Adirondack Mudslide - the drink that started it all

First, we'd like to apologize to all of you Bing and Google searchers who were searching in earnest for information about Hurricane Irene and its plight on the Adirondack Region and ended up at our Happy Hour in the High Peaks blog. However, you didn't have to go to our site, but you just couldn't help yourselves, could you?

If you're "hunkered down" for the day (have you ever heard that term so over-used as during this storm), you might be wondering what to do, like we are. We have been discussing the selection of an appropriate drink for today and remembered the Adirondack Mudslide, the drink that started it all. Pam made a variation of the mudslide for some guests long before the book/blog, and wondered later how she could get that drink on the Internet. Thus Happy Hour in the High Peaks was born (for the full story, see our interview on The Free George).

Adirondack Mudslide
1-1/2 oz vodka
1 oz chocolate hazelnut liqueur
1 oz irish creme liqueur
1-1/2 oz Kahlua
1 c chocolate peanut butter cup ice cream
4 ice cubes
mix in blender
drizzle chocolate syrup on top

Hurricane Irene Survival 101

When you wake up in the morning, have no electricity, but plenty of bottled water, you won't be making coffee because your coffee maker is electric. Survival tip 101: You have water, you have whiskey sour mix in packets somewhere in your house, every household has tequila and triple sec, and your ice is going to melt if you don't use it up. Throw those items together in your coffee pot, shake well, and serve in salted glass. If you happen to own a Margarator (like I do, being a survivalist) they come with a car adaptor, so you can make frozen margaritas! You'll never go back to coffee.

Ok, now about those D batteries. Most modern flashlights do not use D batteries. There are other "appliances", mostly found in the bedroom, that DO still use D batteries. I'm thinking there was a big run on D batteries, particularly for those wives whose husbands work for National Grid. Just saying...Probably not going to be a big baby boom from this hurricane. Just saying...

Hurricane Morning Recipe
2 cups tequila
1/4 cup triple sec
2 packets whiskey sour mix
garnish with water
shake over ice, before it melts
serve in your favorite coffee mug

Tip number 102: What to do with all of those leftover D batteries after consuming that much tequila? See paragraph 2.

Hurricane Irene

Funny thing about storms on the horizon. Beer selection, along with supplies of D batteries, bottled water and canned goods are pretty well depleted in the stores. What to do when you can't stock up on your beer brand in the face of a hurricane? Why, invent a cocktail with a theme, of course!

We never enter into a cocktail creation lightly. Brainstorming for meaningful connections to the occasion is required. To create the Hurricane Irene, we decided it must be swirled at high velocity in a blender. Since hurricanes and tropical storms originate in the tropics (duh), the drink should have a tropical flavor and a rum base, but not one of those overly optimistic sweet mango-and-papaya-doing-the-limbo-in-the-Bahamas drinks you get on a cruise. Garnish is impractical. We wouldn't want the umbrella to blow away. So far, not hard. The color should be that of stormy waters and finished with foam.

After much thought and deliberation, we arrived at the following:

Hurricane Irene
1 1/2 oz. white rum
1 1/2 oz. dark rum
3 oz. passion fruit liqueur (Hypnotic or Alize are two brands)
1 oz. peach schnapps
6 oz. grapefruit juice
Combine all in a blender with plenty of ice. Serve in (you guessed it) a hurricane glass!

The rum originates with the tropical storm forming in Jamaica. The storm picks up some speed, is upgraded to hurricane (category 3) and may pass through Florida for some grapefruit. Georgia is possibly on the itinerary, so grab some peach schnapps while you're there.

Down the hatch (battened down).

Cheers & Bottoms Up!

Kim & Pam