Homemade

We are quickly approaching Christmas so that means the stores are full of frantic people and shelves are mostly empty. Instead of joining the throngs of stressed out people, why not stay in the comfort of your own home and make a gift. We found a great recipe for bourbon-pecan truffles. They are easy to make and are decadent little treats. 

Bourbon-Pecan Truffles

1 cup heavy cream

1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (we suggest Ghirardelli semisweet chips)

2 tablespoons bourbon whiskey (we suggest Old Heaven Hill bourbon)

1 cup finely chopped pecans

1. In medium saucepan, bring cream to boil; remove from heat; and add chocolate and bourbon. Let stand 3 minutes; whisk until smooth. Transfer chocolate to bowl and refrigerate uncovered until thick and firm enough to spoon out. About 2 hours.

2. Line a baking sheet with waxed paper. Drop teaspoons of chocolate mixture onto baking sheet and refrigerate until firm. About 30 minutes. 

3. Place pecans in a shallow bowl. Using hands, roll each chocolate mound into a ball and roll in pecans, pressing lightly to adhere. Place on baking sheet and refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes to one hour. Store in air tight container in refrigerator up to 2 weeks.

You can modify this recipe many ways too. If you don't want to use pecans to coat the truffles, roll the mix in cocoa powder. You can also swap out the bourbon for one of your other favorite spirits like Amaretto or Irish Cream. 

Enjoy!

Get in the Spirits

Today's gift selection for our readers - barreled cocktails. There are lots of make your own kits out on the market. We haven't tried out any of those kits ourselves so we can't say how well they work. What we do know is that High West makes a very good barrel aged cocktail. Simply chill a bottle down in the refrigerator and pour, cocktailing could not be simpler. They have two choices, the barrel aged Boulevardier and the barreled Manhattan.

High West is not able to ship these fine spirits so you'll have to find a place near you that has them in stock, or hope that Santa brings some to you.

Cheers!

Another Reading Assignment

This is a gift that will keep on giving - at least until the subscription runs out. Two magazines that we really like over here at The Bar are Imbibe and Whisky Advocate.

We enjoy Imbibe because of the variety of spirits that are discussed and all the tasty recipes. And Whisky Advocate has been a long time staple at our table of bourbon and scotch lovers. So get a subscription for yourself and give a gift to a couple of lucky people in your life.

Cheers!

Light My Fire

The Hedonists had the chance to meet the mastermind behind Dashfire Bitters, Lee Egbert. We spoke of cocktails and how adding bitters or tinctures can make the difference between being good or being great. As most of you already know, we at The Bar, are advocates of adding bitters to recipes. We did what any curious person would do - we bought the Dashfire Vintage Orange No. 1 bitters, Lavender tincture, Grapefruit tincture, and Allspice tincture. We tried them all out and we really enjoyed the results. Dashfire has several products to offer so we encourage you to check out the full line. The products can be purchased at a variety of places in the Twin Cities or on Amazon.

 

*Photos from Dashfire Bitters

After the first of the year we'll be posting one of our favorite recipes that uses Lavender tincture.

Cheers!

Hey, where's the candy bowl?

Liquor filled candy. Do we really have to explain why this is a good idea? "Yes" Your in-laws are visiting for the holidays. "Good point. Does it come by the case?" You should probably refer to our previous post about flasks and figure out where to stash reserves around your house and on your person. For the rest of our readers that are looking for a little extra cheer in the candy bowl, we found two options for liquor candy. 

Hard Candy from the Vermont Country Store  

Liquor filled chocolates from the German Deli

The German Deli has a couple dozen choices so you can pick out your favorite flavor or just get the assorted box.

Cheers!

Useful Notes

The Hedonists are very familiar with taking notes. We have notebooks full of scribbles that detail our travels, favorite recipes, cocktail experiments, and anything else we feel like writing down. The 33 Books Company has created a bunch of these handy little notebooks that you can tuck in a pocket and record your thoughts about a variety of indulgences. You are sure to find a book for someone on your Christmas list with choices such as: Beer, Wine, Whiskey, Cider, Coffee, Cigars, Cheese, Hot Sauce, and Chocolate. You may even want to buy a couple for yourself.

Cheers!

We like it dirty

Looking for that perfect cocktail garnish? You could spend hours trying to pick out the perfect cherries, or you can leave the tough work up to the folks at Filthy Foods.