Sir-Mix-A-Lush: The Poison Apple

The Halloween Party may have been a bust, but the Official Party Cocktail was not! I had to drink something while I agonized over canceling the party…didn't I?

I give you…The Poisoned Apple! I'd be lying if I told you the inspiration didn't come from my new favorite TV show Once Upon a Time.

On The Rocks. Creepy apple, huh?

I love how the apple "Bleeds" into the drink

It's really simple to make. The garnish is the hardest part and best if prepared a day early. I found some VERY firm Gala Apples at the grocery store. Using my mandolin I sliced them VERY thinly making sure to preserve the apple shape in the slices. I laid the slices evenly in a container I could seal and fit in my fridge and then covered them in pomegranate juice (VERY RED). Into the fridge they went for a day. The next day I drained off most of the juice, leaving just a little in the bottom for the apples to "drink up.

Now for the cocktail itself…

The Poisoned Apple (On The Rocks Version)

          2oz   Absolut Orient Apple Vodka

          2oz   Spiced Apple Cider

                   Ginger Ale

          Fill a Rocks Glass with ice and pour in the vodka and apple cider. 

          Top with ginger ale and stir.

          Garnish with one of "Poisoned" apples by sliding it down the edge 

          of the glass.

The Poisoned Apple (Up Version)

          Same ingredients

          Chill a martini glass. In a cocktail shaker with ice, add the vodka

          and the apple cider. Shake vigorously. Strain into martini glass

          Garnish by floating the "Poisoned" apple on top. Top off the 

          cocktail with ginger ale. This really makes the apple "bleed".

Now if you don't have any of the Oriental Apple Vodka, first I would ask, "Why the hell don't you?" and then I would suggest using unflavored vodka and increasing the spiced cider by and ounce or so. Also, if you can't find spiced apple cider, you can spice your own. I had to. I bought regular everyday apple cider (we have some wonderful orchards around here where I can get it fresh) and you can get mulling spices in tea bag form. I simply dunked the tea bags into the cider jug for a day and BAM! spiced apple cider! Who knew it could be so easy?

The cocktail itself (even without the "Poisoned" apple) is a delightful fall sipper. I plan to also try it as a warm drink by heating up the apple cider and then adding the vodka to it. YUM!!!

Enjoy, and let me know what you think of it.

The Halloween Party That Wasn't

Many of you may know that much of the East Coast was blanketed with snow over Halloween weekend. We didn't miss out on it here in Maryland, that's for sure! My Halloween Party (Dress the F*ck Up! was the theme) was scheduled for Saturday. 

Come Friday, once it seemed certain that we were going to get the snow they were calling for, I almost canceled it. Instead I opted for a "Wait and see" approach. Well, we woke up on Saturday to 5 inches of snow already on the ground and more on the way. So, I was forced to do something I have almost never done…send out a cancelation email. I think most people took it for granted that the party wasn't happening. I didn't want to risk anyone trying to get here in the snow. Also, the snow brought down one of the trees at the end of my street so it would have been more difficult to get here.

With the party canceled, The Hubby and I didn't want to waste our costumes. So Tod came over and picked us up in his Durango and we ventured out to The Lodge for their yearly Halloween event. No one does Halloween like the Gays! It's our High Holiday. It was fun, and I was surprised by the huge crowd of people who braved the weather and many fallen trees to get there.

Come Sunday, the snow was mostly gone and here I was, sitting at home with a house full of Party Food. So I called my folks and some other friends and had them over to eat. About 10 people showed up in costume…bless their hearts!

So here is the food spread from the evening. 

Ghoulish, No?

Aside from the usual chips and dips (yes, that is Salsa in the skull…BRAINS!), The Hubby made his Creepy Spider Cookies (Chow Mien Noodles covered in chocolate and butterscotch chips). There are Boogers on a Stick standing up in the glasses (Pretzel sticks dipped in colored Cheese Whiz). I also made my Frequently Requested Meatballs (Meatballs in an Alfredo/Sun-Dried Tomato sauce) and my Puke Dip (Ground Beef, Rotel Tomatoes, and Velveeta Cheese all melted up).

I had a few other ideas for the menu, but once the snow hit I scrapped them. They were a little more high maintenance and so now I'll just save them for next years party. Make sure you're on the guest list!

Ok Married Couples

I am curious. How do you handle your finances. I don't need details. I certainly don't want actual figures. But I'm curious…as an unmarried gay male in a long term live-in relationship…how do you do it? Is everything split 50/50? Is there a joint account for bills? Is there a separate saving for home/vacation/fun?

For the longest time I've handled everything financial in regards to our relationship. That's changed now and we have different accounts. So I'm hoping you can give me some insight as to how you handle it.

Leave your experiences and tips/hints/tricks in the comments. Thanks!

Once Upon A Time...

Those words have been the prelude to so many wonderful stories(and a Broadway musical). It is my hope that they are not only the title of, but also the prelude to a wonderful story to be told on ABC television.

I think I may have found my next Halloween Costume

I have finally discovered my favorite show of the new television season.  Yes, there is an evil queen…every good story needs one. But there is also Snow White and Prince Charming, the Seven Dwarfs, Rumplestiltskin, and Jiminy Cricket!

All of these characters, thanks to an evil curse, have been trapped…stuck in time, in the town of Storybrooke, Maine to live here in our world where happy endings are a thing of fiction. The gaps are filled in for us via flashbacks to the Enchanted Forest where all of the characters we know and love existed. What I find most fascinating about even just the pilot episode is seeing where these characters fit into our "Real" world. Snow White is a teacher, Grumpy is the town bad boy and Jiminy Cricket?…a shrink, in human form of course.

Snow White and Prince Charming's child has been "saved" from the curse thanks to a magical tree stump that transported her to our world only seconds before the Evil Queen's wicked spell could come to fruition. She appears in our universe as an orphan named Emma Swan. Emma gave up her child Henry at birth to none other than The Evil Queen, now the mayor of Storybrooke.

If all of those tidbits aren't enough to get you interested in the story, I have one more to impart. Once Emma decides to stay in Storybrooke…time starts back up for the town. I gasped and cried, of course. I'm a sap when it comes to story telling and this show has nailed it!

I hope it can hold onto it's ratings long enough to at least be granted a second season. I think there is amazing potential here to tell a story we haven't seen before. Not one about the end of happy endings, but one that teaches us how to find them again.

Shibu-YEAH!

I've barely made it outside of my hotel this trip. Luckily, one night our account manager scheduled a client dinner over at The MGM Grand. We ate at Shibuya, a great asian-fusion place. I had to take my own arty shot...

See? Arty!

The menu here was mainly sushi, and if you've read by blog at all, you know how I feel about that. They also have a nice selection of warm dishes. I chose...

                     JIDORI CHICKEN 

                           Half Organic Chicken Breast & Thigh Skewers, Satsumaimo Croquettes, 

                           Shishito, Lemon Teriyaki

I don't know what was in those croquettes, but it was amazing! The Sauce was light and flovorful with just the right amount of twang. I did accidentally eat one of those skinny peppers, thinking it was a green bean, but my tummy survived it.

The most important part? Dessert!!! They have quite a wide selection on their dessert menu. Lot's of things you wouldn't expect in a Japanese reaturant. I decided on...

                     CALPICO PANNACOTTA
                           Vanilla Calpico Cream, Raspberry Yuzu Gelee, Raspberry Yuzu Jam Macaron

Not only does it sound delicious, I was completely unprepared for the presentation that was to be set in front of me. Out of all of the desserts my fellow diners and I sampled, mine was the most beautiful.

Awe & Wonder!!!

I'm not sure you can see it in the photo, but those berries are dusted with edible gold. How decadent is that? I felt like I was eating something right out of a Dr Seuss book.

I gotta say, one of the best perks of my job is getting to sample food like this all over the country. Be envious...be very, very envious :-)

Schweet! Suite

Ok, sometimes I complain about the amount of travel I have to do for my job. This time I could complain about a lot of things having to do with this trip, but one of them is not the room the client gave me at The Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas. This, ladies and gentlemen...is my suite!

I call that The Porn Sofa. Imagine the possibilities!

This is the view as I came in the door. There is a great little nook in front of the smaller window where the desk I'm writing this post from is located.

What can I say? The Porn Sofa really dominates the room

This the view towards the bed and the HUGE picture window. I should also point out that if I could find a way to bring that curvy lamp behind The Porn Sofa home with me...I would!

The shower and vanity...nice, but wait for it!!!!!

BAM!!! The jacuzzi tub! I have been in it twice. It's delightful. I might just have to get one of these for my  house one day. The coolest thing is that I FIT IN IT! I can almost lay out flat and float!

Oh, I almost got too caught up in the interior. Here is my view!

The sign, and all of The Strip in the background!!!

It's not often that I get perks like this when I travel. Usually the client throws us in whatever hotel they happen to have comp rooms in. So when it does happen it's a special treat. A treat I am hoping to take full advantage of.

Gotta go...The Porn Sofa is giving me it's "Come hither" look!

Yikes! I've Become Kim!!!

I haven't blogged in a while, and I'm sorry for that. I'm heading into the "Busy" season at work, and well...quite frankly, I haven't had much to say. I had prepared a post about the cool suite I have here at my hotel in Las Vegas, but that will have to wait.

Something has happened today that has made me very sad. Steve Jobs, the former CEO of Apple Computer, has died at age 56 from pancreatic cancer.

Now, I did know Mr. Jobs personally. But from 1983, I was a follower of his. When he started Apple Computer and the first Mac computers found their way into my classrooms, I was hooked. Imagine, a simple user interface that didn't require learning a programming language to operate!

Ever since, you could say I was an Apple Fan Boy. I would only purchase Apple products. I am forced to work with Microsoft PCs because of my job and it only serves to enforce my loyalty for what I consider to be the only true computing experience.

Many of my friends laugh at me. But, those same friends also enjoy their iPods and their iPhones. For me Mr. Jobs, and Apple, have created a "complete" experience. My phone interacts with my computer and my life in a seamless coalescence that I never dreamed possible all those years ago.

Steve Jobs had that vision. He had that spark and the drive to make it happen. When he stepped down as the CEO of Apple, I was worried. I knew something must be wrong in order for him to make such a decision. What I didn't realize is that he would be taken so quickly. I was looking forward to his next step, his next magic trick...his next, "Oh, and one more thing."

The world has lost a true visionary. No one can deny that his legacy will live on, a true homage to the man, who in more ways than one, changed the world.