Martini Frigidaira

What is Felicia’s favorite way to enjoy a martini, you ask? Felicia likes top shelf vodka or gin with a splash of olive juice and a couple of big, fat stuffed olive frigidairas. Olive frigidairas is Felicia’s term for olives stuffed with whatever cheese, nuts, meat, etc. that you happen to find in your fridge. Today Felicia is garnishing her martini with an olive stuffed with bleu cheese and sliced turkey.

Mixology Monday: Rum

The theme of this month’s Mixology Monday, hosted by Trader Tiki, is rum. Last month, for the fruit liqueur-themed Mixology Monday, Felicia made (and drank) a Banana Split Martini. Here’s the real deal: Felicia has to admit she hates making cocktails with fruit liqueurs. When mixing cocktails, Felicia prefers to use fresh, creative ingredients, not artificially flavored yellow dye number two. As a matter of fact, Felicia has become well-known for her Farmers’ Market Cocktails and other such labor intensive locavore drinks. Felicia would like to tell you that as much as you might love it, forget the Banana Split Martini. She was drunk when she made it. You deserve even better.

In the spirit of freshness, Felicia would like to introduce you to her latest creation: the Bananas Foster Martini. This martini has received a “two thumbs up” and a “bottoms up” from the staff at both Simply Red Bistro and Felicia’s Atomic Lounge. This cocktail is a bit of work, so you might want to order it at the Lounge or Bistro instead of making it yourself. If you decide to use this cocktail on your own restaurant/bar menu, be sure to give Felicia credit because this extraordinarily tasty winner is going into the Felicia Cocktail Book, due to be finished this summer (any thirsty publishers out there?).

The Bananas Foster martini is essentially the best Bananas Foster you have ever had, in liquid form. This cocktail is super fresh and dangerously smooth. Another successful dessert in a glass by yours truly.

Felicia’s Bananas Foster Martini
½ medium-sized banana
1 ½ ounce Goslings dark rum
1 ¼ ounce cinnamon spice syrup (see recipe below)
¾ ounce half-n-half
whipped cream
cinnamon

Muddle banana with rum, syrup and half-n-half until it is smoothie consistency (no lumps). Shake with ice. Strain into chilled martini glass. Garnish with whipped cream and a dash of cinnamon.

Cinnamon Spice Syrup
½ cup water
½ cup dark brown sugar
½ vanilla bean
1 cinnamon stick

Cook all ingredients over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Bring almost to a boil and remove from heat immediately. Cover and let sit for 20 minutes. Remove vanilla bean and cinnamon stick. Let syrup cool before using. This syrup also makes a phenomenal vanilla ice cream topping, especially if you include a few slices of banana.

Your Anise Cocktail

Felicia made another new cocktail and the critics (that would be you all) are declaring it fabulous. Felicia concocted a red wine-based simple syrup with star anise and some other spices; a splash of this syrup is then added to a glass of champagne. Felicia was going to call this drink “Red Anise Champagne” but for some reason that name seemed to bring up graphic images for some people. So for those of you have difficulty saying the word “anise,” Felicia has dubbed this drink “Star-Struck Bubbly.” If you tend to cringe at the flavor of licorice, fear not. The anise subtly harmonizes with vanilla bean and cinnamon to create a unique – and incredible - experience for your palate. Seriously, a little anise never hurt anyone.

Bar Incident: Sirens and Mojitos

Felicia had her first visit from the flashing lights last night on her busiest night of the year to date. The red, white and blue lights artfully reflected off of the silver walls, creating an air of anticipation and mystery. If Felicia wasn't outside greeting the brave men in uniforms, she would have taken some nice photos of the reflections for you. No, it was not the police coming to arrest Leah who slapped a patron after one too many rude demands for drinks, money waving, etc. Nor was the newly painted men's room on fire after a mischievous patron snuck an indoor cigarette and carelessly tossed the butt into the paper towel-filled trashcan (from the few men who DO wash their hands). The story goes that a patron came upon the unfortunate circumstance of "falling ill" in the bar. What kind of illness? Though Felicia is sensitive and highly intuitive, she is not psychic and does not want to hazard a guess. Hopefully the individual involved will visit us and let us know that she is feeling better. Felicia did learn a few things from the experience that she would like to share with you:

1) a gurney/stretcher does in fact fit through that narrow space between the bar stools and the middle bar.

2) when going out for an evening on the town, you should make sure the people you are with know your last name (and your first name, for that matter).

3) if you are prone to "falling ill," you should pin your full name and address inside your tshirt before you go out. Or use a sharpy and those scratchy iron-on labels like your mom stuck in all your clothes when you went to summer camp.

4) the Ithaca police and Bangs ambulance dudes are really nice. Thanks, guys!

Felicia could go on, but out of respect for the privacy and potential embarrassment of the person who had the pleasure of riding all tucked in and cozy to the hospital with three handsome hunks attending to her needs, Felicia will pause and let you humbly ponder your own embarrassing bar moments.

And now here is the mojito recipe that Felicia promised you:

Mojito

1 ½ ounces rum
about 15 medium-sized mint leaves
½ lime cut into wedges
1 teaspoon sugar
club soda

Muddle rum, mint, limes and sugar in a pint glass (Felicia likes big drinks) until they are thoroughly mashed. Fill with ice; top with club soda. Toss into another glass and back again to gently mix.

The Mighty Mojito

The Mojito is back! After a long, long winter, the alley is open and the mojito is here. It's about time. Everybody has been ordering mojitos. What is a mojito, you ask? Only the most popular summer cocktail in town: rum, limes, sugar, mint and club soda. Felicia will post a recipe later. For now, you get to watch Felicia get big shipments of limes, observe the growth of the staff''s popeye muddling muscles and hear Leah's curses as she unclogs drains filled with mint leaves (no matter how hard Felicia tries, she can't seem to keep that mint out of the drains). Behold the Mighty Mojito!

Mixology Monday: Fruit Liqueurs

Another Mixology Monday has snuck up on Felicia. Bam! This month’s topic is fruit liqueur and the roundup is hosted at Morsels and Musings. Leave it to Felicia to come up with a fruity-creamy-dessert martini. (Must… have… dessert….) To Mr. Anonymous Comment Leaver, perhaps this cocktail will be just another “sickly sweet” drink. The moral of the story for Mr. Anonymous and all you doubters out there is: Don’t knock it til you drunk it!

But Felicia digresses. For those of us who like sweet creamy cocktails, the Banana Split Martini is simply scrumptious. It has a universal appeal to dessert-lovers and especially to girly girls who like frou-frou drinks. In a nutshell, the Banana Split Martini tastes remarkably like the vanillaicecream-hotfudge-strawberrysauce-bananagoo melt left at the bottom of your banana split when you have finished eating it.

Try it. Or make your friends try it if you are scared. And then let Felicia know what you think. Don’t be afraid to sign your name. Felicia is quite lady-like, and she swears she does not bite (except upon request).

Banana Split Martini

1 ounce Stoli Vanil vodka
¼ ounce strawberry liqueur
½ ounce banana liqueur
generous squirt of chocolate sauce
splash of cream

Shake all ingredients vigorously with ice. Strain into chilled martini glass. Garnish with whipped cream, chocolate sauce and a cherry.

Sound Domestic Advice

During an online search for cocktail recipes from yesteryear, Felicia came about some domestic advice from the wise and socially graced Mary Randolph, who wrote The Virginia Housewife in 1860. Being a thoughtful and domesticated woman herself, Felicia felt compelled to pass some of Mary’s good advice on to you: “Early rising is essential to the good government of a family. A late breakfast deranges the whole business of the day and throws a portion of it on the next, which opens the door for confusion to enter. No work can be done till breakfast is finished. The grand arcanum of management lies in three simple rules: Let every thing be done at a proper time, keep every thing in its proper place, and put every thing to its proper use.” Felicia couldn’t have said it better herself. Mary continues with some lovely recipes, including ice cream, fruitcake and mock turtle soup of calf’s head. Alas, no tonics, bitters or cocktails. Felicia, as always, shall keep up her search. And since it is well after noontime, perhaps Felicia better have a little breakfast.

Grand Coffee

It is a well-known fact that consuming alcohol can make you feel relaxed and at times sleepy. If you are at a high-energy cocktail party, the excitement of dancing or standing around talking and laughing with friends can keep you stimulated and alert despite any alcohol in your system. But sit at a table with your mellow acquaintances after a huge meal and a heavy dessert, with boring classical music playing on the stereo, and you are likely going to feel ready for a big fat nap. To maintain energy when drinking alcohol, some people will mix their liquor of choice with a caffeinated beverage. Common combinations are rum with Coke or vodka with Red Bull.

Uggh. Red bull. Not to mention Felicia's rum-and-coke-experience when she was 14 years old. Felicia would like to encourage you to try something a little more classy. The next time you are looking for an after-dinner drink and you fear a nip of bourbon will bring on the zzzzz’s, try turning your coffee into a cocktail. Popular coffee additions include Baileys, Kahlua, Jameson and chocolate liqueur. Felicia’s favorite booze to add to coffee is Grand Marnier, an orange liqueur. A little G. M. and a twist of orange peel will make your coffee taste like a heavenly treat, give you a balanced dose of pep and relaxation and keep that dinner party lively.

Grand Coffee

6 ounces coffee
1 ounce Grand Marnier
cream and sugar (optional)
orange twist

Pour 1 ounce of Grand Marnier in coffee mug. Add coffee, plus cream and sugar to taste. Garnish with orange twist, or homemade candied orange peel if you happen to have some in your pantry like Felicia.