finickyfish

the making of bitters

2012-01-20T08:33:00.000-06:00

I'm not quite sure what got into me a few months back but I was really excited at the idea bitters. A little flair for my little drink. I have these images in my head of some pharmacist-looking chap 150 years ago in London mixing ingredients in a oak barrel making the same concoction that I am. I wish I could be that cool. Rather, I downloaded some stuff of the internet, and being the lazy Gen X'er that I am I then ordered ingredients, also from the internet, to make my first two batches of bitters.

I tried my hand at two recipes, a Cherry Bitters and "Regan's Orange Bitters Recipe No 5". Using a mix of ingredients like dried lemon peel, dried cherry bark, wormwood, licorice root, and 100 proof whiskey in one and dried orange peel, cardamon seeds, caraway seeds, coriander seeds, quassia chips, and grain alochol in the other.

I used a very large mason jar to basically let the flavor from all of the ingredients soak into the booze. Every day you need to shake this big jar of mess. Two to three weeks later you have bitters. The hardest part of the entire ordeal is separating the liquid from the solids. The instructions I had said to use cheese cloth. I don't know a lot about cheese cloth but I found this to be a big mess. I ended up using a slightly oversized funnel and coffee filters. It was a slow process and I used about 8 filters for both of my batches but the results were clear debris free bitters.

So the fun part begun after we were finished 'cooking'. We found good use of bitters in many a cocktail, topping off a fruity mess or strategically placed in a champagne cocktail. I'm generousness sharing my wares, if you're interested in a taste let me know I'll have you over for a drink.

Rollergirls were here...

2012-01-15T14:12:00.001-06:00

It was a good night!

walk like an ice man

2012-01-12T08:31:00.000-06:00

Well, not exactly like an ice man. Wanting to enjoy the 45 degree Minnesota weather in January (so strange btw) I hurried home from work earlier this week. I was determined to get my hike on. This is this great little creek near my house that is currently engulfed in water runoff (subsequently frozen water) from the valley that the creek has created over the past few hundred years. It looks really strange to see basically random frozen ice ponds cascade into the small open water running creek. Thinking ahead I came prepared. When the terrain called for it I broke out my YaktrazPro crampons. This is the first time I had these puppies out of the box and they did not disappoint. I wasn't the only one with the brilliant idea of being out and hiking that path that that day. Buy as most were clinging onto nearby tree branches hoping not to slide into the creek I confidentially strutted by. I was simply amazed at how much traction these puppies gave me on glare ice. If you're winter active (jogging/hiking) and you don't have a pair of these babies I would highly recommend them.

change default reminder time

2012-01-07T07:48:00.002-06:00

I, like many of my co-workers I suppose, are attached at the hip to my Exchange calendar. And in today's world of smartphones and always being connected one thing it true. My phone is basically wiggling every 10 minutes to tell me something.

Looking in the past I have found a few trick that have made my life simpler, for example I don't look at work email on my phone, EVER. It is bliss. And I find myself so much less distracted when I'm in a meeting for example.

My schedule is typically full of 1-hour back-to-back meetings for most of my work days. During a meeting I am notified 3 times that I need to leave for the next meeting (the default reminder time in Exchange). Well this simple little gem will reduce my pocket wiggle (and subsequent ghost pocket wiggles) by a quarter. Now hopefully I won't dismiss the notifications and actually show up on time to meetings... Enjoy!

http://thenewpaperclip.com/2008/04/15/change-the-default-reminder-time-in-outlook-2007

Popcorn night!

2012-01-05T21:47:00.002-06:00

the day I broke Google...

2012-01-02T10:29:00.002-06:00

my car has started talking Korean

2011-12-06T08:10:00.001-06:00

Jealous?

almost famous quotes

2011-12-05T22:48:00.001-06:00

At some point life became about living not experiencing...

my fortune

2011-11-22T12:16:00.002-06:00

fall down go boom

2011-11-07T08:04:00.007-06:00

What does it look like when you drop the box containing a brand new bathroom faucet basin? Something like this...

my fortune

2011-11-03T11:52:00.001-05:00

black on white cufflinks

2011-11-03T07:54:00.002-05:00

do you like??

good memories from my recent work trip overseas

2011-11-01T07:55:00.000-05:00

I really did have a blast over the past few weeks. Its rare for me to have the opportunity to travel so far and meet so many wonderful and unique people. The smallest gestures made by our hosts have become so memorable to me. The sharing of each person's background, translation of a menu, ideas on how to drive our business, tour guide for an afternoon. All memories that I will not soon forget. Here are a few memories of the people that I met that stand out and that hold a special memory for me.

I could easily live in India becuase the food is amazing

2011-10-31T06:48:00.002-05:00

...and because they have these guys. Don't knock 'em till you tried 'em.

famous quotes

2011-10-26T07:00:00.002-05:00

Forgiveness is not saying, “What you did to me is okay.” It is saying, “I’m not going to let what you did to me ruin my happiness forever.” Forgiveness is always the answer… let go, find peace, liberate yourself!

my fortune

2011-10-03T11:58:00.001-05:00

just too fancy

2011-09-13T07:44:00.003-05:00

I got this strange feeling the other day. I was hungry and supplies were low at the house. I found a box of Mac & Cheese in the back of the pantry (score!). I started pulling out all of the toppings and measured out some water for boiling. And then I realized. I was using an AllClad sauce pan to make Mac & Cheese. It seemed off to me that I had a $150 pan cooking a 74 cent meal. Somewhere there is a party god that is screening 'party foul'.

shoes have feelings too...

2011-09-12T07:21:00.000-05:00

This weekend I knew I needed to get a bit serious about packing so I divided up my shoes into essentials and non-essentials. As I was taping up my first box (oh yes, there will be several) I got to thinking. How mad much my shoes be? I know if I was locked up in a box for a couple of weeks I'd be upset. I hope they don't hold a grudge too long.

my fortune

2011-09-07T15:00:00.001-05:00

Just a drop

2011-09-02T19:36:00.001-05:00

Today while at the doctor's office the nurse told me that I was "a good bleeder". I think she meant it as a good thing but does that really sound like a good thing?

Then she told me I have bronchitis...

my fortune

2011-08-30T12:40:00.001-05:00

Caloriee Free Day

2011-08-28T15:27:00.001-05:00

At the Minnesota State Fair

My fortune

2011-08-24T11:31:00.001-05:00

I've got tickets...

2011-08-23T09:49:00.001-05:00

Do you?

get your sock on

2011-08-16T08:22:00.000-05:00

Awhile back I wrote about these socks that I was really excited about. Well I've been using them now for about a year. I've tracked a good couple hundred miles on them, and let me tell you I'm likely more a fan of them now as I have ever been.

This past weekend I ran into the situation where I didn't have any clean compression socks (which is too bad because damn, to these babies make my legs look good!). I headed out on my 8.72mi workout with nothing by a pair of cotton crew socks. I could clearly tell the difference in both my shins and my calves. My muscle fatigued much quicker and I really could tell that my muscles were bouncing more. I get a little angry inside when I see a 5'2" 85lb man bounce down the road like they are running like a deer. My body is much different and these babies really do make all the different to my routine.

Likely my favorite part is the reinforcement that they place in the feet making them anatomically correct for your left foot and your right foot. This also makes my morning workouts where I'm just a bit too sleep to realize a tad bit easier, I don't have to worry about putting on the wrong sock.