An Old Fashioned Cocktail

The Old Fashioned is one of my favorite drinks; perhaps due as much to its history as its palatability. This was the first mixed drink to earn the title of "cocktail" and for years it was known simply by this name. It wasn't until bartenders really started mixing together all different sorts of concoctions that customers had to specify their drink request as "an old fashioned cocktail". Now, after 200-some years of mixological advancements most people have forgotten all about this dinosaur of a drink. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing all the different tipples that a good bartender can create these days, it's just that sometimes all a body needs is something simple, balanced, well chilled.

A classic recipe might go something like this:

• 1 sugar cube (or 1 heaping teaspoon granulated sugar)
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• 1 1/2 oz Rye Whiskey
• water as desired
• Lemon twist

Muddle sugar, bitters, and whiskey in an old fashioned glass to dissolve sugar. Add a little water, fill glass with ice, and stir well. Garnish with lemon twist.

Notes:

• I like to use simple syrup (1:1 water and sugar, boiled to dissolve then cooled) instead of sugar when I can. While probably not historically accurate it saves the step of muddling the sugar and makes for a smoother, thicker texture.  in this case sub 1/4-1/2 oz simple syrup for the sugar, and omit the water if desired.

• The real point of this drink is the bitters. Originally these tinctures of barks and roots were consumed for their medicinal value and were too unpalatable to be drank on their own. For a little variation it can be fun to pick up a few different kinds of bitters (Fee Brothers has a line of flavors like cherry, lemon, orange, rhubarb etc.) and try them in place of the traditional angostura. You'll be surprised how noticeable the differences can be.

• The first old fashioneds were probably most commonly made with made with rye, since that's what grew in the in the northern, more densely populated states. That said they're also delicious with bourbon, but they'll be sweeter and less spicy/fragrant. I like Wild Turkey (they make a rye and a bourbon) but if your guests are brown booze greenhorns then you might want something milder like Maker's Mark. Old Overholt rye is delicious as well and usually only $16-$18 a bottle.

• Some people debate over whether it's correct to use soda, still water, or none at all; soda wasn't easily available when the drink became popular, and since the drink was commonly imbibed in the morning for its medicinal value I would guess it was usually diluted with a little water. I prefer it with soda, but its really a matter of personal taste. 

• Don't bother with a bright red, near-flavorless "maraschino" cherry. The the original maraschino cherry (a marasca cherry preserved in its own liqueur) didn't become commonplace in the U.S. until the late 1800s, and it bore little resemblance to the artificially colored and sweetened Queen Anne cherries you'll find masquerading as maraschinos today.  Fresh or dried cherries soaked in brandy are a great do-it-yourself alternative. Adding the citrus of your choice is fine, but again, citrus was not as widely available in the early 1800s as it is today.

If you want to see a great modern adaptation of this classic drink then check out this video from "Raising the Bar" by Jamie Boudreau on Small Screen Network.




If you want to know more about the history of the mixed drink check out "Imbibe!" by David Wondrich, a comprehensive look at how our favorite libations came to be.

Just for fun I've copied the first known printing of the "cock tail" and its ingredients below:

The Balance and Columbian Repository

Communication.

To the Editor of the Balance. Sir, 
   I observe in your paper of the 6th instant, in the account of a democratic candidate for a seat in the legislature, marked under the head of Loss, 25 do. cock-tail. Will you be so obliging as to inform me what is meant by this species of refreshment? Though a stranger to you, I believe, from your general character, you will not suppose this request to be impertinent.
    I have heard of a forum, of phlegm-cutter and fog driver, of wetting the whistle, of moistening the clay, of a fillip, a spur in the head, quenching a spark in the throat, of flip & c, but never in my life, though have lived a good many years, did I hear of cock tail before. Is it peculiar to a part of this country? Or is it a late invention? Is the name expressive of the effect which the drink has on a particular part of the body? Or does it signify that the democrats who take the potion are turned topsycurvy, and have their heads where their tails should be? I should think the latter to be the real solution; but am unwilling to determine finally until I receive all the information in my power.
    At the beginning of the revolution, a physician publicly recommended the moss which grew on a tree as a substitute for tea. He found on experiment, that it had more of a stimulating quality then he approved; and therefore, he afterward as publicly denounced it. Whatever cock tail is, it may be properly administered only at certain times and to certain constitutions. A few years ago, when the democrats were bawling for Jefferson and Clinton, one of the polls was held in the city of New York at a place where ice cream was sold. Their temperament then was remarkably adust and bilious. Something was necessary to cool them. Now when they are sunk into rigidity, it might be equally necessary, by cock-tail to warm and rouse them.
    I hope you will construe nothing that I have said as disrespectful. I read your paper with great pleasure and wish it the most extensive circulation. Whether you answer my inquiry or not, I shall still remain,
    Yours,
        A SUBSCRIBER    

 [As I make it a point, never to publish anything (under my editorial head) but which I can explain, I shall not hesitate to gratify the curiosity of my inquisitive correspondent: Cock tail, then is a stimulating liquor, composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water and bitters it is vulgarly called a bittered sling, and is supposed to be an excellent electioneering potion inasmuch as it renders the heart stout and bold, at the same time that it fuddles the head. It is said also, to be of great use to a democratic candidate: because, a person having swallowed a glass of it, is ready to swallow any thing else.

On the Flipside

This Christmas my boss gifted me a book called "Fix the Pumps" by Darcy O'Neal. Our job involves a lot of cocktail making and as such we all enjoy learning about their history, but this book isn't about classic cocktails. Instead, it covers another famous tipple that is now all but forgotten: the classic fountain soda. As I read I was surprised to find out how little I knew about these once popular concoctions: the techniques used by soda jerks mirror those used by classic bartenders, many of the ingredients are no longer readily assessable, and a few of them would startle you if you found them in your carbonated beverage today. Example: a whole egg. Long ago it was not uncommon for a jerk to, at your request, shake up a soda incorporating this famous breakfast protein. The result is far from what you would think; soft and smooth in texture with a stable "head" of foam from the whites resting on top. 

The technique is also common to a category of alcoholic drinks known as "Flips". The term flip was first used in the late 17^th century to describe a mixture of beer, rum, and sugar, heated with a red-hot iron. Over time, the proportion of eggs and sugar increased, the beer was gradually left out, and the drink ceased to be served hot. The end result was a simple mixture of alcohol, sugar, water, and whole egg, shaken until chilled and frothed, and usually finished with a little grated nutmeg.

So when I heard about "Mixology Mondays" on this blog and saw that the flip was their theme for this month I couldn't help but join in the fun. Here's a little explanation of this "monthly online cocktail party" from their site:

"Mixology Monday is a monthly online cocktail party. Since launching in April 2006, Mixology Monday has attracted scores of participating bloggers and thousands of curious readers, all coming together on a monthly basis to share drink recipes and related information in a friendly online environment.

The process is quite simple: each month, a host, working with the moderator, selects a theme for the upcoming event; past themes have included Rum, Winter Warmers, Fizz, and Aperitifs. The event is announced on various blogs... and on or before the event date (a Monday — hence the name), participating bloggers join the party by posting a drink recipe or other post related to the theme."

I already had eggs on the brain to begin with... now it was time to put them in a glass.

Sunrise Flip

You can make a decent non-alcoholic drink by omitting the tequila at the beginning and adding 1 1/2 oz soda water after the drink is shaken, before transferring it to your serving glass.

• 1 1/2 oz silver tequila
• 1/2 oz clove-infused simple syrup (recipe follows)
• 1/2 oz orange juice
• 1/2 oz lime juice
• 1/4 oz pomegranate juice
• 1 whole egg

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker and fill about halfway with ice (it's important to use less ice than you might normally to mix this drink, as the water that melts off makes it harder for the egg to froth properly). Shake hard for a good 30 seconds (again, we're trying to make the egg extra frothy). Strain into the glass of your choice, slowly lifting away from the glass as you pour to make a nice, thick head. Top with freshly grated nutmeg.

Clove-Infused Simple Syrup

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 25-30 whole cloves

Combine all ingredients in a small pan over high heat and bring to a boil. whisk to dissolve the sugar and remove from heat. Let steep for an hour and cool before using.

This month's host of "Mixology Monday" has been the Cocktail Assembly.

Stumpo Sauce

I’m back to the grindstone after a great Christmas break spent with my parents and siblings, my nephew and nieces, and my bro-in-law. I think we all know the holidays aren’t about the gifts or the parties or the excuse to start drinking first thing in the morning; they’re about family and friends, inviting into your home those folks you might not try so hard to see any other time of year, and posting things like “Merry Christmas!” or “Happy New Year!” on the Facebooks of people you’ve probably never spoken to in person. I’m sure we've all found a few messages like this in our notifications or mailboxes (electronic or otherwise) over the course of the last month or two.

This recipe came about from a Facebook message I received written by an old family friend that I have still yet to meet, Phil Stumpo. In fact, up until last month I knew him only by his music and his marinara. My family has been making what we always called “Stumpo Sauce” for as long as I can remember. When I asked my parents for the recipe they provided it from memory. Once upon a time I think it was hand written on a scrap of paper, which now is surely tucked into one of our family's old recipe binders somewhere never to be found again; sacrificed to the recipe gods.

Growing up my family loved to be creative in the kitchen, especially when it came to dinner; we didn't often make the same thing twice unless it was really worth it. There are only a couple handfuls of recipes that stick out in my head from my childhood, so when I got this particular “Merry Christmas” in my mailbox followed by “…have been enjoying your blog” I jumped at the opportunity to ask if I could post the recipe here. I sent what my parents had given me to Phil for fact checking and updating, and what he returned to me is what you see below. It’s a deliciously hearty marinara sauce that goes especially well with your favorite tortellini. I’ve left the recipe essentially in its original form, and added my notes below.

“Stumpo Sauce”

• 1 pound Italian sausage links sliced 1-2 inch thick
• 1 pound leanest ground hamburger
• 2 chicken thighs with skin
• 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 small white onion, chopped
• 1 celery stalk, diced
• 1 small carrot, peeled and diced
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 6 large whole garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 pounds mushrooms, thick sliced
• 1 cup Italian parsley
• 1tsp dried Oregano
• 6-8 fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1Tbsp ground black pepper
• 2 cans tomato sauce, 28 oz
• 1 can diced tomatoes, 28 oz
• 2 cups red wine
• 10 oz chicken stock
• salt to taste

In large preheated sauté pan, add 2 Tbsp oil and sear both thighs skin side down for 4-5 minutes or until skin is dark brown...turn over for another 4-5 minutes, remove and reserve. To remaining oil and drippings add another Tbsp of oil and sauté 6 garlic cloves on all sides until golden brown, being careful not to burn. Remove cloves and reserve. 

Into the pan add diced garlic, carrot, onion, parsley, and celery. Stir until softened then sprinkle with dried oregano, salt, and red and black peppers. Stir together, add sliced sausage and cook until brown, then add crumbled ground beef and stir until it's almost fully cooked. While ground beef is still a bit pink add sliced mushrooms and wine and bring to boil, then reduce heat and let simmer for 10 minutes. 

When liquid has reduced by 1/3, add sauce, tomatoes, and half of the stock, stir and let simmer for 10 minutes. Drop in seared chicken thighs and continue to simmer for 30-40 minutes on low heat, adding stock a little at a time as sauce reduces. At this point, taste sauce for salt and adjust if necessary, then take the six cloves of sautéed garlic you have reserved and smash them into a paste. Incorporate this into the sauce and then add chopped basil and simmer gently until the chicken thighs start to fall apart...that's when you know it's done. (FYI, thighs only there for flavor, or for the chef's enjoyment...not to be served).

Notes:

• The chicken thighs add a much richer flavor to this sauce then the chicken stock ever could by itself thanks in part to the browned bits that stick to the pan when seared, however since you wont be serving them they could be omitted if desired. (If i remember correctly my parents would use pork chops instead of chicken, and at the end cut them up and stir them back into the sauce. Such is the nature of hand-me-down recipes: evolving as they're passed along.)
• The step of sauteing whole garlic cloves, reserving them to incorporate at the end, then sauteing more minced garlic to leave in the sauce during cooking may seem unnecessary, but it is certainly not. The minced stuff you leave in lends a subtle background note, while the smashed cloves stirred in at the end give you a brighter "roasted garlic" kind of flavor. Both are important to the sauce.
• As a rule, never cook with a wine you wouldn't drink, especially when your adding a full two cups to the dish. Its flavor will have a big effect on your finished product. I have found that both Yellow Tail and Barefoot are good brands for these situations. They're easy to drink and wont break the bank.
• Don't try to hurry the sauce along during the reducing and simmering process; it needs to cook low and slow to reach its maximum potential. Stir occasionally during this time to make sure nothing is burning at the bottom of your pan.

Rhum Agricole

Last night my friends and I had the great pleasure of attending a special dinner to showcase Rhum Clement and Rhum J.M. Both are brands of rhum agricole, a type of rum distilled from freshly-squeezed sugar cane juice rather than from molasses like most rums. Only recently have these brands jumped through all the necessary hoops to find their way onto the shelves of Washington liquor stores, and on this night we were lucky enough to have them shaken up for us by some of Seattle's top mixologists then paired with five incredible courses made by the chefs at Spur Gastropub.

Pairing cocktails with food works surprisingly well. As with wines, cocktails can span every flavor profile from sweet to acidic, from earthy to mineral, from smoky to herbaceous to floral. The key difference between the two is that, when making a cocktail, a bartender has the opportunity to take a variety of different flavors and mix them together at different ratios on the spot. While I won't argue that nothing is more awe-inspiring than a flawless wine and food pairing, there is something impressive about a mixologist who's skilled and knowledgeable enough to blend the perfect libation to go with an already perfect dish. This was my experience last night:

First

Tuna Tartare

wrapped in avocado with chili and lime "chips".

Saint Pierre

Clément Primier Canne, ginger, champagne vinegar, lime bitters.

by Cale Green

Throughout the dinner we were brought our cocktails first, followed by the food. This course was my favorite pairing because, at first sip, this cocktail came across as a little too sharp and acidic. Once I was able to try it with the food, however, I found it to be balanced as the ginger and vinegar elements in the cocktail helped to cut through the rich flavors of avocado and raw tuna.

Second

Sous Vide Pork Belly

with cabbage, pineapple, and creole mustard.

Carley’s Conundrum

Rhum J.M Gold, lemon, orgeat, demerara, boker’s bitters.

by Nathan Webber

Both of these would be just as good on their own as they were together. The complex and sweet flavors of the orgeat (an almond and infused syrup flavored with rose or orange flower water) and the demerara (a golden raw sugar) in the cocktail mirrored those of the soft pork belly and cooked pineapple on our plates.

Third

Smoked King Crab

on braised greens with butternut squash soup and pecans.

Calypso King

Brown Butter infused Rhum J.M Silver, falernum.

by Craig Schoen

As the bartender was describing his cocktail to us he proposed something I’d never heard of before: we were to dip or smoked king crab into the cocktail. Equally fun and delicious, the browned butter flavors infused into the rhum paired expectedly well with the crab, and the bite of alcohol in the finish served to cleanse the palate. 

Fourth

Beef Cheeks

with raw, braised, and pureed carrots, curry demi-glace, and horseradish foam.

Chimenea

Clement VSOP, rye, cynar, punt e mes, hickory syrup, orange bitters.

by Marley Tomic-Beard

This cocktail seemed to get mixed reviews from those sitting around me, but all agreed that it was much better with the food than on its own. The strong notes of hickory smoke and cynar (a bitter apéritif flavored with artichoke) were too much to handle alone, but the beef cheek sauced with curry demi-glace did much to help these potent flavors find there place.

Fifth

Rhum Walnut Sponge Cake

topped with a dehydrated banana-juice chip, paired with praline ice cream and banana panna cotta drizzled with caramel. 

Rhum Clément Cuvée Homère and Clément X. O.

For our final course we were given two blended barrel-aged rhums, served neat. The first, Cuvée Homère, was a marriage of the brand’s best rhums over the last fifteen years: 2001, 1999, and 1997. The second was a rare blend of very old aged rhums including the highly regarded vintages of 1976, 1970, and 1952. It was a great opportunity for all to see the incredible range of character that rhum agricole can have. After all, wasn’t that the point of the entire meal?

A Quiet Night

When I was growing up every holiday was an event, and Halloween was no exception. My siblings and I would decorate the entire house, carve pumpkins, toast pumpkin seeds, help each other build our costumes, go trick-or-treating, and eventually get sick from eating ridiculous amounts of candy. As I moved into high school and my siblings moved away to live on their own, Halloween morphed into a time to go out with friends, get dressed up, cut loose, cause trouble, and still eventually get sick from eating ridiculous amounts of candy. College wasn’t really much different, except that the “trouble” got more interesting, the parties lasted longer, and the costumes generally got sluttier. 
Which brings us to now. The crazy parties have gone away, and I'm no longer excited by the idea of eating my weight in miniature candy bars. In fact, now that I've got a real life with a real job and a real girlfriend and real rent to pay I can barely be bothered to dress up for the occasion. My concept of "fun" has changed such that now all I really want is a nice relaxing evening at home carving pumpkins and making dinner with my lady.

Herb-brined Chicken, Roasted with Apples and Onions

This is a terrific dish to serve when the weather turns cold and you start craving comfort food. I've brined many a chicken in while working in restaurants, but it's not something I often think of doing at home. The process is deceivingly quick, as long as you make the brine and get your chicken into it the night before (or even that same morning), your actual working time is less than 30 minutes all together. The end result will be the juiciest, most flavorful chicken you've tasted.

Brine

• 1/2 gal water
• 1/2 cup Kosher Salt
• 1/4 cup Sugar
• 1 bunch Fresh Thyme
• 3 sprigs Fresh Rosemary
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 1 head Garlic, cut in half horizontally
• 1 small Onion, sliced
• 2 T Pink Peppercorns
• 1 ea Lemon, halved
• 6 ea Chicken Drumsticks

Roasted Chicken

• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 Tbsp Butter, salted
• 1 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
• 1 small Yellow Onion, diced
• 1 Apple, Granny Smith or other firm apple
• 1 bunch Fresh Thyme
• 1 ea Lemon, quartered

Combine all ingredients for the brine except the chicken in a sauce pan on high heat and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve the salt and sugar, then remove from heat. Refrigerate until cool and then add the chicken. Let sit at least 8 hours, or preferably over night. Remove chicken from brine and rinse well, then pat dry. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
In a cast iron pan over medium high heat add the butter. Once the butter has melted add onions and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the apples, thyme, and lemon. Stir together and cook about 2 minutes, then place all ingredients in a casserole dish. Return the pan to heat and the vegetable oil. Sprinkle chicken drumsticks with salt and pepper then brown each side, 1-2 minutes per side. Remove from pan and place in casserole dish with the apple onion mixture. Place dish in the oven and cook for 20-30 minutes, or until a thermometer registers 160 degrees.

Tarragon Mashed Potatoes

I served the roasted chicken with these mashed potatoes. I've made them plenty of times in one form or another, but this is the first time I've actually written down a recipe for it. I make mashed potatoes without measuring (adding ingredients to taste) and I encourage you to do the same, but this recipe should serve as a good guide. If you've got other herbs around to use besides tarragon then use them.

• 2 Russet Potatoes, peeled and cut into 1” pieces
• 2 Tbsp Sour Cream
• 1/4 cup Butter, salted
• 1/4 cup Whole Milk
• 1/4 cup Fresh Tarragon, chopped
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Simmer potatoes in heavily salter water until they yield easily to a fork. Drain well and return potatoes to the pot, add remaining ingredients and mash together until smooth.

Claire Robinson wouldn't last a day in a 150° restaurant kitchen

When I first started this blog my sole intention was to make it all about the food. What it was, why I chose it, and how I cooked it. More importantly, I wanted to avoid letting it become a Big List Of Gripes (an acronym that, while unintentional, is often suitable), but when I read this article by Claire Robinson of the Food Network "exposing" the "tricks" that are often used by restaurants to increase sales I felt the need to rebut.

A quick Google query will tell you that Claire has had a full and noteworthy career. She earned her B. A. in Communications from the University of Memphis, where she also worked part time selling lotions and other beauty products. She also worked in both radio and television, and handled marketing for the University of Memphis’s athletic department. After a few years she decided she'd rather pursue cooking and attended the French Culinary Institute in New York City. She became a private chef and worked behind-the-scenes on several cooking shows before landing one of her own on the Food Network. As I said, full and noteworthy. Yet, search as I might, I couldn't find one lick of actual restaurant experience. If there had been any to speak of I'm sure Claire would have found something better to write about than "gaze-patterns" on menus, or what it costs to make a dish of pasta. I've seen plenty of things going on in a kitchen that would be much more surprising to the customer than that. You want examples? If the dude grilling your steak is really in the weeds, he may just drop that piece of meat in the deep fryer to speed things up a bit; hardly what a person expects when they pay $20-$30 for a filet mignon. I've been that dude. What's more, I probably had a beer in my hand and a few more in my belly while I was doing it. I'm not proud, just honest. Hell, I once opened the walk-in door to find a cook standing completely naked save for a well placed watermelon in his hands; his idea of humor (and that watermelon found its way onto about 50 appetizer plates later that day, yummy).

A seasoned chef hard at work:

 

 "tee-hee! what do I do with all these eggs?!?"

I work in kitchens, and you don't see me writing an exposé on sneaky tricks that people in marketing or media use, mainly because I have only a remedial idea of how they do things. You like food? That's great. I like TV but it hardly makes me an expert on what happens behind the scenes. The moral of the story: go with what you know. Rather than re-post her article here I've decided to paraphrase it, just a little bit.

5 Things Restaurants will do to Screw you out of all your Hard-earned Dough:

1. While it may appear that the sole purpose of a restaurant is to cater to your every whim and desire after you've spent a long day working in the salt mines, they're actually businesses that have been cleverly designed to turn a profit. Am I blowing your mind yet? (Cooks and waiters usually work there asses off for the sake of a paper-thin profit margin. Rarely is there a dish that yields "BIG bucks", as Claire puts it in her statements. Yes, a pork chop only costs us a few dollars. Yes, we will charge you four or five times that for the finished dish, it's how we stay in business. Keep in mind that restaurant profit margins usually hover around 5%-10%. Far less than, say, the kind of money a television show can make.)

2. The beef in that beef stew you ordered from the special menu might have been an entirely different dish the night before, and the veggies in there would have gone bad if they hadn't been used right away. If this one surprises you then I've got another news flash: that sale rack at Nordstrom is actually just the "leftovers" of last season's clothes that nobody wanted. If your asking yourself "why don't they just throw that stuff away?" then refer back to paragraph 1. (Throwing food away is a sin. Finding delicious ways to use it before it goes bad is the mark of a good chef. If something's "about" to go bad, that means it's still good, and if you're the chef or owner who paid for it then you'll find a way to use it quick if you want to keep the doors open and the lights on.)

3. Cocktails are usually expensive. Restaurants will try to trick you into ordering them using three techniques: 1. They'll put them all together on a little menu. 2. They'll make them delicious, often using fresh fruits and herbs as tools in their clever scheme. 3. They put booze in them. The customer's only recourse is to drink something less expensive like water or soda. (Thank God Claire Robinson was there to reveal this one.)

4. Just because the pasta dish is the cheapest on the menu doesn't mean the restaurant makes the least amount of profit on it. The mark-up is a greater percentage on pasta dishes than on chicken dishes for example, even though we charge a little less for the pasta dish. This is because we're trying to trick you into getting the cheaper dish, padding our already enormous bank accounts with the extra change we might make. (Or, maybe food isn't the only cost associated with getting a plate to your table. Pasta might cost a lot less than chicken, but the cooks, dishwashers, hosts, and waiters that all work to bring it to you and the rent for the space you're eating it in cost the same no matter what you get.)

5. Menus are specifically designed to get you to buy what the restaurant wants you to buy. This malicious little trick is often referred to as "product placement". They put the things they really want to sell you in the first places you'll look. Often, they'll use bold text or fancy borders to draw the eye. Shocking, I know. Of course I'll bet nobody else realizes this, as restaurants are surely the only kind of business using this method of deception.

Washington Grown

Okay, I'll admit it. I've been using "life" as an excuse for not blogging. I had decided to take a short hiatus... but that was in February. Then I decided to start back up again... but that was in May. Now it's almost October and I feel like the waters are finally calm enough to spend a little time writing.

If there's one thing I've learned so far this year it's that it takes a lot of energy to relax. The older I get, the less appealing just sitting on the couch (or in a bar, for that matter) becomes. And Seattle, wonderful though it may be, is often just too intense a place for proper repose. In fact as I type I'm remembering that this is exactly how I felt around this time last year (check out Gone Camping, my post from last November) so perhaps its seasonal, but in any case I find myself trying to take the time and effort to get out of Dodge and into the woods again.

My birthday was last month and, rather than buy me something I'd never use, my lovely lady decided to take me on an incredible hike up Mt. Index. And when I say "up" I really mean it. I may or may not have been cursing under my breath for the last 3/4-mile but it was all worth it when we got to the top, largely because we'd packed wine and cheese.

It felt so good for both of us to get out of the city and away from everything that it was only two weeks before we were leaving town again; this time to Harstine Island where my sister has the perfect place. It's in the woods... on the beach... in the middle of nowhere... and surrounded by blue and red huckleberries as well as tons of blackberries. To top it off their neighbor, who passed away last year, left behind a fully-grown apple orchard which no one else seemed to be harvesting (no sense in letting the apples go with him, right?) The pickings were so good that we had to come back for more the following weekend. Which brings us to yesterday when, after all the picking and cleaning and sorting was through, my lady and I got to work preserving our pilferage.

The bulk of the huckleberries we dried for later use, but a few special handfuls we turned into liqueurs. Some of the blackberries found their way into cobblers in the weeks after picking, and a few more became their own liqueur, while the rest stayed in the freezer and may still become jam if we muster up the gumption. The apples became the delicious spiced apple butter below. We adapted this recipe from The Complete Book of Year-Round Small-Batch Preserving  by Eleanor Topp and Margaret Howard. The original recipe calls for peeling the apples first and skipping pressing them though the strainer, leaving chunks of apple in the finished product. While this sounded delicious we opted to leave the peels on (neither of us wanted to peel a bag full of little apples) and strain the cooked mixture, leaving behind the peels as well as the lemon zest and spices.

Spiced Apple Butter

• 4 lb mixed apples, 1" dice
• 1 cup apple cider
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• zest of one lemon (cut with a potato peeler and avoid the white pith)
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 12 whole cloves

Combine apples, cider, lemon zest and spices in a very large stainless steel or enamel saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and boil gently for about 45 minutes or until the apples have broken down completely. Remove from heat and push the mixture though a strainer using a spatula until you are left with a smooth apple sauce. Discard the remaining peels and spices.

Return the mixture to heat and stir in sugar and lemon juice. Return to a boil, reduce heat, and boil gently for 25 to 35 minutes or until mixture is very thick. Remove from heat.

Ladle into sterilized jars and process as directed for Shorter Time Processing Procedure (www.epicurious.com).