There’s a new kid on the (chopping) block! Well, marble slab if we’re going for accuracy. This beauty of a bottle contains our family favorite when it comes to liquor: gin! Gin and tonics have always been the drink of choice at family events, and we love the nautical spin Nautical American Gin has taken with their recipe. Nautical American Gin hails from New Hampshire and launched in 2015. They’ve sponsored this post and a gimlet competition that we’re participating in. We will let you know how you can vote for your favorite version through the month of February by updating this post and our Instagram and Facebook!

Nautical has included 15 unique (and global!) ingredients to round out the flavor of their gin, which is made in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts. We don’t dare call ourselves experts… so for those of you interested in a more technical critique of the product read this! Where we do feel comfortable throwing our say around is with the design of the bottle and brand. 1. we love this color. 2. we love adventure/exploration- which Nautical has really made a pillar of the brand. 3. anybody else notice the lovely touch of Morse Code on the bottle? So salty. Mmm mmm mmm!

For this post, we’re departing from our standby g+t to try out a different spin on another gin classic- the Gimlet. Traditionally speaking a gimlet is really straight forward: gin, lime, simple syrup. We’ve played with the simple syrup to imbibe a bit of Maine via maple syrup and a touch of herby earth with some fresh rosemary. The rosemary, in our opinion, compliments the flavors of the gin nicely and the maple sings next to the lime. To try it out for your 21+ year old selves, see the recipe below!

*UPDATE* To participate in the contest and cast your vote for the best reimagined Gimlet go to Nautical Gin’s Facebook and Instagram to like your favorite cocktail by February 20th!

Ingredients:

• Water
• Maple Syrup (we used Maine maple syrup… we hear Vermont has some tasty stuff too!)
• Fresh Rosemary
• Nautical Gin
• Lime Juice (fresh squeeezed is preferable!) and a slice for garnish
• Ice
• Seltzer Water (optional)

To make the maple simple syrup combine in a small to medium saucepan equal parts water and maple syrup and a sprig of fresh rosemary. This is really to your personal preference… if you like a strong earthy/herb note throw in an extra sprig! We’re not very scientific over here. Bring to a boil, remove from heat and let steep 10 or so minutes. Blair forgot about it while she ate her Annie’s Mac ‘n Cheese so it got a good 20 minute rest. 🙂 Again, not rocket science! Remove the rosemary and take a moment to enjoy the heavenly scent of the maple soaked sprig. Discard… preferably via compost (plug for mother nature!).

Once the simple syrup has cooled to room temp get your cocktail shaker out! Fill it with ice then add in 3 parts Nautical gin, 3 parts fresh squeezed lime juice and 2 parts maple rosemary simple syrup. We tried 1 part of the syrup at first, but we aren’t strong enough to handle the strength of the lime… so we tossed in an extra splash of sweetness to offset. Try a mini version and adjust to your tastes! Then, have a little solo dance party and shake that baby up! If your shaker is metal your hands will get ever so slightly cold. We promise, it’s worth it!

Pour into your gimlet glass, or any container without holes (this is what we did!). Finish with a pretty slice or wedge of lime (not that you’ll need the extra flavor!) and a mini sprig of rosemary. This is mainly for outward appearances, but it makes for a nice olafactory experience, too… especially if you take a rosemary leaf up the nose. Not that that happens(ed)…

We hope you have as much fun making and enjoying this drink as we did at 10:00 in the morning! Gotta get that winter sunlight when it’s best for the photos! Work can be so hard sometimes. 🙂

Happy sipping! Blair + Hayley

 

By a show of hands, who here is planning on having some sort of cookout in the next few days? Mhmm… we figured there would be at least a few of you! If your menu isn’t already set, we would highly recommend this delish double berry pie to top off a summer dinner. It’s unbelieveably easy to make and nothing beats fresh, local strawberries. We’ve enjoyed our mother’s fresh strawberry pie for as many summers as we’ve been around, but we didn’t have her recipe when we wanted to make this pie- that is the beauty of this dessert, it’s remarkable basic so we grabbed the components from a couple different places and wham, bam, dessert in under 30 minutes!

We’re going old school recipe dictation with you today- just like Grandma would (but we are throwing in a couple of reference recipes!) Start by making a prebaked basic single pie crust. I’ve always gone to Betty Crocker in a pinch. The key to a great crust is to incorporate the butter into the flour/salt very well until it’s like cornmeal (some people say small peas, but I really like to pastry blend) then when you add the water I generally add 1/2 to 1 tablespoon icy cold water more than it calls for and mix/fluff it in with a fork until it is almost all combined- seriously, do not- I repeat, do not- overmix/overhandle the crust once you put the water in!! Use your hands to make it into a ball and get the initial disc shape going, then roll it out to the size of your pie pan.

Once the pie shell is baking, get your glaze going on the stove. This part if fun because it involves a potato masher, for me anyway. There isn’t really a precedent set on how to mash strawberries, you could probably stomp them like grapes if you wanted… just don’t tell your dinner guests. While the glaze and pie shell cool, rinse and prep the berries of the straw and blue variety. When everything is ready load up your shell with upside down strawberries and when you can’t possibly fit another strawberry in there, fill in with blueberries! Carefully drizzle the whole thing with glaze, chill – if you want- and when the time comes you can knock the whole thing out of the park with a little homemade whipped cream (sweetened with maple syrup!) or really go whole hog a la mode!

Happy 4th of July weekend! Blair + Hayley

So far, we’ve had a scorcher of a September. Summer is going strong and as of yet, perhaps because we aren’t going back to school, we don’t feel a shift in our day-to-day towards a more regimented routine. While our entrepreneurial existence continues to be exciting and rewarding, it is also unpredictable and a touch chaotic. Can’t stop, won’t stop! But, as such, we’ve continued to enjoy spontaneous dinner parties with friends, when the stars align.

During one such evening, I was scrounging for something to serve for dessert following a big lobster feast. I wanted something refreshing but looking around it felt like the fridge was bare. On a whim I cracked open the Vitamix cookbook to the frozen dessert section and found just the inspiration I needed. Following a sorbet recipe very loosely I whizzed up some frozen grapes I had with a few sprigs of mint from the garden, a spoonful of honey, coconut water and mixed berry juice (there was only a splash of each left… it was bare bones, I’m tellin’ you!), and ice cubes. Voila! Instant scrumptiousness. It fit the bill and cleansed our lobstery, buttery palettes perfectly.

Moral of the story: never say no to good friends and a good time and you will be rewarded with a full heart and surprise dessert!

Cheers to an endless summer! Blair

Ohhh, the perks of being a lobsterman’s daughter! Everybody loves a one pot wonder, and while this isn’t quite one pot we sure did save a lot of dishes by using our lobster platters! In her sophomore cookbook, It’s All Good, (featured a couple posts back here) Gwyneth shares a fun spin on the classic ice cream sundae bar in the form of Rice Cream Sundaes. The base of this recipe is a bowl of brown rice served with a variety of vegetable and protein add-ins for customization, just like an ice cream sundae bar. Instead of laying out bowls and bowls of candy and cherries we had toppings like sauteed bok choy, cucumber kim chi, sesame ginger carrots, garlic soy broccoli, and diced avocado for each person to mix and match within their lobster platter. The flavors abounded and yummy fireworks went off in our mouths. Pictured below are the beautiful raw ingredients that were enhanced with a dash or splash of sesame oil, fish sauce, soy sauce, hoisin, Korean chili flakes, miso, and Chinese five spice. Seriously, so delicious.

As we head into Mother’s Day weekend, we hope you all have delicious plans, perhaps cookouts?!, to pamper your mothers with their favorites!

Happy Friday! Blair

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It’s no secret that I love food… anywhere I can I’ll sing food’s praises. Just recently I cracked open one of my many cookbooks and decided to follow a recipe for a fluffy banana bread in The Bread Bible by Rosy Levy Beranbaum (thank you rotting bananas!) The outcome was amazing and I was reminded that I have so many wonderful cook books with incredible foods just lying on their pages waiting to be made.

So, I’ve made a renewed commitment to try some new recipes that are right in front of me. Because, be honest here, how many times do you cling to 3 or 4 recipes in a book and make the same dishes hundreds of times while unintentionally shunning dozens of others recipes in the book? Me too.

I pulled all my cookbooks off the shelf, surrounded myself in bed and flipped through them all. As a result, I have a long to-cook list and I’ve worked up a hunger that feels like it could last for weeks. I also rounded up a baker’s dozen to share with you. Most I own, but the last four are on my wish list. I would love to take an extended leave from work to just cook through these thirteen cookbooks and have you all over for brunch and lunch and dinner. But alas, I cannot. At the very least I hope you all enjoy something delectable this weekend!

What have you been whipping up lately? What are your favorite cookbooks?

Hungrily yours, Blair

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I’ve finally stopped mistakenly writing 2014 on cards and checks. I think this means I’m comfortably committed to 2015 now. Hayley and I wrapped up with our fitness challenge and a food reset/rebalance last month, and with those accomplishments checked off I’ve relaxed a bit but I didn’t put the blender or juicer back in deep storage- no! I keep them within reach and, inspired by the oh-so-delicious juices of Blue Print Juice, recently made a refreshing green juice to start the day.

The really lovely thing about juices and smoothies, I think, is the high level of flexibility you have with the “recipes.” Unlike with baking, if you leave out an ingredient or double another in a juice the end result isn’t going to turn out a literal flopping failure. I really enjoyed this combo, so I’ll tell you what went into our juice glasses, but I encourage tasting and tweaking to your liking. Always rinse fruits and veggies well and peel tough items like pineapple. When adding citrus to juice, you can either peel it (otherwise the rind will cause a bitter taste that will ruin the whole juice) or squeeze it in by hand.

Pineapple Green Juice: one green apple, a few stalks of celery, half a big cucumber or a couple mini cukes (a little under a cup), a quarter of a pineapple (add more for a sweeter juice), about an inch of ginger (for a nice peppery kick), a handful of mint, half a lime.

As an alternative, I highly recommend the pineapple/apple/mint juice from Blue Print. Sooooo good. A sip of that stuff and I forget the snow banks taller than I am outside.

Happy Monday! Blair

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Yesterday afternoon was a tad chilly and a bit drizzley but by the time Hayley and I left the gym it was a full on dark and mildly (don’t want to be too dramatic here) stormy night. We were feeling accomplished, sweaty, and thirsty. Given the moodiness of the weather, a Dark + Stormy seemed like it would have been especially fitting. A delicious sippable treat on a rainy night.

The Dark + Stormy is one of Hayley’s favorite drinks and we love to make this version with Maine Root ginger beer- it’s a peppery and crisp non-alcoholic soda that is great for this cocktail. Sadly, we only dreamt of getting cozy with this drink because we didn’t have any dark rum. Oh well. Water is probably better after a workout anyway.

However! Tomorrow night I’m meeting some out-of-town friends for drinks and I know what I’ll be whetting my whistle with!!

Happy Friday! Blair

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