Lemon Drop Martinis for Game Night

Andrew and Chad hosted a game night over the weekend. We all played Bananagrams and got our asses handed to us by Erin (apparently she spends a lot of her free time playing Words With Friends). Andrew made Mac & Cheese with Buffalo Chicken, though he tweaked the recipe a bit-- he just used grilled chicken instead of breading the frying the chicken, and I had the idea to make a crushed Ritz Cracker topping (mixed with about 3 tablespoons of the hot sauce/butter sauce). Kathy brought over Ina Garten's Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Warm Cider Vinaigrette. Instead of arugula, she used spinach. This is one of my favorite salads. Kathy served it for Thanksgiving as well. For dessert, Andrew made a decadent Nutella Cheesecake.

I contributed by making Lemon Drop Martinis.



I found a recipe that looked about right online and then starting messing with things until I got a result I liked. Here is my final concoction:

- 1 1/2 oz of lemon flavored vodka (we used Hangar One Buddha's Hand)
- 1/2 oz of Cointreau
- 1 tsp. of simple syrup
- 1/2 oz. of fresh squeezed lemon juice
- sugar for the rim of the martini glass

To rim your martini glass, use a wedge of lemon and run it over the rim of the glass. Then roll the edge of the glass in a small plate of sugar until you get the desired amount of sugar stuck to the glass.

Fill a martini shaker with ice. Add ingredients. Shake vigorously for about 15 seconds. Pour and serve.

Extra points if you place the glass is the freezer for a few minutes before making the drink.

Many thanks to Andrew and Chad for hosting a great game night and for having us as their guests for the weekend.

Oh yeah, and Anabel likes to eat paper.



It's over 70 degrees today and it's Opening Day for baseball. I don't really care about Opening Day because the Orioles have sucked for many years now and generally I think baseball is kind of boring, but it does seem like a pleasant day for a game. I think we'll grill tonight and eat outside on the deck.