Growing up, I always found it so cool that my parents had a bar in the basement. I’m talking about a fully-stocked bar, and as I entered my teen years, I’d hang there with my friends and sneak little sips of things. It was cool. None of my friends had a bar in their basement.
I spent a lot of time behind the bar this year when I visited my parents for Thanksgiving. I brought my dad,
Jack, the perfect gift for his eclectic bar:
ROOT.
ROOT is, in my opinion, the most interesting new spirit on the market. This pre-prohibition era root-beer-tasting spirit made for some fun experimentation.
My dad introduced me to Domaine de Canton Ginger Liqueur, which is sure to please ginger-lovers out there. I mixed a little with some ROOT and some all natural ginger ale. It was good. I also mixed some with apple cider. Then I mixed ROOT with apple cider and maple scotch. There were a number of different combinations.
I’ve always admired my dad’s wine collection, and he spoils me every time I visit by opening a dusty bottle or two. This year it might have been three. It was a special visit, I suppose.
My dad likes to infuse vodka, brandy, and scotch with different things. His wild blackberry vodka was smooth and sippable. The same was true for his wild blackberry brandy. All he does is pick blackberries from his blackberry bush and soak them in alcohol. After a while you have a new flavored vodka, brandy, or scotch.
My sister, Alison, has been making Maple Scotch for years now and my dad still had some of her 2008 batch. My good childhood friend and I sipped on that one night for a while. Just like old times… We had a good laugh talking about how sipping scotch at age 30 was just like hanging out in middle school. I don’t remember drinking scotch back then. I do remember vodka and OJ, vodka and cranberry, gin and soda, rum and coke, etc.
My dad came dowstairs to the bar with us for a while and gave us a taste of 33 year-old Dewars that he had bought before my parents even owned their house. It was almost as smooth as the maple scotch. Just let it sit for 30+ years if you have the patience.
My sister also brought my dad a cool gift this year: Vermont Gold Vodka made from 100% maple sap. We didn’t open that bottle. Maybe next year…
I’ve had to work with turnips a lot lately since I got a ton of them through my CSA. I decided that if I’m going to eat them, they need to be a little sweet, so I always turn to my trusted sweetener: Maple Syrup.
In the fridge I had turnips and brussel sprouts. Why not combine them?
I sliced the turnips and 1/2 of an onion, then put them in a baking dish with some brussel sprouts. Then tossed it all in a little heavy whipping cream, a drizzle of maple syrup, and a splash of Worcestershire. Nothing needs an accurate measurement- just drizzle and mix and get it moist. Then cover with foil and bake at 375 for approximately 40 minutes. Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper and enjoy.
I cut off most of the crust and cubed one loaf of Rudi’s Gluten-Free Bakery Bread for this recipe.
I altered the recipe slightly to accommodate the ingredients I had on hand. Here’s what I mixed up:
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- a pinch of sea salt
I poured my liquid mixture over the bread cubes and let it sit, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes. Then, I added 1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut, mixed it one more time, and poured it into a pyrex baking dish to bake at 325 for 30-40 minutes, until it was golden brown and cooked through the center.
I patiently let it cool, then served it with farm-fresh strawberries, some peach, and a drizzle I made with equal parts heavy whipping cream and maple syrup.
This recipe is a winner! It is definitely some of the BEST bread pudding I’ve had.
Now here’s a good way to eat your turnips. I had 2 bunches of turnips that I got over 2 weeks from
Ollin Farms‘ CSA. So, part of my CSA Challenge was figuring out what to do with turnips. To be perfectly honest, I thought I was sick of turnips. I got a bunch of scarlet queen turnips one week and they sat in my fridge until the following week when I got another bunch. I officially had more turnips than I could eat… or so I thought.
I sliced them and a local walla-walla onion I got at the
Boulder farmers market, and tossed them in a dressing of:
- 2 TB Worcestershire
- 1 TB dijon mustard
- 3 TB heavy whipping cream
- 3 TB maple syrup
- 1 TB olive oil
- 1 TB grated parmesan
- fresh ground black pepper
I then covered the turnips in foil and baked them at 375 for 30 minutes (I think… might have lost track of time on this one, so watch them) until they were soft, sweet, and starting to caramelize. These turnips were deliciously sweet and I now know my favorite way to prepare those sometimes unpleasant root veggies.
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