Cocktail Hour, Issue No. 4: Praline Liqueur Hot Cocoa
Bringing the flavor of New Orleans to the Midwest with Praline liqueur, the new rules of etiquette, how to *correctly* load a dishwasher and Miley Cyrus' new banger. Plus a sleepy #bougiebull!
Happy Friday, y’all. We made it to Cocktail Hour!
A few of you weighed in on this week’s discussion thread about cocktails created in the Midwest. Shana offered a Labatts; Cari gave us the Smith and Kearns; and Ann suggested the Last Word. There’s still time to tell me about your faves! It will help me uncover the history of the Midwest through cocktails :-)
I’ll be back this Sunday with a critical conversational topic: What shows are you bingeing? Lovey and I are ready to start a new series, and I need your advice. The Bestie™ is trying to convince me to watch Alone, but I tried one episode and am dubious. So start putting your list together.
Ok. Let’s get to it! 🍸
What I’m Drinking: Praline Hot Cocoa
Last weekend, Lovey and I went to New Orleans with Friend Shana and The Consort. It was glorious. We basically walked from meal to meal, only to stop for cocktail breaks. So many cocktail breaks. There were Vieux Carres at Carousel Bar & Lounge and Sazeracs at The Will and The Way and Manhattans at Sylvain and all the wine at Bacchanal and so many more that they blend together. (And we were not drunk!)
But we also made time for the Drink & Learn walking tour of the French Quarter with Elizabeth Pearce. People, she is a GD delight. Elizabeth was funny and smart and knew how to run a tour gracefully. (I hate a tour or feeling touristy, but I do like feeling in-the-know and smarter about a place, which Elizabeth did.) She greeted each of us with our personal cocktail satchel – cocktail satchel! – that included four drinks through which we would learn the history of New Orleans.
There was the St. Charles Hotel Punch, in which we learned why the grandest hotel built in the United States in 1837 was in New Orleans and what that says about the city’s import to the country)
The Sazerac, in which we learned that the drink was created in the early 1800s in New Orleans and is the city’s official cocktail. It represents the marriage of sugar and bitters (originally a medicinal treatment) that were stalwart New Orleans industries at the time. The Sazarac was originally made with imported French cognac, but in the 1870s France’s vineyards were decimated by a phylloxera outbreak and couldn’t make wine or, thus, cognac, which is a type of brandy, which, of course, is distilled wine. So the proprietor swapped out easy-to-get American rye whiskey. And that is the drink we know today.
The Hurricane, in which we learn why everyone is drunk on Bourbon Street from bright red drinks in glasses shaped like hurricane lamps. The Hurricane was developed at Pat O’Brien’s bar – which is still open today – and came about because Pat couldn’t easily find whiskey during World War II. He found a distributor who had some, but would only sell it if Pat would also take a bunch of rum and some glassware that was shaped like…hurricane lamps. Pat agreed and took all the rum back to his joint and had to figure out what to do with it…
Praline liqueur. I don’t remember what we learned because I was too busy sipping this sweet, sweet nectar of New Orleans. It is like the candy, which I don’t particularly care for, but somehow miraculously transformed into alcohol perfection. Did we bring a bottle of it home? Yes, yes we did.
And so this week, when the temps are in the single digits in Detroit and much of the Midwest and the Northeast is expecting “once-in-a-generation cold,” I think we get to indulge in something sweet and delicious and decadent. Boozy Praline Hot Cocoa1!
Now, you can go the easy route and just buy some hot chocolate at Starbucks on your way home. Then hit the liquor store and buy a bottle of Praline Pecan Liqueur and pour some in to taste. That’s it. That’s the whole recipe.
But if you want to get fancier, I have two boozy hot cocoa recipes for you this week. Enjoy!
Basic: Mom’s Hot Cocoa
She made this in large quantities and kept it in a container in the pantry so I could have hot chocolate any time.
8 quart size powdered milk
1 ½ pound Nestle’s Quik
11 ounces powdered cream
1 pound powdered sugar
Praline liqueur
Directions: Mix together in a bowl. Store.
To make cocoa: Combine ⅓ cup of the mix with 1 cup of boiling water (or warm milk for something richer). Stir to combine. Pour into a mug and then add praline liqueur to taste, usually about 1.5-2 oz.
Fancy: Washington Post Boozy Hot Cocoa
2 cups whole or reduced-fat milk (may substitute plant-based milk)
3 ounces dark chocolate or bittersweet chips or chopped dark chocolate (not baking chocolate unless you plan to add sugar!)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large pinch salt
1.5-2 oz. Praline Liqueur
Warm milk and then add chocolate. Stir until melted. Whisk in vanilla and salt. Pour into mugs and then add praline liqueur to taste, usually about 1.5-2 oz.
What I’m Reading: Hell Bent and American Nations
Nothing new to report. I’m still reading Hell Bent and American Nations. I didn’t exactly get any reading done in NOLA, despite taking both of these books with me.
This Week’s Feels: Take Note, All Friends
Piece of Advice: How to *Correctly* Load the Dishwasher
Bon Appetit comes to the rescue of everyone, everywhere by giving the run down on the modern rules of dishwasher, from not pre-rinsing to where to put everything. There’s even a handy-dandy diagram from Whirlpool.
You’re welcome. You can now show this to that person in your life who has no spatial awareness and so you have to go behind them and reorganize the dishwasher. Not that I know anyone like this. Cough. Cough.
3 Things I’m Reading on the Interwebz
“Do you Know How to Behave? Are You Sure?” in New York Magazine
194 updated rules on how to tip, text, ghost, host, and politely deal with strangers.
These are fun, useful and controversial. They say it’s ok to stand up in the aisle when the plane lands. It clearly never is! Read through them and tell me your faves or flames in the comments. Here’s an example:
24. Never answer a compliment with a compliment.
A couple of months ago, I met a famous singer backstage after her concert. I was wearing a loud pair of pants — the kind that attract a lot of attention wherever they go — designed by a friend. “I like your pants,” the singer said. “I like your glasses,” I responded in a panic. Horrible. False sounding. And how could it not be? A compliment that follows a compliment, even if meant sincerely, will always sound forced. I’ve thought about it for months since and know exactly what I should have said: “Thank you” (owning the compliment) and “My friend will be so happy to hear you liked them” (gracious). — Katy Schneider
“Nebraskans are Sitting on Precious Metals. Is Mining a Patriotic Duty?” in the New York Times
Many people here think Southeast Nebraska, dotted with dying downtowns and aging residents, could play a small part in helping to solve a full-blown geopolitical crisis that Doc Evans, a Johnson County commissioner, summed up like this: “The trouble with China.”
Mr. Evans and numerous others welcome the digging that a company called NioCorp wants to begin because they feel it’s their patriotic duty. For too long, they said, the United States has depended on other countries for metals and minerals the nation could find at home, if only someone were willing to spend the money and effort to retrieve them.
“How the World’s First Gaming System Was Made in Indiana,” in Indianapolis Monthly.
Fifty years after the Odyssey went on sale for $99.95, the practice of playing on our screens has grown into a $300 billion global industry. Today, more than 3 billion people play video games. But Baer and his team of engineers were the first, and it all started in that room of unimpressed Indiana executives half a century ago.
What I’m Bingeing: “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus
If you’re a person on the Internet, this song is not new to you. Miley dropped it three weeks ago, and it’s since hit #1 on the Hot 100 list – her first #1 in a decade. Taking your ex down so, so well will do that. “Flowers” is rumored to be about her ex-husband, Liam Hemsworth, and she released the song on his birthday. The Internets also tell me that she filmed the video in the house where he repeatedly cheated on her – and wears the same suit he wore when he told her to “behave.” That’s all just gossip – Miley hasn’t confirmed – that adds some buzz to the song.
But while that’s fun and dishy, it’s not why I like the song. I like “Flowers” because it’s the song I needed so long ago when dealing with a toxic relationship.
We were good, we were gold
Kinda dream that can't be sold
We were right 'til we weren't
Built a home and watched it burn
Mm, I didn't wanna leave you
I didn't wanna lie
Started to cry but then remembered I
I can buy myself flowers
Write my name in the sand
Talk to myself for hours
Say things you don't understand
I can take myself dancing
And I can hold my own hand
Yeah, I can love me better than you can
Weekly Cute Critter: Sleepy Lincoln
While we were in New Orleans, Lincoln the #bougiebull got to go to doggie camp. He played with all of his friends at Canine to Five and came home exhausted. For one day. Then the crazy puppy energy was back. But it was nice while it lasted.
That’s it for this week, y’all. See you Tuesday with my most anticipated books in February and then on Friday for Cocktail Hour. Now is a good time to subscribe so you don’t miss a thing!
Do you say hot cocoa or hot chocolate? Is this a regional dialect thing, like pop and soda?
" You can now show this to that person in your life who has no spatial awareness and so you have to go behind them and reorganize the dishwasher. "
My operating rule of thumb is: If it can get wedged in, it's in the right place. It's the dishwasher's job, not mine, to sort the specifics.
I think of hot cocoa and hot chocolate as not technically being the same thing (hot chocolate is made with chocolate; hot cocoa with cocoa). But maybe that's just me?