A Housewarming Party to Soothe Wanderlust

During my week on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, I thought, "I could live here in this beautiful place with beaches, highlands, and valleys. I could have a little cottage outfitted with a bar where I could hunker down during the long winters and concoct new libations. I could have an antique secretary's desk where I could sit for hours writing long poetic journal entries. I could specialize in seasonal macro photography, capturing the endless tiny details that, in concert, form the landscape.  I could buy a snow suit and a snow mobile. I could take my clarinet out of the closet and learn Celtic jigs..."

Tiny mushrooms along the Jack Pine trail in the
Cape Breton Highlands National Park

There are so many new and wonderful things I could do that would be wildly different than my existence in the swarming metropolis of New York.

But then, I stepped off the plane at LaGuardia and thought, "Wait. I don't want to live anywhere! I could buy another ticket to any random place. I could leave my checked suitcase behind and bring only my camera and the few items in my carry on. I could capture the world(!) in macro and post rambling blog entries from all sorts of places. And, oh! I could eat everywhere!"

The promise of new flavors and terrains was so very tempting... But (sigh), I have less than six months on my passport. And yes, seeing as how I am not independently wealthy, I need to stay employed to support my travel habit.

Fortunately, I had scheduled a housewarming party for two days after my return. Although it wasn't quite a cure, having an apartment full of friends enjoying cocktails and bites was quite the salve on my burning wanderlust.

I'll admit it was ambitious to try and throw together a fabulous cocktail party in two days. It's a lot of work for 48 hours, but I love entertaining and I'm on vacation so I went for it. Here are a few of the things I did to make it easier:

• Picked three simple cocktails for the bar and left it up to guests to bring wine
• Chose to serve a variety of cheeses and a few sliced salamis
• Added assorted accompaniments from my cupboard, including jams, dried fruit, honey, pickled vegetables, and pecans (which I candied with maple syrup and all-spice)
• Whipped up a few dips, including two vegetarian pâtés
• Visited the farmer's market to pick up a colorful and wide variety of crudités for dipping and snacking (purple carrots with yellow centers, sweet peppers in a range of colors, yellow and green beans, broccoli, radishes, yellow and red tomatoes, green and red apples, etc.)
• Added chips, crackers, and a few small loaves of various breads 

I once heard a celebrity chef say that you should never serve something you haven't tried before. Well, I broke that entertaining rule by making three new semi-complicated dips. As V. says, entertaining is a great excuse to experiment. I used recipes from trusted sources: Food & Wine, The Angelica Home Kitchen Cookbook, and Martha Stewart. I also ambitiously made two batches of shortbread cocktail cookies (one gluten-free).

Below are the cocktail recipes and links to a few of the food items. Until next time, my friends... I hope your house is warm enough to keep your heart content and your feet in one place. But if not, may the road treat you kindly and perhaps I'll see you there!

Cocktails
Ramp Martini
2 oz gin
.25 oz Dolin dry vermouth
.25 oz brine from pickled ramps
pickled ramp for garnish

• Chill a martini glass either in the freezer or with ice water
• Shake gin, vermouth and ramp brine with ice
• Strain into chilled martini glass
• Garnish with pickled ramp

Ironic Manhattan
2.5 oz bourbon
.5 oz Carpano Antica
Old fashion aromatic bitters
Brandied cherry for garnish

• Chill a martini glass either in the freezer or with ice water
• Add ice and a few dashes of bitters to the bottom of a shaker
• Add bourbon and Carpano
• Stir
• Strain into the chilled glass
• Garnish with a brandied cherry

The Brooklyn
1 oz bourbon
1 oz Aperol*
1 oz Dolin red vermouth

• Add a few cubes of ice to the bottom of a martini shaker
• Add ingredients and stir
• Strain into a rocks glass with three cubes of ice

*The original recipe calls for Campari.


Food
Salty Black-and-White Sesame Cocktail Cookies (Food & Wine)
Spinach-Avocado Dip (Martha Stewart)

Porcini-and-Pecan Pâté (Food & Wine)