Rainbow Martini

Parshat Noach: A Rainbow Martini

I hope that you enjoyed the drinks from the holidays!

I just recently noticed that the colours do not always show up on my blog, so I am going to try to work on that. But in the meantime, if the colours are not showing up on your computer screen, please know that I attempted to make the blog as much of a rainbow as possible by making the first row red, second row orange, etc.

This week's parsha is Noach, with the Noah and the ark story. I always liked the ending of the story with the dove bringing an olive branch and then a rainbow. The rainbow is supposed to be a symbol of God's promise to never destroy the world again. As a teacher of young children, I tend to see rainbows in the students' drawings a lot. One time, I asked one of my students about the rainbows in her drawings and she answered simply, "When I look at rainbows, I feel happy." I think that's true for many people, young and old, that rainbows help to bring happiness, comfort, and hope.

Not too long ago, Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier who was held prisoner for years, was just returned home to his family in Israel. This is definitely cause for both celebration and a little bit of wariness and worry for the future: Gilad's future and Israel's future. I hope that this Shabbat can bring us what the image of the rainbow helps to provide: a little happiness, comfort and hope for the future of a better world.

Presenting a rainbow drink!!

Recipe for.....

Malibu Reggae Rainbow

Cocktail - Long drink

2 oz Malibu® coconut rum
1 oz Midori® melon liqueur
3 - 4 oz pineapple juice
1 splash cranberry juice

Fill a highball glass with ice cubes. Pour in the Malibu rum, then Midori melon liqueur (which will sink to the bottom). Gently pour in pineapple juice. Do not shake. Gently splash in a bit of cranberry juice. Do not mix. Drink will be layered, from top to bottom; green, yellow, red.

Bottom's Up! Simchat Torah is Here

Bottom's Up! An Upside Down cocktail

Chag Sameach (Happy Holiday) to you all! I hope that you are enjoying the holiday so far. In the spirit of the holiday season, I will keep this post short.

Introducing...

Bottom's Up!

two versions:

shot:

-one shot of triple sec or peach schnapps

-2 drops of vanilla extract

-shot of pineapple juice

-drop of grenadine

drink:

-one shot of vodka

-one shot of triple sec or peach shnapps

-2 drops of vanilla extract

-4 shots (or the rest of the glass) of pineapple juice

-drop of grenadine

Some of you may think that I chose this drink because during the upcoming holiday of Simchat Torah, that you may say the expression "Bottom's Up" a lot. However, there is another reason besides the name of the drink. If you look carefully, this drink is supposed to look the same if you look at the glass from the bottom up, or from the top down. This holiday is celebrating the end of the year of weekly readings of the Torah portions and the beginning of a new year of weekly readings of the Torah. I always thought that it was strange that we start the new Torah cycle at this time of year and not at Shavuot when we celebrate that we received the Torah. But, this is the season that we people get another chance at a new year, a fresh start. So, we are similar to the Torah in a way, still the same, but in a way different and changed for the new year.

Enjoy the next holiday and...bottom's up!

Sukkah in a Glass

Happy Sukkot 5772!

I have always liked this holiday and it is a special one for my family. I know what you're thinking, that I like Sukkot, the Jewish harvest festival, because it usually falls around Canadian Thanksgiving. Well, that is definitely a coincidence, and not the reason that I like the holiday. Mostly, I like the holiday because it is the one time during the year that my whole family on my mom's side squeezes together into a sukkah. Even though it is usually cold and we have to bundle up in our coats, scarves, etc., it is a special time for us to be together.

I remember learning as a child that we eat and spend a lot of time in the sukkah even though it is super cold out because it is supposed to remind us that we are strong and that we, as a Jewish people, can survive anything, even the Canadian cold fall weather. But, then during my 3rd year of university when I studied at Hebrew University, I realized that Sukkot in Israel is actually in fantastic weather for eating outside! So, there went that theory.

My cousins and I even discussed this while sitting in the Samson family sukkah in Efrat. I think it was cousin Maury who spoke about the image of the sukkah in this famous verse that is in many t'fillot:

"hapores sukkat shalom aleinu","הפורס סוכת שלום עלינו" God who protects us with a sukkah over us

He said that this image of a sukkah as a form of protection is kind of intriguing, since it is not always the most protective, stable structure. Why not a building or better yet a fortress? But, as long as God is part of the structure, protecting, then maybe it will make it safer. I think that when you think of an empty sukkah, that it seems fragile, but, maybe when the image of that structure includes people in it, together they make each other stronger and feel safer.

So, this cocktail is an attempt to create your very own sukkah in a glass, complete with brown "walls" to represent the wooden walls of many sukkot and a green and beige top to represent the green and beige schach (roof). This is also adapted from a cocktail that I helped my Sabba make in a sukkah one time when we had a dairy meal. Oh yeah, fyi, this cocktail is DAIRY, so make sure that you're aware of this when you make this cocktail.

Sukkah in a Glass

-take a cold glass and dip the rim of the glass into graham cracker bits

-add the following ingredients into the glass:

-one shot of chocolate liquor or Khalua

-1 and 1/2 shot of chocolate milk

-one shot of peppermint schnapps or creme demint

-fill the rest of the glass with chocolate or mint ice cream

-add a fresh mint leaf on the top