Spring break is so over. A week of r& r at the in-laws–complete with far more DIY marshmallows consumed than recommended–was lovely, but this week it’s back to that real world and all its ensuing insanity. Cue the crazy.
Which put me at the intersection of Nothing Prepared and No New Ideas when time came to write this week’s post. So I’ll fall back on a now time-honored tradition of repeating myself, visiting my work elsewhere in the blogsphere.
Another month, another post at Minnesota Soyfoods Real Story Blog: Brownies anyone? (no worries–neither tofu nor actual soybeans were used)
We also play a game here at food for fun called “Find a Cocktail Recipe.” Enter part deux of this post…
Immediately upon opening the liquor cabinet, out fell a small paperback volume I don’t remember seeing before.
vintage 1970
Famous Rum Drinks of the Virgin Islands is all of 32 pages and was penned by a Ms Dea Murray as a collection of drinks from “famous hotels, restaurants & bars.” Drowning in red, brown, gold, and harvest orange glory, it could only be a garage sale find. Yet its appearance rang no bells.
That said, it fell out of my liquor cabinet–reason enough to thumb through. Bluebeard’s Wench called for blue curaco, which is not on my shelf. Same story Hurricane Buster. Old Fashioned Voodoo would be mine if only I had guava juice. Swashbuckler called for Champagne and Coco Loco requires the purchase of coconut cream. Clearly I need a better pantry for this book.
Fortunately, Rum Swizzle met me where I was at. Out came the rum, sweet vermouth, lemon, bitters, and fresh nutmeg. Though not a big fan of rum, I like what it stands for: warm sand and sun, island breezes, tropical tunes.
The resulting sipper was bracingly tart and could’ve stood a bit more sweet, but it won me over by being both assertive and classy. A newly purchased thrift-store cocktail glass made the project even more fun.
So what if it’s only 33°F outside? I have rum in my cocktail.
Our winter may not be over quite yet, but the mercury climbs slowly and surely a tropical rum cocktail can help push things in the right direction. So here’s to seeing the backside of winter. Here’s to garage sale finds–remembered or no. And here’s to the busy-ness of life. May it all be great fun as often as it can. Cheers!
food for fun 
No!? Really? I am the first one here!? Cool beans! Cool soybeans, that is. Liz, you ARE the quintessential food expert…not only can you swap out ingredients like nobody’s business, you take the ‘make somethin’ from nothin’ out of the kitchen and into blogland as if you do this kind of thing every day. Oh, wait, you do. But, this time, you know what I mean. I say cheers to the tropical drinks! 🙂
Your comment was so much fun to read, Bonnie 🙂 Zing zing zing! “Cool beans” brings me back to Linda Aardapple and 8th grade. She was the coolest and she said “cool beans.” Must be why I like you so much.
Glad to have you first in line. May I offer you a rum (or any other kind you want) cocktail? And a soy brownie? Don’t worry about crumbs–I’ll have the cleaning folks in later.
Am thrilled to come across as someone who makes something from nothing. That’s exactly what good home economist does 😀 It’s an old school title, but I wear it proudly. Tropical cheers to you!
Totally with Bonnie’s comments..Let’s go tropical, we’re due. I get to try the best who-would’ve-thought ideas whenever you post!! Salut! To spring and to you!
Yay, tropical! We hit 41F today, so the rum is totally doing it’s thing. Hope you have upward mercury climbs on your end, too. AND that the headache has gone far far away never to return. (realizing that the second might be too much to ask for 😦 Dern migraines…)
Have passed this on to my cocktail loving husband – thank you!
Thanks, Carrie! Hope he likes. Would be curious if he likes or no. I would have liked it sweeter, so might adjust the lemon juice next round. So glad you came over 🙂
Here’s hoping it DEFINITELY pushes things in the right direction! If that’s the case, I should give it a whirl if for no other reason than that. 🙂
still cold here–how about where you are? More rum for me haha.
Just off the plane, in cold, snowy upstate New York from sunny, lovely Florida–this drink might just keep me happy until spring arrives!
Thanks, Kerry. Yes, spring seems elusive for sure though in Minnesota am used to that. Hope New York shapes itself up soon–we all need a blast of warmth. Florida must have been lovely.
Appreciate you coming by. Like your philosophy of creating and DIY. What is cooking and baking, really, but total from-scratch? Though you have talents greater than I as I’ve never met an art project I could accomplish successfully. My “projects” always look like they were made by a 5-year-old.
ooh, fantastic. rum reminds me of the beach and warm sun and vacation so i love the smell of rum drinks. love these old crazy classics too. happy spring and bring on the rum!
Perhaps you had a rum drink or two on your most recent tropical vacay, Beth? The crazy classics are well worth returning to. Bluebeard’s Wench got me thinking blue cocktail again. Hmmmm…. ??? 😀
yes, or 3 or 7 maybe? after a while, i’d just say fill my coconut with a ‘rum punch’ of your choice and i was good with whatever came my way. oh yes, that blue drink……
I am with you, bring on the tropical drinks. I am looking forward to some on the porch this weekend..the kids will be out of town!!!
ah, the porch and no kids. With tropical drinks. You are a lucky woman indeed. Call me and I’ll bring over a pitcher 😉
Maybe we should do a pitcher of sangria!
First day of Spring and I’ll be celebrating with a cocktail, it’s a little warmer today than it has been YAY!! When I think of rum the tropics come to mind particularly the Caribbean, so nice, Thanks for the tropical thoughts and cheers!
What is your celebratory cocktail of choice? Tropical cheers to you, too, Suzanne. The party is always more fun when you’re here.
I really like margherita’s, pina colada’s (not too sweet though), tom collins. negroni, campari and soda, daiquiri, ok thats more than one but I would take any or all, LOL! Thanks Liz.
negroni! That’s my latest find and I’ve been making at least one a week. Love how it gives you a little smack in the face (or is that just what mine does?) and wakes you up. But it’s still pleasant and a bit sweet. Should try the Tom Collins, too–been a while. Sounds like we have similar cocktail tastes. Have you had a Caipirinha? I like that one lots.
Oh I forgot about the caipirnha, love that and in the summer a mojito, love the mint and lime. If we lived closer we could have cocktail hour. Love the negroni too, have them all the time!!
There is no denying the power of harvest orange glory. I only wish you could have tasted Bluebeard’s Wench. Wait, that came out wrong. We share your problem in that we only have a certain amount of liquor with which to concoct cocktails; frankly, I’m surprised you had bitters hanging around. It sounds very good–I would love to try it! I don’t drink a lot of rum, but when we visited Destin, Florida years ago, someone had some Malibu to make drinks, but we ran out of Coke. So my husband resorted to Malibu and Dr. Pepper. Odd, right? Now that’s his go-to drink. Yuck. BTW, did you have an umbrella? It would be much more Regal Beagle of you if you did.
If I buy myself some Blue Curaco (which I think I need to as I promised a friend I’d come up with some sort of fancy-pants blue French-like cocktail), I can taste that Bluebeard’s Wench. Will let you know how it goes.
My liquor cabinet is pretty well stocked actually and have a good number of bitters from local artisans. But there’s always a spirit I don’t have. Like blue Curaco and champagne.
Interesting about the Dr. Pepper and Malibu rum. Would bet it’s tasty, though I’m not a big fan of mixing soda and booze. Except for whiskey ginger. And someone told me Diet Coke and Licor 43 is good. Am not a cocktail snob, really.
Does the paper umbrella count or do I need a real one to be Regal Beagle? ‘Cause RB sounds like a good thing to be.
Last thing: thought of you when I found the book on my shelf. We’d clean out a garage sale book section between the two of us.
We surely would! The Regal Beagle is where they drank on “Three’s Company,” unless my memory is failing…
and p.s. Isn’t Regal Beagle where Jack, Janet, Chrissy, and occasionally Mr. and Mrs. Roper hung out?
Oops, I replied too soon. You already figured it out.
haha, I’m just slow that way. Must have been that second round of Rum Sizzles you had me pour.
Believe it or not, rum reminds me of Christmas: eggnog and rum balls and fruitcake. Although a tropical beach sounds awfully good right about now! Happy first day of spring to you, my friend! 🙂
amb, amb, amb. You and your Ingrid Bergman head-in-hand pose always make me smile 🙂 (see?) Good point about rum being a winter spirit, too. Hot buttered rum anyone? And yes yes yes to rum balls. Though it hit the tropical spot last night. Somehow arrived at first day of spring. Yeehaw! One day left and you hit your awesome and amazing weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The cocktail looks and sounds so yummy. Soy brownies! Wow! I bet you could also make a black beans style brownie with edamame (soy) beans instead of the black. Soy possibilities are endless! 🙂
Thanks, Shanna. Good point about the black soybean brownies. Totally do-able. Though I haven’t been a fan of adding legumes to baked goods no matter how healthy and “tastes like the real thing” it’s supposed to be. Remember my post about suspending my disbelief for those chickpea cookie dough balls? Just couldn’t do it. I’ll eat my soybeans in a salad or stir-fry or lasagna 😀
Speaking of, tofu and chocolate? You’ve got me!
Liz, I tried a bb brownie recipe this week that was rocking! I was shocked! Maybe it was the dark chocolate (lots) and peanut butter I added? Tofu and chocolate… yes, just wait and see! 🙂 Best, Shanna
I don’t drink nearly enough rum! I always love it when I do have it, but when I’m at a bar I just naturally gravitate towards whiskey!
now there’s a great first line! Maybe we’ve already talked about this, but I’m especially big on whiskey, specifically bourbon. Had a fancy-pants meal out when I was at my inlaws for spring break. Went to a nearby town and sampled my first Japanese whiskey. Had wanted to try, but the bottles tend to be hundreds of dollars since it’s imported and also a newer industry. Was thrilled to find it on the menu and my but it was lovely. Smooth, smokey, etc. Very nice. We must talk whiskey more often!
Thanks for coming by TTL 😀
Japanese whiskey?! Cool!!! I have to admit, I like whiskey but I’m not an expert on it by any means! My go-to is Jameson. I get a new bottle very Christmas!
I don’t drink that many cocktails with rum, but I also like how it reminds me of the beach and warm weather!
Thanks, Ada. Sounds like we have the same thoughts on rum. Bring on the beaches 🙂
If there’s an umbrella in your drink, life is going good — my theory at least! Also thought of you last night. Was at a new (to me) bar in my neighborhood last night and on their menu was a “marshmallowrita.” Made with marshmallow vodka, tequila, lime and triple sec. I convinced my friend to get it — she was curious already — so I got to try a few sips. Not bad! Not quite good enough to order ever again — but still, not bad.
a marshmallowrita? Doesn’t sound quite right. Lime and marshmallow vodka, huh? Tequila and marshmallow vodka? Huh. Though if I remember correctly, you and I share an embarrassing sort of love for whipped cream vodka??
Liking your drink umbrella philosophy. Well said, J. Thanks for coming by!
Yeah it was all kinds of weird but yet it really wasn’t bad. The marshmallow flavor hit at the very end but besides that, it just added a bit of sweetness. I did go back for a second sip though I definitely I prefer my margaritas a less more traditional. 😉
And yes I do have a soft spot for whipped cream vodka. It’s just so tasty!
Your rum swizzle makes me want to revisit a rum cake I made, a couple of years ago. A colleague was still reminiscing about it. Does rum cocktails go with rum cake? I guess only one way to find out? 🙂
And I’ve just sent my stuff to you – yay!
So by now you should know: Do rum cocktails go with rum cake? I’m going with yes 😉 Thanks for coming by though I’m late in the return volley.
Willing to share the recipe for the rum cake? I’d like to run that “experiment” as well.
Rum goes with everything, right?? 😉
I’ll send the rum cake recipe!
Yum! Just what I needed to get me into the spirit of…the 30 degree weather we’re having here in Chicago for “spring”? Actually, this cocktail cheers me up quite a bit. Not only is it called Rum Swizzle, it has an umbrella and fresh nutmeg in it. Sounds like just what I needed. Thanks Liz!
Our winters are similar, I’d bet–way too cold. Glad the rum did the trick. It ain’t no limoncello, but yes it DOES have a drink umbrella 😉 Thanks for coming over!
Rum, Rum, Rum. I have many fond childhood memories of my aunt making rum flavored vanilla ice cream for the holidays. It may have had a little more kick than a kid should have tasted but was it good. It was also floated in a few adult beverages as well. 😉
Rum ice cream? Marvelous!! Fond memories indeed 😉
It made a great hot buttered rum (not that I would know anything about that 😉 ).