Between now and the New Year I'm dedicating my Fridays to the cocktail hour. I'm going to explore appetizers, little plates, tapas, and all manner of late in the day snacks, nibbles, finger food, and the occasional libation to wash it all down with. I'm excited, this is my favorite way to eat, whether I'm throwing a holiday party or just hanging out with the nightly news.
Since I'm out of town and suffering from very spotty Internet access, I'm including some quick cocktail hour links inspired by our week in Madison Wisconsin...
Perique Tobacco Liqueur
The creativity of the Madison cocktail scene is pretty amazing. Many of the more exotic ingredients are created by the individual bars themselves. This week I tasted a drink made with a tobacco tincture. I have a weakness for woodsy, smokey scents, so I knew this would appeal to me. The bar made their own tincture, but this Perique tobacco liqueur would be similar, and it's nicotine free.
Beer and Cheese Dip
This one looks especially good.
Handmade cheese and bread boards
We had a cheese plate with every meal while we were in Madison. They were served on all manner of boards, plates and planks, the more rustic the better.
Gallery of Bitters
On our last night I had a cocktail made with cider, and rum, and cardamom and chili bitters. The drink had a hot, spicy kick to it, which was great since the temperature dropped 20 degrees in the space of an hour, the tornado sirens went off twice in that time, and the windows of the tiny bar and restaurant where we had dinner were completely fogged over. Once again, the bitters were made in house, but this site has a mind boggling array of options. I feel a DIY post coming on....
Mini Bratwurst Appetizers
Homemade Soft Pretzels
They serve these with big smears of various mustards on the side. I'm making these the minute I get home...
A cheese plate with EVERY meal?! Wow. Clearly that is a cheese loving town! I bet you had a ton of fun. Loved your description of the restaurant the last night you were in town. Picturing the windows all fogged over, I immediately craved a mug of hot buttered rum!
ReplyDeleteLove the Wisc-based post and themes! I have fond memories of the antiques and bread boards and rustic gems of my childhood up there...sadly I didn't appreciate it then but sure would kill for some of that stuff to manifest itself into my house in the present day!
ReplyDeleteI had no idea you grew up in Wisconsin---you seem like a southern Cal girl through and through! My daughter and I went to a few thrift stores and they were the best I've seen in a long time. I stuffed a huge old bread board in the bottom of my suitcase!
DeleteWell grew up in MN not WI and then lived in Chicago before we moved to SoCal 10 years ago. This is truly home - could never live in that weather again. But the midwest is where my roots and our families are. There is something nostalgic just about reading posts about it :) And they have the best antiques, i.e. the bread board. Nice score!
Deletepretzels for me... I was in a bar the other day going through my blogs and I was showing someone your cute olive penguins and about 5 minutes later the whole bar was looking over my shoulder commenting on how cute they were... you're famous in Soho!
ReplyDeleteYay! You're a good PR man, Dom! I can hardly wait for the pretzels.
DeleteOh you're having such fun! I love cheese boards - super delicious! We made soft pretzels once - and it was great fun and yummy. Happy travels!
ReplyDeleteI was expecting big boring rectangles of cheddar or munster, but instead the Madison cheese 'scene' was incredibly sophisticated, they take it very seriously!
Deleteyummmmmmmmmmmmm! Wish I was there too! Hugs all around. Save me a cheese plate and some wonderful drink.
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