The Cocktail Party | The Food Party! | Laura Stec | Mountain View Online |

Local Blogs

The Food Party!

By Laura Stec

E-mail Laura Stec

About this blog: I've been attracted to food for good and bad reasons for many years. From eating disorder to east coast culinary school, food has been my passion, profession & nemesis. I've been a sugar addict, a 17-year vegetarian, a food and en...  (More)

View all posts from Laura Stec

The Cocktail Party

Uploaded: Jul 31, 2016

Yeh, I watched the conventions. You? What up with Paul Simon? And how about those acceptance speeches?

My roots are fiscally-based Republican, with a rousing side dish of political tête-à-tête. We should talk more politics, and pine for the day we get over ourselves and talking becomes easier and interesting. I don’t care if we agree; I don’t expect to. I’m more interested in trying to understand why you believe the way you do.

My brother and I have kept up the political kibitz during presidential elections of past. He gets snotty along the way, but we usually laugh in the end. Love trumps politics. This year, the tradition may not survive. He doesn’t seem to want to talk about it.

So maybe you'll talk about it with me? Just till November. No hissy-fit poli-talks though, let’s have fun. Leave the Mepubs and Procrasticrats behind and fight to unite.....how about The Cocktail Party!? Our motto, Stronger Together. Or, maybe start a whole new movement, like…well….. The Food Party!? Nominate me as your Secretary of Plate, and I promise we can hold these fruits to be self-evident, because I alone can save you.

Our first order of business is Bloody Mary. Hill-yes, I’m with her.

With us, or against us?



graphic from the web


Backyard Bloody Mary Bar
Celebrate the summer by inviting friends over for brunch and a Bloody Mary Bar. Use your own backyard tomatoes (cherry or otherwise) for the juice. Try pickling homegrown green beans for garnish.

1 cup peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped tomatoes
2 cups tomato juice
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Dash celery salt
1 cup organic vodka
Green olive juice
Horseradish or wasabi paste
Pickled pearl onions, olives, green beans, asparagus (buy at the farmers market or pickle your own)
Homegrown cucumber and celery sticks
Selection of hot sauces (such as Tabasco, or your local brand)
Black pepper mill
Bottle of Worcestershire sauce
Good quality herbed salt on a plate, to rim glasses
Fresh lime and/or lemon wedges, to rim glasses
Toothpicks
Ice bucket with fresh ice cubes

Blend the fresh tomatoes to a purée and push through a fine strainer (mixture will be thick). Combine the purée, tomato juice, Worcestershire sauce, celery salt, vodka, and a splash olive juice in a pitcher and stir.

Set up the Bloody Mary Bar. Put the horseradish, onions, and olives in fun bowls and stand up the asparagus, beans, cucumbers, and celery in tall, skinny glassware. Open the hot sauces and put out a pepper grinder and a plate of herb salt. Put out tall glasses, stir spoons, and the drink pitcher and let guests season the drink as they please.

Recipe from Cool Cuisine – Taking the Bite out of Global Warming


Community.
What is it worth to you?

Comments

Posted by NW Resident, a resident of North Whisman,
on Aug 1, 2016 at 9:28 am

Sounds like a fun idea for a backyard gathering. I like to make my Bloody Marys at home using the method from Duarte's Tavern in Pescadero.

Pour vodka over ice cubes in a rocks glass. Add a dash of horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, and Crystal hot sauce. Pour in the tomato juice mixture along with a squeeze of fresh lime juice. Stir gently and then garnish with a dash of celery salt, cracked pepper and a pickled green bean.


Posted by Menlo Voter., a resident of Menlo Park: other,
on Aug 1, 2016 at 8:31 pm

Menlo Voter. is a registered user.

Booze yes! Hillary or Trump? HELL NO!


Posted by Lauralies, a resident of Portola Valley: Westridge,
on Aug 1, 2016 at 11:52 pm

MW and MV, Cocktails unite! Our official platform meeting at Rossotti's TBA.


Posted by Mike, a resident of Atherton: Lloyden Park,
on Aug 2, 2016 at 3:29 am

Great post.


Posted by D in Duveneck, a resident of Duveneck/St. Francis,
on Aug 3, 2016 at 11:37 am

Bloody Mary is the girl for me! Wait, wait, wait! Not p-c! Trigger warning! Person for me? Human for me? Person of whatever gender choice for me? Never mind, you can be my secretary of plate anytime...

But speaking of p-c, please note that Bloody Marys are RED. If we're going to be fair and balanced, like Fox news, shouldn't we have a BLUE cocktail recipe? If nothing's out there, my S of P can invent one, I have total and complete confidence...

If anyone wants to do a riff on colors, there's no end of temptations...Orange, anyone?

On more serious note, when I squeeze my flood of home-grown tomatoes to make Tuscan bread soup, I'm left with a flood, so to speak, of juice, which is far superior to the commercial stuff...



Posted by Laura Stec, a resident of Portola Valley,
on Aug 3, 2016 at 12:14 pm

Ohhhhh, clever D in Duveneck. Yes - we need a blue drink! Lucky we got a few weeks till November. Send what you got!


Posted by Reader, a resident of another community,
on Aug 3, 2016 at 12:14 pm

If you want a blue cocktail, the easiest way to do it is to use blue curacao. If I recall correctly, blue daiquiris were trendy for a few years in the late Eighties or maybe early Nineties.


Posted by D in Duveneck, a resident of Duveneck/St. Francis,
on Aug 3, 2016 at 9:29 pm

Here is a cornucopia of blue cocktails!

Web Link

I'm blue just thinking about the task of reading them all. Maybe y'all will do better.

Meanwhile, we need a song. My Blue Heaven, Fats Domino? Blue Moon, the Marcels? Am I dating myself?


Posted by Plane Speaker, a resident of Crescent Park,
on Aug 3, 2016 at 10:24 pm

> My roots are fiscally-based Republican

You've clearly had too much to drink. ;-)


Posted by Reader, a resident of another community,
on Aug 3, 2016 at 11:09 pm

@D in Duveneck:

Here are a few theme song suggestions:

"Blue Velvet" by Bobby Vinton
"Blue in Green" or "All Blues" by Miles Davis
"Rhapsody in Blue" (Gershwin)
"Blue Hotel" by Chris Isaak
"Blue Bayou" by Roy Orbison
"Blue Monday" by New Order
"True Blue" by Madonna

and of course

"Blue Suede Shoes" by Elvis Presley

Enjoy!


Posted by Laura Stec, a resident of another community,
on Aug 4, 2016 at 7:35 am

If The Cocktail Party gets Blue song, we'll need a red song too. Or maybe no Bloody Mary drinkers are with us? NW Resident, got a red song for us?


Posted by WilliamR, a resident of another community,
on Aug 4, 2016 at 10:39 am

WilliamR is a registered user.

How about 'Red roses for a blue lady' ?


Posted by D in Duveneck, a resident of Duveneck/St. Francis,
on Aug 4, 2016 at 12:08 pm

Red Sails in the Sunset? Talk about oldies!

Little Red Rooster? (Maybe the Grateful Dead version?)

And for blue--don't forget Blue Skies, happy song in a minor key...

Has anyone tried any of these blue cocktails?


Posted by Laura Stec, a resident of Portola Valley: Westridge,
on Aug 4, 2016 at 1:23 pm

'Red roses for a blue lady! Perfect balance. Maybe a little sad though.

We can't forget RedRed Wine. UB40


Posted by WilliamR, a resident of another community,
on Aug 4, 2016 at 5:13 pm

WilliamR is a registered user.

How about "When the red red robin comes bob-bob-bobbin' along" ?


Posted by Laura Stec, a resident of Portola Valley,
on Aug 4, 2016 at 7:29 pm

Plane Speaker, .it was always about $$. I'll always remember my fathers quote when I finally got old enough to ask about/ talk politics. I asked why he Voted for Bush 1. ,"He's the only one who had the guts to cut my taxes."


Posted by Reader, a resident of another community,
on Aug 5, 2016 at 3:42 pm

"Red" by Taylor Swift
"Red Rain" by Peter Gabriel
"Red Sails" by David Bowie
"Society Red" by Dexter Gordon
"Little Red Corvette" by Prince
"Lady in Red" by Chris de Burgh


Posted by Stella (r) Blue Tavern, a resident of another community,
on Aug 6, 2016 at 3:37 pm

>>> to be fair and balanced, like Fox news

Hah! Now THAT is funny! If we learned anything about Roger Ailes, it's that he has zero clue about either 'fair' or 'balanced'.

>>> Yes - we need a blue drink!

Again - nah. Gonna be ALL BLUE in November. I will, however, hoist a red drink or two in memoriam for the red party. They're toast.

Oh, wait, that's food not liquid....

Stellar.



Posted by Lauralies, a resident of Portola Valley: other,
on Aug 6, 2016 at 10:25 pm

Stella, you made me laugh, clap hoot and cry out your name

STELLA.....


"I will, however, hoist a red drink or two in memoriam for the red party. They're toast. Oh, wait, that's food not liquid...."

To the Food Partiers!


Posted by Hurumph, a resident of Menlo Park: Felton Gables,
on Aug 6, 2016 at 10:27 pm

Trump's acceptance speech sucked


Posted by D in Duveneck, a resident of Duveneck/St. Francis,
on Aug 7, 2016 at 1:17 pm

Okay, couple of good BLUE drinks, on name alone!

Will Rogers Cocktail. Will Rogers never met Donald Trump? (Gin)
Woman Warrior. Seems like there's one in the race this year...(Vodka)

Runners-up:

Alleluia (Tequila)
Black and Blue (Gin)
Blue Angel (Brandy)
Blue Devil (Gin)
Blue Monday (Vodka)
Blue Moon (Vodka, Tequila)

Okay, I've done the hard work. Someone needs to step up, make them all, and relay the results to us!


Posted by Laura Stec, a resident of Portola Valley,
on Aug 7, 2016 at 1:44 pm

Fantastic everyone! We've got some Cocktail Partiers this week, that's for sure. Who's hosting the Blue Beverage Shake Off?


Follow this blogger.
Sign up to be notified of new posts by this blogger.

Email:

SUBMIT

Post a comment

Sorry, but further commenting on this topic has been closed.

Stay informed.

Get the day's top headlines from Mountain View Online sent to your inbox in the Express newsletter.

Worried about the cost of climate change? Here is some hope.
By Sherry Listgarten | 21 comments | 3,099 views

Make Palo Alto prettier than just its parklets, please
By Diana Diamond | 7 comments | 1,770 views

Two Hours - 75,000 Meals – Wanna Help?
By Laura Stec | 0 comments | 1,520 views