Batter Licker

I admit it. I finally succumbed to the infusing-vodka-with-candy madness that’s been going around. I’m not proud, but it was too easy not to do it. There were a few stray candy canes, some lonely vodka and a clean glass jar hanging around, begging for attention.

I justified it by arguing – in my head, of course – that I wouldn’t have gotten around to eating those last few candy canes anyway; the vodka would have sat untouched for another 6 months; the jar needed to serve a practical function or else get tossed into the recycling bin; and a candy cane vodka would really just be peppermint vodka, which wasn’t too bizarre (ahem, candy corn vodka) had to taste great in some sort of cocktail.

And it did taste fantastic in this one. Like a grownup peppermint milkshake of sorts. Except then I had to go and name it a “snowtini,” which sounds so frou-frou I’m not sure I’d ever order it off a cocktail menu.

… Read the rest of candy cane snowtini on BatterLicker.com!

I’m sick. Again. Jay brought something home at the beginning of the week, and the stuffy nose, plugged up ears and sore throat are now launching a full attack on my immune system.

Anyone else think sore throats are the absolute worst? Even cough drops aren’t helping me out this time around. To feel any relief whatsoever, I have to keep pumping hot herbal tea down my throat.

Normally, that would mean quite a few bags of tea – not to mention trips to the restroom. But as I sucked down my initial mugful this morning, I boiled up a potful of homebrewed tea.

It might sound complicated, but it’s not. For me, uncomplicated is key when I’m sick.

I had some cinnamon sticks and a leftover nub of ginger on hand, so I just boiled them with a lot of water while marking up a licensing agreement during the first 45 minutes of work this morning. And I’ve been going back to refill my mug ever since.

… Read the rest of ginger cinnamon tea on BatterLicker.com!

Yesterday, I sneezed violently and continuously for about 6 hours straight.

I’ve struggled with pretty intense allergy attacks since childhood, so this wasn’t a big surprise. But I still can’t get used to the fact that, when these attacks happen once a month or so, the only way to get them to stop is to knock myself out with Benadryl or Nyquil – a half dose because I’m hypersensitive to medicine too.

And it still annoys me when I wake up the next morning and feel like I’ve been hit by a truck. A truck full of sickness. Severe nasal and chest congestion, post nasal drip, swollen sinuses, and some more sneezing and coughing. As though that weren’t unpleasant enough, if I don’t stay very warm, drink lots of liquids, avoid air conditioning and the outdoors, and barely move the entire next day, this 2-day allergy attack-induced cold ramps up into a 2-week flu.

Once I’m sick, I don’t usually feel like drinking fluids. I used to drink orange juice, but now more than a few sips will produce acid reflux symptoms. I know I’m supposed to drink water or decaf tea, but it’s a constant struggle to get liquid down.

A couple years ago, I was struck with some creativity during a moment of illness and poured a packet of Super Orange Emergen-C into a glass of club soda. Maybe I had been watching You Don’t Mess With the Zohan, which features an orange soda called Fizzy Bubblech. Maybe not.

Either way, this sick person cocktail has become a sick-time staple for me. The bubbles soothe my throat and stomach, the orange flavor makes it more appealing than nasty plain water (I love water in real life; in sick life, I can’t stand it) without giving me acid reflux like OJ does, and it pumps me full of Vitamin C when I need it most.

… Read the rest of fizzy bubblech on BatterLicker.com!

Once upon my I-vehemently-disagree-with-everything-my-mom-says -and-does teenage years, I thought I found a message from a kindred spirit in “Break Stuff,” a song Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit had channeled all his short man syndrome anger into.

About half my lifetime later, I am fortunate to have a wonderfully close relationship with my mother. But this week, a particularly trying set of phone and email negotiations with a very conflict- (rather than compromise-) oriented outside attorney made “one of those days” turn into one of those weeks.

By the time Wednesday rolled around, I was ready for a Friday night cocktail, but instead, I found serenity in preparing a vodka infusion that I could look forward to enjoying come Friday.

… Read the rest of cucumber vodka and elderflower fizz on BatterLicker.com!

Elderflower liqueur is something I never would have thought to try had a friend not recommended it a few years ago. And ever since then, I’ve been adding it to all sorts of drinks. As far as cocktails go, this sweetly floral liqueur has been truly changed my world. A little splash of St. Germain [...]