Happy Hour at Home - Pimm's Cup

Sometimes I can be resistant to buying a bottle of alcohol just for one cocktail recipe. It seems wasteful and expensive. So I resisted buying Pimm's for a while, but I'm so glad I took the plunge. 

Pimm's No.1 Cup is an unusual gin-based liqueur with herbs. It is traditionally served at British events like Wimbledon. Some Pimm's Cup recipes you see might call for lemonade, but that's British lemonade, which is more like Sprite or 7-Up.  I made my Pimm's Cup with ginger ale, which is an acceptable substitute. 

Muddling cucumber and lemon in the drink makes it even more refreshing. I've seen some recipes call for muddled strawberries as well, which seems a little overboard, but I might try it next time!  I love to garnish the drink with long strips of Persian cucumber, thinly sliced lengthwise to curl around the inside of the glass. 

You can hardly ask for a more refreshing summer cocktail than a Pimm's Cup.  Pimm's is pretty easy to find at the LCBO, and not too pricey, so I'd recommend picking some up!

Pimm's Cup Recipe

1/2-inch chunk of cucumber

1 lemon wedge

2 oz Pimm's No.1

4 oz lemon-lime soda or ginger ale

Garnish: lemon wheel, cucumber

Gently muddle the cucumber and lemon in a tall glass with a wooden spoon or cocktail muddler.

Pour in the Pimm's and soda and stir to combine.  

Garnish with cucumber and lemon.

Vietnamese Pork Noodle Salad

I love Vietnamese food. Of course, there's phở, the amazingly rich beef and noodle soup that makes a perfect meal in cool weather. But I also love bún, a pork and noodle salad that combines cool, crisp vegetables, warm protein, chewy noodles and tangy vinegar and lime.  

This recipe is a refreshing take on the traditional Vietnamese dish.  It is very simple and tasty.  It makes a fantastic, fresh dinner and leftovers keep well for lunch the next day!

Here's what you need:

Happy Hour: Strawberry Jalapeño Cucumber Cocktail

Last fall in Las Vegas we bought tickets to a food event at Yellowtail at Bellagio that was all you can eat & drink for an afternoon.  Unfortunately, due to having too much fun the night before, we couldn't bear to eat much sushi or oysters.  I had a glass of champagne and lots of water and we were thinking of admitting defeat, until the bartender offered to make us a spicy cocktail that might perk us up while we enjoyed the view.  

He made a delicious concoction of Bombay Sapphire East gin, strawberry purée, jalapeños and cucumber.  It was so refreshing, we felt cured!  We had another and felt so good we vowed to track down the gin to make it at home.  

White Gazpacho (With Grapes)

I've never made traditional gazpacho before - "tomato soup served ice cold". But that didn't stop me from attempting a white gazpacho, made with grapes.  I'm not going to say this dish was a rousing success, but it was a good way to make use of grapes, and it tasted interesting.  

Matt came home from the farmers market with these beautiful Niagara grapes.  They were a little sour to eat as a snack, so I thought I'd make something out of them.  I found this recipe for Spanish white gazpacho and tweaked it a bit.  

Here's what you need:

Radish Cucumber Salad with Sugar Snap Peas and Sesame Seeds

Radishes are one of the first crops ready in our garden. We planted radish seeds and they grew so fast! We harvested them all and planted a second crop.

This salad makes use of the radishes from our garden along with cucumbers and sugar snap peas for a nice, light summery salad or side dish.









Rinse the radishes and trim off the tops and tails.









Then slice in half lengthwise and into half-moons.

Slice a whole cucumber into half-moons as well.












And combine with the radishes.









Next take some sugar snap peas and cut them in half.









Plunge them into boiling, salted water for one minute.









Then drain and rinse with cold water.












And add to the radishes and cucumbers.









For the dressing all you need is a tablespoon of rice wine vinegar and a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar.











I used these black and white toasted sesame seeds, but you can toast them yourself if you like.









Just toss the vegetables with the vinegars and sprinkle with sesame seeds.









Delicious, fresh and very light. Serve with grilled meat or on its own.