An Unusual Holiday

This past weekend was the Civic Holiday long weekend.  For the first time in a long time we spent the long weekend hanging out in Toronto.  We were not disappointed, even with the constant downpours.

The weekend basically became our own private rib-fest.  It started at our friends' Dan and Mel, who are expecting this fall.  Mel is great cook, and while she prepared many of the dishes indoors, it stopped raining just long enough for Dan to do some ribs on the BBQ.  That plus the bucket of beverages you see above, a bocce ball set and a Wii made for a very fun evening.  So fun in fact that the ribs were gone by the time I went to get a picture.  Below is the carnage.

Our next party happened the following day at our friend Rae's house.  We had an indoor picnic on her living room floor.  This meal consisted on bbq'd shrimp, chicken and ribs (that is 3 servings of meat!), along with corn and salads (provided by guests).  It is a good thing we had all this food because things got a little "silly" later on.  It culminated in bowling through her an apartment with a real size bowling ball.

Perhaps things got a little silly due to the starter cocktail we had.  With so many good food recipes it was tough to decide which to post so I decided to go with the alcohol.  It is an unusual recipe, and given its unique flavour really two per evening is the max.

Rosemary and Vanilla Vodka and Soda

With Thanks to Jenna and windsoreats.com

1 large bunch of fresh rosemary

1 vanilla bean

3/4 cup of sugar

1 cup of water

Vanilla Vodka

Soda

In a saucepan, throw in the rosemary, vanilla bean, sugar and water.  Bring it to a simmer for a couple minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove the saucepan from the stove top and let it cool for at least an hour.  Strain the syrup into a bottle of jar and keep chilled until ready to use.

When making the actual cocktail, combine 2 parts of the rosemary/vanilla syrup with 1 part vodka over ice and fill the glass with club soda.  Of course those ratios can be adjusted according to taste.  Place a rosemary sprig into the glass as a garnish and serve.

Makes approximately 6 drinks.