cocktail kitchen

Last year my sister's fantastic beau (and my second-favorite bartender in the world) invented a magical drink by infusing gin with roasted beets. He went on to win a national competition for the best Tanqueray and tonic, because he's awesome. You can find the recipe here. 

My hand after peeling the beets. It's still a little pink.

New Container Store pitcher full of roasted beet gin. Mmm.

Along with the beet gin I decided to put together some homemade sour mix, since (as you can see above) it's definitely whiskey sour season and squeezing seven lemons in one go seemed like an easier prospect than having to squeeze one every time I wanted a drink (I really hate my juicer). Most recipes seem to use a 2:2:1 mixture of simple syrup, lemon juice, and lime juice, but I'm not really a fan of lime so I cut it down to 4:4:1, which turned out to be a cup of simple syrup, juice from seven lemons, and one lime.

What do you think I should do with the rest of the limes?

My fridge is full of mixers now.

I don't really recommend making both these things at once, especially if you're a klutz like me. If you do you will probably cut your finger while slicing the beets. It's kind of hard to tell you're bleeding when you have beet juice all over your hands, but you'll feel it. Later on, the pressure on your finger from squeezing the juicer will make the cut start gushing blood again, and you will get lemon juice in it while you're trying to staunch it. You will then spend the next few minutes being glad your roommate is not home to hear you swear and whimper.

As I type this I am watching the first episode of The Borgias and a man just squeezed lemon juice into someone's whip wounds. I wish this show were much better than it is, but that was a pretty coincidence. And I'll probably keep watching for a while anyway, because I'm a sucker for fancy costumes and long curly hair.