(Glug, Glug, Glug)

Our weekend jaunt to the big city was a huge success, and the food, as I predicted, was awesome. Not only did we eat our way through the Windy City this weekend, we chugged our way through the city. Now, I'd just like to point out that, on our own, The Boy and I rarely drink to excess. But spend a weekend with my parents, and whoo-wee, off.we.go. And not because we needed to -- in fact, we actually had a great weekend -- but because that's just how we roll on family vacations and celebrations. From bubbly to brewskies, cocktails and Irish coffee, we hit the town AND the bottle. All for the sake of keeping warm, mind you...

Saturday Morning: Start the day the alch-y way with Mimosas and Irish Coffee. Images from here and here, via Pinterest.

Pretty simple instructions (they have to be that early in the morning, right?):

Mimosas: pour champagne (something dry, like a Brute) and add a splash of fresh squeezed orange juice. Pace yourself. These go down like water.

Irish Coffee: pour freshly-brewed coffee, black. Stir in Bailey's Irish cream. Feel warm and fuzzy almost immediately.

Saturday Evening: Time to kick things up a notch. Celebrating requires a celebratory drink; something served in a glass that gives a dainty "clink" when toasted with.

Nectar of the gods, from here.

To accompany my ah-mazing dinner at MK, I slurped up their version of "the Bees Knees." Popularized during the Prohibition era, this drink is flavored with honey and lemon, added to mask the scent of the bathwater gin that makes it so potent. MK made their own vodka version
 (my best guess for the recipe based on the menu description and this recipe):

1. Pour 2oz citrus flavored vodka

2. Add in 1/2oz fresh lemon juice

3. Stir in 3/4oz honey simple syrup, made by combining equal parts honey and boiling water in a heated pot

4. Add a dose of chopped, fresh mint leaves

5. Shake with shaved ice, and pour

This stuff is deadly. It's like nectar. I can see Bacchus and his little half-animal half-people and walking tree friends drinking this like mad. One sip, and you've left the cold behind and you're prostate under the sun on a checkered picnic blanket. It's that good.

Sunday Brunch: Trust me, we're not usually morning drinkers. In fact, we had the non-alcoholic version of this classic Swedish drink from the Swedish American Museum in Chicago. But the spicy-sweet cider (which can be made with wine, also) just screams for a hit of whiskey, vodka or brandy. I chose this easy recipe, because easy is the only kind of cooking I do, and because the other ones involved scary stuff like lighting sugar cubes on fire.
Not. Kidding.

Glogg on my Blog, from here via Pinterest.

This recipe is straight from Epicurean

Ingredients:

• 10 whole cloves
• 7 cardamom pods, crushed
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1/2" piece ginger root
• 2 cups water
• 10 whole almonds, cut into halves
• 1 3/4 cups raisins
• 1 cup pitted prunes
• 1 orange, cut into quarters
• 2 gallons apple juice or apple cider
• 1/3 cup sugar

Directions:

Tie cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and ginger in cheesecloth bag. Heat spice bag, water, almonds, raisins, prunes and orange to boiling in Dutch oven, crock pot or large pot. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 45 minutes. Remove spice bag, prunes and orange. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and heat until mixture begins to bubble. Ladle almond half and a few raisins in to each cup before filling with hot Glogg.

Makes 24 half-cup servings.

Join in: What are you drinking this winter? Any one else get more drunk with the family than with anyone else? Why is that?