Tuesday in the Garden with the Coffee Time Crew

Welcome back to Tuesday at the garden with the Coffee Time Reviewers. Refill your glasses and grab a bagel or something. Pull up a chair or find a nice patch of lawn to curl up on. Today we’re going to start my favorite discussion, wine. Or in case you’re not a wine drinking your favorite beverage.


Mary: When you’re home relaxing or out to dinner, what is your favorite wine or cocktail? If you do neither, beer or pop?

Karenne: I LOVE Dr. Pepper.  If I was stranded on a desert island, I would need a lifetime supply of Dr. Pepper.  Do not need to eat!  Just my Dr. Pepper

Mary: You and my Dad would have hit it off, I can’t remember him without one in his hand.

AzGaye:   Hmm, I am not a big drinker but a nice rose or Merlot with a meal can be pleasant. I also have a secret weakness for Killian’s Red. I’m not normally into beer, at least American ones though and my fave soda is Dr. Pepper.

Danielle: My eye is twitching…I swear I think AzGaye is sucking up big time! Karenne loves Dr. Pepper, now AzGaye does to?! “snort”…yeah riggghhhht!

Venus: Ha Ha -- I'm so not a wine drinker and GASP! I don't drink coffee either. My beverage of choice is an ice cold Coca-Cola. It's followed a close second by Ice-Tea or water. I have enjoyed a few cocktails in my life ;-)

Kimberly:  You’re looking bright-eyed this morning, Mary. To answer your question: if I’m at home with friends, it is either soda or rum and Coke. If I’m out to dinner, it’s usually a margarita (on the rocks with salt).

Danielle: I have actually just found these wonderful drinks. I work in a grocery store so I kind of label things in weird ways. These drinks are individual alcoholic frozen drinks. You just pop in the freezer for a few hours. Take them out, crush them and they are ready. Alcohol is already in it. For a buck ninety nine you can’t really go wrong. I have been calling them Adult Juice Boxes lol. My favorite so far is Strawberry Daiquiri. I have yet to try the Lemonade or the Peach. They are next on my list.

Kimberly: I found those at a little wine and spirits shop when we lived in Pennsylvania. Ooh, were they ever delish!

Maura:  I love a good glass of Chardonnay.

Hollie: Usually beer, I don’t do wine very much or pop, but I do have a soft spot for Vodka there is sometimes ~ ok always a bottle in my freezer.

Lisa: My absolute favorite red wine is Chateauneuf du Pape. But for just sitting around in a lovely garden with friends I really love a nice, refreshing St. Germain cocktail. 

Amy R: I love Cosmopolitans, but because I am a cheap drunk (seriously 1 drink and I’m done) I tend to favour Diet Coke. 

Brenda:  I love German white wine.  Now is it fair that the doctors will not let me have any alcohol?  I guess I’ll stick to Dr Pepper.  It’s the state drink of Texas anyway.

Betty: My drink of choice depends on the circumstances. For dining or cocktails, I prefer a glass or two of Chardonnay. Riesling is great, too, but it’s not always available. My summer drink is Corona, and I love trying out the latest micro-brew beer at any time. And of course I can’t forget good ol’ “apple juice” (family code for Appleton Estate’s amber rum) and Coke.

Kellyann: I start my day at the keyboard with a cup of Starbucks’ Verona coffee taken black.  I drink water throughout the day and then a nice cold glass – beaded with condensation – of Chardonnay in the evening.  I’ve always favored this white…seems to have fallen out of favor over the years, but I love the buttery suppleness.  Friday night is Martini Night for me and hub.  We get the kids set up with pizza and a movie and we have our own date night in a warmly lit corner of the house.

Mary: I’m doing my happy dance, I have a new red wine to try. And My I love cosmos! Danielle, I live in Utah—No Alcohol in our stores! We have to go to a ‘special liquor’ store and it is closed on Sunday.

Danielle: Well Mary, doesn’t that make you feel “special”? LOL. We do sell alcohol on Sundays but not until noon. You would NOT believe all the people who complain about that law. I find it ridiculous that they actually complain! I mean…seriously, you need to have that pint of vodka at 7:30 in the morning? Couldn’t you have gotten the night before? Or can’t you wait until noon? Sorry…just a pet peeve of mine. One of many!

Kimberly: Funny enough, that’s how it is in Pennsylvania and Oklahoma. That was a bit of a shock for us, moving from Michigan where you can buy liquor in the stores. In Pennsylvania, the liquor stores weren’t open on Sundays or national holidays.


Mary: This is probably a weird question, but how did you discover what you liked? Were you at a party, a winery, dinner?

Karenne:  My best friend introduced me to Dr. Pepper and I have never looked back because I would see how much of an expansion there was going on back there  (looks at my behind) due to the Dr. Pepper LOL

AzGaye:  I grew up a non-alcoholic home so had to experiment some when I got out on my own.  In college I went more for the sweet ‘kool aid’ wines—this was back in the hippie days LOL so I drank Boone’s Farm and Annie Greensprings and stuff (yuck, huh?) and gradually got to trying drier and slightly more sophisticated vintages! I do like a margarita (regular or frozen) now and then too—but it’s gotta be Jose Cuervo!  A friend had me try the Killian’s knowing I don’t care for beer and I was like, “Wow, where has this been all my life?”  It was at a trad Irish pub for my birthday a bit ago.

Venus: Ironically I do go on Niagara wine tours at least once a year however I just soak in the knowledge and the beauty and watch my fellow guests enjoy the beverages.

Kimberly: Not really a weird question as long as you don’t tell my parents. I partied a little when I was younger and found out I like hard liquor. I cannot stand beer. But it was actually my dad’s girlfriend who bought me my first margarita. I didn’t think I’d like it, but one sip and I was hooked.

Danielle: Mary that is not weird at all. I had so many customers buying the drinks that I decided I had to try it. So I bought some to take camping with us. Man was it good…and sometimes when I need to relax right before bed I will drink one and it puts me right to sleep lol. I am a cheap date.

Maura:  I live on the North Fork which is full of wineries.

Hollie: sipping friends drinks when I was a teenager ~ remembering we can drink here from 18, I wasn’t a bad girl …. Honest.

Lisa: I discovered the St. Germain cocktail last year when I was visiting friends in New York. It was the featured cocktail at a dinner party I was attending and I just fell in love with it. It is like drinking Spring in a glass.

Amy R: I just thought Cosmos looked good and thought I’d try one. They were so pretty and pink. I like pink, that and I’m a HUGE fan of Sex and the City.

Brenda:  The Army stationed me in Germany.  The Bachelor Quarters weren’t available so I lived in a little house across the driveway from my German landlady.  The wine seller came to her house for a wine tasting.  Fabulous!  The 1976 Kabinett was to die for.  I put in my order and they delivered it while I was a work one day.  It was outside my door with the bill tucked between the boxes.  I paid the bill at the post office and still wish I had some of that wonderful wine.  I like Dr Pepper because I grew up in Texas.

Betty: Chardonnay came about because I occasionally have a physical reaction (similar to an allergy) to wine. Trial and error taught me that Chardonnay is always safe. Credit for the amber rum goes to a distant cousin, who swore by the stuff and indoctrinated me during one of several genealogical road trips. Not 100% sure about Corona, but I think that started during an eight-week writing fellowship in New Mexico.

Kellyann:  Taste tests.  Lots of taste tests…. 

Mary: If your favorite beverage is a Cocktail, can you share the recipe? Or if it’s a wine, tell us about the winery where it’s from. For those who do not have a favorite wine or cocktail, do you have a recipe for a favorite holiday beverage, like Halloween or Christmas?

Karenne:  Coffee, Water and Dr. Pepper are about it for me.  Yes, boring…I also love taking naps!

Mary: Hey, nothing wrong with naps, all my grandkids take them! (My Dad used to also.)

AzGaye:  Surprisingly Arizona and New Mexico have some neat little wineries and I like some of their house brands mostly only sold locally. On the margarita, just the standard variety with lime and salt on the rim.

There is a cool variation of an old Swedish punch that I make near the holidays. Heat enough Dr. Pepper for a mug apiece for the company in a pot with raisins or some candied fruit in the bottom and add about a quarter cup of burgundy or other rich red wine per serving. Pull it off just before boiling and serve very warm. Yummy and not real alcoholic as the heat evaporates a bit of it. Simple but a nice end-of-the-evening drink after caroling or decorating.

Venus: I have a beverage that works great as a tropical summer drink as well as a great Halloween party cocktail.
Zombie

1 part white rum
1 part golden rum
1 part dark rum
1/2 part 151 proof rum
1 park apricot or cherry brandy
1 part pineapple or lemon juice
1 part papaya or orange juice
2 dashes grenadine

Pour ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well.
Strain into a glass with crushed ice and garnish with a cherry.

Another favorite is a big glass of milk and strawberry Nesquick syrup ;-)

Kimberly: I love hot apple cider both at Halloween and Yule. This isn’t a real recipe, it’s more a matter of taste. I put about a half a teaspoon of brown sugar in the bottom of a cappuccino mug; add a sprinkle of nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon. Pour cider over that mix and stick it in the microwave until it gets hot. Stir and sip. (Spiced rum tastes wonderful in it if you want to add a little kick.)

Danielle: I don’t really do favorite beverage recipes. I do remember once drinking my aunt’s concoction at her house. Not sure what was all in it. She called it Purple Passion. I know it had two different liquors in it, one which was some blue liquor. It also had ice cream, whipped cream, strawberries, and it was blended with a little milk. Made into a type of shake. It was sooo good!

AzGaye:  OMG, I forgot about Kalua Milk shakes!!  My late hubby introduced me to them—just blend up a regular vanilla milkshake in a blender and add Kalua to taste—somehow no other liquer has quite the same yummy flavor!!  AZG

Maura:  Right now my favorite is the Sherwood House 2007 Chardonnay.  It is the third use of the barrel and much smoother than the other uses.

Hollie: I’ll stick to the vodka thanks although I just tried real Irish Whiskey for the first time and I could learn to like that very easily

Lisa:
St. Germain Cocktail Recipe
1 ½ parts St. Germain
2 parts Prosecco or Cava
2 parts club soda or sparkling water

Stir ingredients in a tall ice-filled Collins glass, mixing completely.
Garnish with a lemon and lime.

Amy R:  Here’s my Cosmo recipe, which I think is pretty standard:
1 oz of Cointreau
3 oz of Cranberry Juice
½ oz of Lime Juice
1 slice of Lime
3 oz of Vodka.
Shake it up with some ice. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Serve with slice of lime.

Brenda:  I prefer not to mess with a good wine.  The same goes for Dr Pepper

Betty: I can’t believe I forgot about martinis! I absolutely adore chocolatinis. But I really like making up my own recipes from whatever’s available. Two that I thought worked out well enough to write down are “Struck by the Orange” and “Getting Peeled” (local expressions that mean, respectively, “love at first sight” and “getting lucky”). ;-)

Struck by the Orange

1 oz. Absolut Mandarin vodka
½ ox. Blue Curacao
½ oz. Kirsch
½ oz. Lemon juice

Getting Peeled

½ oz. Absolut Mandarin vodka
1 oz. Triple Sec
1 oz. Kirsch

For both, shake with ice and garnish with olives, cherries, or twist.

Kellyann:  Martini Friday martini:  chill the glasses/ Bombay Sapphire gin and just a wisp of Noilly Prat vermouth shaken over ice/ drop two stuffed Queen olives in the frosty glass and pour.  Cheers!

I love the wine from the North Fork of Long Island where my husband’s family is.  Some great vineyards out there are developing delicious whites.  My recent fave is Jason’s Vineyard’s Chardonnay.

Mary: Okay now I’m thirsty, I think I’ll go have a glass of red wine! How about you? See you all tomorrow.

Comments

Mary said…
Welcome Back for the 2nd day! Everyone grab a cuppa whatever and settle in!
Thanks Mary for having us this week!
Lisa Fox said…
Another great day in the garden! And it is a lovely day for cocktails.
Lindsay said…
For me it's whatever coffee is on sale to start the day. Then, nothing but Starbucks. An occasional Twinnings Earl Grey tea while at work. With a nice glass or three of white wine to relax with after work
Hollie said…
hi everyone it's 7pm here so i have a drink anyone joining me?
Mary said…
Sorry I've been away all day. I'm glad everyone is having a good time.

I'll pop back in a bit later!
Hey Lindsay...you are better than I am. My family can go without before I am out of coffee. My hubby says that it is for the benefit of all mankind that I have coffee ROFL
VenusBookluvr said…
Glad to see everyone is having such a wonderful time!

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