13 Nov 2015
by scolgin
in Beverages, Food, Video
Tags: cocktails, Del Maguey, Mexican cuisine, Mexico, mezcal, Modelo, mole, Negroni, Oaxaca, Ron Cooper
“We want to have you guys over when we get the place cleaned up a bit,” my pal Gordon had been telling me for five or six years, over the course of two different “places”.
The time had finally come. Gordon and spouse Lori, who had moved into their “new” house a year or so before, were far enough along in their renovations that they now felt comfortable hosting. But nothing ever being simple, we had been trying to schedule this particular dinner party for a matter of months.
The mezcals of Del Maguey
The theme would loosely be “Mezcal & Mole” — or, at least, that was the subject line of the group texts bouncing around during the protracted planning phase. More
07 Jul 2015
by scolgin
in Beverages, On the Road, Pork, Recipes
Tags: Adirondacks, Au Pied De Cochon, Big Wolf, Brooklyn Brewing Co., cocktails, New York, Tupper Lake, wild mushrooms
We arrived at the lake, the last destination and second half of our epic East Coast road trip, on the eve of Independence Day. It felt uniquely American, crossing the border from distinctly French Quebec, to be winding along northeast country roads, past farms and cottages and through quaint villages, adorned with American flags, one and all.
Sunset on the lake
It had been raining on and off all week in the Adirondacks, and one of the first things I noticed walking the Buck Summerhill Camp at Big Wolf Lake was a mushroom — a surprising revelation for a summer day. On a July 4 morning walk, up with the sun, I found not only Lost Pond but also a bag full of mushrooms — including several birch boletes, some black trumpets and a single lovely porcini. More
22 Aug 2014
by scolgin
in Beverages, Recipes
Tags: cinchona, cocktails, Colgin, Culver City, Daniel Nevins, gin & tonic, Hendrick's gin, Oldfield's Liquor Room, Saveur
I’m a sucker for a great classic cocktail — and by great, I mean a drink made with few ingredients, where you can taste the high-quality spirit the beverage is built around. A perfect margarita, for example — lime, agave syrup, good tequila.
A lady gets her close up
I used to think the rechristening of bartenders as “mixologists” was a bit silly. (What would be next — busboys would now be “dishware reutilization engineers”!??) But then on one of our rare evening adventures into civilization without the kids, our pal Alex took us to an establishment in Culver City called Oldfield’s Liquor Room that he liked to frequent with his mistress. The bartender, who was also apparently the proprietor, was a buxom woman in pointy glasses and an old timey baby doll dress. The mercifully manageable bar menu contained a dozen or so “house drinks” based on classics and made with house-infused syrups and bitters. Those we tried were delicious, and I thought, “Okay, she’s more like a chef — and maybe they do deserve something more elevated than ‘bartender'”. More
11 Jul 2014
by scolgin
in Beverages, Recipes
Tags: agua fresca, Attempts in Domesticity, cocktails, margarita, Mexico, Sir Isaac Newton, watermelon
I remember watching a Ken Burns documentary series a few years back about the National Park system. It was called, “America’s Best Idea.”
I was thinking about this on a particularly hot Southern California summer afternoon, the desert winds blowing through the canyon and out to sea. It was stifling, I was thirsty… and then it came to me: My best idea!
Watermelon Aguarita
It began with a half-eaten watermelon sitting on the kitchen counter. I was reminded of a post about watermelon agua fresca on my friend’s Jessica’s blog, Attempts in Domesticity. I pulled up her website, glanced at the instructions, and made myself a nice cold pinkish glass of watermelon agua fresca, which was just as refreshing as the post had suggested. More
25 Feb 2014
by scolgin
in Beverages, Recipes
Tags: Cazadores, cocktails, Cuba, Havana Club, Hendrick's gin, margaritas, Mexico, mixology, tequila
We don’t drink a lot of hard liquor, but when we do, we’re definitely tequila people. I’ve gained a reputation for making a pretty great margarita. Which leads to the obvious rut — what else can we do with tequila besides margaritas?
El Chapulín
Because I like high quality ingredients in everything I make, we have a good collection of liquor — artisans small-maker rums from the Caribbean and Havana Club rum smuggled in from Cuba (via Mexico) just for mojitos; fine handmade Kentucky bourbons and peaty aged Scotch; and at least five or six different special tequilas, many you can only get in Mexico. More
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