had to come up with a cheap solution to make it more attractive.

Just look at this “War Zone” we had to start with. (those light switches, BTW, used to be on the other side of the wall, BEHIND the refrigerator)

After completely covering our garage walls in fencing cedar, the hollow core door to the kitchen seem a little off.

It certainly looks more impressive with the thick white trim around it. But something about those 2 different wood grains. The grain of the wall cedar and the grain of the door veneer just weren’t gelling for us.

Maybe if we paint it.

We had plenty of chalk board paint left from the chalk board globe we made a few months ago. So, “chalk board black” it is. (If you don’t know this, chalk board paint comes in a variety of colors. Don’t limit yourselves to just black like we did. Branch out a little, Try red, or green)

Jamie popped the door of its hinges, removed the knob, and frog taped the edges for a clean edge.

Gave her 2 coats of primer…..

And at least 6 coats of black chalk board paint…

Each time he did a new coat, he painted in a different direction.

Beautiful….and Way, More, Much, Better.

Now, if we only had an idea of what to write on it,

BUT we did have an idea.

Something like this….

Bourbon is Sunshine mixed with Love and Genius

 So I gave it a shot….

and, ya know what?

We weren’t really diggin’ it, We can’t quite put our fingers on why, but everything “Doberman height” kept getting rubbed off. HHHmmmmm, that is perplexing.

We liked it better when it was just chalk-boardy black anyway.

Finished Chalk Board Door in the Garage

So, BLACK it is.