bar cart essentials

October 13, 2015October 14, 2015 | circadee

Fall is in full swing and, let’s be honest, that means the holidays are on the horizon. Holiday entertaining and parties will be here before we know it. Now is the time to get those bar carts stocked and ready to go!

The folks over at Chairish challenged me to select my favorite bar cart and subsequently style it. They came to the right place because I am a big fan of vintage bar carts! I have bought and sold a few over the years. Chairish makes buying and selling vintage furniture, art, jewelry and accessories online very easy. From their selection, I chose a Hollywood Regency number. I love the simple bamboo lines and those brass casters…swoon!

The double tiered cart will come in handy because we’ve got a lot of necessities to fit in order to craft the perfect libation. Here are my Top 10 Bar Cart Essentials…

Tools

First, you need the tools of the trade! A muddler, jigger and shaker are any mixologist’s best friends. The mason shaker adds a rustic appeal that I love.
Bitters are a bar cart necessity these days. Hair of the Dog is a crowd pleaser!

Recipe Books

We like to muddle fresh fruit and herbs for our refreshments, taking tips from The Drunken Botanist.
Another book always close at hand is Shake which does a wonderful job of illustrating the drink recipes it outlines.

Glassware

What bar would be complete without crystal? These vintage, crystal wine glasses from Chairish are very similar to a set of family heirloom glasses we have at our home bar. They are our go-to glasses. Crystal elevates every cocktail. We don’t just reserve it for special occasions.

Accessories

I always have fabric cocktail napkins on hand. These ticking striped ones are adorable and perfect everyday napkins.
The striped straws are just plain fun and whimsical, as well as functional. Form and function? Win/Win!
The beautiful artisan-made peach basket is used to corral tools when not in use. It can also double as an ice bucket in a pinch because it is ceramic.

In case you’re wondering, The Valencia cocktail is still one of my favorites using citrus medica bitters and fresh squeezed orange juice. The recipe can be found in Shake.

All of the bar ware above can be found at Circa Dee and the vintage bar cart and crystal glasses can be found at Chairish.com.

trail mix cookies

April 1, 2014April 7, 2014 | circadee

spring. Spring. SPRING! I think it is really here. The sun is pouring through the windows. The trees are starting to bud. It’s amazing!

Over the weekend, I made trail mix cookies. This is the third or fourth time I’ve made these and they never last long. I thought I’d share the recipe with you all because they’re pretty tasty, vegan and the trail mix ingredients pack a lot of energy. There’s not a ton of sugar either so they’re not overly sweet. The cookies have a crunchy exterior and are soft inside almost like a granola bar. Yum!

I’ve dubbed them Trail Mix Cookies because there is 3/4 cup of trail mix ingredients that you can choose – seeds, nuts, dried fruit. I haven’t made these the same way twice. Stay tuned and I’ll explain…

Trail Mix Cookies – makes about 2 dozen

1/3 cup coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 apple sauced
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup granola
1/2 cup dried fruit
1/4 cup seeds (1/8 c sunflower kernel + 1/8 c flaxseed)

Pre-heat your oven to 275 degrees and grease 2 cookie sheets.

I like to sauce a fresh apple. Core and peel an apple. While measuring the other ingredients, allow the apple to boil. Using an immersion blender, blend the apple into sauce. (A work around for this step is to just add 1/2 cup of jarred apple sauce.)

Combine coconut oil, brown sugar, apple and vanilla. Mix thoroughly. This will make a nice adhesive for your trail mix.

Combine flours and baking soda and add to your mix.

Now for the fun part…and in the “trail mix” of your choice – 1 cup of granola + 1/2 cup of dried fruit (like cranberries, peaches or raisins) + 1/4 cup total of seeds and/or nuts. I usually use 1/8 cup of sunflower kernels and 1/8 cup of flaxseed. I have also used cashews. The possibilities are endless.

Spoon cookies about 2 inches apart on your baking sheet.

Bake for 18-20 minutes.

Enjoy!

For the brown sugar, we have been using Turbinado sugar which is essentially raw “brown sugar”. We have been avoiding processed white sugar where we can. Most brown sugars are just processed white sugar with the addition of molasses. Turbinado is raw sugar with molasses.

There are other modifications you can make to this recipe for it to work for your pantry choices. For example, you can substitute the coconut oil for canola oil.

And while we’re in the kitchen, I don’t believe I shared you with you my two cents about oiling cast iron. I posted last week over on Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint blog about the wonders of hemp oil and cast iron. Check it out here.

In fact, I’ve been all over the web lately. I’m excited to share that our bathroom renovation was featured on Apartment Therapy and Hometalk over the weekend. So if you’re new here, welcome! Please enjoy our Trail Mix Cookies!

the valencia cocktail

March 6, 2014March 6, 2014 | circadee

Get excited because I have a fantastic cocktail recipe to share with you today. Fortunately, I was able to book America’s next top model and canine for this very profesh photo shoot…

We have been juicing frequently here. And when the mood strikes us we make cocktails using the fresh juice as a mixer. The Drunken Botanist has had quite the influence on me. I am in love with this book and all of the garden-to-cocktail concoctions it describes. I have been considering which edible plants I want to grow this year based on the recipes and knowledge in this book.

Our new favorite cocktail is refreshing and fruity and sparkly. Yum! Plus it warms you up during these remaining winter days. It’s called The Valencia.

Have you ever heard of it? It’s an old time-y cocktail that has been around for ages. Apparently there are different versions out there. We use Apricot brandy and bitters combined with freshly squeezed orange juice and champagne.

1 1/2 ounces apricot liqueur

3/4 ounce orange juice

4 dashes Citrus Medica bitters

Shake all of the ingredients over ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Top with champagne and garnish.

We now carry an assortment of bitters at The West End Garage including Citrus Medica. For those of you who are not familiar with bitters, they are essentially herbs with a bitter flavor processed into a liquid. Bitters are traditionally used in both cocktails and non-alcoholic drinks like tea. Less traditionally, bitters can be used to add flavor to salad dressings, soups and more. They have therapeutic qualities and can help with digestion.

The New Jersey cutting board pictured was a wedding shower gift that we just love. When we’re not using it, we display it on the wall. You may have caught that in an earlier kitchen post.

It inspired us to stock the Made in the USA bamboo New Jersey cutting boards at West End Garage too. On each one, Cape May is highlighted with a heart, star or home.

Thanks everyone for your enthusiasm around our shop news at The West End Garage! Now, who is shaking up The Valencia tonight?

Or today? No judgement here!