Pre-Thanksgiving Cocktail

IMG_5424

Thanksgiving is a Boeing 777X, screeching to a halt, and my kitchen is the runway. The pressure is on. I’ll be starting a new job, which means that the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, I’ll begin meal preparations later than I’ve ever done before. Also, Alex invited his college friends from China to spend their first-ever Thanksgiving in the United States—with us—and I’m thrilled but also realizing, just now, that the sparkling gelatin salad I use as the centerpiece for the meal— because it’s so “razzle-dazzle—” could be unappetizing. Sparkling gelatin salad is really just a fancy way of saying, “Have a slice of goo that’s studded with chunks of fruit you can chew. Dig in!”

However, while tranquility still lingers in the air, and the loud rumble of jet engines is far off, what better way to celebrate than with a cocktail? A highly sophisticated Google search, such as “fall cocktails,” yields precisely 183,000,000 results, which means I’m not the only one whose son has invited friends from other countries to Thanksgiving dinner—friends who may have seen Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party—friends who have expectations and many, many questions.

After performing my superbly technical search on the web, I decided not to pick the first link I saw. Rather, in the spirit of hard-core analysis and dedication, I chose the second link: “23 Autumnal Cocktails Perfect for the Crisp Days of Fall” from Town & Country Magazine. Did I search through all 23 recipes? No. The first one looked just fine to me: Autumn Fizz. I’m feeling a bit fizzy these days, so this drink spoke to me. It said, “You’ll be fine. Serve the sparkling salad and shut up.”

The recipe is quite simple. Just pour two ounces of gin into a glass. Add ½ tablespoon of lemon juice, and then pour some sparkling apple juice over the top, filling up the glass. Next, just a drizzle of agave syrup tops off the drink. The flashy folks over at Town & Country suggest you serve it with apple slices and a sprig of thyme. I didn’t have any apple slices, but I floated a sprig of thyme on the edge. It’s a kind of life raft/floatation device, in case the landing gets a little bumpy.

In any case, I really liked the drink. A lot. It was sweet, but not overpowering. To take it up a notch, just inject fruit with the drink and plop it into a gelatin salad mold. Let it set up. Serve with spoons and straws.

Your Turn: What foods and recipes do you like to share with others?

Published by ckennedy

Author of the DIY blog: Fixin' Leaks and Leeks. Paper/Rock Writing Consultation, Sole Proprietor.

27 thoughts on “Pre-Thanksgiving Cocktail”

  6. You chose “the second link.” Lol! I’m always happy to try new drink recipes. CRAZY how many there are, right? Seems I could just pour several things together, and, so long as alcohol is involved, it would be great. The possible exception might be mixing a creamy liquor like Baileys or Kahlua with a clear liquor like gin. Then again, white Russians involve Kahlua and vodka. Huh. Maybe I should start my own homemade drinks website mixing up whatever is in my cabinet. (And overflowed onto the counter. Let’s be honest.)

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  8. Sounds like a great cocktail, better than jello shots. I seem to remember having a jello-like almond tofu desert in Taiwan, so probably your guests from China will enjoy the gelatin salad.

    Like

    Reply

    1. Thanks, Robert! Alex said his friends from China don’t like things that are overly sweet. Luckily, the Thanksgiving menu includes some more savory foods to make up for the sweet ones. Cheers!

      Like

      Reply

  9. Thank you for sharing!!… just having a stress free, leisurely day with a bit of red wine and chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans in the microwave… the Kindle is loaded with Christmas Romance… 🙂

    Until we meet again…
    May love and laughter light your days,
    and warm your heart and home.
    May good and faithful friends be yours,
    wherever you may roam.
    May peace and plenty bless your world
    with joy that long endures.
    May all life’s passing seasons
    bring the best to you and yours!
    (Irish Saying)

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s