love and zombies
Recipe: pear ginger beer cocktail
Did you go to a Halloween party this weekend? It looked like everyone I know did! Driving through Boulder Saturday night on our way home, we saw a lot of zombies and other characters walking to their presumed social lives. I really love Halloween, but I don’t dress up for it anymore. In fact, the last time I dressed up was in college and I was a (very tipsy) white rabbit. Then the following year I went to a U2 concert at Dodger Stadium on Halloween night and made it back to campus in time for the pumpkin drop (see under annual events). I didn’t see a green flash, but I *did* run into a particular freshman I had been thinking about all day. We went to movie night in the dorm, made sure my housemate got home safely, walked around campus in the dark holding hands, and had our first kiss under the olive trees. Ah youth. Jeremy and I were so young nineteen years ago…
That’s one of the many reasons why I love Halloween.
As promised from my post cards over the weekend, I have some Yosemite photos…
sunset on half dome
fern springs
sunrise from gates of the valley
The whole set is on the photo blog. The snowstorm I missed while I was in California delivered a good 15 inches of snow to our house. This is the snow that will not melt away in the high country, setting up a base for us to play on through the winter and spring. We went to check it out this weekend and Kaweah wanted to come along. Some days she’s slow and stiff, but getting out into the snow always puts a spring in her step. It’s the same for me.
frozen lake and snowy peaks
sunshine, snow, and puppy dog
Winter is coming and my parents are heading back to Virginia soon. We had dinner with them Saturday, but they always want to do happy hour before dinner with us. Their definition of happy hour is wine and cheese, but I brought fixings for a new cocktail we really wanted to share with them. I’ve tried it on a few friends who have all given it a big thumbs up. It’s Jeremy’s new favorite cocktail which is saying a lot if it can unseat the Buddha’s hand citron lemon drop martini.
pear liqueur, a bundy, and lime wedges
Yes, it starts with pear liqueur and ginger beer. Beer not ale. It isn’t alcoholic, but it has a far stronger ginger taste than ginger ale. There are a few brands out there and some taste like cough syrup. My favorite mass produced ginger beer is Bundaberg, which comes from Australia. They call it a Bundy. Aussies are great, aren’t they? I get mine from Cost Plus World Market. They aren’t cheap. My favorite small batch ginger beer comes from Seattle and it is Rachel’s Ginger Beer. I met Rachel and sampled her ginger beer at Delancey when it was taking off. Her ginger beer is in huge demand for good reason – it’s the best.
fill a high ball with ice
pour in the pear liqueur
There are just three ingredients if you don’t count the ice, but the flavors are bouncing off one another for that super awesome party in your mouth. Fizzy, spicy, sweet, mellow, fruity, tangy – woohoo! Kat says you can’t really taste the alcohol in it. That can be dangerous. It’s quite drinkable and goes down easy. My parents really liked it too!
squeeze a lime wedge
top it off with a good ginger beer
The pear ginger beer is a perfect cocktail for fall to sip on your own or toast with friends and family. I kinda want to throw a party just so I can serve the drink!
here’s to autumn
Pear Ginger Beer Cocktail
[print recipe]
2 oz. pear liqueur
1 bottle (~12 oz.) ginger beer (I prefer Rachel’s Ginger Beer which might be hard to find right now, or Bundaberg Ginger Beer)
2 lime wedges (a wedge is 1/6th of a lime)
ice
Fill a high ball glass with ice. Pour the pear liqueur over the ice. Squeeze a lime wedge over the ice. Top off with a good ginger beer (don’t use ginger ale – it is totally different and inferior). Serve with a wedge of lime. Makes one cocktail.
October 31st, 2011 at 4:14 am
Sorry to tell you this but here in Australia “a Bundy” is actually Bundaberg Rum, i.e you have a bundy and coke. Still not to worry, I love your photos.
October 31st, 2011 at 5:25 am
Gorgeous pics, and I’m always up for a new cocktail recipe!
October 31st, 2011 at 8:18 am
That looks great! I’ve never had ginger beer before, I’ll have to keep a lookout for it.
October 31st, 2011 at 8:32 am
Look. At. That!
October 31st, 2011 at 12:11 pm
I am definitely going to have to try that – sounds amazing! And your photos have me itching to pack up and move out west.
Were you at Cornell during the great pumpkin prank? I, unfortunately, missed it by a year. :(
October 31st, 2011 at 12:45 pm
The first time I went to Yosemite I was speechless. Such an amazing place, and you captured it beautifully!
October 31st, 2011 at 9:18 pm
That puppy OWNS the backcountry! ;)
I have no idea how I missed the pear liqueur recipe; what fog was I in? Not to worry, I have it now….and I’m going to make it. The cocktail sounds like the perfect little perk to that first nip of fall, and the perfect item for Thanksgiving.
November 1st, 2011 at 2:35 am
This looks SO refreshing! Exactly the kind of thing I would go for. Love it.
November 1st, 2011 at 2:51 am
The sunrise from the gates of the valley image is incredible (out of a batch of pretty stunning ones). How wonderful to be immersed in nature of such a dramatic kind.
My pear liqueur is pretty deep in colour and I’ve tried it neat with icecubes frozen with a piece of fresh ginger inside. Very warming.
November 1st, 2011 at 2:57 am
The fern springs shot was beautiful, a sight to behold.
November 1st, 2011 at 6:02 am
This cocktail looks fabulous…love the photos, esp. the one of your gorgeous pup ;)
November 1st, 2011 at 6:02 am
Those views are absolutely stunning! I would LOVE to see them some day…
Also, ginger beer is the only beer I drink! I’m going to try this when I move to Australia next Feb ;)
November 1st, 2011 at 7:22 am
This looks great! Can anyone recommend a pear liqueur?
And the photos are amazing. Thanks for the visual splendor.
November 1st, 2011 at 9:10 pm
Yum. I’d totally drink that!
I was going to comment on the ‘bundy’ actually being Bundaberg rum, but some other Australian beat me to it! hahaha. :)
November 1st, 2011 at 9:46 pm
My mum grew up in Jamaica where ginger beer originated (at least that’s what the Jamaicans in my life tell me) and I grew up drinking it. This cocktail is being bookmarked and I am making it for my mum as soon as she arrives for Christmas. Thanks, Jen!
November 2nd, 2011 at 8:12 pm
i’d love for you to try making your own ginger beer for the blog, so we all can see how it’s done right. i tried once, with the yeast to make it fizzy and slightly alcoholic, but when i unscrewed the top my entire kitchen was showered with what smelled to be delicious ginger beer. the sugar and yeast really DID work! (did i put in too much yeast? too much sugar? i have no clue, honestly i just eyeballed it.) in a panic i dumped the still-spewing bottle down my sink, only afterwards realizing that i could have saved at least a sip or 2 to try out the taste. i’ve since experimented with making ginger syrup and mixing it with seltzer, but it’s not quite the same.
November 9th, 2011 at 2:18 pm
Peta – that’s interesting, because it was an Aussie who called it a Bundy :)
Erin – yes, I was!
Cate – thank you.
Sally – oooh, that sounds good too.
J2Kfm – thank you :)
Winnie – aww, thanks – she’s a tough one to get to sit still.
Jean – now I’m jealous!
Deidre – you can try absolut pear or poire william (i think that one is a pear brandy)
Cookin Canuck – ooooh, lucky you. I love that stuff!
Diana Banana – I’ve never tried making my own, but I have noticed that I like the fermented kind and not the ones that are just ginger juice and sugar and fizzy water. Who knows if I’ll work up the guts to do it ;)
November 9th, 2011 at 5:06 pm
Diana and Jen, I’ve used this recipe for ginger beer a few times: http://www.jeffreymorgenthaler.com/2008/how-to-make-your-own-ginger-beer/
November 16th, 2011 at 11:17 pm
knitopia – thanks for the link!
November 22nd, 2011 at 7:56 am
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