HUMBLE BERRY PIE MARTINI COCKTAIL RECIPE

Once upon a time my mom would make a Humble Berry Pie, at least that's what she called it. It was usually a combination of mixed berries, mostly raspberries, blackberries and, her favorite berry of all, Boysenberries. I loved this pie but it always came with her standard lecture about humility. We got pie but we had to be humble to eat it. I was willing to be humble long enough to eat my piece of pie, then I reverted back to being the cocky little brat that was my norm.

Now, there is a real, historical humble pie (not a berry in it though) and the word “humble” itself comes from the Middle French word “nomble,” which translates to “scrap." The humble pie of history was a Medieval savory dish servants made from the scraps of the master’s table, topped off with a crust and baked up as a pie. I guess the masters didn't leave too many berries on the table.

How berries ended up in mom's pie is something she took to the great beyond. Sadly, I never though to ask her. Though there is an old country saying to “eat humble pie”, meaning cockiness gets its comeuppance, and my mom was quite fond of that saying, as well as berries. She even passed both tendencies down to me, but did not pass her pie baking abilities down with them.

This is where my cocktail skills came into play. My cockiness is probably why the pie gods have cursed me with the inability to make a decent pie. Nope, can't bake a good, homemade pie to save my un-humble self which is probably why I have created so many pie cocktails. So, no successful baking of my mom's Humble Berry Pie for me. But the booze gods love me. In fact they have blessed me with the talent of turning culinary chaos into cocktail creativity, thus my mom's Humble Berry Pie lives on as a very delicious (and dare I say Un-Humble?) drink!

HUMBLE BERRY PIE

MARTINI

INGREDIENTS:
1 Oz. Berry Vodka
1 Oz. Spiced Rum
1/2 Cup Mixed Berries*

1 Oz. Half & Half

2 Dashes Lemon Bitters

1 Tbsp. Honey

GARNISH: Baked Pie Crust & Sugar Rim,

Assorted berries

TOOLS: Blender, Coupe glass

DIRECTIONS:
Rim a cocktail glass with crumbled, baked pie crust and sugar then chill glass.

Add all the ingredients to a blender with 1/2 cup of ice and pulse until nice and smooth.
Pour into your chilled glass, garnish with the assorted berries and serve.

*Frozen berries are fine, in fact they will help chill the cocktail when blending.

VOICEOVER VIDEO WITH INGREDIENTS & DIRECTIONS.

Enjoy!
But be humble about it.

Updated 3-2021

PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY

PALOMA TEQUILA COCKTAIL

You might think the margarita is the favorite drink of Mexico, but that isn't the case. When you go out drinking with the locals it's not a margarita they order but a Paloma. Margaritas are for the tourists.

Now there's nothing wrong with a Margarita, in fact, I love them, but when in Rome - or Mexico in this case - you should always try to drink what the locals drink. It's not only polite, it broadens your happy hour horizons.

Paloma means "dove” in Spanish and it's said that creator Don Javier Delgado Corona, owner of La Capilla in Tequila, Mexico, named the cocktail after a popular song of the same name. I don't know if this is true, I wasn't there, but I don't really care. All I really care about is whether the drink tastes good and the Paloma does.

Often made with Jarritos, a grapefruit-flavored soda found all over Mexico, I personally think the Paloma is best made with fresh grapefruit juice and I happened to have several nice grapefruits given to me by a friend who grows his own. They were really small, and kind of ugly, but their juice was sweet and pink and delicious. I immediately decided the Paloma was the way to go and so ... I went.

THE PALOMA

INGREDIENTS:
2 Oz. Tequila
1/2 Oz. Fresh Lime Juice
1/4 Tsp. Sea Salt
1/2 Oz. Agave Syrup
2 Oz. Fresh Grapefruit Juice
Club Soda

GARNISH: Sea Salt and Sugar for rim, Grapefruit slice, Lime twist

TOOLS: Two saucers or dessert plates, Highball (tall) glass, Bar spoon

DIRECTIONS:
Add some grapefruit juice to a saucer, in another saucer combine one tablespoon of the sea salt and one tablespoon of sugar.
Dip the rim of your glass in the grapefruit juice and then into the sugar and salt combination.
Combine the tequila, lime juice, agave syrup and salt in your highball glass.
Fill the glass with ice.
Add the grapefruit juice, stir then top off with the soda.
Stir again, gently, then garnish a grapefruit slice and a twist of lime.

Enjoy - like I did!



NOTE: Please be aware that grapefruit juice can have negative interactions with certain medications.

PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY